As noted last night on BGA Premium, senior quarterback Jake Allen has moved into an undergraduate assistant coach's role because of a lingering back issue. Allen began his college career as a scholarship player at the University of Florida but struggled with injuries in Hanover and appeared in just three games over two seasons. He's the second Dartmouth quarterback to transfer in from a Power 5 school in recent years only to have his career end prematurely because of injury.
In advance of including a note about Allen in last night's practice report I Googled Jimmy Fitzgerald '20, the last Power 5 QB transfer to Dartmouth, who came from the University of Illinois. Up came a year-old video titled What My Knees Taught Me that I had not seen before. It was produced by Sideline, described on its site as, "a sports journalism outlet that shares the stories of athletes overcoming adversity . . . by letting them tell their stories in their own words."
Fitzgerald went on to spend his Dartmouth career as an undergraduate assistant coach.
Green Alert Take: Dartmouth also has had transfer quarterbacks from Wisconsin and Colorado State since I've been around the program but as I wrote last night, "Ironically, perhaps the best transfer quarterback Dartmouth has had in decades was Alex Park ’14, who had the misfortune of having Dalyn Williams '16 come along soon after he arrived from New Hampshire. Despite being supplanted by Williams, Park finished his career with 2,063 yards and 12 touchdown passes, completing 62 percent of his attempts."
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The local Valley News has a practice notebook under the headline Dartmouth football position battle joined. Coach Buddy Teevens doesn't exactly spill any beans in the story ;-) (LINK)
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The Ivy League had 12 active players make NFL opening-day rosters this year, with another two on injured reserve. The list:
Harvard (5)
FB Kyle Juszcyk, 49ers
LS Tyler Ott, Seahawks
TE Cameron Brate, Buccaneers
TE Anthony Firkser, Titans
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, Washington Football Team
Penn (2)
LB Brandon Copeland, Falcons
OL Greg Van Roten, Jets
Princeton (2)
TE Jesper Horsted, Bears
WR Stephen Carlson, Browns (Reserve/Injured)
Yale (2)
LB Foye Oluokun, Falcons
TE Jaeden Graham, Falcons (Reserve/Injured)
Brown (1)
DL Michael Hoecht, Rams
Columbia (1)
P Cameron Nizialek, Falcons
Cornell (1)
OL JC Tretter, Browns
Dartmouth's Niko Lalos is on the Giants' practice squad after appearing in six games last season.
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The Sports Video Group has a story headlined, Return of the Ivy League: After 18-Month Layoff, Live Game Production Is Back on Campus. The lengthy story reminds us that, "The Ivy League had not hosted a conference-sanctioned athletics competition since baseball, softball, and lacrosse contests on March 5, 2020. (LINK)
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Oct. 16 Dartmouth opponent New Hampshire opens its season tonight at Stony Brook and the Union Leader has a preview HERE.
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Several readers shared a LINK yesterday to Princeton's rules this fall for fans coming to outdoor athletic events. The short version:
- No masking required, but is recommended.
- Social distancing is recommended, when possible. Parties that arrive together can sit together.
- Hand sanitizer stations will be available.
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EXTRA POINT
With our new EV came a free trial subscription to Sirius radio. I've had ESPNU on the radio on my last two drives to campus for Dartmouth practice and I've been surprised by one incredibly long commercial each day. These were infomercial type breaks in the broadcast that must have gone on for at least five minutes, easily. Each of them, if I'm remembering correctly, was for some offbeat medicine or medical treatment. I really don't know quite what they were about because after about 30 seconds of listening I hit the "mute" button on the radio.
OK, three things.
First, I'm not going to get Sirius radio when the free trial is up. Free over-the-air radio or a podcast will work for me. I don't want or need another monthly bill.
Second, if I were going to pay to listen to the radio, I'd really be annoyed when there's a long infomercial interrupting the programming I'm paying good money for.
And third, don't tell Sirius but they are doing their listeners a favor and their advertisers a disservice by beaming the title of the commercial onto the radio screen in your car. As I said, when I realized I was being fed an infomercial I hit the mute button. After more quick glances at the screen than I care to admit, I knew when the interruption was finally over because the commercial title was replaced on the screen by the name of the show. Only then did I "unmute" the radio and start listening again.
