From @DartmouthFTBL to the @nfl best wishes to @guidone_jake on his football journey! #TheWoods #commanders #ravens #ivyleague pic.twitter.com/x6Dq9BY48t
— Jennifer King (@JenniferKing5) August 24, 2023
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Crescent City Sports has a story headlined Final roster spots up for grabs in Saints preseason finale Sunday that includes this on a member of the Class of '20 hoping for his own NFL roster spot (LINK):
Defensive end Niko Lalos had one of the most eye-opening preseason performances in recent memory last week when he had three sacks and a pass defensed in the fourth quarter, finishing with a team-high five total tackles.
Lalos, who played at Dartmouth and is an alumnus of the XFL, said he had done “nothing in a live game like that” in his football career.
“Getting the opportunity to play is always fun,” he added, “and taking advantage of the opportunity is even more fun. I had a blast doing it.
“There aren’t many opportunities because there are so many guys, so making the most of it is definitely important.”
But it also includes this . . .
Lalos has a challenge to make the active roster on the defensive line.
There appear to be nine linemen assured of spots, which is the number the Saints had on the active roster at the end of last season. If the team were to squeeze a 10th lineman onto the roster, Lalos would be competing for it with Jack Heflin, Prince Emili, Jerron Cage and Kyle Phillips.
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Dartmouth social media has a whip-around look at yesterday's indoor practice. Warning: You may get dizzy. ;-)
Lets fly around today‼️#TheWoods pic.twitter.com/XuUC420U2G
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) August 25, 2023
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HERO Sports has a game-by-game prediction piece for New Hampshire football that includes this (LINK):
at Central Michigan
This looks like one of the more winnable FCS over FBS matchups.
Central Michigan plays Michigan State a week before this game, and it plays Notre Dame the week after. The Chippewas won’t want to overlook a UNH team that brings back a majority of its offensive and defensive production. Central Michigan went 4-8 last year and is in the 100s on ESPN’s FBS College Football Power Index.
HERO predicts UNH will beat FBS Central Michigan before hosting the Big Green on week later. Here's what it says about that intrastate matchup on Sept 16:
Dartmouth doesn’t have the firepower it once had, going 3-7 last year. Although this may be a closer game than expected with an FBS hangover.
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The Palm Beach Post writes about an 18-year-old tennis player who has trained with Roger Federer in Switzerland, warmed him up for the U.S. Open, and plays points with Coco Gauff. The story explains how that happens (LINK):
(Nico Godsick's father) Tony Godsick, a Manhattan native and former Dartmouth football player, was Federer’s agent since Nico was in diapers.
Tony Godsick is a '93, and the young tennis player's mom is former tennis pro and commentator Mary Joe Fernandez.
While the younger Godsick would certainly look good in Dartmouth's Boss Tennis Center, that's not going to happen. From the story:
Godsick is set to attend academic/tennis power Stanford in mid-September on scholarship after turning down Harvard, partly to stay in warm climes. “I didn’t want to practice indoors anymore like in Cleveland," Godsick said.
Green Alert Take: Hey, at least he turned down Harvard.
And oh by the way, his sister Isabella does attend Dartmouth and is on the women's lacrosse team. Find her bio HERE.
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I've often thought former Dartmouth quarterback Brian Mann '02 could have had a terrific career as a color commentator for televised football – something he excelled at in the games I heard him do. You can get a sense of why if you listen to the interview Mann, now the William & Mary athletic director, did on the university's Business & Leadership Podcast regarding The Business of College Football. Some good stuff there. Check it out HERE.
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A Football Scoop piece reminds us that the difference between the NFL and college football continues to shrink. Here's a headline from the Scoop:
Big Ten to require game day injury reports; The conference will require its teams to release injury reports no later than two hours before kickoff.
Read the story HERE.
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EXTRA POINT
We have a couple of hanging plant baskets here at our Vermont hillside that had gorgeous flowers when we brought them home. Sadly, they were not watered during our three-plus week trip out to see That Certain Dartmouth '14 in Bryce Canyon National Park and when we saw them upon returning home almost gave them up for dead. As a last resort Mrs. BGA culled out everything that was brown, leaving just a few lonely green strands, and we hoped for the best.
The good news is that with regular watering and feeding the plants came back and are overflowing their baskets. Perhaps because I overfed them, while the greenery came back the flowers themselves have taken a while to catch up. Only in the past several weeks have we finally had some blossoms.
The bad news is with summer winding down I know the hanging baskets are going to wither away before the flowers reach their peak again.
Here's my question: If the hanging baskets have to stop growing, why won't my lawn stop growing? Puhleeze!
