Anyone?

Today is Signing Day and if you have a photo from a signing celebration I can post on BGA Daily, CLICK HERE. That will address an email to me with the subject line, SigningDay. Then just attach the photo. Thanks!

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With help from some eagle eyes, BGA Daily discovered five more Dartmouth recruits yesterday, bringing the total we know about to 19. Actually, I think I know about 20 but am sitting on one until he goes public. If you have anyone to add to the list in last night's final posting (below), you can send along the name and details in the link above.

I'll be posting photos and new names during the day today . . .  if any come in.

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While we wait, 247Sports has an interview with offensive lineman John Paul Flores, the Dartmouth senior who has committed to the University of Virginia. If I'm reading this right, the UVA head coach, offensive line coach and offensive coordinator all journeyed to the Upper Valley to woo the Big Green standout. Woo? More like wow! From the story (LINK):

Flores committed almost two weeks after taking an official visit but after an in-home visit with Virginia head coach Tony Elliott, offensive coordinator Des Kitchings and offensive line coach Garett Tujague.

Although the future Dartmouth graduate was impressed by the staff on his official, the in-home made him feel even more comfortable with the coaches.

"It was a good visit. It meant a lot that they made the entire trip all the way up to Dartmouth, since it's like an extra two and a half hours after you get out of the airport from Boston," he said. "We just got to spend more time together with the coaching staff, a little bit more one-on-one. We had a good conversation at dinner, and versus you know when you're there, they're kind of just trying to recruit you, versus you get to know them a little bit more personally over dinner."

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Flores is not the first Dartmouth football player to grad transfer to Virginia. The first would be Chad Gaudet '08, whose promising football career with the Big Green was derailed by a knee injury. After giving up football he resumed his athletic career as a faceoff specialist for the powerhouse UVA lacrosse team while earning his MBA in Charlottesville. From a story on the Virginia sports website (LINK):

Coming out of Middlesex School in Burlington, Mass., Gaudet had already established himself as an elite athlete in his area. His senior year he captained the basketball, football and lacrosse teams. Though he was named All-New England in lacrosse twice, he had always preferred the gridiron. Gaudet, a tailback, was named New England Prep School Class C Player of the Year and Eastern Massachusetts Super 26 in football his senior year.

Gaudet wasted no time in asserting himself on the football field in 2004 during his freshman season he ran for a team-leading 389 yards to become the first freshman to lead the team in rushing since the restoration of freshman eligibility in Ivy League athletic competition. That year he was named the Earl Hamilton Award as the team’s outstanding rookie.

Despite the fact that he was having great success with football, Gaudet realized he still had a desire to play lacrosse. A serious knee injury sidelined him for the 2006 season, and upon recovery, Gaudet decided he would shift focus, and reunite with the game of lacrosse.

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A college football team specifically for military veterans? That's the plan at Thomas University in Georgia. Stephen Ferguson, Thomas University vice president of military & corporate relations explains (LINK):

“We see it as a win-win situation for everybody. We know that service members learn how to operate as a team. We’re going to use that training and apply it to football as a team sport. This is more than just football. This is about preparing veterans for the next phase in their lives and using football as the vehicle to do that. Meanwhile, these veterans will set an example for our other students about the importance of dedication and team work.”

Thomas will begin NAIA football in the fall of 2023.

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EXTRA POINT
It has been a long week-plus. Let me explain.

Mrs. BGA wears a mask on the shuttle bus to and from Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center each day. When it is as cold as it has been she frequently leaves the mask on to stay warm during the short trip home from the park & ride where the bus drops her off. That being the case, it wasn't unusual when she walked through the door here at our Vermont hillside home last week with her mask still on.

But her eyes suggested something was different this time, and it was. She told me she had seen a patient who later in the day tested positive for COVID. She had been wearing a mask, of course, but not the full PPE she would have been wearing if anyone had known the patient was positive.

Mrs. BGA was tested the next day and thankfully came back negative. She had a follow up test scheduled for yesterday and got the word this morning that the second test also came back negative.

Several weeks ago we took delivery of a package of N95 masks. Ever since Mrs. BGA was exposed we've been wearing the masks whenever we are both in the house together with the exception of dinnertime, when we were on opposite sides of the room, and overnight, when we were on opposite sides of the house. It hasn't been fun.

We'll be back to normal when she gets home this evening. I can't wait.