Author: Mike

Football Stuff

On By MikeIn army, bowls, going pro, Ken Niumatalolo, navy football6 Comments

The media reports from Ken Niumatalolo’s spring press conference are coming in, and you may get confused by some of the headlines. The Post says, “Spring Practice Brings Big Changes for Navy.” The Sun says, “Change for change’s sake senseless to Niumatalolo.” Glad we got that cleared up! Fortunately, Christian Swezey and Peter Schmuck were talking about different things.

Schmuck was talking about Coach Niumatalolo’s overall coaching philosophy, while Swezey’s article focuses mostly on players There are plenty of changes on the depth chart as spring practice starts. Let’s start at center, which Coach called “our main concern offensively.” Swezey says:

Senior Ricky Moore (Northern) was listed as the starting center when Navy opened spring football practice yesterday, but if the coaches have their way, he won’t stay there long. Coach Ken Niumatalolo said he would prefer to use Moore as a starting tackle. For that to happen, one of the backup centers needs to have a good spring.

The most intriguing candidate is Andy Lark, a 6-foot, 290-pound junior. He is one of the strongest players on the team but spent last year as a reserve nose guard. He did not play as a freshman after he broke his leg.Niumatalolo said Lark is too talented to remain as the third-string nose guard “and get 10 reps a game.”

Coach Niumatalolo was asked by Swezey why Ricky Moore was moved to center, and the first thing he said was “For Air Force.” Then he got into a little more detail. Air Force switched to a 3-4 last year, and in doing so presented an odd (3 or 5-man) front. Notre Dame lined up the same way. In 3 or 5-man fronts, the nose guard is usually lined up in a 0 or 1-technique, meaning that they are lined up either directly over the center, or over his outside shoulder. The one-on-one matchup between the center and the nose guard can be a mismatch, since nose guards are typically… well, huge. I think it took a toll on Antron Harper last year, although I have nothing to back that up other than what I think I saw. Moore is 6-4, 283. Andy Lark is built like a bowling ball at 6-0, 290, and was described by coach Niumat as “maybe the strongest player on the team.” In contrast, Harper was once called the “smallest offensive lineman in I-A” earlier in his career by the SID staff. The added emphasis on size and strength at the center position is an interesting story to follow this spring.

Coach Niumatalolo also mentioned Jarod Bryant’s move to slotback. He’ll still be the #2 quarterback, but “Jarod is too talented to sit on the bench… He’s special with the football in his hands.” That’s also why Bryant will get a shot at returning kicks. Because Reggie Campbell was so effective in the return game last year, finding a replacement is another big priority. Backup fullback is another priority, and Niumat once again mentioned Devan Clark as someone he’s looking to transition from workout star to on-field performer.

When asked about the importance of putting his stamp on the program, Coach Niumatalolo tossed ego aside and said he doesn’t worry about that. “I think the core of the practice will stay the same,” he said. “I just want to make sure I do what’s right for the Program. I don’t care whose idea it was.” But while making his own mark isn’t a priority, the new head coach was very enthusiastic about the “infusion of fresh ideas” from his new assistant coaches. Along those lines, I thought one of Niumat’s most interesting comments came when talking about his offensive philosophy. He stated that he learned his Xs & Os from Paul Johnson, and the option game will look pretty much the same. But “there might be a few changes in the passing game. Not that we’re going to throw the ball more, but just some different ideas.” Coach Niumat credits these ideas to newcomers like Joe DuPaix and Ashley Ingram. One more thing to watch leading up to the spring game.

Anyway, the usual outlets did a great job recapping the press conference:

Capital
GoMids.com
Examiner
Times Blog

Overall, it’s clear that Coach Niumatalolo isn’t quite as comfortable behind the podium as Coach Johnson, but that will probably come with time. There was no hiding his enthusiasm, though; on the topic of the Poinsettia Bowl, he commented, “I’m still pissed that we lost.” He was clearly anxious to get started on the field. So am I.

Moving right along…

Bowl game update: The Congressional Bowl is up for NCAA approval next month, and without it, Navy might have a hard time finding a postseason home. That’s because, as you already know, existing bowls all have conference affiliations. But Chet has agreed to send the Mids to Washington pending the game’s approval, which hinges on finding an opponent. Bill Wagner gets into good detail.

Elsewhere in the land of Service* Academy football: Army football practices will be closed this spring, according to this blog entry at the Times Herald-Record. We already kind of figured that. I just wanted to compare this entry to what I said on the subject a couple weeks ago:

Him: A few weeks ago, Brock said he wanted to keep the offense a secret for as long as possible. The only people Brock is hiding the offense from is the Temple football team, Army’s first opponent in 2008. Once Army plays Temple, the big secret would be out. My job is to sniff out the offense before spring practices ends.

Me: You mean “opponent,” Stan, because as soon as you play your first game, everyone’s going to know what your offense looks like. What, exactly, is he hoping to accomplish? To try to pull a fast one on Temple? It isn’t like there won’t be reports all over the internet and in the papers anyway once practice starts.

Him: This isn’t the best move for Brock. Figure he would want as much publicity on his team as possible following its 11th straight losing season in 2007.

Me: Coach Brock needs to be telling anyone who will listen all about the new offense. Give downtrodden Army fans something to be excited about. Generate a little buzz about the the program. This is one of those times when the AD should pull the coach aside, tell him “tough luck,” and start a marketing campaign all about the new-look Army football team. 

I guess someone reads this blog after all. That’s OK. Considering that half of my stuff is just snarky comments on other people’s work, I’m not one to talk TOO much about originality…

*Unless the NFL wants you.

Speaking of the asterisk: It didn’t take long for someone to say “wait a minute…” about Army’s new Alternative “Service” Option. This blogger at the South Bend Tribune sees the program for what it is:

Campbell’s opportunity comes from a policy implemented in 2005 “that releases cadets from their five-year active duty commitment if they have ‘unique talents and abilities.’” That conjures images of cadets pedaling unicycles while spinning plates on their noses. “Look, Sarge, no hands!”

The idea is to grant exemptions for graduates who “participate in activities with potential recruiting or public affairs benefit to the Army.”

Recruiting for the battlefield or the football field?

Good question. We all know the answer. Some of you are probably thinking, “yeah, but it’s just some guy with the South Bend Tribune. Who cares?” Do you really think that this guy is the only one who’s going to notice? You haven’t heard the end of this. Not by a longshot. The Army is not going to generate “positive PR” by allowing West Point graduates to skirt their commitment for professional sports.

Lax Happenings

On By MikeIn navy lacrosseLeave a comment

It was business as usual in the Patriot League on Sunday afternoon as Navy took down Colgate, 8-3. Many people– including me– felt that this might be the season where the Patriot League finally catches up to Navy. The Mids have played lacrosse in the Patriot League for four years, and they’ve won four league titles. But with so many players graduating last year, some felt that Bucknell and Colgate were poised to give Navy a run for its money. Maybe they will, but they’ll have to wait until the league tournament to do it. The Colgate win followed a 4-3 overtime win over Bucknell (that was played in a monsoon). With Army plugging along and looking improved over last year, it appears that the Patriot League will come down to the two service academies once again.

Postgame stream of consciousness:

– Navy’s defense is ridiculous. The Mids have given up only 3 goals in each of the last 4 games and have held their opponents to 5 goals or less in 7 games. Colgate managed only 14 shots through 3 quarters before getting a little more desperate in the 4th.

– The CBS College Sports coverage was excellent.

– As good as it was, though, Paul Carcaterra seemed hell-bent on creating a goalie controversy. In fairness, so did Tommy Phelan with his 13 saves. Before you jump on that bandwagon, though, remember that Matt Coughlin is in the middle of a great season himself. You guys can’t possibly be THAT fickle, can you?

– Some describe Navy’s offense as “deliberate.” We better hope so, because any flaws will be exposed by Georgetown on Saturday. The Hoyas might finally be rising to meet expectations after beating #1 Duke.

Anyway, if you missed the Colgate game, here are some highlights:

And if you wonder what lacrosse looks like with a big ol’ star at midfield, click here.

By the way… Don’t miss Christian Swezey’s new lacrosse blog at the Post, The Fastest Blog on 2 Feet. If you don’t read it, you won’t be the first to know that Richie Meade hasn’t made a decision on his starting goalie yet. Swezey knows his lacrosse, and you can’t afford not to read his blog.

That’s it for now. Spring football practice started today, and I’ll be dissecting Ken Niumatalolo’s press conference later on. Things are picking up for Navy fans!

Loose Change, 3/21/08

On By MikeIn lacrosse, NAPS, navy basketball, navy sports3 Comments

I’m even mailing it in on my weekly links. Holy crap I suck…

  • Here’s a Q&A with Lehigh’s women’s lacrosse coach, who seems to hold the upstart Navy team in fairly high regard.
  • The Richmond Times-Dispatch had a nice little article about Chris Harris.
  • A wrestler at NAPS, Aaron Kalil, won a national title.
  • Speaking of wrestling, three Navy wrestlers have advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.
  • Inside Lacrosse has their analysis of Navy lacrosse’s 4-3 OT win over Bucknell here. One point here… Sean Burns says, “I don’t know exactly how a team that has made four straight NCAA tournaments and came into the season ranked No. 9 in the country can play the ‘no respect’ card, but Navy seems to be doing just that in ’08.” He then follows that up with a heading of, “Patriot League: no longer Navy’s playground.” Gee, I wonder where Navy’s getting that idea?
  • And in non-sports news, some duty driver is probably in a lot of trouble right now.

Again, I apologize for my recent funk. One day I hope to write something worth reading.

Silence Isn’t Always Golden

On By MikeIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

There’s all kinds of stuff going on in the Navy sports world, and I’ve barely said a word this week. I apologize. Mitch Harris is belting out home runs, the women’s lacrosse team held on to win their Patriot League opener against Holy Cross, the men’s lax team absolutely crushed Holy Cross in a tune up for this afternoon’s huge game against Bucknell, the football spring prospectus was released, Coach Niumat was on the Magazine show, and the first football depth chart was posted. And what have I had to say about it? “…….”

Hopefully inspiration will strike soon and I’ll have something brilliant to say, but in the meantime I’ll just mooch off of other people’s work. Christian Swezey breaks down this afternoon’s Bucknell game here.

Recruiting Quickie

On By MikeIn navy football, recruiting1 Comment

Kyle Widhalm is a lineman from Carrollton, Texas that we have listed on our big recruit board, but without any background info/links. Until now, anyway, thanks to an e-mail I received over the weekend. This is a press release that was sent to the Dallas Morning News, but didn’t make it in (presumably because it was already after signing day):

From:  Coach Bob Giesey, Athletic Director & Head Football Coach

Re:  Kyle Widhalm, Center/Defensive Tackle going to the Naval Academy

Kyle Widhalm from American Heritage Academy has signed a letter of intent to attend the US Naval Academy.  Kyle is the son of Chuck & Carol Widhalm of Fairview, Texas.  While at Carrollton’s American Heritage Academy, Kyle has distinguished himself as a top academic student athlete. Along with football he is an outstanding shot putter and discus thrower in Track. Kyle made All District, All State and was a member of the North “Blue” DFW All Private School All Star Football Team. “Kyle Widhalm is one of the best offensive and defensive lineman we have had in 10 years of AHA football which includes many outstanding players”, says Bob Giesey.  “There has been no football player at AHA every work harder and been more of a team player than Kyle Widhalm”.  Kyle is a superior student and top citizen and I predict someday he will captain the Navy team. He was the “rock” of our championship team this past season and he will be hard to replace”. Robert McAllister and Charles Carter were his coaches this past season and as they have said on more than one occasion, “it’s a pleasure to be with Kyle every day”. Kyle is a tremendous leader and role model for our young players and it is our hope his legacy will continue with other players both on and off the field.

So there you go. One less mystery. Congrats to Kyle and his family, who are seen here along with his coaches:

Loose Change 3/14/08

On By MikeIn naval academy, navy basketball, navy football, navy lacrosse, navy sports, patriot league6 Comments

Odds & ends you may have missed over the past week:

  • Did I mention my March of Dimes walk?
  • Ken Niumatalolo added one more assistant to his coaching staff, hiring former Harvard wide receivers coach Mike Judge to be the new fullbacks coach. The announcement was a bit of a surprise, as Ivin Jasper was originally supposed to coach both the quarterbacks and the fullbacks. I don’t know what changed there.
  • It’s time for this year’s College Football Hall of Fame elections, and once again Wayne Hardin is on the ballot. You may be interested to know that Pat Tillman is as well. Chet Moeller, unfortunately, is not.
  • The Mid-Majority listed its picks for conference award winners. The blog agrees with the Patriot League’s pick for Player of the Year in Greg Sprink, but endorsed Jeff Jones for the coaching honors.
  • It’s spring break at USNA, and the women’s soccer team is spending it in Spain.
  • Spring break also means a trip for the lacrosse team, and for the second straight year they’ll be heading to Dallas. Coming off their best performance of the season against Lehigh, the Mids will look to keep their Patriot League momentum rolling tomorrow when they play Holy Cross at Texas Stadium. A little bit more on the event here. I liked it better when the team went to Orlando on spring break, but I’m biased.
  • Yale Eckert tossed a one-hitter against Iona. And they use aluminum bats!
  • There was a piece in the Washington Times about the Foundation.
  • Matt DaSilva at Lacrosse Magazine ponders whether the Navy women’s lacrosse team will be 16-0 at the end of April. We will find out just how good these Mids are when they take on defending Patriot League champs Holy Cross this weekend.
  • Mike Preston, who is quickly becoming a favorite of mine, discusses how much of a crock it was for the NCAA to have given an extra year of eligibility to last year’s Duke lacrosse seniors.
  • And finally, Mansfield certainly seems to be generating a lot of hoopla for their new sprint football team. But to give you a feel for the current state of sprint football, we have this:

    Steve McCloskey, Mansfield’s director of athletic operations and information, explained that the CSFL season generally includes seven or eight games, and there are no playoffs. The Mountaineers will not compete against Army and Navy this season as the players there “are in training year-round. Their programs are elevated,” McCloskey said.

    He added that the university and the CSFL mutually agreed to give the Mountaineers two years to get ready for the service academies, but Mansfield could play Army and Navy as soon as next season if the Mountaineers think they’re ready.

    It takes two years just to get ready to play the service academies? Come on, it’s not like they’ll do any worse than Princeton. (Oh, and pay no attention to the part in the article that says Cornell won the league this year).

Clubber Gets a New Deal (and other stuff)

On By MikeIn army, navy basketball, navy football10 Comments

Yessir, Billy Lange is now signed through 2012-2013. Some might have described Coach Lange’s hiring as “Gladchuk’s Folly” a few years ago, but he has now produced a winning season, and for that our esteemed coach has been rewarded. Some of you might feel that one season of mild success isn’t enough to warrant a 5-year extension, but I say this is a good move. Practically speaking, it’s important for recruiting purposes. Coach Lange was heading into the final year of his contract. It’s hard to convince anyone of the stability of your program when it isn’t even contractually assured that you’ll be around the next season. Still, Navy fans don’t want another Charlie Weatherbie situation. Weatherbie used his success in 1996 to sign a 10-year contract, but the football program tanked soon afterwards. Navy was stuck paying their former coach for 5 years after he was fired. Naturally, we don’t want the same situation with our basketball coach. But the terms of the contract haven’t been released, so we don’t really know if we’ll be stuck should things go south. (Besides, we already were in that situation with our basketball coach. Don DeVoe was still on the payroll last year.)

I don’t think that we need to worry about that, anyway. Navy basketball has, in my opinion, turned the corner. Over the last few years, Navy wins came when the team had some abnormally high 3-point percentage. They seemed almost flukish. That wasn’t the case this year, especially once the Patriot League season started. The Mids hit 3-pointers at times, but in other games they won by generating steals and getting to the free throw line. By midseason, there was more to this team than just long-range shooting. The team and the coach matured before our eyes. By the time we lost to Howard, I had finally jumped off the Billy Lange bandwagon. I was wrong. I am confident that this year wasn’t a fluke.

Sneaky! Stan Brock has a new offense, but don’t tell anybody! The Army head coach revealed that the coaches’ “retreat” was over, and a new offense is at hand. Just what that offense consists of, he isn’t saying:

“I’m trying to keep it wrapped up for as long as I can,” Brock said. “As long as I do, my opponents don’t know what we are running.”

You mean “opponent,” Stan, because as soon as you play your first game, everyone’s going to know what your offense looks like. What, exactly, is he hoping to accomplish? To try to pull a fast one on Temple? It isn’t like there won’t be reports all over the internet and in the papers anyway once practice starts.What a gong show. Coach Brock needs to be telling anyone who will listen all about the new offense. Give downtrodden Army fans something to be excited about. Generate a little buzz about the the program. This is one of those times when the AD should pull the coach aside, tell him “tough luck,” and start a marketing campaign all about the new-look Army football team. You might gain yourself an advantage for the first half of your season opener, Coach, but that’s hardly worth it in the big picture.

Scheduling update: Mid-American Conference schedules have been released, and two of Navy’s games against MAC opponents have been moved to weeknights. The Ball State game was moved ahead to a Thursday Friday night and will be shown on ESPN. Navy’s trip to Northern Illinois was moved back a couple of days and will now be played on Tuesday night and shown on ESPN2. Ah, November night games in Illinois. Toasty! Anyway, it will be nice to have a Navy game going on in the background of one of ESPN’s local eatery reports and midweek previews of BCS conference games to be played over the weekend.

Shameless solicitation: Good news for people in a generous mood, but unsure of what to do with all of that good will! You can support my March of Dimes walk!

Spring Roster

On By MikeIn navy football6 Comments

The updated football roster for spring practice is out, and it’s sure to create a buzz. There are some high-profile happenings:

  • Jarod Bryant is listed at both QB and slotback.
  • Corey Johnson is listed at OLB, which he was playing at the end of last year. Ditto for Joe Taylor. Both players began last season at safety.
  • Jeff Deliz and Greg Sudderth are both back and on the roster, joining Johnson. Clint Sovie is listed as a junior.
  • Emmett Merchant is now a slotback.
  • Andy Lark and Penetekoso Peau have both moved from the defensive line to center. Sander Gossard, who cracked the depth chart at center last year, is listed as a tackle.
  • Matt Nechak was listed as a linebacker last year even though he played mostly defensive end. He is listed as a DE now.

That’s what I noticed with a quick glance. I haven’t gone back to compare last year’s roster yet. The moves from defense to offense are interesting, considering their respective performances last season. One would think that the defense couldn’t afford to lose anybody, especially along the line. Everyone figured that center was going to be the biggest question on offense going into the spring; moving Lark and Peau over doesn’t answer that question as much as it raises others. Merchant’s move probably has less significance; with Deliz, Middleton, Buffin, and King all returning, the secondary is going to be a dogfight.

Jarod Bryant’s new role will probably get a lot of you talking. QB/SB double duty has a precedent; our very own Ivin Jasper started at A-back while holding down the #2 QB spot at Hawaii.

Loose Change 3/7/08

On By MikeIn air farce, army, bowls, Ken Niumatalolo, Kyle Eckel, lacrosse, navy basketball, navy football, navy sports, Paul Johnson8 Comments

Odds & ends you may have missed over the past week:

  • Spring football practice is beginning around the country, and ESPN.com has three sentences on Navy. You may not have heard, but we have a new head coach!
  • Sadly, Tom Marryott will not be returning next year as the women’s basketball coach. Given the decline of the program since its mid-’90s heyday, this news isn’t much of a surprise. But the inevitablility doesn’t make it any less depressing. The son of a former superintendent, Marryott has been a part of the Navy family his entire life. Marryott was an assistant with the men’s program when he took over the women’s team on an interim basis following the sudden resignation of Joe Sanchez five years ago. After showing some promise in that interim season, Chet awarded Marryott the permanent gig. But the team never seemed to gather much momentum, even in a conference that, frankly, isn’t very good. The rise of the Army program probably didn’t help matters. It’s a shame that things didn’t work out. I think Navy fans everywhere wish Coach Marryott all the best in the future. His staff remains in place for now. We anxiously await word on a new coach!
  • This has been making the rounds in the national news, but since schools selling their souls for athletic success has been a hot topic on this blog, I thought I’d mention it here. Harvard is now under the microscope.
  • In the “no-brainer” category, David Robinson has been nominated for the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.
  • Bad news keeps pouring in for the Air Force basketball program as freshman Mark Summerfield has left the Academy. Nothing sinister about this one, though. The kid just decided the military wasn’t for him. It happens.
  • Remember the Patriot Bowl? The game that was supposed to be between a service academy and a MAC school, held in Cleveland each year as part of a festival of military demonstrations and whatnot? Well, it’s still happening. Just without a service academy.
  • Remember the AAFL? The new professional football league centered around major college football hubs? There were reports of that league’s demise yesterday, although those appear to have been a little premature. But the league is facing some problems right now, and may have to postpone their inaugural season until 2009.
  • Army’s home opener against Temple has been moved to Friday night. I don’t care any more than you do, but there was a line in the press release that I found interesting:

    It will mark the only non-Saturday football game of the year for the Black Knights, home or away. Each of the Army’s remaining 11 contests, including all five home games, will remain on Saturday. Kickoff times for all of those games will be announced later in the year.

    I thought that part of Army’s ESPN contract was that they would play 1-2 games per year on either ESPN or ESPN2. That means Thursday or Friday night, since ESPN usually leaves their Saturdays free for BCS-conference games. Does this mean that Army could be geting a game on the Mothership on an actual Saturday? OK, so maybe that wasn’t really interesting either.

  • The women’s lacrosse team won again. This time they pitched a shutout, beating St. Francis (PA) 24-0 in a game that was originally supposed to be the season opener. Maybe the right baseball analogy would be a perfect game, since the Mids prevented the hapless Red Flash from even taking a shot. OK, now this is getting ridiculous. Navy’s newest varsity team has a slightly more interesting matchup tomorrow with fellow Division I newcomer Cincinnati, followed by what will probably be another snoozer on Sunday against St. Mary’s. Fortunately, Patriot League play starts next weekend, with Holy Cross coming to town.
  • Not sports related, but now mids can do part of their summer cruise at a U.S. Embassy? Really? How cool is that?
  • Hold your nose before you read this love-fest for Air Force coaches. It’s nothing that you’d otherwise care about, but it includes a Paul Johnson quote.
  • ESPN.com says, “Bucknell senior John Griffin tapped into all his experience to hit a 40-footer to beat Navy.” Experience? Do they practice that shot at Bucknell or something? I guess “John Griffin gets lucky” isn’t as good of a read. Anyway, our friend Gary Lambrecht weighs in on Navy basketball, too.
  • And finally… The first one was so massive, it changed my life forever. And now it’s happening again! I’m talking, of course, about the Sale of the Century, the greatest idea in the history of human thought. Last time, there were all kinds of jerseys, sweatshirts, t-shirts, duffel bags, ballcaps, and enough equipment to outfit a small lacrosse league. This time, if the retired Under Armour lax jerseys are on sale, there may have to be contests of strength and skill just to determine who gets the chance to buy them. The SOTC will be held before the Hopkins game. The weekend’s fun actually begins the night before with the annual Blue & Gold spring football game. GoMids.com is sponsoring a tailgater before the game, sponsored by Red Hot & Blue. David Ausiello is coordinating the event, and has announced that any proceeds will go to the Fallyn Zembiec Educational Fund:

    GOMIDS.COM TO HOST SPRING GAME TAILGATER

    All Proceeds to Benefit Education Fund for Daughter of Former Navy Wrestler

    (Annapolis, MD) – GOMIDS.COM will be hosting its first-ever tailgate party on Friday, April 18th prior to Navy football’s annual Blue & Gold spring game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.  The party will begin at 5 p.m. and food will be available until 8 p.m. – one hour after the game begins.

    All proceeds from the tailgate will be donated to the Fallyn Zembiec Educational Fund established to honor the memory of her father, Doug, who was killed on May 11, 2007 in combat operations in Baghdad, Iraq.

    Zembiec, 34, a career Marine who held the rank of Major, graduated in 1995 from the United States Naval Academy where he was a two-time All-American wrestler.

    The Annapolis eatery, Red, Hot & Blue is catering the event, and the cost (which includes drinks) is $25 for adults and $10 for children, 12 and under.   Tickets must be purchased by April 4th.  Click here to buy your tickets today.

    Most of you probably already know the story of former Navy All-American and “Lion of Fallujah” Doug Zembiec. If not, you should. You can start here.

Composure

On By MikeIn navy basketball4 Comments

During the radio broadcast of Navy’s 72-66 win over Holy Cross in Alumni Hall two weeks ago, Bob Socci commented more than once about how flustered Holy Cross looked, while Navy was playing with relative composure. The Crusaders had won the regular-season Patriot League title four of the last seven years, while the upstart Navy team had finished either last or next to last in the League every year since 2001-2002. If you hadn’t already known that going in, you might have had the history of these two teams mixed up while watching the end of that game.

It was an important step for Billy Lange’s squad. In the past– as recently as a month earlier against Army– the Mids had a tendency to overreact. Their fast-paced, 3-point shooting style of play meant that it wasn’t at all unusual for them to race out to an early lead against teams that weren’t mentally prepared to handle that kind of aggressive basketball. But basketball is a game of runs, and when the other team started to get a little bit of momentum, Navy got way too desperate, way too early. Shot selection got worse. Passing was forced, leading to more turnovers. There were more fouls 20+ feet from the basket. Added up, it compounded the problem. What should have been an 8-0 run would become a game-altering 20-4 run. Navy would panic themselves out of games.

But that didn’t happen that night, nor did it happen at any other point during the 6-game winning streak that shot Navy to the top of the conference standings. In only one of those 6 games– at home against American– did Navy win a game by a double-digit margin. Against Army, the Mids actually had to claw their way back from a 10-point deficit. Navy didn’t build a huge lead and coast to victory in those six games; they played hard-fought basketball for 40 minutes, and found ways to pull away at the end. They were composed.

In the Patriot League tournament quarterfinals last night against Bucknell, we saw both the best and the worst of Navy basketball. It was an entire season wrapped into one game. The first half was the best of Navy; the 3-point shooting, Greg Sprink driving to the basket, and an aggressive defense that leads to steals. The second half was the opposite; Navy shot only 28% from the floor while allowing Bucknell to hit 52% of their shots and erase a 10-point lead that Navy had going into the locker room.

I was very tempted last night to call it a choke, but that wouldn’t be fair. Yes, Navy blew a 17-point lead, and the game should not have gone to overtime. But it did. And once overtime began, the composure that was missing in second half reappeared. Kaleo Kina’s 3-pointer to send the game into a third overtime was as clutch as it gets. T.J. Topercer’s rebound and putback with two seconds left in that third overtime should have been good enough to win the game. Sometimes miracles happen, but when they do it’s really only a miracle for one team. For the other, it’s a curse. I’m not sure what we did to deserve that kind of retribution, but if you’re reading, Karma– I consider our debt to be paid.

You win some, you lose some, you have your heart so thoroughly ripped to shreds that you wonder if caring so much is reducing your life span some. Such is life in the world of sports. Another fact of a sports fan’s life is that the end of one season only means the beginning of offseason speculation and looking ahead to the next season. And the big question for Navy next season is what life will be like without Greg Sprink. The Patriot League Player of the Year was a statistical juggernaut, leading the conference in scoring, finishing second in rebounding, and ranking in the top 15 in both assists and steals. How can Billy Lange replace that kind of production? Well, he can’t– not with one player, anyway. But taking a look at who is returning for the Mids, one can find each of Greg’s best qualities divided amongst them. Chris Harris has proven that he can be a reliable long-range scoring threat. Clif Colbert can make athletic moves to the basket. Romeo Garcia does all the little things you don’t usually see in a freshman, playing tough defense, fighting for rebounds, blocking shots, and grabbing steals. He is only going to get better as his offensive game develops. O.J. Avworo will be stepping in as a true point guard, directing the offense and dishing out assists– the 3.1 per game that he averaged as a freshman at Idaho would have been in the top 10 in the Patriot League this year. Sprink’s ability will still be on the team; it just won’t be concentrated in one man. As a result, the team might actually be tougher to defend, as defenses won’t be able to focus on stopping one player. Add in Kaleo Kina’s ability to take over a game on occasion, Adam Teague’s 3-point shooting, and the continued development of players like Mark Veazey (who showed flashes of brilliance at times), Jeremy Wilson, and T.J. Topercer, and there is every reason to believe that Navy will actually be better next year.

But that’s next year. Right now, the end of this year still stings. Yet as tough as the last game was to endure, it shouldn’t hang over the season as a whole. Should this season be considered a success? Despite losing a shot at the regular-season Patriot League title and flaming out once again in the tournament quarterfinals, I think the answer has to be “yes.” This season proved a lot. When the Patriot League started allowing basketball scholarships, there were people who thought that Navy wouldn’t be able to contend for the league title again. This year showed that we can. As Bucknell was winning NCAA tournament games and Holy Cross advanced in the NIT, some people questioned whether Navy would be able to produce talent capable of matching up with the Patriot League’s best. But the conference’s top player this year wore the Blue & Gold. Other people said that a service academy wouldn’t be able to win playing up-tempo basketball, and that Navy’s only shot to be competitive in the Patriot League was to play a Princeton offense. But Billy Lange has a Coach of the Year award that proves that isn’t the case. And with two starters and a key reserve leaving the team before the start of the season, some people– including me– asked themselves how the Mids would be able to respond. The answer? Brilliantly, with the team’s first overall winning season and best conference finish since 2000-2001. Make no mistake, now– Navy basketball is still a work in progress. But this year we could finally see some of that progress, and there’s no reason to think that the trend won’t continue.