OK fans, this is an abbreviated drinking game because it’s not like we have a lot of history with SJSU.  So, if the announcers do or say any of the following, you should do what I write!

1.  Mentions the song “The Way to San Jose” in any way ==> DRINK A SHOT.  TAP YOUR IPAD IN HONOR OF SILICON VALLEY.  LOOK TO HEAVEN AND POINT TO STEVE JOBS.

2.  Talks about how Navy’s offense isn’t built for 3rd and 20 (like anybody’s offense is built for that) ==> DRINK SOMETHING.  MAKE LIP FLAPPING RASPBERRY SOUND.  CALL YOUR MOTHER.  SHE LOVES YOU.

3.  Talks about how Navy’s offense isn’t a “quick strike offense” ==> REPEAT #2 TWICE EXCEPT FOR THE CALL YOUR MOTHER PART.

4.   Shows Navy’s turnover margin for year ==> DRY HEAVE. DRINK.  SAY “WELL, THAT’S LEGIT.”

5.  Catch all: any service academy related cliche that deals with discipline, academics, unnecessary suffering, or lack of real college life ==>  DRINK. THINK TO YOURSELF “WOW, WHAT WAS I THINKING?”  THEN, FOR NO REASON, STAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM AT PARADE REST.

For this weekend’s game, all Navy fans are encouraged to do the following when the announcers say or do the following:

1.  Penn State players overcoming adversity. ==>  Drink two sips of beer and eat a Tostito chip. Say hi to your child or wife or whoever.

2.  “They have so much pride in their school (Navy or Penn State).”  ==> Drain your drink, eat Tostitos and use the head.  Soothingly sing “Troy Calhounnnnnnnn protects his players from the media swoonnnnnnnnn” while using the head.

3.  “There’s no quit in these Midshipmen! They play all 60 minutes.”  ==> Slap yourself, call your Grandma, and do a shot of Jack Daniels.

4.  “Navy’s defensive line is outweighed by an average of 30 lbs!”  ==> Do 10 pushups, drink half a beer, make grunting sound.

5.  Mentions Joe Paterno’s legacy. ==> Roll eyes, sigh, say “whatever!” really loud, and of course – take a drink.

6.  Mispronounces Ken Niumatalolo’s name.  ==> Shake head with an attitude, drunk text your neighbor and drink.

7.  Mentions that the student body was really hard on the PSU kicker last week.  ==> One “waaa”, two “deal with its”, and three gulps buddy.

Well, it is June and there is not much to talk about right now. The Mids are doing summer cruises, Marine Corps training (hoorah!), taking some leave or taking summer classes. So news out of “The Yard” is pretty slow. Even Scott Strasemeier, Navy’s Sports Information Director, was rumored to have been pacing Ricketts Hall muttering “I hope something happens this month or else I’ll be forced to take leave!” Unfortunately, there still isn’t much happening. But we do have an ESPN article that is sort of related to our world.

Yesterday, Mitch Sherman posted an ESPN article on the Cost of Recruiting. It’s a short piece but it’s worth reading. Overall, it’s pretty much what you’d expect. With a few exceptions (e.g., Boise State), the biggest baddest FBS schools generally spend the most on recruiting. No shock there.

What might shock the average college football fan is the amount Army ($512,000) and Air Force ($336,000) spent on recruiting. Navy did not provide a number. That’s some pretty hefty spending on first glance. Of course, what many people don’t realize is that the service academies are recruiting nationwide. Take a look at the big school on any given Saturday and you’ll see that their teams are stocked with local kids. Georgia has a lot of kids from Georgia; LSU has a lot of kids from Louisiana; Florida has a lot of kids from Florida. You get the point. The service academies don’t have a regional focus and they shouldn’t; but nationwide recruiting costs a lot of money if you want to do a good job and fight for a limited pool of athletes that are interested in playing FBS football and also serve as military officers. Travel expenses are a major factor. Many service members who read this blog know that a two week cross country temporary additional duty (TAD) trip can cost $5,000 when you include airfare, hotels, rental car, per diem, et al. Now, start applying these costs to multiple football coaches and multiple trips and you can see how costly recruiting can get.  That’s just the travel budget.  We’re not even talking about all the other expenses like those shiny brochures.

Two other things jumped out at me:

-Tennessee is spending almost $1.5 million on recruiting. That’s $500K more than Alabama and it leads all other programs that submitted data. Wow. That’s saying something. What that’s saying is anyone’s guess. Tennessee has had a difficult time since Phil Fulmer stepped down as head coach in 2008. So you’d expect some type of recruiting emphasis, but I don’t know how you justify that recruiting budget given that Tennessee’s season ticket sales are slumping along with the football team.

-Georgia Tech is spending $883K on recruiting, which is $260K more than its arch rival Georgia. I have no idea what accounts for this, but I have a feeling Coach Paul Johnson is spending more money to look for the type of players that fit his spread option offense. Perhaps our Rambling Wreck readers can comment below.

My name is Tony and I study economics. The last time I studied economics was yesterday. I started studying economics in 2002 and I haven’t stopped since. Oh, wait, this is the wrong forum for that speech. My fault.

MikeTBD, way back in May 2010, wrote a pretty devastating and hilarious retort to a certain USNA English Professor. For the record, it was a very witty put down and it was a needed comeuppance for this particular professor. I am not going to rehash any of that here, but what caught my eye was when MikeTBD mentioned the so-called “Flutie Effect”. For those that don’t know, the Flutie Effect refers to the phenomenon of having a successful college sports team increase the exposure and prominence of a university. It is named after Boston College’s QB Doug Flutie whose game winning Hail Mary pass in the 1984 game against the University of Miami allegedly played a large role in the school’s increased applications the following year.

This got me thinking about the quality aspect of the Flutie Effect and not simply the quantity. One of the criticisms offered about the Flutie Effect is that it doesn’t attract smarter students and therefore it’s not all that useful for a college. “Hey, the school just gets more applications from easily impressionable low quality students” goes the argument. There is data in the study to support that thesis. BUT, and this is a big BUT, the study also found that all SAT subgroups (900 and below, 901-1090, an 1100+) increased as well. I will now break down, in detail, the econometrics used to generate these findings. I’m just kidding. I wouldn’t do that to you dear reader. The study also found the following (pages 19-20):

The results indicate that sports success increases application rates for all three SAT subgroups. However, the lower SAT scoring students (less than 900) respond to sports success by about twice as much as the higher SAT scoring students. These results suggest that schools that have athletic success are not receiving extra applications solely from low performing students and greatly strengthen the SAT results derived from the Peterson’s data [emphasis added]. It appears that athletic success does indeed present an opportunity to schools to be either more selective in their admission standards or enroll more students while keeping a fixed level of student quality.

Using two unique and comprehensive datasets in conjunction with an econometric design that controls for the unobservable features of schools, we find that football and basketball success increase the quantity of applications to a school, with estimates ranging from 2-8% for the top 20 football schools and the top 16 basketball schools each year. We also provide evidence that the extra applications are composed of students with both low and high SAT scores. Additional evidence that we present suggests that schools use these extra applications to both increase student quality and increase enrollment size. There is no evidence that schools adjust tuition levels in response to receiving these extra applications.

Why is this important Salty? Hey, thanks for asking. It’s important because the admissions offices are getting more qualified applicants. Even if just 10% of the excess (read: Flutie effect) applicants are from super smart kids, then that is a win for the university. Sure, the admissions staff is going to have to spend time on lesser quality kids too. But those applicants are normally screened out pretty quickly. A kid with a 700 SAT (math+verbal) who applies to Stanford because of Andrew Luck isn’t going to garner much attention from the admissions committee (unless he kills or captures Joseph Kony). So, the admissions office might have a problem on its hands with more applications, but it’s a good problem to have based on the data.

Major sports programs like football and basketball create a positive externality (in economic jargon) for most schools. I’m sure that goes for nearly all schools. I doubt that USNA is an exception.

Here’s the link to the study by the Pope brothers: http://economics.byu.edu/Documents/Jaren%20Pope/pope_pope_2007_sports2web.pdf

For those who follow Navy Football religiously, the name Phil Emery brings back good memories.  From 1991 to 1998, Coach Emery served as the strength & conditioning coach for Navy football.  When his former players think of him, it is the toughness, dedication, and commitment that stand out. The stereotypical strength & conditioning coach is a big man with a no nonsense attitude who pushes players beyond their perceived performance limits. Phil Emery is that and a lot more.  He brought continuity and leadership to the team. LtCol Brian Grana USMC, who played Navy football in the 1990s and trained under Phil Emery, had this to say:

“While we were all still figuring out how to be Midshipmen and future Navy and Marine Corps Officers, Phil “Satan” Emery made us men.  He is easily one of the most influential people I have ever come across – and this is not hyperbole.”

John Feinstein made Phil Emery famous in his 1996 book Army-Navy: A Civil War. Emery earned the nickname Satan by the Navy football players because of his meticulous attention to detail, brutal workouts, and almost superman-like commitment to his duties. [Editor’s note: a quick Google search of “Phil Emery and Satan” yields over 7.7 million hits].  One story from Feinstein’s book really stands out.

One winter morning, an ice storm had completely shut down the eastern seaboard. Since Emery lived outside of Annapolis, the players arrived for their 5:30 AM running and conditioning session fully convinced they would end up with a morning off. But as they walked through the darkness to Ricketts Hall, they saw a lone car sitting in the parking lot waiting for them—Emery’s. Only the devil himself could have made it there before dawn—and taken such pleasure in being there on a totally miserable morning.

After leaving USNA in 1998, Emery’s career continued to flourish.  He scouted a total of 14 seasons for the Bears, Falcons and Chiefs respectively. He earned great admiration and respect around the NFL much the way he did at USNA.

All that hard work led to the job of a lifetime.  On January 28, Phil Emery was named the General Manager for the Chicago Bears.  He has his work cut out for him. The Bears are coming off a disappointing 8-8 season with off the field drama and contract disputes. But if any man is capable of handling such issues, it’s Phil Emery.