Sportsmen at sea
May 26th, 2010 | Carriers Photos Sports | Posted by Phil Ewing
MCSN Jacob Galito / Navy
The carrier Enterprise may be the oldest ship in the fleet, but that doesn’t mean its crew has to sacrifice every creature comfort — on Monday, AS1 Steven White, left, and AS3 Marlon Goodchild unwound by enjoying the sport of kings in the hangar bay. The nice thing for these guys is that this space is probably still more comfortable than the basements where ping-pong tables are typically set up.
Seven in Seven
May 21st, 2010 | Aviation Carriers Coast Guard Congress Foreign navies Maritime operations Mishaps Naval Academy Navy Personnel Ships Sports Submarines The Pacific Washington | Posted by Lance Bacon
Sailors aboard the carrier Ronald Reagan conduct a test of the aqueous film forming foam firefighting system during a planned incremental availability maintenance period. Ronald Reagan is completing its first underway period since October 2009. (Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alexander Tidd)
It’s been another busy week for the Navy. Here are seven stories in seven minutes from the past seven days that are worthy of notice:
1. Defense Bill passes HASC. This bill has tons of important stuff – far too much to put in this blog. You can check Monday’s edition of Navy Times for the complete scoop. But among the highlights is this news that lawmakers bucked the Pentagon’s 1.4 percent pay raise request, and looks to instead give service members a 1.9 percent boost.
In addition, the bill aligns the 30-year shipbuilding plan with the QDR, which bodes well for the 313-ship Navy. Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., and the Seapower committee he chairs, put the following in the bill:
U.S. crew visits Russia, meets… Rollie Fingers?
May 11th, 2010 | Life at Sea Photos Sports | Posted by Phil Ewing
"Safe!" // MCC Michael Lewis
What a play! Lt. j.g. Curtis Sanders of the frigate Kauffman showed some Russian friends how Americans play baseball on Sunday with an aggressive slide into first base to beat the throw. Kauffman is visiting St. Petersburg to help commemorate the Allied victory in Europe, and as part of the trip, crew members took on the semi-pro St. Petersburg North Stars in a bases-ball match.
Although Russian baseball grounds crews apparently have different philosophies about field maintenance than ours, you have to say this about Russian baseball men: That guy’s sporting an awesome mustache! Rollie Fingers and Keith Hernandez would be proud… as would Mr. Redlegs.
Hoo-ya, U.S. water polo-playing community
March 16th, 2010 | Recruiting SEALs Sports | Posted by Phil Ewing
If you enjoy water polo, the Navy thinks you'll also enjoy submerging yourself in freezing water in Alaska, among other pursuits. // MC2 Erika Manzano / Navy
All right, let’s get right to the heart of this thing: Water polo. Does anyone have any idea what it is? Until an hour ago the answer would likely have been no. But today is your lucky day, water polo, because according to this story, you just became the stairway to Naval Special Warfare.
The Navy spent half a million dollars last year on a study that concluded water polo players are the best candidates to become SEAL special operators, given that they spend their days splashing around in pools and also have an understanding about rules of engagement like this:
If a defensive player commits a foul inside of the 5-meter line, which prevents a “probable goal,” the defensive player is charged with a penalty (personal) foul and the opposing team is awarded a penalty throw (a “5-meter”). If an offensive player is fouled outside of the 5-meter line, the offensive player may pick up the ball and take an immediate shot at the opponent’s goal (i.e., two players do not have to touch the ball before a goal can be scored).
Accordingly, SEAL recruiters are now targeting America’s high school water-polo players. Safety advocates will be relieved in the change of strategy from their showing-guns-to-kids initiative:
MCC Robert Fluegel / Navy
MC-Pong
March 9th, 2010 | Chiefs Photos Sports Submarines | Posted by Phil Ewing
MC1 Jennifer Villalovos / Navy
“All right, shipmate, let me show you how we do in the submarine force — maybe I’ll come atcha up high — just like a Tomahawk we can launch through the vertical launch tubes, son — or maybe I’ll sneak ‘er over the net real low, just like we might use a torpedo, get me?”
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (SS/SW) Rick West stood ready for a game of table tennis with a friend Monday at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash. Will his asymmetric ping-ping prove as controversial as his rock-oriented greeting style?
Fight night
March 5th, 2010 | Naval Academy Sports Video | Posted by Phil Ewing
If you couldn’t make it to Annapolis for the Naval Academy’s brigade boxing championships last month, this is the next best thing — check out this outstanding video by our shipmate Colin Kelly.
Help the Midshipmen expand their dominance online
March 5th, 2010 | Naval Academy Sports | Posted by Phil Ewing
If the contest were over which service had the best fighter jet flight demonstration team, this thing would be over already. Winner: Navy, for the Blue Angels. // MC1 Chad McNeeley / Navy
Do you support Naval Academy competitive endeavors? What about when they involve besting the U.S. Military Academy in some way? Do you have a Facebook account? If you answered yes to these questions, Navy needs your help beating Army in the greatest struggle in the history of organized sport — the race to a million “fans.”
Perhaps not since the 1945 Army-Navy Game, in which the teams entered the match ranked no. 1 and 2, respectively, has there been such an epochal, high-pressure contest between these ancient nemeses. The Black Knights won that game, but this time, Navy’s online fans are confident they can emerge victorious.
Wrote Navy Facebook fan Paul J. Lawrence: “This is a no brainer.”
In a clash of this magnitude, however, nothing is certain: As of early Friday, Army was winning with 3,965 fans to Navy’s 3,796. Which side will taste sweet triumph, and which the bitter tang of ignominy? Only you can decide.
GW amuses visiting NFL cheerleaders
February 11th, 2010 | Carriers Life at Sea Morale Sports The deckplates The Pacific | Posted by Phil Ewing
Four Okland Raiderettes posed with their new friends aboard the carrier George Washington last week in Japan // NFL
After a bruising 5-11 season, things must’ve been pretty heavy around Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum for the Oakland Raiderettes, whose sideline dances and pom-pom manipulation clearly proved insufficient in spurring their squad to victory. So six of the cheerleaders got in a plane to Japan, where they visited the carrier George Washington in time to watch a Big Football Match, The Name of Which Is Trademarked.
Like Navy special operators, the Raiderettes — known (by them) as Football’s Fabulous Females — can’t be identified for “security reasons.” Still, they were gracious enough to permit MC2 Dave Reynolds of the GW to describe their effect on the ship’s crew:
“It was really fun to see the sailors interact with us,” said Natalie M. “Some are super-shy and some are more outgoing, but we definitely got to see the different personalities on the ship. It was really fun to talk to them, take some pictures and just spend time here.”
The F3s even gave Reynolds a rare view inside the disagreement and debate that go into the Raiderettes’ decision-making process:
[Said Natalie P]: “The best part was visiting the bridge, where we could sit in the captain’s chair and look out over the flight deck and the water. It was neat to get a ‘birds-eye’ view of the ship.”
Her counterpart, Raiderette Natalie M., disagreed.
“My favorite part of the ship was the flight deck, where we could see where the aircraft actually take off and land,” said Natalie M. “It was very cool to see up close where all of that happens.”
If you want more hard-hitting, minute-by-minute coverage of the Raiderettes’ trip to Japan — including a visit to Naval Air Facility Atsugi — check out their blog.
Mizzou to Mids: Sorry we acted unsportingly
January 6th, 2010 | Naval Academy Sports | Posted by Phil Ewing
Missouri University has apologized to the Naval Academy after Mizzou's band blared over the academy's Drum and Bugle Corps' attempt to play "Blue and Gold" after the Mids won the Texas Bowl // MCC Dennis Herring / Navy
The Deck has mused before about the additional x-factor that attends the Naval Academy Midshipmen when they play football against civilian-college teams. You can’t deny that opponents’ public deference to the Mids has at least some effect — but when adrenaline is pumping out on the gridiron, that also can backfire.
This seems to have been the case when Missouri University’s marching band kept on a-blarin’ after its squad was beaten by the Mids in the Texas Bowl. The original idea was for both the Mizzou and Naval Academy bands to play their respective anthems, but according to complaints from across the web, the Tigers band wouldn’t give the Mids a chance to play “Blue and Gold.” The AP reports that Mizzou officials now say there was a “misunderstanding” and that they’re sorry:
MU spokeswoman Mary Jo Banken said Missouri’s band didn’t realize the Naval Academy had begun playing and that there was never any attempt to disrespect Navy tradition.
“Given our great respect for the Naval Academy and all those serving in our country in the armed forces of the United States, we greatly regret the misunderstanding,” she said.
Scoop Deck wasn’t there, but when even Mizzou alumni are writing in to one of the college’s newspapers to complain about the disrespect — it sounds pretty bad.
Navy’s football advantage
December 28th, 2009 | Naval Academy Sports | Posted by Phil Ewing
Notre Dame defenders tried to stop then-sophomore Ricky Dobbs in a game in 2008. How much does Navy's service academy mystique help it in games against regular-college opponents? // MC2 Tommy Gilligan / Navy
If you pay any attention to Naval Academy football you’ve heard both fans and critics of the Midshipmen say a version of this: “Oh, isn’t it great/terrible that Navy plays so well even though it can’t attract the same caliber athletes who opt for a University of Florida, say, or a Louisiana State.” Dissuaded by the difficult life of a mid and then several years’ more service in the Navy or Marine Corps, top football-men prefer schools from which they can then be vacuumed into the NFL, the truism goes.
Well, maybe. Navy definitely has its advantages, too — among others, everybody just respects it so darn much. This phenomenon came up at the beginning of the Mids’ season against Ohio State, as you learned here on the Deck, and it has come up again at the end. As Navy gets set to take on the Missouri Tigers in the Texas Bowl, yet another sportswriter in yet another newspaper has written about being awestruck by the Midshipmen, and how, no matter how the game turns out, the final score will be fun to fun:
While Navy isn’t one of those presumptuously propped up as “America’s Team,” it is, in fact, America’s team in the more poignant and profound sense that all of the service academies are…. Perhaps for one reason more than any other: an understanding of the courageous commitment and accompanying risks.
All true, of course, and the home-team hacks don’t write that kind of stuff about Mizzou when it comes to town in the regular season. Which leads the observer to wonder: How much does the Mids’ mystique help them in civilian-college matchups? Do regular college teams hesitate against Navy, or do you think their hits are just as bone-crunching?