You never marched like this
December 21st, 2011 | Army Coast Guard Marine Corps Navy Sports Submarines | Posted by Joshua Stewart
No matter how much you loved your sub and how well you can march, or the weird ideas that fermented in your brain after weeks underway without sunlight, you never, not once, thought of doing anything like the formations the West Virginia University Marching Band pulled off.
The whole clip is good and worth a peek, but the Navy stuff starts at 2:50.
It’s tough to say what detail is the best – the submerging sub or the turning screws.
It’s not clear when the band performed, but the clip was uploaded Nov. 6, the day after the Mountaineers lost to the University of Louisville 35-38.
A nice touch
November 11th, 2011 | Carriers Commanding officers Golf Morale Naval Air Station Oceana Navy Norfolk Naval Shipyard Photos Sports | Posted by Bill McMichael
Capt. Tushar Tembe was an avid golfer and was no doubt looking forward to playing in a local tournament he’d help plan that would pit golfers from his carrier, the Harry S. Truman, against players assigned to the carriers Dwight D. Eisenhower, Theodore Roosevelt and Enterprise.
Tembe, sadly, collapsed Nov. 8 while debarking the Truman at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Va., and subsequently died — two days before the scheduled one-day tourney at Naval Air Station Oceana. Rather than postpone or cancel the event, the East Coast carrier commanders taking part — the Norfolk-based carrier George H.W. Bush is deployed — decided to honor Tembe by playing as scheduled Nov. 10 and by naming the tournament and top prize in his honor.
“This was the most appropriate thing to do,” said Capt. William C. Hamilton Jr., commanding officer of Enterprise, and a close friend of Tembe’s. “He planned this for us, and he would be so upset if we didn’t play. We’re here to honor him and I am proud to be here.”
“Capt. Tembe came up with the idea for this tournament,” said Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Jeffery Crawford, leading petty officer of Truman’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation department. “He was involved in every last detail of planning this event, and that’s why we decided to name it for him.”
Before hitting the green, the players held a moment of silence for Tembe and his family.
“Personally, this is a huge loss,” said Hamilton. “He was my golf buddy … my Navy buddy. We played golf together all over the world for the past 16 years. I’ll never swing another club now without thinking about him.”
Fittingly, Truman’s team won the inaugural Tembe cup. “We played inspired golf today,” said Aviation Electronics Technician 1st Class Scott Rossi, assigned to Truman’s Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department. “Working with and knowing Capt. Tembe made a big impact on me, and I was thinking of him all day as were my teammates and, probably, everyone out here today.”
Quicken Loans Carrier Classic unis unveiled
November 1st, 2011 | Basketball Carrier Classic Carriers Morale Naval Base San Diego Navy Photos Sports Veterans Day | Posted by Bill McMichael
The Michigan State and North Carolina men’s basketball teams will wear school-color camouflage-style uniforms to honor the military during their Nov. 11 Veterans Day clash aboard the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson in San Diego. On Monday, the Spartans showed off the camouflage-patterned unis they’ll wear — white with a light green pattern and bordered with the school’s traditional dark green.
Michigan State's basketball uniform for the Nov. 11 Quicken Loans Carrier Classic. // Photo courtesy of Michigan State University
North Carolina’s design, unveiled Oct. 26, will feature a deep blue camouflage pattern over the traditional Carolina blue.
UNC's uniform for the Nov. 11 game. // Photo courtesy of the University of North Carolina.
The back of UNC's uniform. // Photo courtesy of the University of North Carolina.
Neither team will have player names on the back of the jerseys. Replacing the names will be “U.S.A.”, as shown on the right:
“I think the uniforms are pretty cool,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “They definitely put the spotlight on our military, and that’s what this is for.”
That Carolina blue on the UNC uniforms ought to play well with the sailors in the joint military crowd of roughly 7,000. Frankly, it could almost work as a new Navy working uniform pattern … a prospect the fleet, given what seems like near-constant seabag changes over the recent past, no doubt hopes does not materialize for at least a couple more years …
HT-18 wins 2011 Wilderness Challenge
October 12th, 2011 | Inter-service competition Sports Wilderness Challenge | Posted by Bill McMichael
The two-day competition was rugged, to say the least: an 8-kilometer run through the heart of the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia, a 10-mile bicycle race, a 15-mile forced mountain hike, a 14-mile whitewater raft race on the Gauley River and a 7-mile kayak race on the New River.
When the dust had settled Oct. 8 on the 2011 All-Military Wilderness Challenge, the four-member team from Helicopter Training Squadron 18, Whiting Field, Fla., had come out on top, finishing in 7 hours, 30 minutes, 47 seconds.
Team HT-18, winners of the 2011 All-Military Wilderness Challenge. The team completed the five extreme outdoor events, totaling more than 50 miles through the mountains and rivers of West Virginia, with a total time of 7:30:47. Team members are, from left to right, Marine Capt. Joe Heintz, Marine 1st Lt. Marianne Sparklin, Cmdr. John Quillinan and Lt. Cmdr. Thaddeus Smith. // Photo by Mark Piggott
Team “Motor City Racing” from Coast Guard Medical Clinic, Detroit, came in second with a time of 7:34:08. Third was Team “Paradoxical Trinity” from Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., which finished with a time of 7:40:17.
“We wanted to finish first,” said Navy Cmdr. John Quillinan, HT-18 team captain. “At the end of the first day we were up by three minutes, so we started thinking we can do this. On day two, we pushed ourselves hard to get to the finish.”
Everyone pushed hard, as this photo makes clear:
Team "Dead Last" from the Wounded Warrior Program at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Va., fights its way through Koontz's Bend on the Gauley River on Oct. 7 as part of a 14-mile whitewater rafting race during the 2011 All-Military Wilderness Challenge. Another team from the program, "Lost in the Woods," also competed; both finished to rousing applause from other participants as they crossed the finish line. // Photo by Mark Piggott
More than 100 Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard personnel spent Oct. 6-7 competing in the annual event, sponsored by the Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Morale, Welfare and Recreation Department, Naval Weapons Station Yorktown and ACE Adventure Resort, West Virginia’s largest outdoor outfitter. Teams must be composed of four active-duty service members, and one must be a woman.
“This event could not have happened without the great teams that competed this year or without the vision and leadership of Mike Bond, our MWR Director,” said Capt. Lowell Crow, commanding officer of WPNSTA Yorktown. “This is a world-class competition bringing together the best athletes the military has to offer.”
Bracketology and aircraft carriers
March 8th, 2011 | Carriers Facebook Historical Navy Sports | Posted by Joshua Stewart
The month wouldn’t be complete without tournament brackets. And not to be outdone by the NCAA’s basketball showdown, Naval Air Forces has created a competition of its own.
But instead of matching up the best basketball teams in the country, this bracket pits aircraft carriers against each other in a Facebook-based competition designed to determine the best aircraft carrier in U.S. Navy history. Every week is a new round, until the April 5 championship game (or contest or match-up or whatever this type of competition should be called).
While it takes the form of a tournament bracket, the actual competition appears to be more like American Idol. Instead of the most physically capable contender advancing to the next round, the most popular ship, as determined by “likes” collected on an accompanying picture of that carrier, moves forward.
It’s a democratic system that gives older, antiquated carriers a fighting chance, but gives the Enterprise, a carrier whose name has appeared on several other vessels, including a fictitious spacecraft, a large amount of alumni support… consider it a home court advantage.
San Diego carrier could host big-time men’s hoops game
January 26th, 2011 | Basketball Carriers Morale Navy Photos Sports | Posted by Bill McMichael
Possibly coming next season to a flattop deck near you (if you’re stationed in San Diego):
Michigan State and North Carolina square off in the 2009 Men's Final Four basketball tournament. // Andy Lyons, Getty Images
That’s right: If you’re in the right place at the right time next fall, you could be watching a choice early season matchup between traditional men’s college basketball powers North Carolina and Michigan State aboard a Navy carrier. Will it happen? According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said Monday, “It hasn’t been announced yet, but we’re supposed to be playing Michigan State in San Diego on an aircraft carrier on Veterans Day next year.” But nothing’s been set as yet. Said Naval Air Forces spokesman Lt. Aaron Kakiel, “We’re aware of their desire, but nothing has been confirmed. We’re waiting on a formal proposal.”
And way too early, he said, to name which carrier might host the game. Something about operational schedules and national security rings a bell …
The game would probably be played outside, as the flight deck seems like the only feasible area where a full basketball court and temporary seats could be set up. (The hangar is probably just too tight of a space, even with all sliding bay doors open.) The paper points out that an aircraft carrier flight deck is 1,092 feet by 250 feet, while a college basketball court is 94 feet by 50 feet. Extra space is needed on all sides for benches, media and space to dive for loose balls — not to mention a lot of seats.
Presumably, the teams would bring in a wooden floor. Sure would hate to dive for a loose ball on a flight deck!
If it happens, the paper pointed out, the game would be played on 11/11/11.
Stay tuned …
Maryland teen accused of stealing from USNA baseball team
November 12th, 2010 | Naval Academy Navy Sports | Posted by Sam Fellman
The eBay seller "qualityathleticgear" is accused of burglarizing the U.S. Naval Academy baseball team.
The loot, allegedly stolen in mid-September from the locker room and coach’s office at Bishop Stadium around Sept. 16, reads like a start-up kit for a minor league team: a radar gun, a projector and projector screen, a catcher’s helmet, sunglasses, dozens of gloves, spikes, wooden bats and a can of pine tar.
The alleged thief — whose eBay username was “qualityathleticgear” – was caught after he allegedly shipped some items to a winning bidders, who were really agents with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The story was first reported by the Baltimore Sun.
Reviews for qualityathleticgear’s eBay profile are mostly glowing. ”Great glove, Love the feel. HIGH QUALITY,” one buyer wrote. Another wrote, “Great projector! Thanks. “And the owner of a new right-handed Rawlings Pro Preferred first base glove wrote, “”Great seller A+++”
97.1%
The long war against Testudo
September 13th, 2010 | Sports | Posted by Phil Ewing
Even though the Terps beat the Mids on Sept. 6, it'd be a good idea for the teams to play every year, said one member of the Board of Visitors on Monday // MC2 Jason Graham / Navy
Could the Naval Academy Midshipmen add yet another yearly football nemesis? Maryland Rep. C.A. Ruppersberger, a member of the school’s Board of Visitors, asked Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk at a meeting on Monday about whether he’d be open to a Navy-Maryland showdown every year, as opposed to today’s once-every-couple-of-years schedule.
“There’s a couple of things that would go into it,” Gladchuk said — “We could play every year and see how it goes, but sometimes the regularity of something like that can make it get stale.” Or the teams could play a minimum of every three years, which would give many players at both schools a chance at the other guys at least once in their college athletic careers. Whatever happens — and despite Navy’s Sept. 6 loss to Maryland that ruined the Mids’ hopes for an undefeated season – “It’ll be more regular than it has been,” Gladchuk said.
He also mentioned that, as part of all the conference shakeups in college football these days — which resulted in Nebraska joining the Big 10, for example — Navy has been “approached” to see if it is interested in joining a conference. Gladchuk displayed a PowerPoint slide that showed Bill the Goat surrounded by the logos of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Conference USA, the Big 12, the Mid-American Conference, the Big East, the Big 10 and the Patriot League.
But no dice: The Midshipmen “are in the best position right now” as independents, Gladchuk said, so they can keep away from what he called “the parochialism that comes with conference play,” and get the most national exposure.
A giant video postcard
August 26th, 2010 | Photos Sports | Posted by Phil Ewing
Even though they are in an inferior league, it was very classy of the Boston Red Sox to help set up a special experience this week for the family of Cmdr. Matt Graham, who has been away from home for 14 months while stationed out in Bahrain. Graham appeared on the Jumbo-Tron Wednesday night with a message to his family and tens of thousands of their closest friends in Fenway Park, where the hometown squad went on to beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-3. MC2 Shannon Renfroe captured the occasion from both sides.
Let’s settle this on the board
July 15th, 2010 | Photos Sports | Posted by Phil Ewing
MCSN Scott Pittman / Navy
When you think of your typical Devil Dog, and your typical boatswain’s mate, your first mental picture may not be of chess players. And yet here they are — Marine Sgt. Shane Worley and BMSN Nathaniel Bracewell, engaged in a battle of the minds on the mess deck of the amphibous transport dock Ponce, at sea in the Atlantic.