Are You Ready For Some More Football Already?

It's been a week since the Super Bowl. Do you need your football fix yet?

If you do, tune in ESPN at 8 Eastern tonight to watch former Dartmouth standout Niko Lalos '20 make his XFL debut at defensive end with the Seattle Sea Dragons as they open their season at the DC Defenders (who have former Princeton defensive lineman and fellow NFL veteran Caraun Reid on their roster).

While few of his teammates will be familiar to viewers, Lalos will be playing under a couple of names you might recognize. The head coach and general manager of the Sea Dragons is former NFL linebacker and New Orleans Saints head coach Jim Haslett. And the defensive coordinator is Ron Zook, who ran the programs both at Florida and Illinois. The Seattle Times has a story about the team's veteran coaching staff, which also includes June Jones.

From an Athlon story picked up by the paper out in Wenatchee, Wash. (LINK):

With Haslett's background as a defensive-minded coach, you can rest assured that Seattle will put together a solid group on that side of the ball. P.J. Hall and Niko Lalos must set the tone on the defensive line and dominate the line of scrimmage battle against the Washington offensive line. 

Tonight's game will be played at Audi Field, a 20,000-seat soccer stadium in DC.

A Q&A in the Seattle Times points out two interesting XFL rules for those of us who haven't been paying attention:

In the fourth quarter, a team can maintain possession after scoring by converting a fourth-and-15 play from its 25-yard line (in addition to trying an onside kick).

There are no extra-point kicks. Teams can get extra points by running a play from the 2-yard line (one point), the 5 (two points) or the 10 (three points).

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If that doesn't do it for you, this graphic out of Dartmouth is aimed at members of the high school class of 2024 (the uniform number is no accident) is a reminder that spring football is coming:

The start of Dartmouth spring football is now 45 days away (April 4) and current high school juniors will have three opportunities to catch practice and learn a little more about the program and the college. 

Here's the full spring practice schedule (keeping in mind it is subject to change):

WEEK ONE
Tuesday, April 4, 4:30 practice 1
Thursday, April 6, 4:30 practice 2
Saturday, April 8, 9:30 a.m. practice 3

WEEK TWO
Tuesday, April 11, 4:30, practice 4
Thursday, April 13, 4:30, practice 5
Saturday, April 15, 930 a.m. practice 6

WEEK THREE
Tuesday, April 25, 4:30, practice 7
Thursday, April 27, 4:30, practice 8
Saturday, April 29, 9:30, practice 9

WEEK FOUR
Tuesday, May 2, 4:30, practice 10
Thursday,May 4, 4:30, practice 11
Saturday, May 6, 9:30, practice 12

(The break between Week Two and Week Three allows the coaches the opportunity to do some spring recruiting.)

As always, there will be on-site coverage of each spring practice on BGA Premium.

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EXTRA POINT
Last year Mrs. BGA ordered an interactive puzzle game for Griff the Wonder Dog. I wondered how long it would take him to figure it out and the answer was not very long at all. I'm tempted to say he's living proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks, but I realized once again yesterday that I have it backward.

When Mrs. BGA and I were leaving yesterday to take in the Dartmouth men's hockey team's 1-0 win over Union, Griff made it a point to set himself up at the mud room door and stare at us as we pulled on our jackets and gloves. Noticing his forlorn look, I went back into the living room, retrieved his "Outward Hound" puzzle and filled each of the seven hidden compartments with a mini-cookie.

I then hurried out the door while he solved the puzzle to earn his rewards.

I used to think he stood at the door feeling disappointed that we were leaving without him, and I'm sure that's part of it. But there may be a little bit of an acting job going on proving an old dog and teach you new tricks.