Not the news the best news, but good news nonetheless for two – and maybe three – former Dartmouth standouts.
Corner Isaiah Johnson, who played for two years as a grad transfer at Syracuse after collecting his Dartmouth degree, had a strong preseason with the Miami Dolphins and has been signed to the team's practice squad after being cut Tuesday. (LINK)
Defensive end Niko Lalos, whose bid to make the New Orleans Saints' 53-man roster took a hit on Tuesday, is returning to the team's practice squad for the third year. (LINK)
And I have no idea if this is anything more than someone tossing out a name but a Fansided columnist would like to see the Pittsburgh Steelers sign offensive tackle Matt Kaskey after the former Big Green lineman was released by the Los Angeles Rams. (LINK)
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There's no official depth chart on the Rice site but Sportskeeda, which aggregates two-deeps, has grad transfer Charlie Looes starting at defensive end for the Owls. Perhaps not coincidentally, the D-line coach at Rice is former Dartmouth assistant Cedric Calhoun.
Sportskeeda has Dartmouth product Shane Cokes starting again up front for Colorado in tonight's nationally televised game against North Dakota State, and former Big Green lineman Ethan Sipe as the backup center for the Virginia opener. Lots more Dartmouth grads and former Ivy Leaguers starting all over the FBS.
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🏈 @DartmouthFTBL Preseason Camp Update: Running Backs#TheWoods🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/hoVu1H4cIN
— Dartmouth Athletics (@dartmouthsports) August 28, 2024
Green Alert Take: All good but I've said it before and I'll say it again. Please name names. It's great to hear that the guys work hard and love each other but I want to know who has stepped up, who has the quick twitch, who refuses to go down, who is the hardest worker, etc.
Green Alert Take II: Fortunately, Sammy McCorkle has inherited a little of the "name names" gene from Buddy Teevens. Check BGA Overtime in the next day or two to learn a little more about this year's personnel.
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SFGate did it again.
Dartmouth pops up in a story about the Merrimack schedule in this paragraph (LINK):
Merrimack's toughest matchups this season are coming against Fordham, Colgate, Dartmouth, and Stonehill. However, based on last year's win totals, the toughest opponent on the schedule will be Air Force (eight wins last season).
That sentence was produced by Data Skribe, which describes itself this way:
Data Skrive is a technology company that takes human-written and -edited content, and then uses AI to assemble it into original sports and entertainment articles
Green Alert Take: Re-read the sentence mentioning Dartmouth again. This is what happens when you have AI write for you. Would a human being rely on the number of wins to determine that Air Force is the toughest opponent on the Merrimack schedule? If Stonehill had won eight games and Air Force had won seven would the AI have defaulted to Stonehill as being the iron of the schedule? I wouldn't be surprised.
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Miami (Ohio) head coach Chuck Martin, quoted in a FootballScoop story (LINK):
"I don't want iPads. In the old days you actually had to coach. You had to watch the action, figure out what was going on and then go make adjustments."
And . . .
"You used to have to make in-game adjustments, but now the iPad will make them for you. Pretty soon there will be robots on the sidelines and you won't even have to hire anyone."
Green Alert Take: Say hello to the MVP. Robots are already on the sidelines and on the field – during Dartmouth practices.
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EXTRA POINT
Before leaving the Asbury Park boardwalk yesterday Mrs. BGA and I spotted an arcade and decided to do what we like to do when we are at the shore or a lake. We headed inside to pop a few quarters into side-by-side Skee-Ball machines and see who could rack up the highest score. (My secret sauce is rolling the ball at a consistent speed every time off the same place on the side wall. It works!) I think it was last year when we stumbled across am arcade where the games were just a dime apiece and we played until we had a couple of huge ribbons of tickets ,which we then gave to a little boy and girl to spend as they pleased. Seeing wide eyes and smiles when we handed them the tickets was worth the price of admission. But I digress.
We were going to play only a game apiece at Asbury Park because we still had a long way to drive home.
We walked into the arcade and were surprised to see clerk alongside a turnstile to get into the play area. To our astonishment, the arcade had gone to a fixed-price admission model. They were charging $17.50 for an hour of play, $20 for up to six hours and $25 for an all-day pass. Heck, you had to pay $5 just to get through the turnstile and watch. (As an aside, can you imagine spending six hours in one of those places???)
Mrs. BGA told the attendant we just wanted to play one game of Skee-Ball and he looked at her like she was from another planet and sent us on our way.
Do you remember the line from Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb? It goes like this:
“Mandrake, do you realize that in addition to fluoridating water, why, there are studies underway to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, ice cream? Ice cream, Mandrake, children’s ice cream?”
I felt like shouting out, "Mandrake, do you realize what they've done to arcades? Skee-Ball, Mandrake, children's Skee-Ball?"
