Another day, another grad transfer offer. This time it is offensive lineman Michael Flores '23 adding Old Dominion to a list that already included Marshall, Miami (Ohio), UMass, Incarnate Word, Morehead State, Butler and the University of San Diego. He also has preferred walk-on offers at Vanderbilt and Colorado.
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Back at it with the holiday break over, The Dartmouth wraps up the fall season with a story headlined, Football awards abound despite underwhelming season; A dozen players were named All-New England, All-Ivy and Academic All-District I this season. (LINK)
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This is a fun one.
After reading the post in this space about the influx of Australian punters in college football, onetime Dartmouth captain Bob Rex '57, who led the Ivy League with a 39.8-yard average in 1956, sent along this story, shared here with permission:
In July of 1956, I received a phone call from Dartmouth Coach Bob Blackman at my home in Larchmont, New York. He asked that I meet him at LaGuardia Airport and drive him to Idlewild Airport (now JFK) as he was headed for Los Angeles. I was told to wear sneakers and to bring a football as he had a quick kicking technique he wanted me to practice before arriving in Hanover on August 31st.
I showed up at the gate where he instructed me to go out on the tarmac with the football. He then showed me how I was to turn sidewise, take a few steps towards what would be the sideline and then kick the ball so it would go end over end rather than spiraling. We had an open tarmac to use, so we decided to give a try. As we watched the ball bounce along, two security guards showed up and asked us what the hell we were doing and ushered us back to the terminal.
Sixty-seven years later, I now realize that the Blackman quick kicking method first used in 1956 is identical to today’s rage, Australian Punting.
Since I was the quick kicker in 1956, I guess I should be the first Dartmouth punter to use the Australian model.
A short article in the Oct. 24, 1956 Harvard Crimson affirms the novelty of what Rex was being called on to do. From the piece headlined, Dartmouth May Use Unique Quick Kick (LINK):
Harvard fans should be on the look-out Saturday for a new Dartmouth football tactic: a special version of the quick kick. Instead of facing forward and kicking with the instep as is usually done, Captain Bob Rex turns to the sidelines and slaps the ball over the scrimmage line with the inside part of his foot.
"It's no easy spiral for somebody to catch. It hits the ground on its side, or an end, with a forward roll. If anybody's there, it's hard to pick up. If nobody's there, it keeps going," explains Indian Coach, Bob Blackman.
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EXTRA POINT
Long before she was Mrs. BGA she was Mary Wood, Dartmouth-Hitchcock's roaming diabetes clinical nurse specialist.
For years we've had a running joke. She would tell me that if I would just sit down and "write the great American novel" we could finally buy the lake house we've always coveted.
My response has always been, "Forget the lake house. If you would just cure diabetes, we could buy our own island. Like Australia."
Diabetes is that big a problem. Mrs. BGA hasn't cured it, of course. But she has tirelessly dedicated herself to helping make life easier for the thousands of patients she's seen over the years who live with the disease. At the same time she's been a valued resource for all the doctors and nurses who care for those patients on a daily basis.
Today, after 37 years at the medical center, Mary Ellen Wood, RN, MS, CDE, BC-ADM, is taking off her white lab coat for the final time and embarking on a well-deserved retirement. I couldn't be happier for her.
Or more proud of her.
