Thanks to a loyal reader for sharing a link to the College Gridiron Showcase 2021 Watchlist featuring three players from Dartmouth. (LINK)
Current Big Green players on the list are center Evan Hecimovich, offensive lineman Jake Guidone and safety Niko Mermigas.
The list features players under consideration for what is billed by College Gridiron Showcase as, "The FIRST Major all-star event of the college football post-season, top college senior players, selected by a panel of football experts." It is slated for Jan 17-21 in Fort Worth. (LINK)
Green Alert Take: As they say, any publicity is good publicity so kudos to the Dartmouth players mentioned. That said, CGS needs a fact checker or two. Included along with the three current Big Green players is wide receiver Drew Estrada, who will play for Baylor in the fall. By the way, have you seen Baylor's video introduction of the Dartmouth grad? (LINK)
Six Harvard players are listed by the Showcase site, but three are not on the 2021 Crimson roster posted on the school website. Five Princeton players are listed but that's because one is listed twice. Whether all of them will be playing this fall is unknown because Princeton hasn't updated its roster. Yale has one player listed but he's not on the 2020 Yale roster, the most recent on the school website.
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Dartmouth's opening game this fall will be against Valparaiso, but it won't be against the Valparaiso Crusaders. The school is dropping that name and has released a list of finalists to replace it. Here are the nominees:
Valparaiso Storm
Valparaiso Beacons
Valparaiso Gold
Valparaiso Sparks
Valparaiso Lightning
Valparaiso Tempest
Valparaiso Dunehawks
Valparaiso Lightning Hawks
Uh, Dunehawks?
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So you think it's just players choosing among schools like Alabama, Clemson and Auburn who announce a date to reveal their college destination? No so fast, my friend.
This high school quarterback from Indiana has narrowed his choice down to Dartmouth, Yale and Colgate and will make his decision public Aug. 7.
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Speaking of high school quarterbacks, check out the Yahoo story under the headline, Will America's No. 1 QB recruit Quinn Ewers give up 7-figure NIL offers for one more season of Texas high school football? (LINK)
From another story on the same kid, this one from FootballScoop (LINK):
Quinn Ewers, not only the top high school quarterback in Texas but the entire nation … has been offered an equity stake in Holy Kombucha, a "tasty, probiotic-packed, live and raw kombucha delivered to your doorstep."
The story also includes this:
Jaydon Blue, the top high school running back in the state of Texas, has opted out of his senior year in order to focus on his schooling and preserve his body for the grind of the college game.
And the Scoop also has a story noting that LSU coach Ed Orgeron told a Rotary Club crowd, “We're paying players now. So, if you guys want to start paying our players, you can go ahead.” (LINK)
Green Alert Take: The world as we knew it is no longer.
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And on the subject of NIL the Ivy League is not exempt. Posted this month by Princeton is a fairly detailed Interim Student-Athlete Name, Image Likeness Policy.
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Writing for The Analyst, FCS guru Craig Haley offers these observations about the Ivy League's former (?) sister conference (LINK):
While the recent spring season provided only a small sample size, Patriot teams combined for the fewest points-per-game average in the FCS for the fourth straight season.
In 2016, the teams averaged 27.1 points per game, which was seventh-best among FCS conferences.
Since then, the defenses have plugged all leaks, with teams averaging 20.6 points in 2017, 18.1 in 2018 (the next-lowest conference in the FCS was 23.5), 19.7 in 2019 and 18.3 in the 2020 season that was delayed by the pandemic to this past spring.
Green Alert Take: Whether the defenses have plugged the leaks or the offenses are leaking oil is a matter of perspective. Given how the Patriot League has fared against outside competition in recent years whatever it is, it isn't good.
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Stumbled across a link to this Dartmouth Hall renovation video on the always informative Dartmo. The Buildings of Dartmouth site:
Dartmouth Hall from designLAB on Vimeo.
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EXTRA POINT
A very funny former Dartmouth assistant basketball coach years later landed a head coaching job. With tongue in cheek he described his new team as, "Slow, but small."
We had a technician here yesterday afternoon for several hours working on our internet, which that old coach might have described as, "Slow, but undependable."
Unable to solve the issue yesterday, the technician returned and worked on it for several more hours this morning. He had some kind of device – he said it featured radar – that located the problem, "1,650 feet up the line."
Our internet seems to be working better this morning, but he wasn't making any promises about how long that will be the case. He told me when he found the issue – indeed a quarter mile up the road – as soon as he touched the insulation around the cable/wire "it crumbled and fell off."
For what it's worth, the fellow told me at his own house he uses a different company's internet. Smart guy.
