Time to do it again…

UPDATE: Answers on the way

Seagoing vessels sound a 4-6 second whistle blast to indicate that they are underway; football programs have a 20-minute press conference. And so, with Saturday’s media day, the 2013 Navy football season is officially upon us.

The press conference itself was pretty tame, although it did contain what was probably the only reference to male menopause you’ll ever hear at one of these. Anyway, TO THE LINKS:

Optimism abounds as Navy begins practice

Navy football aims high as training camp opens

Despite last season’s turnaround, Ken Niumatalolo has Navy starting over

Reynolds Now No. 1 On Depth Chart At QB

The most prominent theme in these stories is optimism, which surprises me a little bit. Not that the press conference wasn’t optimistic; most preseason pressers are, and the very first thing Coach Niumatalolo said was that he was excited about the team. It just wasn’t the prevailing vibe that I got when I watched. My biggest takeaway was that everyone was guarding against complacency. The line of the morning came from defensive captain Cody Peterson, responding to a question about whether the team was more confident this year coming off of a winning season compared to when they started last season after going 5-7: “We’re certainly not overconfident. We still remember how the last game went, and that one stings.”

Not that it matters much, but I thought the players handled themselves very well, especially the captains. When asked if there was any new slogan or team philosophy for this season, they said that there wasn’t. They like the INAM attitude from last year and want to keep it going. That says a lot about this duo. There can be a lot of temptation to make your own mark on an organization when you’re placed in a leadership position, especially when you’re at a place like USNA. These guys don’t see a point in doing something for narcissism’s sake though. They are leading by example by demonstrating that it truly isn’t about “me.” I was impressed.

Other than that, there wasn’t much in the way of noteworthy soundbites or nuggets of information. Coach Niumatalolo didn’t have much to say about the schedule, saying (predictably) that he was only focused on Indiana. He also declined to mention whether any newcomers might make an impact, saying that there are some guys with potential but that they have yet to prove themselves. I’m sure we’ll learn all about that in the weeks to come.

The champagne bottle has been broken and 2013 is officially launched. Beat Indiana!

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby decided on Monday to turn the annual parade of preseason polls and coachspeak known as “conference media days” into something a bit more noteworthy. That’s not the greatest of news for Navy fans, either.

For those who dismissed the idea of a new top tier of college football when Navy decided to join the Big East, well, here you go. A conference commissioner is openly calling for it. And just so you don’t think this is the work of some rogue looking to make waves, his ACC counterpart is saying the same thing, hinting that major changes could come as soon as January. While change as drastic as a new football division within the NCAA isn’t a guarantee, some change is inevitable. None of it is good for Navy.

Continue reading “Now what” →

For a blog that has been dormant for months, I received a surprising number of questions. So let’s get on with it:

At the risk of asking something too obvious: You were pro-Big East, back when you felt the basketball schools were unlikely to leave. Are you still pro-American Athletic? How does this compare to Army’s ill-fated decision to join Conference USA?

There’s no doubt that the Big East isn’t the conference I thought (hoped) it would be when Navy signed on. It isn’t even the “Big East.” A lot has changed with the conference now known as the American. What hasn’t changed, though, is why Navy decided to join a conference in the first place. I’ve written more than once about how much I valued Navy’s independence. My argument was based on several factors, but primarily scheduling flexibility, bowl availability, and financial sustainability. Unfortunately, these advantages are quickly disappearing.

Continue reading “The Mailbag (7/18)” →

…other than my usual laziness, is that I’ve missed so much over the last several months that I don’t even know where to start. I did do a Q&A with One Foot Down, which you can read here. Writing that got me thinking that maybe a Q&A is the best way to get back into the swing of things. So I’ll let you decide what I should write about in my first (real) post back after my hiatus. Let’s do “Ask a Birddog Anything.” Send a note, leave a comment, or shoot me an e-mail at thebirddog99@gmail.com. Let’s do a Q&A and get the blog started up again.

Update: Closing off questions for now. Answers on the way.

So, did I miss anything? Anything going on?

That was unpleasant
Sometimes you just have to laugh
It’s one of those days

A lot like last year
Army left it all out there
This is why we watch