A FOOTBALL ON A STRING
If this becomes someone’s million-dollar idea I’m gonna be pissed for not thinking of it first.
Not exactly the most high-profile product endorsement, but it’s cool seeing Eric rockin’ the Navy pro combat. Do the kids still say rockin’? Probably not. Anyway, I’ll probably buy one and put it in my garage next to my Tony Gwynn-endorsed Solohitter.
(Although the best testimonial for the Solohitter is clearly this:
Fred Claire, baseball executive:
“With the salaries major league players are commanding today, SoloHitter is a great investment.”
Helicopter parents, consult your financial advisor before purchasing)
Navy Lacrosse vs. Lehigh
I went to the Navy vs. Lehigh lacrosse game on Friday night along with around 2,200 of my closest friends. That’s about 500 more people than attended the Navy vs. Holy Cross game last weekend, despite a cold, wet night on a day the temperatures never seemed to break out of the 40’s. And by the end of the evening it was the Lehigh fans that were cheering the loudest as their Mountain Hawks closed out a 9-4 victory over the Midshipmen.
It was a tale of one quarter going well for the Mids followed by three quarters of Lehigh dominance. One could say it was a game of missed opportunities for Navy, but that really just applies to the first 20 minutes. During that time, Navy built a 4-1 lead, but they also had a number of quality looks that missed and a few turnovers after stall warnings were called. Even if they converted all those chances, it still would have been difficult to pull out a victory given their performance over the final three quarters.
To put it plainly, Lehigh dominated the final 45 minutes. Their defense showed why it is ranked #1 in the country, holding Navy to just 7 shots in the 2nd half and not allowing a goal after the 12-minute mark in the 2nd quarter. Wickham had some nice saves, but as I tweeted during the game, you’re not going to win many games when you’re allowing multiple goals from 10+ yards out (Lehigh had at least 3 of those by my count). Combine that with a couple of second-chance goals by the Mountain Hawks off of juicy rebounds, and you’ve dug yourself a deep hole.
Ok, so enough about the nuts and bolts of the game. There are a couple of more meta things I’d like to address. The first is the stall warning issue. There are those who say college lacrosse needs a shot clock. To them, I say balderdash. Well, balderdash to a degree. Tonight exemplified what is wrong with the stall warning in college lacrosse – it’s purely subjective. There were times where Navy was given stall warnings after 60 or so seconds of possession on offense. And there was a time where Lehigh held the ball for over two minutes before they were given a stall. This creates an unequal situation for teams to deal with and leaves players unable to tell what they need to do to stay off the stall. The solution I see is not a shot clock, but a stall clock.
My proposal, had I a voice to use, would be a 45-second (not married to that number) stall clock. This would start the moment a team touched the ball inside the offensive box. If the team takes a shot before the clock expires, it automatically resets. After it expires, a stall warning is issued and the possession proceeds as it does under today’s rule. But you know how long you have before the stall comes into play every single time. A shot clock would suggest a turnover if the ball is not shot, and while that may be OK for the few elite players that make up the pro teams, it’s not a good idea for college. Just like the Princeton and other slow-moving offenses help equalize games in college basketball, a good controlling offense that can take the air out of the ball can help level the lacrosse playing field. Teams need to be allowed to possess for extended periods of time – refs don’t need to be given control over a game that is purely based on their opinion. Opinion is about as opposite from a rule as you can get. It’s time to end this nonsense.
And while we’re addressing delays in the game, can we please do something about mass midfield substitutions? There were times tonight where teams spent nearly a minute switching players in and out as they transitioned from defense to offense. Maybe this is my first crotchety old man rant, but what ever happened to middies who can play both ways? I understand specialization, but when we spend over half an offensive possession just making sure we’re getting the right guys on the field, it loses something. Imagine having a middie who plays both ways as you transition to defense. Now the offense has to go a man down for a few seconds just to get their switch in and expose themselves to a double team, or they leave their non-offensive mid on the field and have to deal with a less than ideal situation. When I played, we ran lines much like hockey teams do. You’d do subs on horns from balls going out or after goals. Not every time the ball crossed midfield. Then again, maybe it’s just me that’s annoyed by this.
Finally, I’m going to give what some may call a sour grapes moment, but I was tweeting about it before we started losing. Lehigh sent their entire team, even the goalie, to the Navy goal for high fives every time they scored. I thought it was a low rent move, and one that caused delays in faceoffs. Many times Navy was set and ready to go while Lehigh was walking back to their defensive positions. Just something that I noted early on and hoped would be greeted by a little more wood being laid on hits. But in the end, the Navy team looked like it just wanted to get out of there after failing to back up such a promising 1st quarter. Such is life – onwards and upwards to Maryland on Friday at College Park.
DUDE
Dude.
By Bob Socci
Originally published in 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship program.
Several years ago, as a guest of an Annapolis, Md. radio show, former Navy basketball coach Paul Evans cracked a smile and recalled the night he paid a recruiting visit to the Northern Virginia home of Ambrose and Freda Robinson.
The Robinsons’ oldest child, David, was a teenager with an ear for Beethoven and an insatiable intellectual curiosity. His talents in math and science far exceeded any of the athletic skills yet to emerge during his brief high school career. He was mainly interested in becoming an engineer.
“What David was most excited about,” Evans chuckled at the memory of their meeting, “was showing me the television set he built.”
“I was a bit of an egghead as a kid,” Robinson joked, laughing as Evans’s line was recently repeated to him. “It was a big project. My dad…
View original post 2,056 more words
CHANGING COURSE, PART 4: FAQ
For the finale of our look at Navy’s decision to join the Big East, I’m just going to do a Q&A format to expand on some of the things we touched on earlier and to cover any other lose ends. Each of these should probably be its own post, but whatever. This is running a lot longer than I thought it would, so it looks like there will be a Part 5 too.
MORE PHOTOS FROM NAVY VS HOLY CROSS LACROSSE
Sometimes, the pipe is the goalie’s best friend
Continue reading “MORE PHOTOS FROM NAVY VS HOLY CROSS LACROSSE”
ANDY GOES TO THE NAVY VS HOLY CROSS LACROSSE GAME
Global warming may or may not exist, but I am sure of one thing – whatever the hell is going on right now is making some awesome early-March weather happen in Annapolis. I went to Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium today to watch the Mids take on the Crusaders of Holy Cross on the latest upper-60’s, sunny, and breezy day. Despite Spring Break flinging the Brigade to the far corners of wherever the drinking age is under 21, there were still what looked to be a couple thousand fans filling the west stands to see the Midshipmen win 13-7.
Continue reading “ANDY GOES TO THE NAVY VS HOLY CROSS LACROSSE GAME”
ANDY GOES TO THE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL GAME
Hi, I’m Andy. You might remember me from such blog posts as “JV vs. Naps” and “JV vs. Hargrave.” Tonight I want to talk to you about something a little different – Women’s Basketball. Specifically, the Patriot League Championship game that happened tonight in Alumni Hall. As you may have heard by now, the Navy women won their 2nd consecutive championship behind a trio of sophomore stars, headlined by tourney MVP Jade Geif (her 2nd tourney MVP in a row).
The atmosphere in Alumni Hall was great, especially when you consider that most of the Brigade left town last night for spring break. There was a section full of restrictees (wear it proud, ladies and gents – I still have my tape ball from a 30-day stint after spring break my Firstie year), and a pep band consisting of members of the USNA band and the D&B. The latter ended up being a great group, belting out chant after chant when they weren’t blasting out some (slightly off tune) Lady Gaga. I’d say there were north of 1,500 people present by the start of the 2nd half, and would be shocked if any left before the final buzzer.
I’ll be honest with you, I wasn’t overly psyched to go to a women’s basketball game. I grew up on Tobacco Road, so roundball is in my blood. Hell, I didn’t even watch a college football game until my plebe year. The few times I watched a women’s game, I was left wanting. It was usually more of a “support the school” thing, not a “I want to watch a women’s basketball game” thing. And for the first 10 minutes, it couldn’t have been any less appealing. After scoring on their first possession, Navy only got 4 points (2 from the stripe) in the next 10 minutes. But Holy Cross only managed 11 points in that time. Yes, it was as ugly as it reads. Holy Cross eventually built out to a 7-point halftime lead and there was little enthusiasm in the crowd.
Many people will read the box score and assume halftime adjustments in the locker room were the reason for Navy’s dominating 2nd half performance. Others might point to a more tightly called game that saw Holy Cross commit 14 fouls in the 2nd half. But I think the spark came from the halftime entertainment. There was a team of kids from a local rec league that put on a scrimmage. The gold team was led by a 2-foot nothing point guard who is destined to be on the next And-1 mix tape. I saw him cross up a kid at the top of the key and drive the lane for a layup, make no look dishes to teammates, and even split a guy with a dribble. That’s to say he put the all down one side of a guy, ran around the other side and picked the dribble up behind him. The crowd started cheering on the kid as he unleashed a torrent of highlight-worthy moves.
By the time the Navy women came out with just minutes to go before the horn – those adjustments must have been wordy – the crowd was a little more bouncy and ready to see some better basketball (though seeing Louisville and Cincinnati sitting at 26-14 in the 2nd half of the Big East championship game, who can complain). The Navy women did not disappoint. The 7 point lead disappeared in a matter of minutes as Navy opened on a 9-2 run and never really looked back. MVP Geif hit a layup with 12 minutes to go to give Navy a 38-37 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
And by the time Navy got the lead for good, I had started to lose my voice. Two days ago when I asked my wife and my parents if they were interested in going to the game, I looked it as solely a nice starting point to my return to the blog. You know, be the local guy who gets to some games other than football or men’s lacrosse. But by the end of tonight, I was standing on my feet with more than a thousand other Navy fans, cheering on Navy. It wasn’t just fun – it was exciting, emotional, and exhilarating. We stuck around for the trophy presentation, after which the girls did a cheer thanking the fans in attendance, and watched each of the players and coaches climb the ladder to cut the nets down. We’ll be adding another banner in Alumni hall this year – something that’s been rare since the late 90’s.
In the end, I had a great time tonight. The crowd was different from a football game. There wasn’t the massive contingent of old grads who seem to exist solely to make life miserable for other fans. I was able to stand up to take a picture or cheer a play and not once did I get told to get down in front. Even though we were able to get tickets for just a fraction of what a football ticket and parking will run you, the game’s fans seemed to care more and even know more. There was no groaning about timeouts or demands to get the ball more to the forwards. Just pure support and enthusiasm. And that’s the reason why I’ll be sure to go to more Navy Women’s Basketball games in the future. I’m not a convert just yet, but I’m chasing down the bandwagon.
CHANGING COURSE, PART 3: CYNICAL, KNEE-JERK OPPOSITION
For the most part, the news that Navy will be joining the Big East in 2015 was met with a collective “meh” by most of the media. When I said that John Feinstein’s comments carry weight because he cares, I wasn’t kidding; there aren’t too many others voicing an opinion on the move. We did have this flaming bag of dog poo left on our collective front porch by Dan Wolken back in December, though. Feinstein’s comments at least came from someone who has a genuine concern for USNA and its football program; Wolken’s column sounds more like someone who never thought twice about either Army or Navy. Unfortunately, articles like this shape the opinion of casual fans that don’t know any better, so I should probably respond to it now that the move is official.
The premise of the column is that West Point is some virtuous entity above the fray, unwilling to compromise who they are just to compete in the greed-driven world of major college football. Wolken’s canonization of Army is misplaced on multiple levels.
Continue reading “CHANGING COURSE, PART 3: CYNICAL, KNEE-JERK OPPOSITION”
The Birddog 