And So It Begins . . .

It all begins this afternoon with the first official practice for the 2021 Dartmouth football season. CLICK HERE to check out BGA Premium tonight and every night – seven days a week – for coverage of Big Green football practices and games.

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It wasn't a practice but the Big Green was on Memorial Field yesterday gearing up for today's official start:

Here's the tentative practice schedule:

2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 22 Practice 1 (Helmets)
1:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 23 Practice 2 (Helmets)
2 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 24 Practice 3 (Helmets)
3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 25 Practice 4 (Uppers)

2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27 Practice 5 (Uppers)
2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 28 Practice 6 (Full)
2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 29 Practice 7 (Full)
2 p.m. Monday, Aug. 30 Practice 8 (Full)

2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 1 Practice 9 (Full)
2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2 Practice 10 (Uppers)
2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 3 Practice 11 (Helmets)
10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 4 Practice 12 Scrimmage (Full)

2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 6 Practice 13 (Full)
2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7 Practice 14 (Uppers)
2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8 Practice 15 (Helmets)
10 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 9 Practice 16 Scrimmage (Full)

4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11 Practice 17 (Uppers)

4 p.m. Game-week practice for Valparaiso begins Monday, Sept. 13.

(A reminder that the goal is to have each practice story posted on BGA Premium by 10 p.m. Eastern. There will be nights that are later as occasionally life gets in the way, but always the stories will be on your screens by the time you turn them on in the morning.)

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New York's Newsday has a piece about Dartmouth alum Niko Lalos '20 returning home to Ohio today when the New York Giants visit the Cleveland Browns. The story notes that among those at Saturday's workout in Cleveland was Lalos' father, who never saw him play for Dartmouth. From the story (LINK):

"It’s exciting to see he’ll be here for this one," Lalos said. "It kind of makes all of the college ones he had to miss worth it. And to do it in my hometown, it’s a nice way to check that box."

Also from the story:

Lalos was a bit of a surprise . . .  for the Giants last year. An undrafted rookie from Dartmouth he began the 2020 season as a defensive end on the practice squad. When the Giants started to lose edge rushers to injury they tried him at outside linebacker. He was a gameday activation from that unit who made his NFL debut on Nov. 29 and eventually was promoted to the 53-man roster. He played only 72 defensive snaps on the season but made the most of them, recording a sack, a fumble recovery and an interception with his six tackles. He became a fan favorite for his intense play and uncanny ability to be around the football. A coach favorite, too. 

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The BGA Premium opponent preview series winds up tonight with a look at Yale. Each of the previews has run about 1,500 words and a lot of work has gone into researching and writing them. The theme this fall after a year away from football and Ivy League teams playing two untested and largely unknown classes: Mama Always Said, Life Was Like a Box of Chocolates. You Never Know What You're Gonna Get – Forrest Gump.

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EXTRA POINT
Those of you who read yesterday's PAT know Mrs. BGA and I were celebrating our wedding anniversary with a dinner near the water as we do every year. We ended up at Covered Bridge Farm Table in Campton, NH, about an hour east of here. We ate a delicious dinner on the deck overlooking the Pemigewasset River and alongside this:

As an aside, on our way to an afternoon and evening in New Hampshire's White Mountains we stopped and explored Polar Caves, about 50 minutes from campus. We had driven past the tourist attraction dozens and dozens of times over the years without ever giving a thought to stopping. Our kids had been there with camp trips but we always thought it was a little hokey. But on an 86-degree day with high humidity perhaps there was something about the name that drew us to it, so we decided to give it a look. We're glad we did.

Squeezing and shimmying through the caves was sometimes challenging but central air conditioning couldn't have been more pleasant on such a hot day. I half wanted to get a book and a headlamp and spend the rest of the day in one of the caves.

For what it's worth, we climbed through every one of the caves except the last, the Lemon Squeeze, which narrows to 14 inches across. That was going to be tricky before we had our anniversary dinner –  and might have been impossible after ;-)