Add to the list of rising high school seniors indicating their intentions to study and play football at Dartmouth the name of Max Wentz, a Class AAA all-state selection from West Virginia's Huntington High School. Here's his Tweet (LINK):
COMMITTED🌲. pic.twitter.com/n5LMZhAjlI
— Maxwell Wentz (@wentz_maxwell) August 5, 2021
From a story in the Herald-Dispatch (LINK):
Two of the Tri-State’s premier linemen were selected to play in the Blue-Grey All-American Bowl. . . . Wentz is a 6-foot-3, 275-pound two-way tackle and center. He has scholarship offers from Dartmouth, Alderson Broaddus, Wheeling and a preferred walk-on offer from Marshall.
And this from a site covering West Virginia football (LINK):
Wentz has been ranked among the best linemen of the ’22 class since his freshman season. With good size, solid feet, and having been coached by a linemen factory, it is no wonder he has gained substantial interest. He will definitely have an opportunity to play anywhere in the Mountain East on full scholarship as well as roster spots for Marshall and West Virginia. As of now his biggest offer is from Ivy League Dartmouth, a true showing of his dedication in the classroom.
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Headline in the Manchester Union Leader: Football player alleging unfair treatment and Dartmouth College agree to drop lawsuit. From the story (LINK):
Dartmouth College and the football player who alleged bias in the elite university's investigation into a sexual assault allegation have agreed to walk away from a lawsuit.
The football player, known only as John Doe in the suit, alleged the sexual assault investigation that led to his suspension in 2020 was biased against men, and alleged a different pattern of treatment for Black and White students facing sexual misconduct allegations.
From a story in The Dartmouth (LINK):
Doe ... claimed in the lawsuit that in the years since 2005, the College has taken disciplinary action against “at least eight other Black football players following Title IX proceedings,” whereas no Title IX investigations were brought against white players.
And . . .
According to University of New Hampshire law professor John Greabe, without access to official court documents, it is not possible to know why the case was dismissed. Once the dismissal order is released to the public, the reasons for the dismissal will become more clear.
“If the case has been dismissed, that’s it — the case is over,” he said.
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Princeton linebacker Jeremiah Taylor is the lone player Dartmouth will face this fall who has been named to the initial Buck Buchanan Award watch list for the top FCS defensive player in the nation. (LINK)
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A PennLive story on Harvard grad transfer Eric Wilson is headlined, Can an ex-Ivy Leaguer earn a starting spot on Penn State’s offensive line in 2021? From the story (LINK):
The Big Ten regular season was shortened in 2020 as a result of ongoing COVID-19 concerns.
But at least the conference had a season.
There was no Ivy League season and that means Penn State transfer portal addition Eric Wilson is going to have to shake off some significant rust during camp this month.
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With the delta variant spreading, a FootballScoop story is troubling to say the least. From the story (LINK):
Hawaii was supposed to start their season next week, but due to a rising trend of COVID cases, they are canceling all practices immediately and requiring proof of vaccinations for all players and coaches of fall sports.
The State Board of Education announced the pushing back all fall sports to late September in order to implement a COVID vaccine mandate for all involved in public school athletics.
By September 24th, all Hawaii athletes and coaches will be required to be fully vaccinated (two weeks after the individual's final shot) in order to participate in sports this fall.
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A story in The Dartmouth reminds us that we're not out of the woods (or in The Woods) yet. From the story (LINK):
The College officially reinstated its indoor mask mandate Thursday, following new recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and similar measures adopted by the town of Hanover due to the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant. However, as of now, physical distancing and restrictions on gathering size will not be imposed, nor will the outdoor masking requirement be reinstated, according to interim provost David Kotz.
And . . .
As of Wednesday, there were three active student cases and seven active faculty and staff cases on campus, according to the College’s COVID-19 dashboard. Eight of the active cases have been detected since Aug. 1.
The vaccination rate among the on-campus community is 93%, according to the dashboard, and the vaccination rate among the overall community is 82%.
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EXTRA POINT
That bit yesterday in the space about me not being a "car guy?" I'm not exactly a wrench and screwdriver guy either.
That point was brought home yesterday when I changed the two mower blades on our electric lawn tractor.
Prior to changing the blades I watched a YouTube video that showed the process taking perhaps 15 minutes. It took me somewhere between three and four . . . hours.
The biggest issue, beyond getting the mowing deck lifted back into place after dropping it to change out the blades, was getting the deck balanced front-to-back and side-to-side. The variance was supposed to be between 1/8 of an inch and 3/8 of an inch. The problem was that tweaking the side-to-side balance threw the front-to-back out of whack. Fixing that threw the side-to-side out of whack. Back and forth I went on my back in the garage, getting up to move to the other side, then raising and lowering the deck between each tweak I made. It wasn't much fun but about 9:30 last night I finally got it. Hooray for me ;-(
