It’s been a while since I’ve checked in. Hectic holidays as they say. I hope everyone out there had good health and good times and did not become just a little bit worn out by family time.
So, it is on to 2011, although it will be hard-pressed to top 2010.
After all, on New Year’s Day 2010 how many of us predicted the following:
--Tiger Woods not winning a single golf tournament anywhere, anytime, anyplace all year.
--The Saints winning The Super Bowl; The Giants winning The World Series; Butler coming with an inch of winning The NCAA basketball championship and Graeme McDowell, Louis Ousthuizen and Martin Kaymer winning major titles.
--LeBron James making perhaps the worst marketing decision any athlete has made since Andre Agassi looked into a camera and said, ‘image is everything.’
--The New York Yankees targeting a big-money free agent and NOT getting him.
--The Detroit Lions finishing the season on a four-game WINNING streak.
--The Washington Redskins turning their season into a soap opera/circus.
Wait, I digress. The Redskins becoming a soap opera/circus is as predictable as Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer winning major titles in tennis and The New York Islanders battling for the top draft pick.
So much has changed in sports through the years, so much has stayed the same. I tend to hang onto traditions, which is why I watch The Rose Bowl every New Year’s Day regardless of who is playing. This year’s game was great and seeing TCU hang on to win was gratifying to all of us who think the BCS Presidents should all be put to sea in a rowboat for the good of all mankind. Yes, that includes my new best friend Gordon Gee—even though he did tell Pete Thamel of The New York Times that he was planning to eat crow for dinner after TCU’s win in Pasadena. Of course he was eating it in a fancy New Orleans restaurant getting ready to watch Ohio State play Arkansas sometime in January—who among us knows when the college season actually ends these days. (Unrelated note: The college season is now so long that Pittsburgh will be playing under its third head coach since the end of the regular season when it finally plays whatever meaningless bowl it is playing in this coming weekend. Talk about a long season).
Back to Ohio State for a moment. I really think it is time for the NCAA to burn its rulebook. After all why bother having rules if you are going to make up different rules to suit yourself every time something happens involving a major (read moneymaking) school.
Look, we can debate the fairness of the rules forever. But here are the facts: Cam Newton WAS ineligible according to the rulebook. It says if you or any representative (that would include your own father) solicits money, you’re ineligible even if you never receive a dime. The NCAA says Cecil Newton solicited money from Mississippi State. That’s the end of the story. EXCEPT the NCAA says, no, even though it isn’t in the rules, since we believe the player knew nothing (just like Sargent Schultz knew nothing) he’s okay to play. I would ask Auburn fans one question—because I have nothing against you or Cam Newton or Gene Chizik and your former AD David Housel was one of my all-time favorite people in sports: Do you think for one second if your football team was 6-6 and playing in whatever bowl Kentucky is playing in that Cam Newton would have been eligible? If you say yes, PLEASE call me so I can sell you this beautiful plot of oceanfront land I own in Nebraska.
Now we have the case of The Ohio State Five, one of whom happens to be the team’s biggest star, quarterback Terrelle Pryor. They have been found guilty of selling memorabilia, getting discounts (at a tattoo parlor for crying out loud) and receiving ‘special treatment,’ a real NCAA no-no. Again, are the rules silly? Perhaps. But the NCAA says the violations are serious enough to merit a five game suspension.
Now, we can sit here most of the day and make the argument that what Newton went un-punished for is a lot more serious than what the Buckeye Five are being punished for but that’s not the point. The point is this: If they’re guilty, they’re guilty—they go to jail NOW not next September. Except the NCAA, apparently after being lobbied by The Sugar Bowl, says it is okay for them to play in The Sugar Bowl and THEN sit out the first five games of next season. Here are the five games: Akron and Toledo at home (I think they can get past those two); at Miami—coming off a 7-6 season with a new coach—Colorado (another new coach) and Michigan State—perhaps a tough game but a home game too. When do they become eligible again? For the game at Nebraska. What a shock.
Personally, if I was Pryor, all pledges to come back aside, I’d bolt for the NFL as soon as The Sugar Bowl is finally over. This isn’t new stuff for the NCAA by the way: back in 1991, it declared Nevada-Las Vegas ineligible only to move the penalty back a year because, um, UNLV was the defending NCAA champion and had everyone back and CBS really needed The Rebels eligible for ratings.
This is what the NCAA does and then it sits back and claims it has never, ever done anything wrong or done anything with the bottom line in mind. Oh please.
Meanwhile, on more pleasant topics: It was wonderful to see Air Force and (especially) Army win their bowl games although disappointing to see Navy lose. Still, all three had great seasons, combining for a record of 25-14. If you don’t think that’s a remarkable feat at military academies in times like these, you aren’t paying attention.
Maryland also won its bowl game—the Terrapins earning the right to travel 10 miles to downtown DC to play in frigid RFK Stadium in return for their 8-4 bounce-back season. The game was the last for Coach Ralph Friedgen, who was un-ceremoniously fired 10 days before the game by new Athletic Director Kevin Anderson. Basically Friedgen, who was 75-50 in ten seasons at Maryland, was fired for not selling enough tickets. Gee, what a surprise that Maryland people don’t get all that excited about ACC football.
Anderson had a plan though that seemed to make some sense: Bring in Mike Leach with his scorch-the-earth offense and mouth. Controversial, sure, everyone knows what happened at Texas Tech but if Leach won and threw for 500 yards a game no one at Maryland would care. If nothing else he would bring national attention to the school.
But Anderson was apparently overruled by the academic side of the school. Leach, they decided, carried too much baggage. And so, to replace Ralph Friedgen, Maryland hired…wait for it…Randy Edsall, who has done a fine job at Connecticut the last 12 years—just as Friedgen did a fine job at Maryland for the last ten.
Wow. The wolves are already at Anderson’s door and he’s been at Maryland for four months. I guess in the end, 2011 isn't going to be all that different than 2010.
Showing posts with label Air Force. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Air Force. Show all posts
Monday, January 3, 2011
Friday, January 1, 2010
Happy New Year -- What a great ending to 2009 for Navy, Air Force
If 2010 turns out to be as enjoyable as the last day of 2009, I am really looking forward to the New Year.
I got all my work done yesterday by noon, built a fire in my office fireplace (best thing about this house) and sat down to watch Air Force-Houston followed by Navy-Missouri.
You may ask why I wasn’t in Houston with Navy doing the game on radio. Believe me, there’s part of me that would have loved being there. But, as I’ve said before, I really despise the entire flying experience and that ratchets up during a holiday week. I could have flown down with Navy but they left last Saturday and I really didn’t want to spend six days in Houston during the holidays—especially when I had a family trip planned—and then fly back home on New Year’s Eve, landing sometime after midnight.
So, I stayed here and watched on TV.
Let me explain first how I feel about Air Force. I root against the Falcons twice a year: when they play Navy and when they play Army. In every other game I’m an Air Force fan. Obviously I’m closer to the programs at Army and Navy because of “A Civil War,” and my years now doing Navy on radio (13) and my close association with Army. This past September I was honored when I was asked to MC Army’s Hall of Fame banquet when Mike Krzyzewski was inducted. Plus, I have all those boyhood memories of going to games at West Point.
That said, I have great respect for Air Force and like the people I know there very much. Even though the Army and Navy people insist that life at Air Force isn’t as tough as at their schools—they call it, “the country club academy,”--I know that being a cadet at Air Force is about 100 times harder than going to any civilian school. I always respected Fisher DeBerry and I feel the same way about Troy Calhoun, who has done a remarkable job reviving the program the last three years. What’s more, his No. 1 lieutenant, Tim DeRuyter—also an Air Force grad—was at Navy for four years and became a friend so there’s an extra bit of personal connection for me.
So it was that I watched with both surprise and happiness as Air Force absolutely crushed Houston. The Falcons were up 14-0 in the blink of an eye and, although Houston threatened for a while, eventually pulled away to win 47-20. Wow. This was a Houston team that won at Oklahoma State and was 10-2 going into the Conference-USA championship game. Case Keenum was considered a Heisman candidate at one point during the season. Not yesterday: he threw six interceptions—the most in a bowl game since a guy named Bruce Lee threw six for Arizona in the 1968 Sun Bowl.
Keenum had written, “Jesus Saves,” on his eye black for the game. For some reason as the Falcons picked off one pass after another I thought about a famous billboard in Boston years ago when Phil Esposito was setting goal-scoring records for the Bruins. It said: “Jesus Saves….But Espo puts in the rebound!”
There was one disappointment at the end of the game: Instead of staying in Fort Worth for an extra 90 seconds to watch the Air Force players stand at attention for their alma mater, ESPN just HAD to throw it back to the studio so we could hear Lou Holtz and Mark May blather for a few extra minutes. It scares me a little that I actually agree with Holtz on something: he said the Mountain West should get an automatic BCS bid. Of course it should. My God, is there anyone out there who thinks the ACC is as good a league as The Mountain West right now? Or, for that matter, The Big Ten? How did Oregon State, which almost won the Pac-10, look against Brigham Young in the Las Vegas Bowl? Anyway, May, who is always scripted to disagree with Holtz tried to say the bottom of the league was weak. Really? How about the bottom of the ACC Mark? The Big Ten? Or, for that matter the Pac-10 and The Big 12? If TCU beats Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl the Mountain West will be 5-0 in bowl games this season. That’s a pretty deep league if you ask me.
Anyway, I digress.
Just as Navy-Missouri was kicking off, the plumber who had come to the house to fix a broken toilet came in to announce he was finished and—surprise—would like to be paid. I walked into the kitchen, wrote him a check, wished him a Happy New Year and came back in to find Navy trailing 7-0. Whoo boy, this might be a long afternoon. I later saw the replay of Danario Alexander’s 58 yard catch-and-run touchdown.
Then Ricky Dobbs fumbled on Missouri’s 20-yard line on Navy’s first series. I can think negative thoughts faster than almost anyone alive: Missouri was going to score again, make it 14-0 and it was going to get bad. I cursed the bowl system which sent Missouri to the Texas Bowl even though it had finished ahead of both Iowa State and Texas A+M in The Big 12. This was a big-time team, with a future pro quarterback…
I forgot two things: I forgot that the kids playing for Navy are a lot tougher than I am and NEVER think negative thoughts and I forgot about Buddy Green.
ESPN—more on them later—focused about 99 percent of its attention during the telecast on Dobbs. That’s fine. He’s a terrific player and a wonderful kid. Bob Davie did manage to give some credit to the slotbacks and at the very end of the telecast mentioned Green. With all due respect to everyone else at Navy, I’m not sure the MVP of this team wasn’t Green.
Two years ago, his defense, torn up by injuries and wracked by inexperience, got hammered week after week. It gave up 62 points in a WIN against North Texas State. Joe Flacco and Delaware sliced it and diced it for 59 points. There were freshmen all over the field and Paul Johnson even started spending time on the defensive practice field which you know didn’t make Green happy at all.
He never complained, never whined about the injuries or the inexperience. He just kept saying, “Hey, it’s our job to keep coaching them every week and hope they get better.”
They did. Last year the defense was solid. It made plays when it had to—a late interception to seal a game against Rutgers; an amazing fumble recovery in the final minute to steal a game from Temple. It finished the regular season with back-to-back shutouts.
This year though would be harder. Two weeks before the season began, Nate Frazier, by far the team’s best defensive player, a guy who had to be double-teamed on every play at nose tackle, was separated from the academy on an academic honors charge. There’s no messing around at the academies with stuff like that. There was no stalling until after the season; no one game suspension—he was gone.
The schedule was brutal: at Ohio State; at Pittsburgh; Wake Forest; Temple (which won 9 games); at SMU; at Notre Dame; Air Force; at Hawaii. Plus there was the matter of playing 11 weeks in a row without a bye with a team that is always smaller than every civilian opponent it plays.
Every week the defense made key plays. It gave up yardage—Green knows he can’t attack on every play so he sets the opposition up to make mistakes. Notre Dame never punted—but Navy kept stopping it inside the red zone and won the game. In a driving rainstorm with Dobbs hurt, Navy didn’t throw a single pass against Wake Forest—and won the game because the defense made plays. Did you see Air Force roll up more than 500 yards in offense against Houston? That same offense didn’t score a touchdown against Navy’s defense.
Yesterday, facing a team that he knew wanted to throw on every down, Green came out with two down linemen on most plays. Davie was literally open-mouthed. (He also kept referring to Navy’s legal cut blocks as chop blocks, which are illegal. Was that a little bit of the old Notre Damer coming out?) And Missouri kept falling into Green’s trap. It moved up and down the field almost at will but couldn’t score inside the red zone. In fact, Alexander’s touchdown—30 seconds in—was the only touchdown the Tigers scored all day. Final: Navy-35, Missouri-13.
“We’re like 11 hyenas out there,” Niamatalolo said. “Sooner or later we’re going to bring an elephant down.”
Naturally, ESPN didn’t stick around for the playing of the alma mater. It had to show its bowl week promo for the thousandth time. It was also ill-prepared for the broadcast: both Mark Jones and Davie kept mis-pronouncing names and confusing players—without every getting corrected by the truck apparently. It was annoying but didn’t matter.
A word about Niamatalolo: He’s an amazing guy. He’s as genuine as he appears on TV and he stepped into a brutally difficult situation following Johnson, who had become a legend in Annapolis. He’s now 18-10—playing tougher schedules than Johnson did—in two seasons, with a 4-0 record against Air Force and Army, a win over Notre Dame and a bowl win. He’s had to use five different quarterbacks during the two seasons because of injuries.
And he never complains about anything. You see, that’s not the way they do it the academies. I may complain but the players and coaches don’t. You want to talk about the best and the brightest, go talk to some of those young men (they’re not kids) and the men who coach them.
Like I said, it was a great day. Happy New Year to all.
I got all my work done yesterday by noon, built a fire in my office fireplace (best thing about this house) and sat down to watch Air Force-Houston followed by Navy-Missouri.
You may ask why I wasn’t in Houston with Navy doing the game on radio. Believe me, there’s part of me that would have loved being there. But, as I’ve said before, I really despise the entire flying experience and that ratchets up during a holiday week. I could have flown down with Navy but they left last Saturday and I really didn’t want to spend six days in Houston during the holidays—especially when I had a family trip planned—and then fly back home on New Year’s Eve, landing sometime after midnight.
So, I stayed here and watched on TV.
Let me explain first how I feel about Air Force. I root against the Falcons twice a year: when they play Navy and when they play Army. In every other game I’m an Air Force fan. Obviously I’m closer to the programs at Army and Navy because of “A Civil War,” and my years now doing Navy on radio (13) and my close association with Army. This past September I was honored when I was asked to MC Army’s Hall of Fame banquet when Mike Krzyzewski was inducted. Plus, I have all those boyhood memories of going to games at West Point.
That said, I have great respect for Air Force and like the people I know there very much. Even though the Army and Navy people insist that life at Air Force isn’t as tough as at their schools—they call it, “the country club academy,”--I know that being a cadet at Air Force is about 100 times harder than going to any civilian school. I always respected Fisher DeBerry and I feel the same way about Troy Calhoun, who has done a remarkable job reviving the program the last three years. What’s more, his No. 1 lieutenant, Tim DeRuyter—also an Air Force grad—was at Navy for four years and became a friend so there’s an extra bit of personal connection for me.
So it was that I watched with both surprise and happiness as Air Force absolutely crushed Houston. The Falcons were up 14-0 in the blink of an eye and, although Houston threatened for a while, eventually pulled away to win 47-20. Wow. This was a Houston team that won at Oklahoma State and was 10-2 going into the Conference-USA championship game. Case Keenum was considered a Heisman candidate at one point during the season. Not yesterday: he threw six interceptions—the most in a bowl game since a guy named Bruce Lee threw six for Arizona in the 1968 Sun Bowl.
Keenum had written, “Jesus Saves,” on his eye black for the game. For some reason as the Falcons picked off one pass after another I thought about a famous billboard in Boston years ago when Phil Esposito was setting goal-scoring records for the Bruins. It said: “Jesus Saves….But Espo puts in the rebound!”
There was one disappointment at the end of the game: Instead of staying in Fort Worth for an extra 90 seconds to watch the Air Force players stand at attention for their alma mater, ESPN just HAD to throw it back to the studio so we could hear Lou Holtz and Mark May blather for a few extra minutes. It scares me a little that I actually agree with Holtz on something: he said the Mountain West should get an automatic BCS bid. Of course it should. My God, is there anyone out there who thinks the ACC is as good a league as The Mountain West right now? Or, for that matter, The Big Ten? How did Oregon State, which almost won the Pac-10, look against Brigham Young in the Las Vegas Bowl? Anyway, May, who is always scripted to disagree with Holtz tried to say the bottom of the league was weak. Really? How about the bottom of the ACC Mark? The Big Ten? Or, for that matter the Pac-10 and The Big 12? If TCU beats Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl the Mountain West will be 5-0 in bowl games this season. That’s a pretty deep league if you ask me.
Anyway, I digress.
Just as Navy-Missouri was kicking off, the plumber who had come to the house to fix a broken toilet came in to announce he was finished and—surprise—would like to be paid. I walked into the kitchen, wrote him a check, wished him a Happy New Year and came back in to find Navy trailing 7-0. Whoo boy, this might be a long afternoon. I later saw the replay of Danario Alexander’s 58 yard catch-and-run touchdown.
Then Ricky Dobbs fumbled on Missouri’s 20-yard line on Navy’s first series. I can think negative thoughts faster than almost anyone alive: Missouri was going to score again, make it 14-0 and it was going to get bad. I cursed the bowl system which sent Missouri to the Texas Bowl even though it had finished ahead of both Iowa State and Texas A+M in The Big 12. This was a big-time team, with a future pro quarterback…
I forgot two things: I forgot that the kids playing for Navy are a lot tougher than I am and NEVER think negative thoughts and I forgot about Buddy Green.
ESPN—more on them later—focused about 99 percent of its attention during the telecast on Dobbs. That’s fine. He’s a terrific player and a wonderful kid. Bob Davie did manage to give some credit to the slotbacks and at the very end of the telecast mentioned Green. With all due respect to everyone else at Navy, I’m not sure the MVP of this team wasn’t Green.
Two years ago, his defense, torn up by injuries and wracked by inexperience, got hammered week after week. It gave up 62 points in a WIN against North Texas State. Joe Flacco and Delaware sliced it and diced it for 59 points. There were freshmen all over the field and Paul Johnson even started spending time on the defensive practice field which you know didn’t make Green happy at all.
He never complained, never whined about the injuries or the inexperience. He just kept saying, “Hey, it’s our job to keep coaching them every week and hope they get better.”
They did. Last year the defense was solid. It made plays when it had to—a late interception to seal a game against Rutgers; an amazing fumble recovery in the final minute to steal a game from Temple. It finished the regular season with back-to-back shutouts.
This year though would be harder. Two weeks before the season began, Nate Frazier, by far the team’s best defensive player, a guy who had to be double-teamed on every play at nose tackle, was separated from the academy on an academic honors charge. There’s no messing around at the academies with stuff like that. There was no stalling until after the season; no one game suspension—he was gone.
The schedule was brutal: at Ohio State; at Pittsburgh; Wake Forest; Temple (which won 9 games); at SMU; at Notre Dame; Air Force; at Hawaii. Plus there was the matter of playing 11 weeks in a row without a bye with a team that is always smaller than every civilian opponent it plays.
Every week the defense made key plays. It gave up yardage—Green knows he can’t attack on every play so he sets the opposition up to make mistakes. Notre Dame never punted—but Navy kept stopping it inside the red zone and won the game. In a driving rainstorm with Dobbs hurt, Navy didn’t throw a single pass against Wake Forest—and won the game because the defense made plays. Did you see Air Force roll up more than 500 yards in offense against Houston? That same offense didn’t score a touchdown against Navy’s defense.
Yesterday, facing a team that he knew wanted to throw on every down, Green came out with two down linemen on most plays. Davie was literally open-mouthed. (He also kept referring to Navy’s legal cut blocks as chop blocks, which are illegal. Was that a little bit of the old Notre Damer coming out?) And Missouri kept falling into Green’s trap. It moved up and down the field almost at will but couldn’t score inside the red zone. In fact, Alexander’s touchdown—30 seconds in—was the only touchdown the Tigers scored all day. Final: Navy-35, Missouri-13.
“We’re like 11 hyenas out there,” Niamatalolo said. “Sooner or later we’re going to bring an elephant down.”
Naturally, ESPN didn’t stick around for the playing of the alma mater. It had to show its bowl week promo for the thousandth time. It was also ill-prepared for the broadcast: both Mark Jones and Davie kept mis-pronouncing names and confusing players—without every getting corrected by the truck apparently. It was annoying but didn’t matter.
A word about Niamatalolo: He’s an amazing guy. He’s as genuine as he appears on TV and he stepped into a brutally difficult situation following Johnson, who had become a legend in Annapolis. He’s now 18-10—playing tougher schedules than Johnson did—in two seasons, with a 4-0 record against Air Force and Army, a win over Notre Dame and a bowl win. He’s had to use five different quarterbacks during the two seasons because of injuries.
And he never complains about anything. You see, that’s not the way they do it the academies. I may complain but the players and coaches don’t. You want to talk about the best and the brightest, go talk to some of those young men (they’re not kids) and the men who coach them.
Like I said, it was a great day. Happy New Year to all.
Monday, October 5, 2009
So Much to Write About On Monday Mornings
Monday is always the toughest--and easiest--blog day because there are so many different things to write about. If the Redskins had somehow lost to the horrid Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday I'm pretty sure I would have been ripping Danny Snyder for firing Jim Zorn instead of firing himself. It's amazing to read The Washington Post this morning where the reaction to the 16-13 win would make you think the Redskins had come from 10-0 down at halftime to beat the Steelers or the Cowboys.
Speaking of my newspaper--and it will always be my newspaper for better or worse--there were THREE stories on Sunday about Maryland's win over Clemson. THREE. Forget that Maryland's bad and Clemson's mediocre or that half the crowd was from Clemson because few people in the area seriously care about Maryland football, the fact is it was an ACC football game between two mediocre teams. Most ACC football games are between two mediocre teams, the exception being Virginia Tech-Duke on Saturday which was between a good team and a bad team even if Duke kept the final score close.
While The Post was obsessing about Maryland (I won't even get into the Redskins obsession this morning) the paper all but missed a truly wonderful game in Annapolis between Navy and Air Force. (I know my editor Matt Rennie will point out that the Navy game story was played right next to Maryland's but the Maryland SIDEBAR was longer than the one Navy story). You pretty much have to be in the stadium--which was packed unlike Byrd Stadium where they keep pumping up their alleged attendance figures--to feel the intensity of a game like this one. After Saturday's 16-13 overtime win, Navy has now beaten Air Force seven times in a row by a total of 36 points, 11 of those coming in the game two years ago when Navy scored very late to stretch the final margin. That means six games decided by 25 points. Do the math.
Both defenses were brilliant in this game. You could feel the energy on both sidelines from the radio booth and, no doubt, everywhere else in the stadium. It took a god-awful call--a phantom roughing the passer penalty on a play in which Navy made what should have been a game-clinching interception--to put the game into overtime. (If you think this is my Navy bias talking, check the replay or check Air Force coach Troy Calhoun's quote on the play. He called it, "a gift.") Navy kicker Joe Buckley, who lost his job a week ago and then got it back, made three field goals including a 38-yarder in overtime. Air Force kicker Erik Soderberg, who had made a 33-yarder at the buzzer to tie the game (after the brutal call) missed wide left from 31-yards and Navy had won again.
As happy as I was for Navy, I couldn't help but feel for Soderberg, who not surprisingly was completely stand-up about the miss putting the blame on himself (this is what service academy kids do) and for all the Air Force players who gave heart and soul to winning the game and now must wait 12 months to try again--except for their seniors who will never beat Navy. As many times as I have seen it, the playing of the alma maters after a service academy game still gets to me, the teams standing in front of their respective bands and student bodies--first the losers, then the winners--for the songs. You never see any of the losers sneak out or fail to cross the field after their song has been played to show respect for the winners. It's just a very cool thing. I can't count the number of times I've seen it and I still get chills.
One other football score absolutely jumped off the page at me Saturday. It was NOT UTEP over Houston or Michigan State (yawn) over Michigan or even Notre Dame lucking out again. It was this: Columbia-38, Princeton-0 at Princeton. Look, I know Columbia football. I grew up going to games in Baker Field and watching the Lions roll up one losing season after another even with some guys on the team--Marty Domres, George Starke, Marcellus Wiley (later) who went on to play in the NFL. I don't know the exact numbers but I think Columbia has had (maybe) three winning seasons in forty years. The Lions almost never beat Princeton much less KILL the Tigers. That score is as stunning as any you will see in college football this year.
Back now to our regularly scheduled blog.
As soon as the alma maters had been played and Bob Socci threw our broadcast to a break, I had to race to my car. I was giving a speech at George Mason and the overtime cost me 20 minutes. I HAD to get out before the traffic backed up. As I ran the 200 yards or so from the press box elevator to my car I noticed two things: I wasn't breathing very hard at all and I didn't notice the incisions from heart surgery until I got in the car and realized I hadn't noticed them. Progress. Now I need to lose 20 pounds and get in swimming shape.
I beat the traffic and got to Mason in time. It is amazing what that school has done in the time since I've been in Washington. The Final Four appearance in 2006 was the centerpiece of what has become a truly admirable athletic program. The dinner was packed. (Must have been the speaker). I joked that if I HAD been late they could have had Jim Larranaga introduce me because that would have killed at least an hour. Jim is a reporter's dream unless you're on a tight deadline. Ask him about someone make him a jump shot and he will tell you about James Naismith teaching his players the set shot and move on from there before arriving back in 2009. By the way, the Patriots will be very good this year.
With all the football going on Sunday I was really focused--once I got home from my daughter's birthday party--on one event: The Senior Players Championship in Baltimore. If not for Brigid's party I would have driven up there because Tom Watson had a four shot lead. Watson just couldn't get going on Sunday. Jay Haas did, shooting 66 to beat him by one shot with a brilliant birdie on 18, hitting a 6-iron to two feet on a hole almost no one had even hit the green (23 percent of the field) on all day. Haas is one of the truly good guys in all of sports. Several years ago he was awarded the Golf Writer's Association's annual Jim Murray Award for cooperating with the media. His opening line was, "I guess this should be called the, 'Curtis blew us off so let's go talk to Jay,' Award." For years golf writers never knew what they were going to get when approaching Jay's old Wake Forest teammate Curtis Strange. They always knew what they'd get with Jay.
In his entire career on the two tours--33 years and counting--Jay has been fined once. It happened in Milwaukee about 10 years ago when he was struggling with his game. He managed to play well the first two rounds but was awful on Saturday, shooting something like 77 which on that golf course is like shooting 85. Disgusted, he managed to hit his second shot on the par-five 18th just off the back of the green. He caught a really bad lie though and plunked his third all the way to the other side of the green. As he walked to his ball, steam coming out of his ears, some guy yelled out, "you really suck Haas!" Jay just couldn't take it anymore. "F---- you!" He yelled back.
The next morning, Wade Cagle, the rules official who was running the tournament, called Haas into his office. "Jay someone filed a complaint against you yesterday," he said, looking a little bit pale. "Says here that you said, 'f---- you,' to a fan. I'm sure they misheard. I'm sure you said 'THANK-you.'
Haas shook his head. "Nope," he said. "Guy's got it right; How much (fine money) do I owe you?"
I digress. As much as I like Jay, Watson losing was painful. Think how close he has come to an absolutely historic year: he just missed becoming the oldest man by ELEVEN years to win a major at The British Open and if he had won yesterday he would have been the oldest man to win a major on The Champions Tour. What a double THAT would have been. In fact, had he pulled both wins off I would have made the case that, adding in the remarkable work he has done to raise money for ALS Research, he should be Sportsman of the Year. Now, even though Tom should still be considered, it almost certainly will go to Roger Federer--who is deserving but not as inspiring as Watson on any level in my (biased) view.
Life is never perfect. Especially on a weekend when Dan Snyder and Charlie Weis eek out wins. Then again, Navy-Air Force made up for it--in spades. Not because Navy won but because being in that stadium on a perfect October afternoon was so
Speaking of my newspaper--and it will always be my newspaper for better or worse--there were THREE stories on Sunday about Maryland's win over Clemson. THREE. Forget that Maryland's bad and Clemson's mediocre or that half the crowd was from Clemson because few people in the area seriously care about Maryland football, the fact is it was an ACC football game between two mediocre teams. Most ACC football games are between two mediocre teams, the exception being Virginia Tech-Duke on Saturday which was between a good team and a bad team even if Duke kept the final score close.
While The Post was obsessing about Maryland (I won't even get into the Redskins obsession this morning) the paper all but missed a truly wonderful game in Annapolis between Navy and Air Force. (I know my editor Matt Rennie will point out that the Navy game story was played right next to Maryland's but the Maryland SIDEBAR was longer than the one Navy story). You pretty much have to be in the stadium--which was packed unlike Byrd Stadium where they keep pumping up their alleged attendance figures--to feel the intensity of a game like this one. After Saturday's 16-13 overtime win, Navy has now beaten Air Force seven times in a row by a total of 36 points, 11 of those coming in the game two years ago when Navy scored very late to stretch the final margin. That means six games decided by 25 points. Do the math.
Both defenses were brilliant in this game. You could feel the energy on both sidelines from the radio booth and, no doubt, everywhere else in the stadium. It took a god-awful call--a phantom roughing the passer penalty on a play in which Navy made what should have been a game-clinching interception--to put the game into overtime. (If you think this is my Navy bias talking, check the replay or check Air Force coach Troy Calhoun's quote on the play. He called it, "a gift.") Navy kicker Joe Buckley, who lost his job a week ago and then got it back, made three field goals including a 38-yarder in overtime. Air Force kicker Erik Soderberg, who had made a 33-yarder at the buzzer to tie the game (after the brutal call) missed wide left from 31-yards and Navy had won again.
As happy as I was for Navy, I couldn't help but feel for Soderberg, who not surprisingly was completely stand-up about the miss putting the blame on himself (this is what service academy kids do) and for all the Air Force players who gave heart and soul to winning the game and now must wait 12 months to try again--except for their seniors who will never beat Navy. As many times as I have seen it, the playing of the alma maters after a service academy game still gets to me, the teams standing in front of their respective bands and student bodies--first the losers, then the winners--for the songs. You never see any of the losers sneak out or fail to cross the field after their song has been played to show respect for the winners. It's just a very cool thing. I can't count the number of times I've seen it and I still get chills.
One other football score absolutely jumped off the page at me Saturday. It was NOT UTEP over Houston or Michigan State (yawn) over Michigan or even Notre Dame lucking out again. It was this: Columbia-38, Princeton-0 at Princeton. Look, I know Columbia football. I grew up going to games in Baker Field and watching the Lions roll up one losing season after another even with some guys on the team--Marty Domres, George Starke, Marcellus Wiley (later) who went on to play in the NFL. I don't know the exact numbers but I think Columbia has had (maybe) three winning seasons in forty years. The Lions almost never beat Princeton much less KILL the Tigers. That score is as stunning as any you will see in college football this year.
Back now to our regularly scheduled blog.
As soon as the alma maters had been played and Bob Socci threw our broadcast to a break, I had to race to my car. I was giving a speech at George Mason and the overtime cost me 20 minutes. I HAD to get out before the traffic backed up. As I ran the 200 yards or so from the press box elevator to my car I noticed two things: I wasn't breathing very hard at all and I didn't notice the incisions from heart surgery until I got in the car and realized I hadn't noticed them. Progress. Now I need to lose 20 pounds and get in swimming shape.
I beat the traffic and got to Mason in time. It is amazing what that school has done in the time since I've been in Washington. The Final Four appearance in 2006 was the centerpiece of what has become a truly admirable athletic program. The dinner was packed. (Must have been the speaker). I joked that if I HAD been late they could have had Jim Larranaga introduce me because that would have killed at least an hour. Jim is a reporter's dream unless you're on a tight deadline. Ask him about someone make him a jump shot and he will tell you about James Naismith teaching his players the set shot and move on from there before arriving back in 2009. By the way, the Patriots will be very good this year.
With all the football going on Sunday I was really focused--once I got home from my daughter's birthday party--on one event: The Senior Players Championship in Baltimore. If not for Brigid's party I would have driven up there because Tom Watson had a four shot lead. Watson just couldn't get going on Sunday. Jay Haas did, shooting 66 to beat him by one shot with a brilliant birdie on 18, hitting a 6-iron to two feet on a hole almost no one had even hit the green (23 percent of the field) on all day. Haas is one of the truly good guys in all of sports. Several years ago he was awarded the Golf Writer's Association's annual Jim Murray Award for cooperating with the media. His opening line was, "I guess this should be called the, 'Curtis blew us off so let's go talk to Jay,' Award." For years golf writers never knew what they were going to get when approaching Jay's old Wake Forest teammate Curtis Strange. They always knew what they'd get with Jay.
In his entire career on the two tours--33 years and counting--Jay has been fined once. It happened in Milwaukee about 10 years ago when he was struggling with his game. He managed to play well the first two rounds but was awful on Saturday, shooting something like 77 which on that golf course is like shooting 85. Disgusted, he managed to hit his second shot on the par-five 18th just off the back of the green. He caught a really bad lie though and plunked his third all the way to the other side of the green. As he walked to his ball, steam coming out of his ears, some guy yelled out, "you really suck Haas!" Jay just couldn't take it anymore. "F---- you!" He yelled back.
The next morning, Wade Cagle, the rules official who was running the tournament, called Haas into his office. "Jay someone filed a complaint against you yesterday," he said, looking a little bit pale. "Says here that you said, 'f---- you,' to a fan. I'm sure they misheard. I'm sure you said 'THANK-you.'
Haas shook his head. "Nope," he said. "Guy's got it right; How much (fine money) do I owe you?"
I digress. As much as I like Jay, Watson losing was painful. Think how close he has come to an absolutely historic year: he just missed becoming the oldest man by ELEVEN years to win a major at The British Open and if he had won yesterday he would have been the oldest man to win a major on The Champions Tour. What a double THAT would have been. In fact, had he pulled both wins off I would have made the case that, adding in the remarkable work he has done to raise money for ALS Research, he should be Sportsman of the Year. Now, even though Tom should still be considered, it almost certainly will go to Roger Federer--who is deserving but not as inspiring as Watson on any level in my (biased) view.
Life is never perfect. Especially on a weekend when Dan Snyder and Charlie Weis eek out wins. Then again, Navy-Air Force made up for it--in spades. Not because Navy won but because being in that stadium on a perfect October afternoon was so
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Great Time of Year - On the Doorstep of Another College Football Season
So here we stand on the doorstep of another college football season. The games begin on Thursday and then just about everyone plays on Saturday.
I'm like most people: I get fired up this time of year. I love doing Navy games on the radio because the kids who play there really do stand for something that goes way beyond trying to win football games. I feel the same way about Army and Air Force--often to the chagrin of my friends at Navy. This year, the Mids have a brutal start to their schedule: they open Saturday at Ohio State and, while I think the notion of playing in Ohio Stadium is a cool thing for the players, it could be a long afternoon.
It's nice that the Ohio State people are asking their fans to greet Navy with a standing ovation when the players come onto the field. Personally, I've always felt that should be the case anywhere the academies play and I'm an absolute zealot about opposing teams waiting for 60 seconds at the end of games to show respect during the playing of the alma maters. Many teams now do this. Last year, Rutgers Coach Greg Schiano, after a brutal loss in Annapolis, literally chased one of his players down when he started to leave the field before the Navy band had played, 'Blue and Gold,'--which, if you've never heard it is one of the most spine-tingling alma maters you'll ever hear. Army has the better fight song (although Anchors Aweigh isn't bad) but Navy has the better alma mater if you're scoring at home.
The contrast to Schiano was the sight of the players from my alma mater jumping and down and completely ignoring the playing of 'Blue and Gold,' in Durham. The Duke people were upset when I ripped them for that behavior. Let's see if they get it right when they play at Army in a couple weeks.
Okay, enough ramblings about the academies even though they are the teams I care about most. To be honest, I really don't get all that excited about who is going to play in the BCS Championship game because half the time the system coughs up a fraudulent championship game. Texas beat Oklahoma on a neutral site last year and didn't even get to play in The Big Twelve title game because it lost a tiebreaker after losing at Texas Tech in what was probably the best college football game of the year. I won't even get into what happened to Utah--which went undefeated, hammered Alabama in The Sugar Bowl and was not given the chance as (let me make this clear) ANY UNDEFEATED TEAM IN ANY OTHER SPORT would get to play for a championship. Things like this happen every year and there won't be a legitimate championship game until someone sends the BCS Presidents into solitary confinement and tells them they'll be released when they come off their high horses and take the 15 minutes that would be needed to organize a playoff.
President Obama has said a couple of times that there should be a playoff and most sane human beings know that to be truth. All the old arguments have been shot down long ago. A playoff would NOT affect players academically--far LESS in fact than the basketball tournament--and it doesn't render the regular season less meaningful. In fact it would make it more meaningful because more teams would have something serious to play for into December. But the BCS hypocrites went into a meeting last spring and came out with their usual garbage about how well the system was working. I won't even go over it again because it is too boring and so ridiculous it doesn't even merit comment. The BCS Presidents are a bunch of arrogant hypocrites who should all be made to watch Dick Cheney speeches the rest of their lives because he's clearly their role model: "If I say it's true, it IS true no matter how much evidence there is that I'm lying."
Okay, enough of the BCS rant--for now.
There are all sorts of fun games that will be played over the next few months. I happen to be a big Division 1-AA fan (or whatever the NCAA calls it now) in part because there's a real national championship but because there are so many different stories to be told at that level that don't focus on who is going to be a No. 1 pick in next April's draft. Personally I could care less right now whether Tim Tebow is going to be a good NFL quarterback. Let him be a great college player until January and then come talk to me about the draft. Actually, come talk to me next September when he puts on an NFL uniform for real. Then I'll be interested.
Richmond was a great story last year making its late run to the national title under ex-cop Mike London. Montana always plays great football that none of us in the east notice before December--if then. I love The Ivy League although I'm not a real big fan of their presidents either who keep insisting that their players can't participate in postseason in football even though they do it in every other sport. Why is it that Cornell's lacrosse team can come within seconds of a national championship just before exams start in the spring but the football players at Harvard--which has dominated the league in recent years under Tim Murphy, one of the best little-known coaches anywhere, can't play in the 1-AA playoffs? You know what the answer is if you ask The Ivy Leaguers: because we say so. Oh, okay thanks. Why don't you go give that answer to your players who are denied the chance to test themselves against the best. Isn't education supposed to be about learning to be the best at whatever you choose to become?
As my mother used to say to my father: Stop being logical.
Saturdays in the fall are still great fun in spite of it all; in spite of the hypocrisy of the BCS; the constant investigations of big-time programs and the fact that some people just make it a much bigger deal than it should be. I love the weather and the changing leaves and the atmospheres--from the 100,000 seat stadiums (not crazy about the traffic) to the 15,000 seat stadiums and on down. I still want to get to see Amherst play Williams someday and Harvard play Yale again, which I haven't done for more than 20 years. Every school has its own niche and its own big rival and its own traditions--many of them unknown to most of the country but known to those who care about them. I can't stand the weeknight games but that ship has sailed. The schools will never say no to the money or the exposure. I'm just glad Army has signed a contract with CBS College Sports that will ensure all its home game starting next year are on Saturdays. That's as it should be.
So, I'm psyched. I'm looking forward to seeing John Glenn dot the i on Saturday and to the reaction of the Ohio State fans when Navy takes the field. The game I'm a little more apprehensive about. But there will be more games and more Saturdays after that and for a few hours each weekend I will pretend there are no BCS Presidents--or college presidents, period now that I think of it--that there are no out of control boosters or control freak coaches. I'll just sit back, take it in and know that on December 12th sometime before dusk the players from Army and Navy will stand shoulder-to-shoulder when they play the alma maters.
All that other stuff ceases to matter or exist at a moment like that. And there will be others along the way.
I'm like most people: I get fired up this time of year. I love doing Navy games on the radio because the kids who play there really do stand for something that goes way beyond trying to win football games. I feel the same way about Army and Air Force--often to the chagrin of my friends at Navy. This year, the Mids have a brutal start to their schedule: they open Saturday at Ohio State and, while I think the notion of playing in Ohio Stadium is a cool thing for the players, it could be a long afternoon.
It's nice that the Ohio State people are asking their fans to greet Navy with a standing ovation when the players come onto the field. Personally, I've always felt that should be the case anywhere the academies play and I'm an absolute zealot about opposing teams waiting for 60 seconds at the end of games to show respect during the playing of the alma maters. Many teams now do this. Last year, Rutgers Coach Greg Schiano, after a brutal loss in Annapolis, literally chased one of his players down when he started to leave the field before the Navy band had played, 'Blue and Gold,'--which, if you've never heard it is one of the most spine-tingling alma maters you'll ever hear. Army has the better fight song (although Anchors Aweigh isn't bad) but Navy has the better alma mater if you're scoring at home.
The contrast to Schiano was the sight of the players from my alma mater jumping and down and completely ignoring the playing of 'Blue and Gold,' in Durham. The Duke people were upset when I ripped them for that behavior. Let's see if they get it right when they play at Army in a couple weeks.
Okay, enough ramblings about the academies even though they are the teams I care about most. To be honest, I really don't get all that excited about who is going to play in the BCS Championship game because half the time the system coughs up a fraudulent championship game. Texas beat Oklahoma on a neutral site last year and didn't even get to play in The Big Twelve title game because it lost a tiebreaker after losing at Texas Tech in what was probably the best college football game of the year. I won't even get into what happened to Utah--which went undefeated, hammered Alabama in The Sugar Bowl and was not given the chance as (let me make this clear) ANY UNDEFEATED TEAM IN ANY OTHER SPORT would get to play for a championship. Things like this happen every year and there won't be a legitimate championship game until someone sends the BCS Presidents into solitary confinement and tells them they'll be released when they come off their high horses and take the 15 minutes that would be needed to organize a playoff.
President Obama has said a couple of times that there should be a playoff and most sane human beings know that to be truth. All the old arguments have been shot down long ago. A playoff would NOT affect players academically--far LESS in fact than the basketball tournament--and it doesn't render the regular season less meaningful. In fact it would make it more meaningful because more teams would have something serious to play for into December. But the BCS hypocrites went into a meeting last spring and came out with their usual garbage about how well the system was working. I won't even go over it again because it is too boring and so ridiculous it doesn't even merit comment. The BCS Presidents are a bunch of arrogant hypocrites who should all be made to watch Dick Cheney speeches the rest of their lives because he's clearly their role model: "If I say it's true, it IS true no matter how much evidence there is that I'm lying."
Okay, enough of the BCS rant--for now.
There are all sorts of fun games that will be played over the next few months. I happen to be a big Division 1-AA fan (or whatever the NCAA calls it now) in part because there's a real national championship but because there are so many different stories to be told at that level that don't focus on who is going to be a No. 1 pick in next April's draft. Personally I could care less right now whether Tim Tebow is going to be a good NFL quarterback. Let him be a great college player until January and then come talk to me about the draft. Actually, come talk to me next September when he puts on an NFL uniform for real. Then I'll be interested.
Richmond was a great story last year making its late run to the national title under ex-cop Mike London. Montana always plays great football that none of us in the east notice before December--if then. I love The Ivy League although I'm not a real big fan of their presidents either who keep insisting that their players can't participate in postseason in football even though they do it in every other sport. Why is it that Cornell's lacrosse team can come within seconds of a national championship just before exams start in the spring but the football players at Harvard--which has dominated the league in recent years under Tim Murphy, one of the best little-known coaches anywhere, can't play in the 1-AA playoffs? You know what the answer is if you ask The Ivy Leaguers: because we say so. Oh, okay thanks. Why don't you go give that answer to your players who are denied the chance to test themselves against the best. Isn't education supposed to be about learning to be the best at whatever you choose to become?
As my mother used to say to my father: Stop being logical.
Saturdays in the fall are still great fun in spite of it all; in spite of the hypocrisy of the BCS; the constant investigations of big-time programs and the fact that some people just make it a much bigger deal than it should be. I love the weather and the changing leaves and the atmospheres--from the 100,000 seat stadiums (not crazy about the traffic) to the 15,000 seat stadiums and on down. I still want to get to see Amherst play Williams someday and Harvard play Yale again, which I haven't done for more than 20 years. Every school has its own niche and its own big rival and its own traditions--many of them unknown to most of the country but known to those who care about them. I can't stand the weeknight games but that ship has sailed. The schools will never say no to the money or the exposure. I'm just glad Army has signed a contract with CBS College Sports that will ensure all its home game starting next year are on Saturdays. That's as it should be.
So, I'm psyched. I'm looking forward to seeing John Glenn dot the i on Saturday and to the reaction of the Ohio State fans when Navy takes the field. The game I'm a little more apprehensive about. But there will be more games and more Saturdays after that and for a few hours each weekend I will pretend there are no BCS Presidents--or college presidents, period now that I think of it--that there are no out of control boosters or control freak coaches. I'll just sit back, take it in and know that on December 12th sometime before dusk the players from Army and Navy will stand shoulder-to-shoulder when they play the alma maters.
All that other stuff ceases to matter or exist at a moment like that. And there will be others along the way.
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