Army beats Navy, sweeps series for first time since 1992
February 12th, 2012 | Army Basketball Navy | Posted by Phil Creed
It took double overtime, but Army completed its first season sweep of Navy since 1992 yesterday at Christl Arena in West Point. The Black Knights beat Navy 69-63 in the annual “Star” game, ending Army’s three-game losing streak.
The Cadets were led by sophomore guard Josh Herbeck, who scored a game-high 19 points. But freshman guard Maxwell Lenox made the play of the game for Army, driving the length of the court for a layup at the end of the first overtime to tie the game and force the second extra session.
Army beat Navy 75-62 on January 14 in the teams’ first meeting this season.
For Navy, the loss continued the misery of the 2011-2012 season. The Mids managed to outrebounded Army 47-31, but they also had 26 turnovers and could not capitalize on a poor shooting performance from Army.
The loss is Navy’s 17th straight, a record for the program. The Mids were again playing without forward J.J. Avila, who had been leading the team in points and rebounds. Avila was suspended from the team Feb. 3, and now it appears that he’s leaving Annapolis. Navy head coach Ed DeChellis confirmed to The (Annapolis) Capitol on Thursday that Avila submitted paperwork to resign from the academy and has left the school.
Reports: Big East adds Memphis
February 8th, 2012 | After Action Football Navy | Posted by Kevin Lilley
During the Jan. 24 teleconference that welcomed Navy football into the Big East starting in 2015, conference commissioner John Marinatto was pretty clear: “I’m not done with regard to our expansion efforts.”
Less than a month later, he’s apparently made good. Multiple reports, including one from USA Today, have Memphis joining the conference in all sports as of 2013. If the rest of the conferences’ arrivals and departures go off as scheduled, Navy will enter a 12-team football league, likely split into two to-be-determined divisions, in 2015.
Memphis leaves Conference USA to join the Big East, creating a reunion of sorts with six other former C-USA football programs — Central Florida, South Florida, Southern Methodist, Houston, Louisville and Cincinnati. While Navy football’s team has never played in a conference, Army tried it a few years ago — in C-USA. It didn’t go great.
While the Big East sorts itself out, another conference has made even larger headlines, with the Big Ten reportedly discussing a playoff plan that would include semifinal games on campus. How would this affect the Bowl Championship Series by 2015? Would the Big East’s status as automatic BCS qualifier — a selling point for any conference-shopping school — mean anything if the postseason system suffered major upheaval? Would there be a BCS? Will USC be coming to Annapolis to open the 2015 NCAA Football Playoffs, sponsored by [insert highest bidder here]?
It’s about as likely as Navy dumping Air Force from its football schedule. But you never know.
Marines, sailors take in Super Bowl at sea
February 6th, 2012 | Football Marine Corps Navy | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Maj. Doug Baker, a Patriots fan from Roxbury, Conn., reacts while watching the Super Bowl in the officer's wardroom aboard the USS Wasp. (Mike Morones/Staff)
ABOARD THE AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT SHIP WASP -– If you’re going to watch your favorite NFL team lose in the Super Bowl, it may as well be somewhere interesting.
That’s the scenario I found myself in last night as I continue to cover Bold Alligator 2012, a massive amphibious exercise involving at least 14,000 personnel and 25 ships off the coast of North Carolina and Virginia. Like many of the sailors and Marines aboard this gator ship, I had accepted there was a strong possibility the game wouldn’t be on while underway –- only to find out the exact opposite.
Not only did the Wasp have the Super Bowl, the ship’s leadership went out of its way to make sure as many people as possible could see it. From the wardroom, to the barber shop, to the mess deck, several thousand personnel took a break to watch the game, in which the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots, 21-17.
The liveliest place to view the game was the hangar bay. A movie theater screen and hundreds of chairs were set up, and Marines and sailors turned it into a concert-like environment in which the game and the commercials alike received howling cheers and boos.
The crowd was polarized when it came to sports, with any close-up shot of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady or Giants quarterback Eli Manning receiving a loud, mixed response. It was less so when it came to the commercials, as the raucous response to a new ad for the Fiat 500 Abarth showed. It depicted a tall, exotic woman flirting with a short, awkward man – until he realized he was simply daydreaming. The Marines and sailors howled.
In the ward room, dozens of officers aboard gathered over chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, coffee and soda to watch the game on two big-screen TVs. Several foreign officers asked questions about the rules of American football, and U.S. personnel cheerfully explained.
As a Massachusetts native, I took all this in with a red Patriots T-shirt poking out from underneath my half-zipped fleece. A few people noticed, but no one poked fun. They understood the draw of the game.
In the hangar bay, Lance Cpl. T.J. Miller, 20, told me he found out he’d be involved in Bold Alligator two days before the ships launched earlier this month. A Patriots fan, he assumed he’d miss the game for the second year in a row.
“They told me two days before, ‘Pack your stuff. You’re going,’ and I thought it was possible I’d miss it,” the CH-53 mechanic said. “The signal has gone out twice for about 30 seconds, but if it happens again I’ll go see what happens in the mess deck.”
Ah, the signal. Late in the game, it did go out again. Shortly after Giants receiver Mario Manningham reeled in a spectacular sideline grab that put New York in position to win the game, the screens on board went dark.
“Are you kidding me!” several Marines and sailors yelled in the mess deck, frustrated with the timing.
The signal came back a few moments later, and stayed true through the end of the game. When Giants running back fell into the end zone with the game-winning score with about a minute to play, much of the hanger bay exploded into cheers.
Brady’s last desperation heave into the endzone fell to the ground a few minutes later, and Giants fans on board erupted. A sailor began blowing a whistle as though it were a musical instrument, and a group of Marines and sailors began jumping up and down in celebration.
Lance Cpl. Alex Ovide, 23, was one of the most boisterous. An amphibious assault vehicle crewman from Queens, N.Y., he’ll be involved in the amphibious unfolding over the next few days, but was glad to watch the game. He missed it last year while he was in the field, he said, and didn’t know the Wasp would have the game until it was already underway.
“I was just hoping to get a phone call out and find out the score,” Ovide said. “There was a rumor mill at first that we’d be able to see it, and then it came together.”
The result of the game, Ovide said, was “simply beautiful.” He congratulated the Patriots on a great season, knowing that I was a fan.
“This was great,” he said. “All of us came together, and all of the branches of service on board, too. It’s something you can really appreciate.”
I couldn’t agree more. Other than the final score, of course.
More bad news for Navy hoops: Leading scorer suspended
February 3rd, 2012 | Basketball Navy | Posted by Phil Creed
Navy’s basketball team is mired in 14-game losing streak, and it looks like things just got worse.
The (Annapolis) Capital is reporting today that J.J. Avila, the Mids’ leading scorer and rebounder, has been suspended from the team indefinitely.
Navy coach Ed DeChellis is not optimistic that Avila will return this season, according to The Capital:
“Pressed on when he thought Avila might be able to rejoin the team, DeChellis stated flatly, ‘I don’t anticipate him coming back this season.’ DeChellis was hopeful that Avila would be allowed to remain at the Naval Academy and could continue his career next season.”
Avila had been averaging 15.9 points and 7.2 assists for the Mids (3-18, 0-7). Navy travels to Lafayette on Saturday, where they hope to avoid tying the school record for consecutive losses.
Navy hoops losing streak: By the numbers
February 1st, 2012 | Basketball Navy | Posted by Kevin Lilley
Junior Navy guard Jordan Brickman dribbles during the Mids' season-opening win over Penn State-Altoona on Nov. 13 in Annapolis -- one of Navy's three wins on the season. (MC1 Chad Runge / Navy)
This is not the kind of record athletes want to be chasing.
A loss at Patriot League rival Lafayette on Saturday would be the 15th straight for the Navy Midshipmen — good enough, so to speak, to tie a team record for futility set during the 1988-89 season. A loss at home to Holy Cross on Feb. 8 would break the record, just in time to prepare for a Feb. 11 showdown at Army, which will air nationally on the CBS Sports Network.
The streak and the season so far, by the numbers, after the jump:
Check out the giant Navy billboard in Times Square
January 27th, 2012 | Football Navy | Posted by Phil Creed
According to the Navy athletic department, this will be running all day today. Click on the image to see it blown up.
This isn’t the first time the Big East has gone all-out to publicize its new members in NYC.
Point/counterpoint: Navy to the Big East
January 24th, 2012 | Football Navy | Posted by Kevin Lilley
Ricky Dobbs led Navy to a 28-21 win over Southern Methodist in Annapolis in 2010. In 2015, Navy-SMU will be a Big East Conference matchup. (Navy photo by MC1 Chad Runge)
Is it a move to remain relevant in the evolving world of big-time college football, or a descent into an “ethical cesspool of misplaced priorities“? A way to ensure a competitive schedule, or a repeat of Army’s disastrous Conference USA run?
Navy has made it official: The Mids will join the Big East Conference as a football-only member beginning in 2015. That leaves three full years to argue whether it’s a good idea. Need some ammunition in either direction? You’ve come to the right place. Click below for both sides on some key issues.
Reports: Navy football to Big East in 2015
January 23rd, 2012 | After Action Air Force Football Navy | Posted by Kevin Lilley
Well, we knew it was coming eventually. But if reports from two major sports news outlets are accurate, the Naval Academy will make it official soon, joining the Big East as a football-only member in 2015.
Both CBSSports.com and ESPN.com are reporting an announcement is imminent; CBS says it’ll come Tuesday. The move would give the Big East 11 football members for the 2015 season and be the latest in a series of shakeups: By the time Navy joins up, Pitt, Syracuse and West Virginia will be out and Boise State, Houston, Southern Methodist, Central Florida and San Diego State will be in.
Yes, San Diego State. In the Big East. It’s best not to think about it too hard.
The conference likely isn’t settled in yet, either. If a 12th football school signed on, the Big East would reach the minimum required to hold a conference title game, giving it another revenue stream and a cherry to put on top of a yet-to-be-negotiated TV deal. It’s entirely too early to speculate on division alignments, but Navy could fit in a “Big East East” along with current Big East members Connecticut, Rutgers, South Florida, Cincinnati and Louisville. That would leave a “Big East West” with the five new, non-Navy members and another late addition.
Air Force said no in December when Big East expansion talks heated up, opting to remain with the Mountain West Conference. But things have changed with the MWC since then — that conference has been in merger talks with Conference USA that could lead to a 16-team megaconference. And joining a conference with Navy would make that academy rivalry a league matchup, freeing the Falcons to schedule a nonconference opponent of their choosing instead of filling up that nonleague spot with the Mids.
Confused yet? Join the club. But once official word comes down from Annapolis, expect some of the cloudy conference picture to get a little clearer.
Joe Paterno: 1926-2012
January 22nd, 2012 | After Action Air Force Army Football Navy | Posted by Sean Smyth
You can’t deny Joe Paterno’s impact on college football, on sports. Paterno, who died Sunday at age 85 after a brief battle with lung cancer, prided himself on success with honor and dignity — hallmarks our armed forces strive for daily.
Of course the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal overshadowed much of this. But that shouldn’t wipe out the totality of the pre-November 2011 slate: his service to our country (briefly in the Army around the end of World War II), the thousands of men who graduated and later made great impacts on the sports world and other segments of society, the affection and dedication he showed to Penn State.
Paterno wasn’t a saint; he’d come off as dismissive if your question didn’t meet his liking. “That’s a dumb question” or “that’s a stupid question” were words you’d hear in his news conferences if you listened or watched frequently enough. His role in the Sandusky case, much debated, fell short of what many expected from this larger-than-life figure.
His teams went 17-3 against the service academies, with Air Force (0-2), Army (1-9) and Navy (2-8) occasional foils for the Lions, mostly in the early years. Penn State and Navy will renew their series this fall in State College after a 38-year hiatus.
With the Sandusky trial looming, the Paterno story isn’t complete. Much remains to be written, but one thing stands out today: Joe Paterno made a mark on many, for better or for worse.
Hoops rivalry doubleheader this Saturday
January 12th, 2012 | After Action Army Basketball Navy | Posted by Andy Charest
What: Army vs. Navy men’s and women’s basketball
When: Sat., Jan. 14; women’s game at noon; men’s game at 2:30
Where: Alumni Hall, Annapolis, Md.
TV: CBS Sports Network
The storied Army vs. Navy rivalry hits the hardwood Saturday in two nationally televised games at the Naval Academy’s Alumni Hall.
While the basketball incarnation may lack the luster of the gridiron version, both the men’s and women’s teams are just a couple games into the meat of their Patriot League schedule, and the rivalry should prove a springboard for the rest of the season.
The schools’ women’s teams will play at noon, followed by the men’s teams at 2:30.
Forward Ella Ellis grabs a rebound in a game earlier this season against The Citadel. Ellis, a junior, is Army's top scorer. (Associated Press photo)
Men’s matchup
Last meeting: Navy 75, Army 58
Army: Junior forward Ella Ellis leads the Black Knights with close to 18 points and 5 rebounds a game. The team is banking on success from beyond the arc to stay competitive; roughly a third of Army’s scoring comes from 3-point range. Army has been averaging 14 assists a game, No. 1 in the Patriot League. The Black Knights are 0-2 in the Patriot League, losing to Bucknell and Lafayette.
Navy: The Mids’ disappointing 3-13 start has coincided with a scoring dropoff from senior guard Jordan Sugars. Sugars is averaging 11 points a game, five less than his average in 2010-11. But the Mids’ real Achilles’ heel is their inability to finish games strong: the team is 2-9 in games decided by single digits, and 0-4 in games decided by four points or less. Navy is 0-2 in the Patriot League, losing to Lafayette and Holy Cross.
Sophomore forward Jade Geif helps lead a Navy women's squad that won the Patriot League championship last year. (Patriot League photo)
Women’s matchup
Last meeting: Army 57, Navy 46
Army: Sophomore guard/forward Jen Hazlett and junior guard Anna Simmers, Army’s two leading scorers, scored 19 and 27 respectively during Army’s win over Bucknell in its Patriot League opener. Army also won its next game, beating Lafayette 44-43 on a layup by senior Meagan Doucette with six seconds left. The two wins kept Army atop the league standings, and Simmers was named the Patriot League player of the week.
Navy: The Mids have opened their Patriot League schedule 1-1, edging Lafayette 60-55, then losing to Holy Cross, 55-38. The team has a young nucleus led by sophomore forwards Audrey Bauer (11.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg) and Jade Geif (10.4 ppg, 8 rpg), and is tops in the Patriot League in rebounding, 3-point percentage and scoring defense.