Category: navy football

Presser Bits

On By MikeIn Ken Niumatalolo, navy football13 Comments

The latest post-practice presser transcript can be found here. Some thoughts:

Snyder: Can you talk about some of the guys that have really stepped up?

Niumatalolo: One guy in particular is Craig Schaefer at outside linebacker. That is a spot where we are looking for someone to step up and he has had a great spring practice so far. We are also excited about Nate Frazier. He has done some good things. Defensively we have some guys that have played and the guys that played last year have really showed up so far in the spring. You can see the difference between them and the guys that haven’t played. On offense, Jarod Bryant has been solid. We moved Ricky Moore to center and he has had some growing pains, but he is coming along.

Schaefer is a big hitter. It’s nice to see a little buzz about him and Nate. My only real disappointment here is that Ricky Moore is getting a mention, but not Andy Lark or one of the other centers who made the move from the D-line. It would be a huge boost if one of those guys could catch on so we could use Moore at his natural tackle position. Depth could be a big concern at center.

Snyder: Can you talk about Jarod Bryant and Emmett Merchant switching positions?

Niumatalolo: I thought Emmett had a good practice on Saturday. With Jarod playing slot back, that is all dependent on Kaipo. Right now he is still nursing he knee so Jarod is mostly playing quarterback. When Kaipo is able to go full speed then Jarod will get some time at slot back.

I really hope Jarod gets some snaps at slot before the spring is over. Spring is the time for tinkering, after all.

Snyder: What is the status of Deliz and Sovie?

Niumatalolo: Deliz is still out, but Clint is practicing and is doing a good job. It doesn’t look like he’s missed a beat. We are excited to have him back. He had a good first week of practice.

Woot!

Fratto: Last year at fullback Ballard and Kettani kind of rotated possessions. Would you like to do that again or will Kettani get the bulk of the carries?

Niumatalolo: Eric is the main fullback, but we need somebody to spell him. The ratio of plays probably won’t be the same this year as it was for Adam and Eric, but we need a back-up fullback to give Eric some rest and we are trying to figure out who that is going to be.

Despite the preseason buzz about Devan Clark, he hasn’t quite risen to #2 yet. Then again, it’s only been a week.

Snyder: Can you talk about the slot backs? Other than Shun White you have a lot of new faces over there.

Niumatalolo: Andre Byrd had a good week of practice, Greg Shinego is an experienced guy, we have some younger guys like Greg Jones, Cory Finnerty, Wes Holland and J.J. Cosh that are getting an opportunity to show us what they can do. We are excited about the guys we have there.

I’m surprised to see Bobby Doyle third on the depth chart, only because it seemed like he got some decent playing time last year. Overall, despite the lack of established players I’m pretty confident about the A-backs. Shun White is a proven player with big-play ability. Greg Shinego might not have extensive game experience, but it isn’t as if he’s a rookie with a lot to learn. He’s a senior that has been practicing for three years and waiting for his shot. He’ll be ready. And although it remains to be seen how well Jarod Bryant can adjust to the new position, we know what he can do with the ball in his hands. I’m pretty comfortable with this group, plus our usual bunch of athletic underclassmen waiting for their chance to impress.

But is Andre Byrd really 5-7?

The latest depth chart is here. Lots of movement, especially in the secondary.

Roger Weighs In

On By MikeIn army, going pro, navy football25 Comments

Last week you saw a brief piece from South Bend regarding Army’s pro sports pipeline. Now the Dallas Morning News is weighing in, but with an added twist; they got Roger Staubach’s two cents on the subject. So what does Roger have to say about it?

“When I went there [USNA], I knew what the deal was,” Staubach said. “When I left high school, I wasn’t thinking I was going to play pro football. But today if you’re thinking that way, it would be nice to have an option like Army has. If Army has it, Navy should be able to compete with it as well.”

“It’s a complicated issue,” Staubach said. “But I think it’s good for the service academies if you have athletes that can compete at a higher level – and can still give back to the service – that they can find a compromise that allows them to play professional athletics. It’s worth the effort to look at it and try to figure it out.”

Sigh.

I don’t suppose it should be a surprise that a service* academy graduate who played pro football would be in favor of a policy that allows service* academy graduates to play pro football. Something that bothers me, though, is that there hasn’t been any real examination of all these supposed benefits that the Army at large stands to gain from this. Well, outside of this pipsqueak blog, anyway. Supporters say “great PR!” without getting much of a challenge. It’s kind of annoying. It’s almost a sport among service* academy fans to mock the Florida States and Miamis of the world over their lax standards for athletes. But as far as I’m concerned, Army is no different now.

Loose Change, 3/28/08

On By MikeIn bowls, Ken Niumatalolo, lacrosse, navy basketball, navy football, navy lacrosse, Paul Johnson2 Comments

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

– Unfortunately, this week’s Loose Change leads off with news of the passing of Ben Carnevale. There is nothing that I can say that will possibly do him justice. Carnevale is in many ways the father of Navy basketball, and brought the team to the national stage during his 20 years in Annapolis. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1970, and the work that he did after being inducted was just as impressive. The game, and our school, owe him their gratitude.

– Lacrosse is the big story this weekend as Navy will try to get the Georgetown monkey off of its back Saturday in a game that will be shown on CBS College Sports. The Inside Lacrosse preview of the game is here. Navy fans in the know have been reading Christian Swezey’s lacrosse blog and learned that Tommy Phelan will be the starting goalkeeper, with Matt Coughlin still nursing his hamstring injury. The Fastest Blog on 2 Feet also has a scouting report on the game from former Navy player and DeMatha coach Dick Long. Pete Medhurst will be calling the game for WNAV with the pregame show starting at 4:45 ET.

– One of the side stories in the Navy-Georgetown game is the matchup of the Mirabito brothers.

– Tony Barnhart made the startling discovery that Navy fans like Paul Johnson. No wai!!!11!1

– You Pitch Right expatriates that only stomach this blog because you don’t have a choice anymore will be pleased to see Adam again as he talks about independents’ spring practice news and notes while guest blogging at In The Bleachers.

– David Flores of the San Antonio Express-News catches up with David Robinson, including his take on this year’s tournament, here.

– A somewhat unusual blog about historical markers has a recent entry on the Bill the Goat statue by Gate 1.

– Another blogger ranks Alumni Hall as the venue for one of his favorite pre-game media buffets.

– A Kentucky paper has a column about an upcoming college boxing tournament being hosted by UK, with a couple mentions of Navy.

– Something I talk about regularly on this blog is the value of intercollegiate athletics to a university.

– Marine Captain and former Navy footballer Brian Stan won the WEC light heavyweight title on Wednesday night with a first-round TKO of defending champion Doug Marshall. There was a brief moment when it looked like Stann was in trouble, but he survived a flurry of punches and landed a haymaker of his own, and that’s all it took. You can watch the fight here.

– The Congressional Bowl found a conference partner: the ACC. That’s good news for Navy:

The NCAA requires prospective bowls to have guaranteed opponents, a TV contract, venue and a letter of credit. Metcalf said all those elements are in place, including documents proving the proposed Congressional Bowl can meet its mandate of paying $1 million to each participating school.

Now that everything’s in place, six wins should be enough for the Mids to find a home in the postseason. No word yet on whether the game will be at RFK or the new Nationals’ ballpark. 

– And finally, the football post-practice presser makes its glorious return! Those changes in the passing game that Niumat talked about in his presser on Monday? Not exactly an overhaul.

We aren’t making any drastic changes. There might be some technique changes, the way we run our routes, the depth at where we run our routes, what foot we lead with, what shoulder we are looking over, real small intricate details that might help us become a little bit more efficient.

Other than that, Niumat says that practice is going OK and that he’s looking to get Jarod Bryant as many reps at slot as Kaipo’s knee will allow.

Wagner: When he was in at quarterback last year it seemed like you ran a package for him with a lot of inside runs and draws. Running the ball as a slot back is different. Do you think he can be as effective running the ball on the outside?

Niumatalolo: I don’t know. That remains to be seen. We are going to find out. All I know is he makes people miss.

Damn skippy.

I think he’ll be OK.

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.

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.

Loose Change 2/29/08

On By MikeIn air farce, Kyle Eckel, lacrosse, navy basketball, navy football, navy lacrosse7 Comments

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

  • There’s some speculation about Kyle Eckel’s future in Foxboro. Here’s one guy’s take on the state of the Patriots’ backfield, guessing that they may add a running back in the draft.
  • Navy basketball’s rise to the top of the Patriot League has meant added coverage from local papers, including this great writeup in the Times on Greg Sprink.
  • To the dismay of Maryland and Georgetown fans, one local hoops blogger thinks that David Robinson is the area’s all-time greatest basketball player.
  • Things are so bad at the Air Force Academy prep school that they’ve cancelled the rest of their basketball season.
  • The University of South Alabama is starting up a football team, with the goal of eventually moving into I-A in a few years. Once they do, they’re looking into lining up “quality opponents like Tennessee and Navy.”
  • The University of North Alabama already has a football team. A very good team, actually– one of the annual poll-toppers in Division II. They’re coached by former Navy offensive coordinator Mark Hudspeth, and one of the local papers published a story on him here.
  • A couple of lacrosse tidbits: first, the Tewaaraton watch list is out, and it includes Navy’s Jordan DiNola. In other news, a Big East lacrosse conference is in the works.
  • Former Navy baseball coach Bob MacDonald had a stint with the Mariners as a volunteer batting practice pitcher, among other things.
  • Former Navy football player turned cagefighter Brian Stann will be fighting for the WEC light heavyweight title on March 26th. I’ve seen a couple of his earlier fights, and they didn’t exactly last long. One guy took one punch from Stann, got an “oh God what did I get myself into” look on his face, then went down with the second punch. Still, there’s more to this stuff than just punching. We’ll see if Stann’s skills have developed beyond striking.
  • And finally, read this.