For a story about grad transfer quarterback Derek Kyler, Pitt's FanNation page spoke with Don Dobes, who recruited the "slender slinger" to Dartmouth out of DeKalb, Ill. Under the headline, Transfer QB Derek Kyler Brings Competitiveness, Intelligence to Pitt Dobes said (LINK):
"He is one of the sharper quarterbacks that I’ve been around in my 40 years of coaching. He’s a guy that always comes up big when you have to come up big.”
Do you think?
Kyler never came up bigger than he did in the 2019 game at Harvard when the undefeated Big Green took over at its own 4 with one minute remaining, no timeouts and the Crimson leading, 6-3.
The QB started things off with an eight-yard completion before running for a first down. Then he completed a 19-yard pass. Then a 22-yarder. After a spike stopped the clock there was time for just one last play. Here's how it went:
Green Alert Take: The mention of Dartmouth "offensive coordinator Dan Taft" had me grimacing. Every writer who has put enough words down on paper has gotten an occasional name wrong and I know what it feels like to read your own stuff and see something like that. Kevin Daft is the Big Green offensive coordinator.
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The Calgary Stampeders opened the CFL season this week with a 30-27 win over Montreal. Former Dartmouth linebacker Flo Orimolade got this mention in a Saskatchewan newspaper story (LINK):
“Quick note that Orimolade had himself a nice game, too. He had a costly roughing the passer penalty late in the second quarter, but bounced back with a huge sack early in the third and also had a vital open-field tackle on Adams Jr. late in the fourth quarter.
Players make mistakes. The way Orimolade responded to his penalty was impressive.”
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Back to the subject of grad transfers, Dartmouth product John Paul Flores and another O-line transfer from Georgetown get a cautionary mention in a Virginia SBNation story that includes this (LINK):
Both were all-conference performers at their respective schools and both have plenty of size to compete at the power five level. The concern is that, even compared to skill position players, there is a clear difference in the strength and athleticism of linemen at lower levels of college football. That is why it is difficult to project how they will fit into the ACC.
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A story in The Dartmouth headlined, Marshals Pick Their Favorite Spots on Campus caught me by surprise. Suraj Patel of Orlando, Fla., who earned a Master of Public Health from the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, listed Memorial Field as his pick. From the story (LINK):
At Dartmouth, Patel led extensive research exploring a novel concussion preventative methodology alongside Buddy Teevens ’79, the Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach. He aims to prioritize unity and creativity to leave a lasting positive impact on public health.
Patel said:
“Dartmouth Football stands for more than just the sport itself. This program fosters a pure sense of unity, excellence, and innovation. Memorial Field will always be my favorite place because everyone who leaves the gates of this field bleeds green. The green that is etched in the fabric of this community. A community full of voices crying out in the wilderness, which then become the voices that go on to lead and create bright futures for many. This place is and will always be a pillar of Dartmouth College and a source of inspiration for my future endeavors.”
Green Alert Take: Whoa, that's impressive.
Green Alert Take II: Just about every day at practice since 2005 I've asked at least one person at the field, "Is there anything going on, anything I should know about?" Somehow Suraj Patel slipped through the cracks and I've never written a word about him. Too bad.
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EXTRA POINT
At its Worldwide Developers Conference earlier in the week Apple introduced IOS 16 and MacOS Ventura, which are both slated to come out in the fall.
In one fell sweep both my MacBook Air and my faux iPod Touch took a giant step toward obsolescence.
Bear with me now.
The MacBook Air that I have used for this site and BGA Premium is an "early 2015" model and according to the specs, will not be able to update to the Ventura operating system. The current Monterey OS, which I have on the machine, is the end of the line.
My faux iPod Touch is actually an iPhone 6S "hand-me-down" without a SIM card and per Apple the new IOS will work only on iPhone 8 and newer. Most of those handy new apps that will be introduced starting this fall? I won't be able to use 'em.
To be completely honest, I would have been hesitant to update the MacBook Air because I use Dragon Dictate, which saves me a ton of time transcribing interviews. That program has been discontinued for the Mac platform and while I've been able to use it on my current OS it's always dicey whether it will continue to function after an operating system upgrade. You may know that Mac actually has a built-in dictation system, but it can't do half the things Dragon can do.
As for my faux iPod, with which I record the interviews I transcribe, I use Griffin Technology's slick iTalk app. Like Dragon Dictate for the Mac, it has been discontinued and likely wouldn't work with the new IOS anyway.
It's more than you need to know, of course, but at least I found it interesting that folks at Apple retired me twice in the same day. Are they trying to tell me something?
