Reef Points

Quote for a Day - like Go Navy!

2010-08-17T12:46:00.000-07:00

It's Not about the War - IT'S ABOUT the WARRIORS!

2010-02-19T10:58:00.000-08:00

This performance isn't the USNA Glee Club - yet it's still a good show by Trace Atkins and the other Glee Club.

Our Tax Dollars at work-Snowball Ballistics on T-Court

2010-02-14T20:58:00.000-08:00

Enjoy the First and Second Regiments' epic snowball battle on this youtube video link:

'89 Army-Navy Game made Jim Nantz' top 25 Memorables (#20)

2010-02-03T08:34:00.000-08:00

FRom Jim Nantz' most memorable moments for him as a broadcaster - #20:
December 9, 1989: Navy defeats Army on Frank Schenk's FG with 11 seconds remaining.
"It was a classic college football game," Nantz says. "But more than that was the remarkable 'purity of sport' among these athletes who weren't going on to the NFL; they were going into harm's way to defend their country." After the game-winning kick, a Midshipman's hat, tossed in jubilation, flew into the CBS broadcast booth at the Meadowlands. "Midshipman Mackowitz, if you're out there, I now have your hat," Nantz said on the air.

Navy's 2010 Gridiron Schedule

2010-01-07T21:26:00.001-08:00

2010 Navy Football Schedule
Date Opponent Location
Sept. 4 vs. Maryland Baltimore, Md.
Sept. 11 Georgia Southern Annapolis, Md.
Sept. 18 at Louisiana Tech Ruston, La.
Oct. 2 at Air Force Colorado Springs, Colo.
Oct. 9 at Wake Forest Winston-Salem, N.C.
Oct. 16 SMU Annapolis, Md.
Oct. 23 vs. Notre Dame East Rutherford, N.J.
Oct. 30 Duke (Homecoming) Annapolis, Md.
Nov. 6 at East Carolina Greenville, N.C.
Nov. 13 Central Michigan Annapolis, Md.
Nov. 20 Arkansas State Annapolis, Md.
Dec. 11 vs. Army Philadelphia, Pa.

College Football's Longest Drive (Ours :) ) - a WSJ article of 12/20/09

2010-01-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

Our winning Emerald Bowl team of 2004 has the informal record for "the longest drive in College Football".
No West Coast Offense - here!

Kudos to our warrior graduates in Afghanistan that won on the playing fields of Navy.

"By TOM FLYNN

The Navy Midshipmen take to the field Thursday in the Texas Bowl against Missouri. The game isn't a factor in deciding a BCS champion, nor was the game Navy played five years ago, the Emerald Bowl of 2004. That matchup, a 34-19 Navy win over the New Mexico Lobos, was played before fewer than 29,000 fans on a rainy day in San Francisco's SBC Park.

Associated Press
Navy quarterback Aaron Polanco jumps over a New Mexico defender during the Middies' epic second-half drive in the 2004 Emerald Bowl, in San Francisco.
Ask even a diehard college-football fan what was memorable about that Dec. 30, 2004, game, and they'd have a hard time coming up with anything. But that game is indeed in the record books, because of a Navy drive that could have been measured by an hourglass: a 26-play, 14 minute-26 second epic that took just over 32 minutes in real time. It was college football's most time-consuming drive ever, and it didn't even produce a touchdown—on the drive's last play, Navy kicked a field goal to go up by 15. The drive started with 1:41 left in the third quarter with Navy leading 31-19 and having just thwarted a New Mexico touchdown plunge by inches. When the drive was over, just 2:15 was left in the game, and the Lobos' fate was all but sealed.

Great marches down the field are the stuff of football lore. There's The Drive, John Elway's signature 98-yard trudge at the old Municipal Stadium in Cleveland in the 1987 AFC Championship game against the Browns. The Joe Montana-led 92-yard drive to beat the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII stands as the Super Bowl standard for longevity in the clutch. In college, a record for the longest drive was only deemed worthy of the official NCAA record book after the Emerald Bowl drive. Every record has a first entry, and on the back of the Navy drive, "Longest Drive in a Game" wedged its way into the 2005 NCAA Division I FBS record book for the first time. There hasn't been a longer drive in the NFL, by either number of plays or by time elapsed, in at least the past 15 years.

"It was pretty frustrating sitting there watching the game tick by, getting stiff, getting cold," New Mexico quarterback Kole McKamey said afterwards. "I was pretty amazed. I've never heard of that before. I've never seen that before."

SBC Park, now AT&T Park, was hosting its third Emerald Bowl. The baseball home of the Giants had played only occasional host to football games, and its dimensions provided for some quirks: The end zone in left field was equal parts grass and warning track, and the outfield wall loomed menacingly close to the backline. The right-field wall did little to shield December's wind gusts off the bay.

The WSJ's BCS Rundown

Click on the graphic to check out analysis of all five BCS games and vote on which team you think will win.

The Middies, who entered the game as slight underdogs at 9-2, were powered that season by Coach Paul Johnson's triple-option offense. Senior quarterback Aaron Polanco led an attack that was built around 1,000+ bruising yards from fullback Kyle Eckel, also a senior. Navy got off to a quick start that afternoon after spotting the 7-4 Lobos an early touchdown. Two Polanco TD runs and a 61-yard pass to wide receiver Corey Dryden led to a 21-7 Navy lead barely a quarter into the game.

The Lobos, led by double-threat Mr. McKamey, the sophomore QB, had their own 1,000 yard rusher in junior DonTrell Moore, and the team answered back to make the game a contest. Mr. McKamey hit Hank Baskett, a 6'4" junior wide receiver now with the Indianapolis Colts, on a 53-yard gainer to aid a second Lobos TD drive. A Navy field goal was followed by a McKamey touchdown run, and the halftime score stood at 24-19, Navy.

Mr. Polanco tallied his third rushing TD in the third, this one a 27-yard jaunt into the muddy left-field end zone. The Lobos needed to once again keep pace. Mr. McKamey, the New Mexico QB, again led the way downfield, breaking loose for a 30-yard scamper to the Navy six-yard line. With first-and-goal from the 6, the Mids' defense stiffened, and on fourth-and-goal from the 1 pushed Lobos senior tailback D.D. Cox out of bounds at the one-foot mark.

In these tight quarters the Navy offense was forced to set up shop.

As the Midshipmen trotted out onto the sloppy field under darkening skies, they were faced with the daunting task of simply getting away from their end zone without yielding a safety. "We were so far back our huddle was nearly out of the end zone, and they were one of the top rushing defenses in the country; they were athletic guys," says Navy left tackle Tyson Stahl, now a Marine 1st Lieutenant at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune. "We were just pounding it to get us on a good position on the field where we could start to do our thing."

Clock Killer

See a chart on how to use a quarter of the game to score three points

After a couple rushing plays, the Middies faced third-and-five from their 6. Mr. Polanco dropped back and overthrew senior slotback Frank Divis. The drive had stalled out all of five yards and 74 seconds in. But an offside penalty on the Lobos got the Mids just the distance they needed to continue.

Methodically, the Mids moved down the field, and after 12 plays (14 including penalties) and more than six minutes, they broke the midfield stripe. Fatigue wore on both the Lobos and the crew of ESPN, which was televising the game. Following an Eckel dive for a first-down, ESPN failed to move the computer-generated first down marker, and it appeared to the TV viewer that Navy was awarded a first-and-one. The Lobos began to roll off the Navy ball carriers more slowly, extending the time to place the ball to set and restart the play clock.

In a precisely executed play that epitomized the drive by gaining just enough to keep it alive, Mr. Polanco ran an option left on third-and-five on the New Mexico 41. Three Lobos tacklers closed inside toward Mr. Eckel. Mr. Stahl, the left tackle, after calling out the defensive formation to his side, kicked out on defensive end Evroy Thompson. Slotbacks Marco Nelson and Eric Roberts closed inside Mr. Stahl, blocking down on standout linebacker and future NFL-er Nick Speegle. Mr. Polanco found the gap and six yards for a first down.

More on College Football

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On fourth-and-three at the Lobos' 28, Mr. Polanco pitched to Mr. Divis, who'd gone in motion left to right. Mr. Divis took several strides and tossed back across the field to Mr. Polanco who'd drifted left past the New Mexico defenders and was open four yards upfield. By the drive's standards it was a big gainer at six yards, and it was the second time the Mids ran the play successfully that day. "We had practiced it all year long and I swear every time we did it I would trip or the ball would hit me in the face or bounce right off my hands," says Mr. Polanco, now a captain with the Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. "So we always had it in the aresenal, just never ran it."

As the drive wore on, the Navy sideline, at least parts of it, got restless. "Our defense was starting to get mad at us," says Mr. Eckel, the fullback. "For a lot of the seniors it was their last time playing football and here we were spending the whole time on the field."

ESPN's Eric Collins, who was doing play-by-play, and broadcast partner Andre Ware increasingly sensed that history was being made. By play 23, Mr. Collins said, "the producer and statistician were scrambling for the record and we just couldn't come up with anything."

Navy's march ultimately ended on fourth-and-goal at New Mexico's 5-yard-line. Kicker Geoff Blumenfeld trotted out with only 22 yards between him and the goalpost, but with the weight of a 14-minute drive on his shoulders. The snap, the hold, and three more seconds ran off the clock as the kick sailed through and Navy closed in on its first 10-win season in 99 years. Time was left for just seven more plays from scrimmage before the game, and the drive, were in the books."

What a Gridiron Season!

2010-01-02T14:01:00.001-08:00

Click on the link to read John Feinstein's tribute to Navy Football.
10-4 and a huge statement game vs. Missouri.

Wow.

What a great ending to 2009 for Navy, Air Force
By
John Feinstein

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."

Army-Navy Game Slide Show (12/12/2009)

2009-12-14T09:15:00.000-08:00

Please click on the hot-linked title line to see a slideshow of THE GAME.

On to Houston and the Texas Bowl game vs. Missouri.

Pentgagon Reports- Go Navy!

2009-12-11T17:24:00.000-08:00

Click on the title hotlink to view a Pentago Reports video of the GAME.

Roll Up the Score NAVY!

An Army Navy classic article by John Feinstein

2009-12-07T11:29:00.001-08:00

Though dated December, 2002 - most of Feinstein's gouge is spot-on (except for that comment about " two bad teams" that is) . . . click on the hotlink title line to see the entire article on-line.

in part:
"All great rivalries for different reasons with differing traditions. But Army-Navy is unique because as much as the players want to win the game--and they want desperately to win it, believe me--theirs is a bond between them that simply doesn't exist in other rivalries.

But for this one day, the records simply don't matter. They will matter again soon, but not on this day, not during this game. Bob Sutton, who coached at Army for 17 years--eight as an assistant, nine as the head coach--explained Army-Navy best. "Other games are played for today," he said. "Army-Navy is played for forever."

Go Navy!

Texas Hospitality, Navy Spirit and great Football action.

2009-12-07T11:19:00.001-08:00

Navy will play the University of Missouri Tigers in the 4th Annual Texas Bowl, December 31 in Houston. The Tigers finished their season with an 8-4 record and finished second in the Big 12 North.

But First …
GO NAVY! BEAT ARMY!

Navy is 8-3 - woohoo!

2009-11-15T18:06:00.000-08:00

Dobbs carries Navy past Delaware, 35-18.
The Associated Press
Saturday, November 14, 2009; 9:35 PM

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Ricky Dobbs bulled into the Navy record book, breaking a mark that had stood since 1917.

The Midshipmen quarterback broke the school record for touchdowns in a season, running for five in Navy's 35-18 victory against Delaware on Saturday.

Dobbs leads the nation with 22 touchdowns and needs one more rushing score to tie the record held by Florida's Tim Tebow (2007) and Air Force's Chance Harridge (2002). His final TD broke Bill Ingram's Navy record of 21 set in 1917.

Dobbs missed most of two games with a knee injury before returning to lead Navy to a 23-21 victory at Notre Dame.

"The kid is amazing," Navy coach Ken Niumatolo said. "His injury should have made him done for the year. To come back and play the way he has, I couldn't be more proud of him."

Jon Striefsky kicked a school-record four field goals for Delaware (6-4).

Navy (8-3), which has already accepted a bid to the Texas Bowl, scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, including the final TD with 46 seconds left.

Dobbs, who set up his third score with a career-long 46-yard run, finished with 100 yards on 26 carries. He also completed 4 of 6 passes for 78 yards, setting up two scores through the air.

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Fourteen of Dobbs' touchdowns have been 3 yards or less.

"I feel guilty (about the short TDs) because people on the outside don't know what it takes to get there," Dobbs said. "Team success is the most important record. This record belongs to the offensive line and the fullbacks that block. The plays that get us there are just as important as the scores."

After gaining just 105 yards on 22 first-half plays and trailing 9-7 at the break, Navy had 215 yards in the second half. The Midshipmen ran 51 times for 242 yards for the game.

"We had some opportunities that we didn't take advantage of. We need to get more sevens, not threes," Delaware coach K.C. Keeler said. "We played well enough on both sides of the ball. I thought the offense did a phenomenal job of playing defense."

The Blue Hens held the ball for more than 18 minutes in the first half.

Alexander Teich, subbing for starting fullback Vince Murray, set up Dobbs' fourth score with a 22-yard run and finished with 57 yards on seven carries.

Delaware moved the ball well on offense, outgaining the Mids 370-320 with 22 first downs to their 16, but couldn't do any better than Striefsky's four field goals until a late fourth-quarter touchdown.

Pat Devlin completed 17 of 29 passes for 194 yards, but had no completion longer than 22 yards. The Blue Hens' only score came on Jerry Butler's 1-yard run with 6:29 left.

"When we get down in the red zone, we have to score," Devlin said. "We can't come away with field goals. When you make mistakes like a pass interference that brings you back, that never helps either."

Striefsky converted field goals of 47, 39 and 25 yards in the first half, the last coming on the final play of the half, to give the Hens a 9-7 lead.

"The defense played well in the first half and our offense came back in the second half and got things going," said Niumatolo.

Navy opened the second half with the ball and drove 64 yards to a 1-yard score by Dobbs for a 14-9 lead.

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Delaware followed with a drive inside the Navy 10, but settled for Striefsky's 25-yard field goal. The kick gave Striefsky a school and stadium record, the Hens still trailed 14-12 with 3:33 left in the period.

"Give them all the credit in the world," Keeler said. "We're not upset about that score at the end. It is what it is."

Sweet Victory over the Irish and Bowl-bound!

2009-11-07T16:22:00.000-08:00

For: Immediate Release
Sent: Nov. 7, 2009
Contact: Scott Strasemeier (410) 293-8775

Naval Academy Accepts Bid To Texas BowlTickets on sale now at www.navysports.com

ANNAPOLIS, Md.- Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk announced after Saturday's victory over Notre Dame that the Naval Academy has formally accepted an invitation to play in the Texas Bowl on Thursday, Dec. 31 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas against a projected opponent from the Big 12. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN and the game time is set for 3:30 ET, 2:30 in Houston.

For more information about Navy's bowl acceptance to the Texas Bowl, log on to http://www.navysports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/110709aaa.html

### Go Navy###

Stacie Michaud
Associate Sports Information Director
United States Naval Academy
www.NavySports.com
w: 410-293-8773
f: 410-293-8954

After a Century - Chapel renovations

2009-11-01T22:04:00.000-08:00

After a century - the USNA Chapel gets a facelift.

John Feinstein's Blog for the Navy win vs. Wake Forest

2009-10-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

"One last thing on a happier note: Someone wrote a post yesterday wondering why I didn’t write about Navy’s win over Wake Forest Saturday. To be honest, I don’t want to make every Monday, ‘Navy post,’ day just because I do the games on radio. But he’s right, to beat Wake Forest in one of the worst rainstorms I’ve ever seen at a football game without starting quarterback Ricky Dobbs and without leading rusher and receiver Marcus Curry, was about one step short of miraculous.

The Mids are now 6-2, one win from clinching a seventh straight bowl bid. They are a remarkable bunch led by a wonderful coach, Ken Niumatalolo. Dobbs won’t play again this week against Temple, which is coming to town on a five game win streak (with the Philly papers predicting the Owls will win out and go 10-2) and badly wanting to get even after blowing a 27-7 fourth quarter lead in Annapolis last year. That will be a tough out. But being associated with Navy and this team (like every year) even in the smallest possible way is something I greatly enjoy. I’m proud to have had the chance to do it for the past 13 years.

Okay, writing about Navy put me in a better mood. But it’s still raining."

Whom will be QB for the Wake Forest game?

2009-10-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Jasper: Proctor has a lot of Kaipo Qualities (gomidshipmen.com)
Wed, October 21, 2009 3:46:45 PMFrom: Scott Strasemeier Add to Contacts
To: NAAA-FOOTBALL@lists.usna.edu

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Support Navy football coverage on gomidshipmen.com by clicking on this link:
http://navy.scout.com/2/911503.html

Jasper: Proctor has a lot of Kaipo Qualities

By David Ausiello

Navy offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper isn’t really known (at least not by me) to throw around compliments like candy on Halloween. It takes a lot to impress the Navy play-caller. His standards are extremely high. So when I asked yesterday about his thoughts on sophomore quarterback Kriss Proctor , who has played in only one college football game, I expected to hear similar sentiments to those he uttered last October about Dobbs .
With starter Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada out with an injury, I asked Jasper if he would consider inserting Ricky Dobbs into the 2008 Air Force game if Jarod Bryant struggled – specifically, I wanted to know if there was a big drop-off from Bryant to Dobbs?

His response: “Oh yeah, without a doubt - [Dobbs] is way off,” said Jasper. “He still makes the little mistakes. He’s getting a lot of reps [in practice but] from a mental standpoint – from a trust standpoint, he is a way’s off.”

So when I asked yesterday about the separation between Dobbs, who leads the country in scoring, and Proctor, who has been on the field for about 13 minutes of game-time, I expected to hear Jasper say there was a big difference. He didn’t. In fact, Jasper believes that if Dobbs is unable to practice, he should not play.

“If Kriss practices all week and gets all the reps, he needs to start,” said the second-year offensive coordinator. “That’s not fair to the kid – if (Kriss) practices all week, he deserves to start.”

Jasper’s strong statement is a testament to a practice structure that is ideal for an option offense in which its quarterback takes a hit after nearly every snap when Navy has the ball.

“We rep two quarterbacks all week long. We have two huddles. It’s not the starter gets 80 percent of the snaps. One huddle goes, two huddle goes. Same play, back-to-back. For me it has always been, the back-up quarterback may not play in the game, but he always gets the same amount of reps. To me, in a sense, he plays. He sees all the looks he is going to get. He’s going through full-speed. The kid isn’t sitting all week long watching,” explained Jasper.

Of course allowing Proctor to get some playing time against Rice two weeks ago helped build Jasper’s confidence in the sophomore. And in that game, Jasper said that he didn’t hold back in what he asked the Big Bear City, California native to do.

“Kriss came in against Rice and played great. He was running the same stuff we were running all game long. He did great with his reads. He came in and had three touchdowns. I am very confident in Kriss,” said Jasper.

But what is the difference between Proctor and Dobbs – there must be a significant gap – similar to the one between Bryant and Dobbs last season, right?

“The only difference between (Kriss) and Ricky may be throwing the football. But as for the option, the kid ran it in high school. To me, that’s a big advantage. It gave him an edge as far as understanding the language of it,” said Jasper.

“Kriss is a natural option quarterback. He’s the same as Kaipo was coming out of high school. He was coached by a guy who has been with the option for a long time. I can’t coach a lot when it comes to option football. It’s all about instincts. You have to have a feel about where a (defender) is going to go. Kaipo was real good at it. Ricky is getting better at it, and hopefully, if Kriss starts, you will see how good he is at it,” continued Jasper.

The comparisons to Kaipo continued.

“Kaipo was fast when he got going, but Kriss is quick – he can get going real fast. He is built the same. Now will he get to the point where he is an option wizard where he just a feel for it like Kaipo, it remains to be seen, but he’s pretty far ahead.”

When asked if Proctor has progressed since the spring, Jasper didn’t hesitate.

“Oh yeah, he’s gotten better. We’re going to go out and run our offense. We can’t say if Ricky is not going to play we have to trash our playbook and go to something else. We are going to run our stuff.”

Of course, plan A is having Dobbs behind center, a decision Jasper said would most likely come on Thursday. Jasper said if the junior is held out of practice then, Proctor would start.

“(Ricky) needs to practice in order to play. Hopefully he can go on Thursday.”

But isn’t Dobbs good enough to just play without practicing?

“I’ve had one kid that I’ve seen who could do that and he’s in the NFL right now,” said Jasper. “Adrian Peterson (of the Chicago Bears ) – he is the only kid that I saw that didn’t practice and could play on Saturday. Ricky is not at that point yet. He needs to practice.”

More Fleet Experience for Mids

2009-09-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

Midshipmen Experience
Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:00:19 -0500
The United States Naval Academy is trying to get its midshipmen more experience before heading to the fleet as leaders.

Click on the hotlinked tritle to access the post.

Go Navy!

Francis Scott Key's legacy

2009-09-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

This Super Bowl video of our Star Spanled Banner is special!

A you tube Tribute to Navy from Ohio State

2009-08-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

THis is very, very nice.

Thank you Buckeyes.

This is a far different welcome than Rutgers University provided a while back.

Obama's address to USNA (052209)

2009-08-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

Our Commander in Chief at Annapolis for Commissioning Week and Graduation . . .

The President's Own - The Marine Corps Band

2009-08-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

John Phillip Sousa and successors have served many Presidents.

Hats off to thew US Marine Corps Band!

in America - anything is possible!

2009-07-06T11:03:00.000-07:00

From Parade magazine for Independence Day 2009:

Senator John McCain said,
"When I graduated fifth from the bottom of my class at the Naval Academy, my old company officer would have been astonished to see Ensign McCain receiving the Presidential nomination of the Republican Party.
That shows that, in America, anything is possible."

SECNAV's Independence Day message

2009-07-02T15:17:00.000-07:00

7/2/2009:
SECNAV Ray Mabus:
"Two hundred thirty three years ago today, 56 patriots gathered in Philadelphia to pledge their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to the idea that all can live in freedom. The signers of the Declaration of Independence came from all walks of life, joining together as one to claim for themselves and their descendants the inalienable rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

The Continental Navy and Continental Marines played crucial roles in winning our nation's freedom. In the months after the declaration, Marines and Sailors serving together aboard naval vessels, like the continental frigate Bonhomme Richard under Capt. John Paul Jones took the fight to the enemy's home waters. Now, as then, you come from all walks of life to your calling on the front lines of freedom. You are taking the fight to the enemy, from Iraq and Afghanistan to the Horn of Africa and anywhere liberty is threatened.

Across the country, Americans gather on this holiday to celebrate the freedoms we all enjoy. As they do, their thoughts turn to you, who stand the watch on land and sea, beneath the waves and in the air. From the first state to the last frontier, Americans everywhere are thankful for your service, proud of your accomplishments and wish you Godspeed.

On behalf of a grateful nation, thank you for giving your time and your talent in the service of our country. Happy Independence Day to you and your families."

TRICARE for Life (TFL) in jeopardy?

2009-07-01T14:58:00.000-07:00

TRI-CARE for Life in Jeopardy:
Widest dissemination is encouraged for a retired benefit program that may be in extremis.
Note: your scribe slightly edited this entry to remove quasi-political statements of the originator:
=============================================================================
To: Military Retirees:

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has drafted legislation that would
basically reduce our TRICARE for Life [TFL] benefits to a system whereby we
pay deductibles and co-pay up to $6,301 the first year for you and your
spouse, with future years being indexed to increase with inflation.

What can we do? The article below, obtained from an Air
Force Association and written by BG Bob Clements, best describes what we
can do.
TRICARE FOR LIFE'S (TFL) FUTURE....
TRICARE For Life was instituted to correct the broken
promise that military retirees would receive free healthcare coverage
for life and it covers the Medicare co-pay. Now a heavy assault has
begun on Veterans'/Retirees' benefits to pay for other programs.
An item of high interest to Retired Military personnel is in
Article 189. If approved by Congress the first assault wave would hit in
2011 and would hit hard. It would initiate cost sharing to require
retirees to pay the first $525 of medical cost and 50% of the next
$4,725 for a first year cost of $2,888 per person. It would be indexed
to increase with inflation.
For those of you who are or will be covered by TFL you will want to
pay attention to what has surfaced about the
future of TFL.

On page 189 of the Congressional Budget
Office report, there is a strong recommendation to eventually
eliminate the TFL program as it is too
expensive.

You may visit the Congressional Budget Office Website to see this recommendation:
(www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=9925)
a. Budget, Options, Volume 1: Health Care

1. click on the PDF button
2. search for TFL

There is a prospect that you might lose one of the best
healthcare benefits that Medicare-eligible retired military have. It
is short of the promises made that we fought so hard for back in the
late 90s and early 2000s but it is still the best healthcare program
that anyone in the United States has, bar none.

A way to help secure your benefits is to write to your
members of Congress and to keep writing and writing and writing.

Remember- TFL is an "Earned Benefit" that's been granted
by a previous Congress.

===========================================================
And etc.,

3. Local Chapter's Summer Picnic - to be held at the Admiral Baker Field, Saturday August 29th.
Watch for email updates and visit our revamped website ( http://www.usnaaasd.com/upcoming-events/ ).
You don't want to miss the Mighty MO(wins) burgers and AIRDALE kegger.

4. Good luck - Class of 2013!
"I" Day for the Flower Children of '75 (including me) was only 42 years and 1 day ago.
Kudos to our local Blue and Golders that helped to produce one of the highest plebe and prep school "yields" in recent history.

Rest in Peace - Jack Shaw '60 !

2009-06-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

Jack Shaw's obituary is hot-linked above.

We will miss this gentleman from the great Class of 1960 whom served as an uber-Class Representative for our Chapter!

Class of 2013 Dinner on 5/27

2009-05-13T21:13:00.000-07:00

Please contact Myron Fleming if you'd like to make a T-D contribution and / or attend this annual event on 5/27.

The Box Score for Navy Seals and Somali Pirates

2009-04-30T16:39:00.000-07:00

Commander in Chief and the Navy Victors

2009-04-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT as Commander in Chief
>
> IN THE PRESENTATION OF THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF'S TROPHY>
> TO THE NAVAL ACADEMY FOOTBALL TEAM
>
>
>
> East Room
>
>
>
> 2:01 P.M. EDT
>
>
>
>
>
> THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. Please have a seat. Well, welcome to the White House for your sixth straight -- (laughter) -- Commander-in-Chief Trophy. By now, you guys know your way around here better than I do. (Laughter.)
>
>
>
> I want to thank everybody who is here. Obviously we want to thank the Superintendent, Vice Admiral Jeffrey Fowler. Coach Ken, thank you. We were just talking -- he's another local boy from Hawaii. (Laughter.) He's four years younger than me, but apparently we've got some mutual friends.
>
>
>
> Congratulations to the co-captains, Clint and Jarod, for your outstanding season. A few other acknowledgements here -- we've got Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger -- where's Dutch? There he is right there. Good to see you.
> Congressman Eric Massa -- good to see you, Eric. Congressman John Sarbanes, right here. We have BJ Penn, the Acting Secretary of the Navy. Good to see you, sir.
>
>
>
> And I want to extend a special welcome to Lieutenant Commander Wesley Brown, class of 1949. There he is, right here. (Applause.) Please stand. Wesley was the Academy's first African American graduate. He served his country for 25 years. And the brand new, state-of-the-art Wesley Brown Field House will ensure that class after class of Midshipmen know his legacy for decades to come. So we are very proud of you, sir. Thank you so much for your attendance here today.
>
>
>
> The Midshipmen, they've got a lot to be proud of, as we know -- six straight bowl games, six consecutive wins over Air Force; most importantly, seven straight wins over Army. (Laughter.) What can I -- I'm not saying anything. (Laughter.)
>
>
>
> You showed incredible perseverance against Temple, when you trailed by 20 with nine minutes to go, tied it, won in overtime. You won an incredible upset over Wake Forest -- even if they got you back at the EagleBank Bowl.
> We won't talk about that. (Laughter.) Often overshadowed by your fearsome offense is the most improved defense in the nation.
>
>
>
> And these seniors who are behind us should especially be proud: four straight NCAA rushing titles -- team rushing titles, something no team has ever done before. In four years, 33 wins, and again, no losses to Army or Air Force.
>
>
>
> I understand your unofficial motto is "No Excuses, Nobody Cares" --
> (laughter.) That is my wife Michelle's motto for me also. (Laughter.) But I know that's what makes Navy football so special -- you suit up and you play each week against some of the top teams in the country, and you refuse to let that excuse you from taking the coursework or your military training seriously.
>
>
>
>
>
> And that's why I¹m so proud of this team for leading the NCAA in graduation rates for four straight years -- the most important statistic of the Midshipmen. In fact, I want to congratulate the entire Navy athletic department, because, as a whole, Navy athletics has led the nation in graduation rates four years in a row. And that's an extraordinarily -- extraordinary accomplishment.
>
>
>
> So I want to congratulate Coach Ken -- as I said, from my original home state, also the first Samoan American head coach in the history of Division I-A, just the third Navy coach since World War II to have a winning record in his first season.
>
>
>
> Your starting quarterback is also Hawaiian -- where is he? Kaipo -- where is he? This guy right here. (Laughter.) I hear Kaipo is a pretty easygoing guy. He doesn't get rattled easily, performs under pressure. That's the Hawaiian spirit. That's how we roll. (Laughter.)
>
>
>
> I've been watching Mel Kiper getting ready for this weekend's NFL draft -- where is he? Mel? I understand that Eric Kettani -- where is Eric? Right here? One of the top-rated fullbacks in the nation. He's a big guy.
> (Laughter.) Shun White and Tyree Barnes are serious pro prospects, as well.
> Where are they? These guys? Okay, they look good also. (Laughter.)
>
>
>
> But like all 32 seniors on this team, they're preparing to trade one proud uniform for another, and that's the United States of America's uniform. And even though all of you have won 13 straight against the guys at West Point and Colorado Springs, you're all joining the same team now.
>
>
>
> Football, it's said, makes boys into men. But the Academy makes men and women into leaders. And the bonds that you've built and the lessons that you've learned on that field and in your "four years by the Bay" have prepared you to join and lead the finest fighting force in the history of the world.
>
>
>
> I want all of you to know that I have no greater honor or greater responsibility than serving as your Commander-in-Chief. I'm proud of you.
> And I promise you this: From the minute you put on that uniform to the minute you take it off, and for all the days of your life, this country will stand behind you and will be here for you, because we know that you will be there for us.
>
>
>
> So God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. Let's -- let's give me a helmet. (Laughter and applause.)
>

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Navy Recruiting's BEAT ARMY video

2008-12-07T15:32:00.001-08:00

It worked!

Seven straight and the sixth consecutive Commander in Chief Trophy.

A Football HAIKU and EagleBank Bowl information

2008-11-24T13:06:00.000-08:00

I love Middie wins.
They’re a shipload better than
the alternative.

Thanks to the unofficial Bird Dog website for great on-line links (and the basis for my morphed haiku above) for Navy Sports!

Go Navy - Beat:

1. Northern Illinois
2. The Black Knights and a
3. tbd opponent in the 2008 EagleBank Bowl in Washington DC on 12/20 11 am eastern time.

Join the Cheering section in Washington, DC, and help paint RFK Stadium Blue & Gold, buy or donate tickets to the EagleBank Bowl today!

Please click over to: "http://ev12.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventList?groupCode=BOWL&linkID=navy&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode="
to order your tickets or to make a tax-deductible donation.

100th Night Gala: Sponsorship Opportunities

2008-11-24T12:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Chapter Members and Friends of USNA:

These exciting Sponsorship opportunities are available for our Black Tie Gala set for February 21st, 2009 at the magnificent Hyatt Manchester on San Diego's waterfront.

Dont' Miss it!

Dark Ages / 100th Night Gala Gouge: Feb 21st!

2008-11-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

Dear San Diego and Coronado Chapter Members / Friends of the USNA Alumni Association:

Information about our inaugural Black Tie Gala is embedded:
1. A Flyer with day / time specifics

We look forward to wining, dining and inevitable sea story-telling with y'all.
* The camaderie should be priceless.
* For everything else - there is MasterCard or PAYPAL.
ps:
Beat Northern Illinois!

An Inspired IronMan - Wild Bill Conner, USMC

2008-10-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

Don Norcross' article in the 10/10/08 SD Union Tribune Sports section can be accessed by clicking on the hot-linked title line.

Saturday 10/11 is Race Day on the Big Island for this Chapter Marine - Wild Bill Conner.

Read how he trained in Iraq.

Semper Fi,

A Navy Marine Team Video

2008-10-07T21:55:00.000-07:00

Where do we get such (young) men and women?

San Diego MIDS help NAVY WATER POLO

2008-10-05T21:04:00.000-07:00

In addition to Firstie Mike Mulvey (in this article), Plebe Kyle Wertz is a water polo standout for the nationally ranked Water polo team.

Kyle's Dad, Mike, is a '77 Grad and Chapter member.

No regrets for Mulvey at Naval Academy Ex-Lancer player learns responsibilityBy Zach Jones
TODAY'S LOCAL NEWS

October 5, 2008

CARLSBAD – Michael Mulvey admits that it was hardly love at first sight. The Carlsbad High alum didn't want anything to do with the Naval Academy the first time he visited the Annapolis, Md., campus as a high school senior.

“I thought it was impressive, but I didn't have a good time,” he said. “When I first walked around, I thought, 'I definitely didn't want to come here.' ”

AdvertisementFour years later, the former standout for Carlsbad's 2005 CIF championship team is again the center of a successful water polo program, this time 3,000 miles from home with the Midshipmen. An All-America honorable mention with last year's NCAA semifinal team, Mulvey now finds himself the offensive catalyst for the No. 13 team in the country.
But a lot has changed since he hopped in the pool for his “Plebe” year. Back then, the Southern California native was dealing with the culture shock of military life and wondering if he'd made the right call in choosing the Academy's high academic standards and discipline over the high-powered West Coast programs that had courted his services out of high school.

“Especially the first year, it was pretty much all the time,” he said. “Except when I was playing water polo, I think.”

Mulvey says water polo was an “escape” from the day-to-day grind of academy life.

“When you come out, people are talking to you and they're nice,” he said. “And then all of a sudden somebody flips a switch and the next thing you know it's just people constantly yelling. That kind of shocked me, like, 'Whoa, here I am.' Especially freshman year, water polo was like the only thing I had that was my own.”

A lot has changed since Mulvey was a talented freshman trying to work his way up the Midshipmen's depth chart and an overwhelmed first-year student trying to survive the rigors of his academic load.

For one, he has learned the responsibility that comes with the 76 goals he amassed last season (the seventh-highest total in Navy history) and the 38 assists he tallied in 2006 (also seventh). With 17 more goals this season, Mulvey will move into the program's top 10 career goal-scorers.

“There's more of an expectation on me,” he said. “I have a bigger role than I did last year. Last year, I could maybe hide behind some guys, but this year I have to do it.”

After making the deepest postseason run in program history a year ago, Mulvey concedes that similar success will be difficult with a much younger team. But there are other joys besides an NCAA title.

“I like it more now, because this is my senior year,” he said, “so it's our team. We have to take a bigger role in teaching, and if things go bad, we get blamed.”

Mulvey has also felt his geographic allegiances change. In the world of collegiate water polo, the center of gravity is firmly on the West Coast; the top 12 teams in the country are in California.

Navy is the highest ranked team outside the state. It's that underdog status – so unfamiliar at Carlsbad – that he has embraced.

“I have a lot of friends on the West Coast, but usually when there's an East Coast team playing a West Coast team, I root for the East Coast team now,” he said. “No one expects us to do anything, so you want to see somebody do well.”

But it's not water polo or regional rivalry that Mulvey focuses on these days. It's the light at the end of his academy career, one that's finally visible after three long years.

“You work out so much, and you're so tired all the time, that being able to manage your time and working through the fatigue and your mind starting to wear down is the biggest challenge,” he said.

When he graduates in the spring, he will do so as an officer specializing in surface warfare. It's an occupation that has taken on new ramifications during the past decade.

“I've always known that this is what it was going to be like,” Mulvey said. “I've had a lot time to think about it, I guess, so it's not a huge shock.”

The career that almost didn't happen is winding to a close. It wasn't love at first sight, but after four years Mulvey and the Naval Academy have agreed to be friends.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zach Jones: (760) 752-6751; zach.jones@tlnews.net

Navy Crews - Fall Racing Underway

2008-10-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

Some Shots from the Yard - USNA in September

2008-09-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

Anchormen - Legends of Annapolis

2008-09-28T20:53:00.000-07:00

Anchormen
The legends of Annapolis.

By James S. Robbins

A recent Washington Post profile of John McCain's years at the Naval Academy portrayed him as an unruly, fun-loving, under-achieving Midshipman struggling with his obligation to live up to his family's brilliant military legacy. It was "a four-year course of insubordination and rebellion," McCain later wrote. McCain graduated 894th out of 899 in 1958, five spots above the "Anchorman," the lowest-ranking midshipman.

In this respect he did uphold one family tradition; his similarly rebellious father Jack, who would rise to the rank of Admiral and was the Pacific Command CINC while his son was being held prisoner in Hanoi, had graduated 424th of 441.

Some have suggested that McCain's low class ranking reflects negatively on his fitness to lead the country. But there is no clear relationship between Academy class rank and leadership qualities. For example, Jimmy Carter, the only Naval Academy graduate to serve as president to date, graduated 59th out of a class of 820, so draw your own conclusions.

Seventeen class anchors have attained flag rank, and many low-ranking graduates have gone on to brilliant careers. This tracks with the thesis I developed in my book Last in Their Class; the bottom of the class tends to produce a different kind of leader than the top. Those who wind up at the foot are often there by choice. They could do better if they studied, but they would rather trade class ranking for other pursuits.

They tend to be the risk takers, the innovators, usually very well liked and in their own way driven. They know how to get into trouble, and more importantly how to get out of it. They also tend to have more than their share of luck. The "Anchormen" of Annapolis are of the same breed as the "Goats" of West Point, and both can appreciate the humor in the comment, "There, but for the grace of God, walks a civilian."

Charles William "Savez" Read was one such officer, the anchor of the USNA Class of 1860. A Mississippian, Read took a commission in the Confederate Navy when the Civil War broke out, and quickly established himself as a daring and resourceful sailor. Read seized so many Federal vessels (twenty two in three weeks) that a special task force was assembled just to find him. One of his most noteworthy exploits took place on June 27, 1863, when he slipped into the harbor at Portland, Maine aboard the prize schooner Archer, and seized the U.S. revenue cutter Caleb Cushing. Read had planned to set fire to the other Union ships in port but his plan unraveled, and Read had to flee to open waters. He was apprehended and imprisoned at Fort Warren in Boston Harbor (coincidentally along with Major Harold Borland, the West Point Goat of 1860). Read tried to escape many times before he was finally exchanged, and the end of the war found him still trying to ply his trade as a Confederate raider two weeks after Lee surrendered at Appomattox. He fully earned his nickname "The Sea Wolf of the Confederacy."

Commander Aeneas Armstrong of Georgia, anchorman of 1856, also served with the Confederate Navy. He was on a patrol on the James River on the picket boat Hornet January 26, 1865, when his vessel was accidentally rammed by the flag of truce steamer "William Allison." The Hornet was split in tow and immediately sank, throwing the crew into the icy waters of the James. The crew of the Allison immediately rendered assistance, and had picked up four of the six men in the river when they heard the voice of one of the crew.

"For God's sake, captain, let me go, or both of us will be lost!" the man cried.

"Well if either is to be drowned, let it be me," Armstrong said. "Save yourself if you can." The rescuers made their way towards the sound of the voices, managed to located the fifth sailor and bring him aboard.

Commander Armstrong's voice rose from the darkness, "I'm numb, for God's sake, be quick." Armstrong went under as the rescuers neared him. He surfaced again briefly a few yards distant, muttered, "It is too late, I'm gone," and sank a final time. The rescue party searched for his body but could not find it, and the James froze over that night. Other searches also proved fruitless. Armstrong's body was discovered months later in the ocean near Bermuda, hundreds of miles out to sea.

William Barker Cushing was well on his way to being the anchor of the class of 1861 when he was "bilged" (expelled) for failing a Spanish exam. But when war broke out he pled his case personally to the secretary of the Navy, was reinstated, and managed to graduate, like John McCain, fifth from the foot. During the war he was known for his daring, and was described by a later biographer as "Lincoln's Commando."

His greatest feat was the sinking of the ironclad CSS Albemarle in a night time raid during which he rammed the ship with a 30-foot picket boat armed with an explosive charge. (The ironclad concept had been pioneered by John Randolph Hamilton, anchorman of 1851.) The explosion destroyed Cushing's small vessel, but blew a huge hole in the Albemarle, sending her to the bottom. Cushing survived and saw action in many other engagements, and in 1872 became the youngest commander in the history of the U.S. Navy up to that time.

Anchorman Richard Zullinger was diving officer and XO on the World War II submarine USS Pollack. Zullinger was notorious in the Pacific Theater for his antics between missions. "Zully was one of those guys you knew was a bad influence but was too much fun not to be around" his crewmate Kenneth C. Ruiz wrote. "He was a free spirit on a perpetual search for a good woman and a good time." Yet Zully worked as hard as he played, and was a highly competent submariner. "He may have been last in his class,"

Ruiz recalled, "but he became a first rate officer and a great presence in combat. One thing for sure, he always had the respect and trust of the men."

Colonel Joseph Zachary Taylor, USMC, did well academically but graduated 890 out of 890 in conduct in 1949. "Brains and irreverence," as his son described him. In the 1950s Taylor was one of the organizers of the much revered and justly feared Marine Force Recon. One of his men remembered

him: "Joe Taylor was a man who was comfortable with himself. He never seemed to feel a need to prove himself to or impress anyone. Whatever he did, I am convinced, he did for the satisfaction of knowing he had given his best and the intrinsic reward of a job well done. He was what he seemed to be and more; without pretension, affectation or artifice. . .

. He was smart, imaginative, resourceful and creative. . . . He did it all with an unflagging, puckish sense of humor. He was, in my opinion, an exemplary human being."

Amon Bronson was anchorman of 1896. His first assignment after graduation was aboard the USS Maine, and he was asleep in his bunk on February 15, 1898 when the ship blew up in Havana Harbor. Bronson survived, and went on to command the U.S.S. Denver and U.S.S. St. Louis during World War I. For his service he was awarded the Navy Cross.

Amon's friend and frequent partner in misbehavior at Annapolis was Henry Mustin, who graduated one slot above Bronson. Henry earned 12 varsity letters at the Naval Academy, a record at the time, and was decorated for bravery in the Philippine insurrection. Most notably he was the first man to fly an aircraft catapulted from a ship at sea. He established the Naval Aeronautic Station at Pensacola and commanded the first naval air squadron. Henry Mustin was not only the Father of Naval Aviation but also the patriarch of a Navy family tradition which has continued through four generations to the present day.

One member of Mustin's command at Pensacola was Marc Andrew "Pete"
Mitscher, who graduated 107th of 130 in 1910. In 1942 Mitscher commanded the USS Hornet during the daring Doolittle Raid on the Japanese home islands. He later commanded the Fast Carrier Task Force, which wreaked havoc on the Japanese fleet, merchant shipping, and ground installations. His pilots won the decisive Battle of the Philippine Sea, also known as the Marianas Turkey Shoot, the largest aircraft carrier battle in history. Admiral Arleigh Burke later said of Mitscher that he was "a bulldog of a fighter, a strategist blessed with an uncanny ability to foresee his enemy's next move, and a lifelong searcher after truth and trout streams, he was above all else - perhaps above all other

- a Naval Aviator."

The spirits of the aviator and the anchorman often resonated together.
Renowned pilot Joe "Hoser" Satrapa entered the Class of 1964 with the expressed goal of graduating as the anchorman and winning the bounty to which each Mid contributed a dollar. He frequently found himself before disciplinary boards, and told one of them "I'm just waiting to get the hell out of here so I can go to flight training and get over to the goddamn war and kill gomers!" After four years of carefully planned underachievement and misbehavior he was within sight of his goal, but in the final examinations he got a few too many questions correct and wound up graduating slightly above the anchorman.

Hoser went on to become a legend in Naval Aviation, a fearless hunter in the skies over Vietnam who was a tireless advocate of guns over missiles, of close-in dog-fighting over long range engagement. "There's no kill like a guns kill" was his motto. He later was a Top Gun trainer and a revered figure in the F-14 community. His commitment to flying was demonstrated after a bizarre accident. Hoser had crafted a single-shot rifle out of a surplussed 20 millimeter cannon from an F-14. But one day while cocking the weapon the breech exploded and the firing bolt blew backwards, taking off his right thumb. Knowing he could not fly thumbless, Joe prevailed on a surgeon to replace the missing digit with a big toe. Today Hoser still uses his flying skills, to put out forest fires. His entire life has been driven by a central rationale: "The purpose of life is to matter," he wrote in his Vietnam War diary, "to count, to stand for something, to have it make some difference that we lived at all."

I thought of these men, these and others I have read about, heard about, or had the privilege to meet, when listening to the end of John McCain's acceptance speech, his entreaty to fight, fight for what's right, for the ideals and character of a free people, for the future. To stand up and fight, for "beautiful, blessed, bountiful America." It was the most honest, impassioned and inspiring call to arms I have heard in many years. I heard in it the sum of his years, his wisdom, lessons hard and painfully learned. Character will always be more important in a leader than charisma, and not all virtues are acquired in classrooms.

- NRO contributor James S. Robbins is the director of the Intelligence Center at Trinity Washington, and author of Last in Their Class: Custer, Picket and the Goats of West Point.

Yes- Demon Deacons - there IS a NAVY!

2008-09-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

9/27/2008
Navy Takes Down No. 16 Wake Forest 24-17

Eric Kettani rushed for a career-high 175 yards and backup quarterback Jarod Bryant scored the decisive touchdown late in the fourth quarter to give Navy its first win over a Top 20 Team in over 20 years!

Navy's much-maligned defense, which gave up 76 points in consecutive losses to Ball State and Duke, stepped up. Four different players had interceptions in Navy's first win over a ranked team since a 17-13 win over No. 20 Virginia in 1985.

Kettani's 57-yard run shortly after Skinner's final interception set up Bryant's score. Kettani's previous career day was a week earlier when he rushed for 133 yards in a 23-21 win over Rutgers.

Go Navy - Sink the Zoomies next week in Colorado Springs.

Local San Diego opportunity to Support Navy Seal Families

2008-09-28T20:36:00.001-07:00

On the evening of 13 November, a fundraiser will be held at Dick’s Last Resort in the Gas Lamp quarter to benefit the families of the United States Navy SEALs.

One-hundred percent of the $35.00 per person cover charge will be donated to the NSW Foundation (www.nswfoundation.org). A live and silent auction featuring patriotic and military items along with sports and Hollywood memorabilia will be held during the event.

The SEALs (Sea, Air, Land) are a breed among no other. The families of SEALs are a special breed as well. While SEALs are deployed world wide fulfilling their missions to help protect the country, their specific locations are classified and they have limited communication wit h their families. The last thing a SEAL needs is to worry about his loved ones when deployed and on the job. Formed for SEALs by SEALs, the NSW Foundation meets this need with programs for the SEALs’ families.

Through fundraising and donations, the NSW Foundation has been able to offer scholarships to dependent children and spouses of active duty SEALs. The Foundation also covers the cost of books for active duty SEALs enrolled in college under the Navy Tuition Assistance program. The Foundation’s “Education with a Foundation” program provides comp uters to the surviving children of personnel killed in training or combat. This program helps ensure that these children are given one resource they need to help them excel in their education.

The Naval Special Warfare community has lost twenty nine men in combat operations since 9-11 and over 120 men have been severely wounded fighting insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Foundation is there for our families in times of tragedy and loss. The Foundation takes care of airfares, hotels rooms and rental cars for family members, and helps cover the cost of memorial services for our SEAL’s killed in combat. They provide a food delivery service for the families and prov ide them with baskets of necessities often overlooked during stressful times.

Go Navy Football Schedule - 2008

2008-09-04T21:30:00.001-07:00

Please click on the hyper-link title above to view the Navy Football schedule.

Go Navy!

Message from the Superintendent

2008-06-19T10:11:00.000-07:00

June 2008
At the Superintendent's request, the following letter is being sent to the members of the Board of Trustees and Board of Directors, Class and Chapter Presidents, A&SP Trustees and President's Circle Members, and has been posted at www.usna.com .
________________________________________
Dear Friends of the U.S. Naval Academy,

Greetings from Annapolis! Katie and I have enjoyed the privilege of serving this historic institution for one year now-a year that has gone by so quickly. We have had the pleasure of overseeing great successes during this time. Now that we have wished the Class of 2008 fair winds and following seas, I would like to take a moment to provide you with a snapshot of today's Naval Academy, including my assessment of how we are moving forward to execute our mission and vision.
Last summer my leadership team and I rolled out three themes to guide the Naval Academy: we are a nation at war, we are all here to develop midshipmen, and the Naval Academy is the face of the Navy. Those themes continue to guide us now.
We are still a nation at war. The 258 surface warfare officers that we commissioned last month are joining the Fleet where 43 percent of all ships are currently on deployment. Now more than ever, our graduates must be ready on day one of commissioned service to lead Sailors and Marines at the tip of the spear.
To better prepare our midshipmen for this challenge we made policy changes to directly support my second theme: that everyone at the Naval Academy is here to develop midshipmen for the privilege of serving. We focused on two priorities--professionalism and leadership development, and incorporated the following changes:
. We provided the opportunity to practice leadership every day with particular emphasis on the First Class. Given the heavy load of moral, mental, and physical requirements for every midshipman, we maximized training opportunities by establishing more structure within the Brigade's schedule. Specifically this included three formations a day and mandatory attendance during meals. Increasing midshipmen time together allowed leaders to engage with their subordinates, evaluate their military appearance, inquire about their studies and athletics, and set an example.
. We focused on a schedule similar to what midshipmen will see in the Fleet. Training during the day (class attendance for midshipmen), a time for physical fitness in the afternoon, and study time at night. With all midshipmen on a relatively similar schedule, they can further support their units by training together in the afternoon and studying together at night.
We emphasized the importance of attending class, reducing absences by 30% from the previous academic year.
. We enforced accountability by having squad leaders participate in Academic and Conduct Boards for their subordinates.
. To highlight the leadership responsibility of the First Class, we have changed their working uniform to khakis, aligning with the Fleet and ensuring they stand out as the example for the Brigade.
. We reduced the amount of time First Class could be away from their leadership and education responsibility by reducing the amount of weekday liberty. In the end, though, the Class of 2008 averaged 68 days of leave and 110 days of off-yard liberty for their last year-a level well beyond what they will ever see again as a commissioned officer.
Leading change and managing expectations are always difficult, but the Class of 2008 continually improved their leadership skills as they grasped the opportunities to practice leadership. Class leaders like Mitchell Scholar Victoria Moore, who graduated first in her class as a varsity athlete and the Spring Color Company Commander, and Zerbin Singleton, Spring 2008 Brigade Commander, community servant, and football standout, embraced these changes and led their fellow midshipmen in adapting. I look forward to watching the Class of 2009 learn these valuable lessens from the example of their predecessors in the upcoming year.
Every midshipman should be proud of their role in executing my third theme: the Brigade is the face of the Navy. Last year's Brigade did an outstanding job representing the thousands of Sailors and Marines who were forward deployed. When the world watched the Annapolis Conference, senior leaders addressed the Brigade at Forrestal lectures, and American citizens observed full dress parades, they saw America's finest young leaders performing with teamwork and discipline.
In community service projects, the Midshipmen Action Group, with leadership from Midshipman Kimberly Cook, showed the local community that Naval Academy midshipmen are compassionate young people ready to selflessly serve others. There are many more examples of midshipmen-led events around the Yard, including the Naval Academy Leadership Conference and Foreign Affairs Conference, which continue to enhance our reputation as the face of the Navy.
Part of our increased professionalism was attributable to new policies aligning our Academy with the larger Navy and Marine Corps. Today we are focused on ensuring our midshipmen experience the Fleet for summer training. Last summer only 65% of the Class of 2008 interacted with Sailors and Marines in the Fleet. This summer, we are executing a plan for nearly 100% of the Class of 2009 to engage with our Navy and Marine Corps. Further alignment included the elevated role of the Command Master Chief, Master Chief Vonn Banks, and the enhanced the role of Company Senior Enlisted Advisors. I firmly believe that the more our midshipmen interact with enlisted Sailors, Marines, and their Senior Enlisted, the better prepared they will be to lead those same volunteers in the Fleet.
We have also been working on bringing the practices of the Fleet to the Naval Academy. Our Fleet and Family Support Center, with the help of Master Chief Banks worked to bring Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom Veterans to football games, to recognize our Individual Augmentees preparing to deploy overseas, and to establish a Family Readiness Group. Today's junior officers must be prepared to lead this diverse, all-volunteer force that has never been tested in continuous combat for so long. Our Sailors are skilled, professional, and educated with families and many other options beyond military service. Midshipmen today are seeing first hand that family readiness affects mission readiness.
I believe that a Superintendent can only truly effect one or two major institutional changes during his tour at the Naval Academy. Beyond executing our mission, my number one focus as Superintendent is to increase the Brigade's diversity to be more reflective of America and the 47% diverse Fleet and Marine enlisted force our graduates will be leading. In January we established a Naval Academy Diversity Office to align efforts around the Yard and liaison with community leaders. That office has been collaborating with Admissions on events like the Admissions Outreach Conference and Wesley Brown Field House dedication to publicize the opportunities our Academy can offer young people of all backgrounds.
The Class of 2012 is set to become our most diverse class yet with 340 minorities projected to take the Oath of Office on 2 July. That is up from 291 in the Class of 2011. To prepare for the Class of 2013 and beyond we have also expanded our Naval Academy Summer Programs. This year Summer Seminar, our program for rising high school seniors, has grown by nearly 20% to accommodate more students from diverse backgrounds and underrepresented areas of the country. We are also hosting a summer program in San Diego, California for those students who cannot come to the East Coast to see the Academy.
As I travel around the country I am frequently asked questions on various Academy policies. Enclosed you will find a list of common concerns and their current policy. Hopefully this will clarify any misinformation you might have received.
We have built a great team for the upcoming year. Our newest member is the new Commandant, CAPT Matt Klunder, who comes to us with impressive Fleet experience and credentials. Welcome aboard to CAPT Klunder and his family. I am also happy to report our Athletic Director, Chet Gladchuk, has agreed to stay with us so we can continue to "expect to win."
Last year was a historic one for the Naval Academy:
. We accomplished our mission, not only by commissioning 785 Ensigns and 233 Second Lieutenants from the Class of 2008, but by meeting or exceeding the specific personnel requirements of each warfare community.
. We re-energized the Stockdale Center, giving it a new director and re-centering its focus on the intended mission: "to promote and enhance the ethical development of current and future military leaders through education, research, and reflection."
. The Class of 2008 finished near the top of all American universities with respect to its large number of notable scholarship winners (Rhodes, Marshall, Mitchell, Gates, and Cambridge).
. We remained at the top of the nation in graduation rates of our student athletes while still winning a historic nine Patriot League titles and beating Notre Dame in football. Six of the top ten graduates of 2008 were varsity student-athletes.
. Finally, we dedicated three new sports facilities (Halsey Field House Squash Court Extension, Brigade Sports Complex, and the Wesley Brown Field House) and began renovation of our Academy museum.
I also want to thank alumni and friends of the Naval Academy for their continued support with their time, their talents and their generous gifts, all of which have contributed significantly to the great success we have enjoyed in the past year. We will continue to push ourselves and our Brigade to achieve excellence in everything we do every day. America's Sailors and Marines deserve nothing less.
Go Navy!

Jeff Fowler
VADM USN
Superintendent
________________________________________

Policy Clarification
One of the purposes of this letter is to clarify policies that may have been misunderstood by groups who do not have access to all of the facts. Below is a comprehensive list of policy clarifications.

SEA TRIALS AS THE CULMINATION of PLEBE YEAR
A decade ago, the Naval Academy modified two important events signifying the successful end of Plebe year. Sea Trials and Herndon occur sequentially. The first Sea Trials began in 1998 with the Class of 2001. Initiated under ADM Larson, it is intended to be a performance-based rite of passage testing every plebe's teamwork and endurance, much like the Marine Corps' Crucible and Navy Great Lakes Battle stations. It is the culmination of Plebe year. Herndon remains the final ceremony, although its execution has varied significantly from year to year.

EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES (ECA)
Most midshipmen excelled academically and in numerous other extracurricular activities while attending high school. Our technically-focused curriculum combined with a challenging leadership development program put a much higher burden on each midshipman than most have ever experienced. To help guide ECA involvement, we have developed a tiered system of activities. Some of the groups, like the Dolphin Society or Flying Club, are directly supportive to our mission. These are highly encouraged. Other activities with little relation to officer development must be tempered with military duties and academic performance. Midshipmen are encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities as their free time and performance allows.

MUSIC
Music continues to be an important part of our Extra Curricular Activities (ECA) program. The Drum and Bugle Corps; Glee Club and other choirs, including the Gospel Choir; Masqueraders; Halloween Organ Concert; Messiah Concert; Distinguished Artist Series, and other music opportunities are good recruiting tools for the Naval Academy and provide cultural education for our midshipmen. As with other ECA's, involvement in musical activities must be balanced with getting a Bachelor of Science Degree and leadership development. Some of our venues for these groups have changed to better serve the Academy's needs. We want our recruiting efforts to be applied where we need them most and with due consideration of our midshipmen's time.
I have approved the Distinguished Artist Series program for next year. The specific events are international and important opportunities for our midshipmen to expand their cultural knowledge and appreciation. This program is designed and funded for midshipman development, so I have reset some of the policies, seating, and timing to better serve the midshipmen. Some alumni and friends in town may see changes that put them secondary to midshipmen-that is intentional to keep the program aligned to its original intent.

SAILING
Sailing is an important part of our Naval heritage and training. All midshipmen receive sailing indoctrination as Plebes, and I firmly believe that our varsity teams should be national competitors. These goals are similar to what most of you experienced when you were here. Unfortunately though, whenever we desire to add something to our program, another requirement must be removed. In order for our midshipmen to gain more experience in the Fleet and Marine Corps prior to service assignment and commissioning, I have removed the requirement to have every midshipman qualify to be a skipper of a sailboat or YP. Midshipmen who are interested and also have free time and satisfactory performance are encouraged to seek these qualifications.

FOOD SERVICE
We are excited to have the Brigade back together in King Hall, but there are still more challenges ahead. Our galley needs to be upgraded to modern standards and our authorized ration per day per midshipmen is inadequate to meet the current cost of food for young, athletic adults. Our Navy staff is working with us to correct both issues.

ATTRITION
Our attrition rate is at record lows, despite the change in policies this year. Is this because the Academy's program has gotten easier? No. It is a reflection of the quality of midshipmen we currently admit. Every year we receive nine to ten times the number of applications that we can accept. We will always have a small percentage of midshipmen who attrite for a wide variety of reasons, but our Navy and Marine Corps would be well served if all our midshipmen could be successfully commissioned.

FEMALE MIDSHIPMEN
On one trip a gentleman asked me if we were aiming to change brigade demographics to reflect 40 percent women. The answer is no. From my days in recruiting I can tell you that typically about half as many women are interested as men in serving in the military. Given that and the fact that girls are outperforming boys in high school, qualified female interest in the Naval Academy settles out at about 25% women and 75% men. Today's all volunteer force Navy is currently at about 17 % women-the Naval Academy is at about 21%. Our admissions board selects the best candidates to be midshipmen without regard for gender.

ROTC and USNA COMMON APPLICATION
Those of you with recent Academy experience will remember the painstaking application process here. I do not need the application to be a screening tool. That only works to screen out those students who are unfamiliar with the Navy. We are making it easier for future Naval Officers to apply for ROTC and USNA by working a common application form. A common form allows us to share the names of those who were just below the tough selection criteria to see if the other source might have a better match. We have some Congressional districts that are underrepresented. If an NROTC applicant can also apply here, we may desire that future midshipman and can offer an appointment.

Plebes - No more (Herndon)

2008-06-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

Ah the memories!

Don't Miss this inaugural PICNIC June 22nd

2008-06-03T16:11:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 22nd is our Chapter's inaugural LINK IN THE CHAIN PICNIC.

The venue is Admiral Baker Field.

The cost - manageable.

The camaraderie (remember your Class Commissioning Week or June Week) - PRICELESS.

For details - contact Bob Rubin, rrubin2@san.rr.com.

Go Navy!

Black Knights and the NFL Draft - affecting our N*s

2008-04-30T20:06:00.000-07:00

from the Annapolis Capitol:

Army policy drawing heavy service flak
By BILL WAGNER, Staff Writer
Published April 30, 2008

Caleb Campbell was a four-year football standout at the United States
Military Academy, a hard-hitting safety noted for his rare combination of
size, speed and strength. On Sunday, Campbell was selected by the Detroit
Lions in the seventh round of the National Football League Draft.
If Campbell makes the Detroit roster next fall, he will be allowed to play
in the NFL immediately due to a relatively new U.S. Army policy that allows
soldiers with "unique talents and abilities" to participate in professional
sports while serving as a recruiter.

"My duty right now is to play football, and that's what I plan on doing,"
Campbell said yesterday during a conference call with the media.

Two other current Army seniors - fullback Mike Viti and punter Owen Tolson -
signed free agent contracts with the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants,
respectively. They also hope to take advantage of the program, which was
instituted in April, 2005 when Francis J. Harvey served as Secretary of the
Army.

Campbell, who will be commissioned a Second Lieutenant upon graduation,
selected air defense artillery as a service assignment and said yesterday he
would likely be deployed as a platoon leader commanding approximately 32
soldiers in Iraq or Kuwait had the NFL opportunity not arisen.

"When I came to West Point, I wasn't saying, 'I hope they make a new policy
so I don't have to go to Iraq.' I knew what I was getting myself into. I
knew I was going to be a platoon leader one day leading soldiers into a
potential combat situation because I enrolled here during a time of war. I
knew exactly what I was getting myself into," Campbell said.

"Over the last four years, that's what I've been preparing myself for.
That's what I've been instructed to do. All of my summers here at the
academy have been military training. I'm just fortunate enough to have the
opportunity to play football because of my career here at the academy. I did
enough to get drafted and pursue this career as a football player."

Graduates of the Air Force Academy and Naval Academy are not being afforded
the same opportunity. Those two branches of the service are adhering to a
Department of Defense memorandum, issued last August, entitled "Alternative
Service Option." That directive, authorized by Secretary of Defense Robert
M. Gates and implemented on Jan. 1, 2008, states that "officers may apply
for excess leave, after serving a minimum of 24 months of the current
obligated active duty periodŠ for the purpose of pursuing a professional
sports activity with potential for recruiting or public affairs benefits."

That Department of Defense policy allows athletes that remain in
professional sports to serve six years in the Army, Air Force or Naval
reserves in exchange for being released from their remaining three years of
active duty.

Some officials with the Air Force and Navy think Army is violating the
spirit of the Department of Defense initiative by stating that a
professional athlete who serves part- time as a recruiter is fulfilling the
two-year active-duty commitment.

"Clearly, we believe soldiers who are serving under this policy are indeed
still serving, but in a different capacity," said Lt. Col. Anne Edgecomb of
the Department of Army Public Affairs.

Naval Academy athletic director Chet Gladchuk has grave concerns about the
Army policy, which allows varsity coaches at West Point to tell prospective
recruits they could potentially avoid military service if they are good
enough to play professional sports.

"Army has redefined active duty to include playing professional sports. This
new policy gives Army an astronomical advantage from an athletic standpoint
and has already made an impact on recruiting," Gladchuk said. "Our coaches
are now operating under a significant handicap when recruiting head-to-head
with Army. It may not be reflected on the playing field today, but I can
guarantee you that it will result in a competitive disadvantage down the
road."

Navy head football coach Ken Niumatalolo agreed that Army's ability to
entice recruits with the NFL option could have severe repercussions on the
balance of power among the three service academies.

You can call me George (: Football Team at the White House

2008-04-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

President honors Navy football

By BILL WAGNER, Staff Writer
Published April 15, 2008

WASHINGTON - President Bush didn't even attempt to pronounce the name of the
Naval Academy's new head football coach.
Navy football was honored at the White House yesterday for capturing the
Commander-in-Chief's Trophy for the fifth consecutive year. During his
remarks, President Bush recognized various dignitaries in attendance - such
as Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, D-St. Mary's, Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter
and Vice. Adm. Jeffrey F. Fowler, academy superintendent.

But when it came time to introduce head coach Ken Niumatalolo, the president
hesitated.

"Coach ... just coach," said President Bush, drawing a hearty laugh from the
audience in the Rose Garden. "You can call me George, and I'll call you
Ken."
Mr. Niumatalolo is the first Polynesian to serve as head coach in NCAA
Division I-A ranks, and the first Samoan head coach at any level of college
football. Naturally, the 42-year-old Hawaiian yesterday became the first
Polynesian and Samoan football coach to be welcomed at the White House.

"It's a humbling experience. I'm still in awe," Mr. Niumatalolo said.

One of the most touching moments of the ceremony came after the formal
presentation of the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy. President Bush thanked the
crowd for coming then turned around and began shaking hands with the Navy
football players and coaches. Mr. Niumatalolo motioned for his wife and
8-year-old son Ali'i to leave their front row seats and come meet the
president.

President Bush bent down to shake hands with Ali'i then casually put his arm
around the boy while talking with Barbara Niumatalolo. That brought tears to
the eyes of Ken Niumatalolo, who no doubt will treasure the picture that was
taken of the scene.

"Priceless. That's the kind of stuff that is priceless. I will never forget
it," he said.

Navy compiled an 8-5 record in 2007, beating Army and Air Force to retain
the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy and earning a berth to the Poinsettia Bowl
in San Diego. President Bush pointed out that Navy beat powerful Notre Dame
for the first time since 1963, snapping an NCAA-record 43-game losing streak
in the series.

"I'm not going to spend much time talking to the pope about it," dead-panned
the president, alluding to his upcoming visit with Roman Catholic pontiff
this week.

Navy's current run of winning the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy five
consecutive seasons is a school record. The midshipmen have won 11 straight
games against Army and Air Force in the process.

"This has become old habit for a lot of the players standing behind me.
Coming to the Rose Garden is as familiar as Bancroft Hall," President Bush
said.

All five of those trips to the White House have occurred during the two
terms of President Bush, who took great delight in highlighting some of the
Texas-born standouts on the team. For the second straight year, the
president made mention of fullback Adam Ballard, and for the second straight
year he referred to the 6-foot-1, 236-pounder as "Bullard."

Midshipman Ballard spoke briefly with President Bush and was impressed he
knew that athletic teams at Lewisville High School went by the nickname of
"Fighting Farmers." Midshipman Ballard, who was late in preparing his taxes,
pulled the W-2 form out of his pocket and asked the president for an
extension.

" 'W' and I get along pretty well," Midshipman Ballard joked afterward.
"Seriously, he strikes me as being real personable. He speaks off-the-cuff
and seems like a regular guy."

Curtis Bass, a 6-foot-1, 275-pound offensive lineman from Houston, sparked
laughter when he asked President Bush to grant members of the football team
a weekend of liberty. When the president approved the request, Midshipman
Bass pointed at Vice Adm. Fowler and asked the president to convey that
message to the academy superintendent.

Over the course of Navy's four previous visits to the White House, President
Bush had gotten to know former head coach Paul Johnson. Mr. Johnson left
Navy for Georgia Tech in December and did not attend yesterday's ceremony,
so the honor of speaking on behalf of the football team fell to Mr.
Niumatalolo.

"On behalf of the football team and the entire United States Naval Academy,
I want to say that we are happy to be here and it never gets old," he said.
"Even though the trip from Annapolis to the White House today was fast and
easy, it was a long journey for this team this season. Coming here means we
accomplished all of our goals."

Before filing into the Rose Garden, Mr. Niumatalolo told the team to savor
the moment and appreciate the honor of meeting the president of the United
States as a result of success on the football field.

"I want all of our younger guys to realize this is a special trip and that
it takes a ton of hard work and sacrifice to make this trip," Mr.
Niumatalolo said.

President Bush concluded his remarks by pointing out that Navy football
players soon will be commissioned officers participating in the current war
on terrorism.

"I want to thank every football player for agreeing to put on the uniform of
the finest military ever. You signed up after 9/11. You knew the stakes
involved in the war against extremists and radicals. You knew that your
country depended on you. And you didn't hesitate to wear the uniform," he
said. "I welcome you as stars on the football field, and I welcome you as
soon-to-be sailors and Marines who have a major responsibility to protect
the United States from harm and spread the great blessings of liberty so we
can have peace."

2008 Football Schedule - book 'em

2008-04-07T21:47:00.000-07:00

Sent: April 4, 2008
Contact: Scott Strasemeier (410) 293-8775

Naval Academy To Play All Five Home Football Games At 3:30 P.M.; Mids To
Appear On National Television 10 Times In 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md.-The Naval Academy Athletic Association and CBS College Sports
Network announced Friday that all five Navy football games at Navy-Marine
Corps Memorial Stadium will kick off at 3:30 p.m. All five games will be
televised live by CBS College Sports Network.

Navy's neutral site games against Notre Dame in Baltimore and Army in
Philadelphia will both kick off at 12 noon and will be televised by CBS.

Three of Navy's five road games have already been picked up by national
television as well. Navy's Sept. 5 contest at Ball State will be televised
by ESPN (7 p.m.), the Oct. 4 contest at Air Force will be televised by
VERSUS (2 p.m. MT, 4 p.m. ET) and the Nov. 25 contest at Northern Illinois
will be televised by ESPN2 (7 p.m.). Game times have not been announced for
the Sept. 13 game at Duke and the Sept. 27 contest at Wake Forest.

Season tickets for the 2008 season are on sale now at www.navysports.com or
by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY. Season tickets are $222, which includes all five
games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and the Notre Dame game at M&T
Bank Stadium. A season parking pass will cost $75.

2008 Navy Football Schedule

Date Opponent Location Time TV
Aug. 30 Towson Annapolis, Md. 3:30 p.m. CBS C
Sept. 5 at Ball State Muncie, Ind. 7 p.m. ESPN
Sept. 13 at Duke Durham, N.C. TBA TBA
Sept. 20 Rutgers Annapolis, Md. 3:30 p.m. CBS C
Sept. 27 at Wake Forest Winston Salem, N.C. TBA TBA
Oct. 4 at Air Force Colorado Springs, Colo. 4 p.m.
Oct. 18 Pittsburgh (HC)Annapolis, Md. 3:30 p.m. CBS C
Oct. 25 SMU Annapolis, Md. 3:30 p.m. CBS C
Nov. 1 Temple Annapolis, Md. 3:30 p.m. CBS C
Nov. 15 vs. Notre Dame Baltimore, Md. 12 noon CBS
Nov. 25 at N. Illinois DeKalb, Ill. 7 p.m. ESPN2
Dec. 6 vs. Army Philadelphia, Pa. 12 noon CBS

Chapel Flag Ritual in Dispute

2008-03-09T20:52:00.000-07:00

From a Sunday newspaper article - there is some "noise" about the
40 year tradition of dipping Old Glory and the Academy Flag in Chapel:

Part of Neela Bannerjee's article follows:
Old Glory dipped at chapel service
By Neela Banerjee
NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

March 9, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – On Sundays at the Naval Academy Chapel, at a few minutes past 11 a.m., the choir stops singing and a color guard carrying the academy flag and the American flag strides up the aisle.

AdvertisementBelow a cobalt-blue, stained-glass window of Jesus, one midshipman dips the academy flag before the altar cross, and the other dips the American flag.
The dipping of the flag has begun this nondenominational Protestant service at the Naval Academy for 40 years. But in civilian life, the U.S. flag is never to be dipped, and the Navy says it isn't dipped at any other worship service at the academy or any other installation.

In October, after the academy's superintendent, Vice Adm. Jeffrey L. Fowler, raised questions about the ritual with the academy chaplains, they suspended the flag-dipping because “there was a concern over teaching midshipmen something not practiced anywhere in the fleet,” the academy's spokesman, Cmdr. Ed Austin, said in an e-mail message.

The pause lasted only a few months. Now the flags are being dipped again, and the superintendent, who has held his post since June, has stopped attending the 11 a.m. service. Evangelical Christians and their critics say the academy had to reconsider after an outcry by congregants and alumni.

“I think the ceremony is fully representative of the highest traditions of our country,” said Bob Morrison, who has attended the 11 a.m. service for 12 years and heads an internship program at the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group. “It basically says that our country is one nation under God and the nation-state is not the highest authority in the world.”

The 2008 Gridiron Schedule should be exciting!

2008-02-09T19:39:00.000-08:00

2008 Navy Football Schedule

Date Opponent Location Time TV
Aug. 30 vs. Towson Annapolis, Md. TBA CSTV
Sept. 6 at Ball State Muncie, Ind. TBA TBA
Sept. 13 at Duke Durham, N.C. TBA TBA
Sept. 20 vs. Rutgers Annapolis, Md. TBA CSTV
Sept. 27 at Wake Forest Winston Salem, N.C. TBA TBA
Oct. 4 at Air Force Colorado Spr. TBA TBA
Oct. 18 vs. Pittsburgh (HC) Annapolis, Md. TBA CSTV
Oct. 25 vs. SMU Annapolis, Md. TBA CSTV
Nov. 1 vs. Temple Annapolis, Md. TBA CSTV
Nov. 15 vs. Notre Dame Baltimore, Md. 12 noon CBS
Nov. 22 at Northern Illinois DeKalb, Ill. TBA TBA
Dec. 6 vs. Army Philadelphia, Pa. 12 noon CBS

Running for a fallen Classmate

2007-12-28T14:58:00.000-08:00

Wild Bill Connor in the Marine Corps Marathon 2007.

Thank you Navy Football!

2007-12-28T14:57:00.001-08:00

Poinsettia Bowl - aftermath

2007-12-21T17:20:00.000-08:00

"It's never fun to lose a bowl game, but if a postseason defeat was ever easy
to take, this game would be defense exhibit A. Navy--with one of its stars
struggling mightily--still played a solid team on even terms before losing
in the game's final minute. Poise, swagger and enthusiasm filled the Navy
sideline. A defense that had lurked in the shadows for so much of 2007 made
its presence felt, even in a losing effort.

It's really rather simple: if Navy plays like this in 2008 and beyond, the
Midshipmen will make Niumatalolo into a very successful head coach, and
Annapolis football will pick up where Paul Johnson left off. This Poinsettia
Bowl was a poignant pigskin passion play, a painful defeat for a team that
battled hard. But if this program fights and scraps in future seasons the
way it did against Utah on Thursday night, there's little question that more
good times will come to the Navy football family. The Midshipmen--after this
valiant just-miss loss in San Diego--have every right to expect that if they
put in the hard work that defined the Johnson era, they'll have a Happy New
Year in 2008 under Ken Niumatalolo."

Everything But the Win

By Matt Zemek

Posted Dec 21, 2007

A Salute to Navy Football's 2007 Season

2007-12-13T16:33:00.000-08:00

A cute South Park spoof for the ARMY of ONE

2007-12-13T16:29:00.000-08:00

Bill Belichick Comments on THE GAME

2007-11-29T07:18:00.000-08:00

Excerpt from the New England Patriots' weekly Press Conference:

Q: A little off the subject - This weekend is the Army-Navy game. What makes
that game so special for the people involved?

BB: It's kind of a season within a season for those teams. I think no matter
what the record is, that game means more than all the other ones put
together, if that makes any sense, so in some respects it's probably better
to go 1-11 and win that game than to go 11-1 and lose that game. I've kind
of seen that from both sides of it. One of the things they do, they have
such esprit de corps with the brigade and the corps of cadets and the
brigade of midshipmen, is a lot of times the team that wins that game, the
superintendent gives all the other members of the brigade special
privileges, like an extra night out or they knock off the demerits or
whatever it is as kind of moral-booster thing. So a lot of times that game
means a lot more than just what meets the eye. I know there's a couple kids,
Max Lane and Kyle Eckel and [Roger] Staubach, but those kids aren't playing
football to be professional football players. They're playing football
because they've chosen a career in the military and that's what's really
important to them, so to compete against their rival military academy, it's
a tremendous tradition that goes back forever, even back into the great
Army-Navy teams in the 40's and 50's and 60's where they were ranked in the
top 10 on a pretty regular basis and [had] Heisman trophy winners and all of
that, as well as guys going on to be great leaders of this country. The
tradition in that game just flows. It just drips with tradition. But really,
there's a lot at stake within the brigade, within the institution, that is a
little bit special relative to just another college football game. You know,
you walk around there in March or April or May or whatever and there's signs
all over of "261 days until we beat Army" or "173 days until we beat Army."
I mean, literally, a lot of times the calendar in that Navy football office
is just reflected on how many days to the Army-Navy game. When my dad was
there, there were a lot of years when he would scout the opponent that Navy
was going to play next. So if they were going to play Pitt, he would go to
Pitt. If they were going to play BC, he'd go to BC. But then there were
other years when the only team he scouted was Army. He would watch them play
all 11 games. So if that gives you any sense of what that game meant, that
you just put one guy on it the whole year, that was not uncommon. And Army
would do the same thing.

Mark your Poinsettia Bowl Calendar

2007-11-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

For: Immediate Release
Sent: November 11, 2007
Contact: Scott Strasemeier (410) 293-8775

NAVAL ACADEMY ACCEPTS BID TO POINSETTIA BOWL
Tickets On Sale Now At www.navysports.com

ANNAPOLIS, Md.-Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk announced
today that the Naval Academy has accepted an invitation to play in the third
annual San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl on Thursday, December
20, at 6 p.m. (PST) at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif. against a
Mountain West opponent. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN.

"A beautiful setting in a Navy city at one of the finest football venues in
the country has everyone excited," said Gladchuk. "Five bowl games in a row
is historic for the Academy and our congratulations to Coach Johnson, his
staff, our players and the Brigade of Midshipmen for reaffirming that Navy
is one of the finest football programs in the nation."

"I'm excited the team has achieved one of its goals, to have a chance to go
to a bowl game, and I'm excited to be going to San Diego," said Navy head
coach Paul Johnson. "San Diego is a great city and I'm sure our players
will have a great time. We still have two very important games remaining
against Northern Illinois and Army, so we are going to put the bowl game on
the back burner until the regular season is over. There's no question where
our focus needs to be and will be."

"The Naval Academy kicked this bowl game off in grand style when they
appeared in the inaugural game two years ago," said Poinsettia Bowl
President Rudy Castruita. "We're so excited the rich tradition of Navy
football is coming back to San Diego."

The bowl bid is a landmark achievement for the football program as it marks
the first time in school history that Navy has gone to five-straight bowl
games. Navy can achieve another first by winning the Commander-In-Chief's
Trophy for a school-record fifth-consecutive year on Dec. 1 when the Mids
play Army.

Tickets for the Poinsettia Bowl are on sale now at www.navysports.com(.)
Tickets can also be purchased on Tuesday morning starting at 9 a.m. by
calling 1-800-US4-NAVY or at the Ricketts Hall Box Office. Tickets are $45
for club seats and $35 for field seats. Fans not able to attend the game
can purchase tickets to sponsor a midshipman or enlisted personnel and their
families for $35.

"We strongly encourage Navy fans to buy their bowl tickets from the Naval
Academy Athletic Association," said Gladchuk. "Our goal is to bring more
than 2,000 Midshipmen and sell more than 20,000 tickets. It is very
important for this game and for future bowl games for our fans to purchase
tickets through the NAAA. "If you can't make it to the game we ask that
Navy fans buy tickets for our midshipmen, enlisted personnel and their
families which will help create an electric Navy atmosphere. This donation
is 100 percent tax deductible."

The flying 4th and 8 sack in 4th Qtr

2007-11-08T15:10:00.000-08:00

Another Lion of Fallujah - JP Blecksmith (RIP)

2007-11-08T15:08:00.000-08:00

This tribute to a Navy football player turned infantryman and role model is
fitting for these hard times!

By
Jeff Gordinier
Details Magazine

On the night before 2nd Lieutenant JP Blecksmith shipped out to Iraq, after
his family took him out for dinner in Newport Beach, California, his older
brother, Alex, picked up a pair of clippers and shaved JP¹s head. When that
was done and JP looked ready for combat, Alex gave his brother a hug. Then
Alex climbed into JP¹s green Ford Expedition and drove it north, back to the
family¹s house in San Marino, weeping part of the way. He had a feeling. So
did his parents. A premonition. They didn¹t talk about it much, but two
months later, in November 2004, when JP joinead a wave of U.S. Marines
roaring into the city of Fallujah as part of Operation Phantom Fury, the
feeling intensified.

On the night of November 10, Blecksmith and his closest friend in Iraq,
Lieutenant Sven Jensen, slept on a rooftop in Fallujah. It was,
miraculously, a quiet night, and chilly. They got a decent night¹s sleep.
They awoke just before sunrise and were amused to find a small pet bird with
green wings and a yellow belly perched a couple of feet away from their
faces. Jensen took a picture of the bird. There were other ones like it all
over Iraq, because when U.S. troops were searching abandoned houses, they
often found cages that had been left behind. The soldiers let the birds go
free so they wouldn¹t starve to death.

Hours before, JP had sent a letter to his girlfriend, addressing it
formally, as always, to ³Ms. Emily M. Tait.² In it he wrote, ³By the time
you receive this, you will know we have gone into the city. We¹ve been
preparing for it the last few days, and my guys are ready for the fight, and
I¹m ready to lead them. It¹ll be hectic, and there will be some things out
of my control, but the promise of you waiting at home for me is inspiring
and a relief.² Now he was in the thick of it. Blecksmith and Jensen came
down from the roof, ate their MREs for breakfast, and got their orders.
Before the invasion the battalion commander, Colonel Patrick Malay, had
given his men an analogy: ³ŒImagine a dirty, filthy windowpane that has not
been cleaned in hundreds of years,¹² he recalls saying. ³That¹s how we
looked at the city of Fallujah. Our job was to scrub the heck out of that
city, and then take a squeegee and wipe it off so that it was clean and
pure.² Most of Fallujah was empty, and anyone left in the city was presumed
to be an insurgent.

Blecksmith and the other members of the India Company of the Third
Battalion, Fifth Marines Regiment, moved south through the city, with their
blood types scrawled in indelible marker on the sleeves of their uniforms.
The streets smelled terrible‹a stubborn aroma of rotting food and bodies.
Late in the day on November 11, things started to go wrong. A marine in
Blecksmith¹s platoon, Klayton South, was shot in the mouth by an insurgent
when he kicked open the door of a house. Blood gushed from his mangled teeth
and tongue. The medics cut into South¹s throat to give him an emergency
tracheotomy. (He survived. He¹s since had more than 40 operations to repair
the damage.) ³It shook the platoon up,² Jensen says now, ³and JP was the
most in-control person I saw. He had a sector to clear, so he rallied his
guys and said, ŒOkay, we¹ve got to continue clearing.¹² Blecksmith¹s and
Jensen¹s platoons moved off in different directions, and the two friends
shot each other a glance. ³I¹ll never forget looking at his eyes the last
time I saw him,² Jensen says. ³He turned and he gave me almost an
apprehensive look, like, Oh, shit, we¹ve got some shit going on. I wanted to
say ŒHey, I¹ll see you later.¹ But I didn¹t say anything to him.²

Minutes later, Blecksmith led his platoon into a house and climbed a flight
of stairs to the roof to survey the surrounding landscape. Shots came from a
building across the street. Blecksmith stood up to direct the squads under
his command, shouting at them to take aim at the enemy nest. He was tall,
and was now visible above the protective wall. ³He was up front a lot, and
he made a big target, and we¹d talked to him about that,² Colonel Malay
says. ³He exposed himself consistently to enemy fire in the execution of his
duties. He displayed a fearlessness to the point that we had to talk to him
about the fact that nobody is bulletproof.²

As Blecksmith stood on the roof, a sniper¹s 7.62-mm bullet found one of the
places on his body where he was vulnerable. It was a spot on his left
shoulder, less than an inch above the rim of his protective breastplate. The
bullet sliced downward diagonally, coming to rest in his right hip, and
along the way it tore through his heart. ³I¹m hit,² Blecksmith said. He
fell. He raised his head for a moment, and that was it. A Navy medic got to
Blecksmith immediately, but he was already dead, and his men carried his
heavy body back down the stairs. He was 24.

That night in San Marino, Alex Blecksmith came home from work and noticed
that the house was dark. He opened the front door and saw his mother, Pam,
sitting at the kitchen table with a couple of marines in dress blues and
white gloves, and he heard the phrase We regret to inform you . . .

The funeral was so magnificent, so full of pageantry, that at times it was
difficult for Alex to remember that the guy being buried was his brother.
The Marines do it right when it comes to honoring the fallen. They do it so
right that you can get swept up in the ceremony and feel as though you¹re
watching a parade. The funeral took place at the Church of Our Saviour in
San Gabriel‹the church where the most celebrated of San Marino¹s favorite
sons, General George S. Patton, had been baptized as a baby. As the
flag-draped casket was carried out of the sanctuary and into the California
sun, a long, silent line of almost 2,000 people followed. There were marines
and midshipmen and local firefighters in uniform. There was a 21-gun salute.
Four World War II fighter planes swooped toward the cemetery in the ³missing
man² formation‹just as they passed over the funeral, the fourth plane
symbolically split from the quartet and veered into the sky. A bagpiper
played a Scottish dirge. One of JP¹s old friends would later observe that
the day, in all of its glory and pomp, made him think of Princess Diana¹s
wedding.

As Public support for the war in Iraq wavers, it¹s easy to forget that
people like JP Blecksmith even exist. The American military is so
predominantly blue-collar that we tend to assume that the sons and daughters
of the rich never voluntarily die in warfare anymore. Blecksmith was born in
September 1980, just weeks before his state¹s own Ronald Reagan was elected
president, and he spent most of his youth in the small Los Angeles County
town of San Marino during what felt, for many of its wealthy and
conservative inhabitants, like something of a Leave It to Beaver golden age.
To look at a photograph of him, blue-eyed and suntanned and grinning, is to
understand the enduring magnetism of the word California. He stood six foot
three and weighed 225 pounds. His chest was a keg; his biceps were gourds.
His biography reads as though it were scripted by a Hollywood publicist:
legendary quarterback on the Flintridge Prep football team, track star,
graduate of the United States Naval Academy.

His father, Ed Blecksmith, who is 64, runs an executive-recruiting firm in
Los Angeles. He and Pam met in the early seventies, while both were working
in the White House. Along a wall leading into their kitchen hang framed
Christmas cards from Dick and Pat Nixon. ³Here¹s a kid,² Ed says, ³who
didn¹t need to do this.² It¹s as though JP were transplanted into our world
from the Eisenhower years. Somehow, in an ironic age of Jon Stewart and
South Park, the guy grew up in a kind of pre-Summer of Love bubble in which
young men of strength and valor still yearned to distinguish themselves on
the battlefield. He was groomed, in a sense, for something that no longer
exists, at least not for guys who grow up in the wealthiest zip codes in the
country. He believed in ideals of duty and sacrifice that have become, for
many men, anachronistic and even unfathomable.

³I was in awe,² says Peter Twist, Bleck-smith¹s closest friend since
preschool. Twist played wide receiver to Blecksmith¹s quarterback on the
Flintridge Prep football team; a local newspaper called the duo ³Fire &
Ice.² Blecksmith was known for being fast, composed, smart, and unflappable,
and his giant arms could propel the ball a good 80 yards down the field. If
he had an athletic flaw, it was that he was aware of his own flawlessness.
³He had such personal confidence,² says Tom Fry, a mentor to Blecksmith in
high school and one of the assistant coaches on his team. ³He felt that if
all the stars aligned, there was nothing he couldn¹t do‹it was JP¹s world.²
When they graduated in 1999, Twist and a couple other teammates went off to
the University of Arizona, where it¹s safe to say the prospect of partying
was on their minds, while Blecksmith opted for the rigors and restrictions
of Annapolis. ³I was stoked for the man,² says Twist, 26, who lives in
Newport Beach and works in the mortgage business. ³Most of us are still
trying to figure it out, but JP always had a goal.²

November 11, the date on which JP Blecksmith died, was noteworthy for other
reasons: It¹s Twist¹s birthday. It also happens to be the birthday of
General Patton, who grew up in San Marino and holds a prominent place in the
town¹s history. This coincidence has only bolstered the mythology of JP
Blecksmith‹a feeling that it was his destiny to die in combat. The
Blecksmiths have a statue of Patton on a shelf in their home, and it becomes
clear in conversation that Ed, a decorated Vietnam veteran himself, sees a
kind of mystical link between the fate of his son and the military triumphs
of the legendary general (who was a passionate believer, it just so happens,
in reincarnation).

Indeed, JP Blecksmith fit the ³hero² mold in such classic, square-jawed
American style that a kind of cult of JP has begun to develop in San Marino.
They give out awards in his name at the local schools. On the Fourth of
July, San Marino hosts a JP Blecksmith 5K run. A Marine Corps training
center in Pasadena has been christened Blecksmith Hall. On a hot Sunday
morning this past August, Alex parked his brother¹s Expedition in the
cemetery and walked across the grass to the pale granite stone that says
james patrick blecksmith. An elderly man wandered over to the headstone,
hand in hand with a grade-school kid who had a blond Mohawk, and told Alex,
³I never met JP, but I go by here and show my grandson his grave.²

Three years after Blecksmith¹s death, his bedroom still looks the way it did
when he left for Annapolis in 1999. There¹s a Green Bay Packers poster over
the bed, a dense forest of athletic trophies, toy race cars lined up on the
dresser. ³This is all his stuff from Iraq that they sent over,² Alex says,
looking down at a cardboard box on the floor. ³We haven¹t gone through it,
really.²

Ed Blecksmith walks into the bedroom, and within a few seconds his voice is
cracking and his blue eyes are growing wet. ³It¹s still tough,² he says.
³You see all these pictures and things . . .² He insists on sitting down in
front of the TV downstairs and watching DVD footage of that magnificent
funeral, fighting back a sob at the moment when one of the eulogists, a Navy
SEAL, describes JP as having been ³the best of the best.² Ed has some Fox
News footage, too. In it, you can see JP speaking to his men hours before
the battle in Fallujah, and that¹s where you get a brief glimpse of the
regular guy behind the mythology. Because there stands JP, in fatigues and a
floppy Boonie hat, holding a map, telling his marines to ³expect everything
you can possibly imagine.² When he looks at the camera for a moment, he¹s
smiling.

A Team of Rudys!

2007-11-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

from RICK TELANDER Sun-Times Columnist 11/7/07:

How about Navy, people?

The service academy's dedication to pressing matters such as steering
battleships and maintaining nuclear submarines makes football something it
can embrace only as a ferocious after-school passion undertaken by the few,
the proud, the rejected.

Why, Navy's adrenaline-fueled, David-slaying-Goliath, heart-pounding
goal-line stand at the end of that triple-overtime battle made ''Rudy'' look
like a frat-house vanity film.

Navy didn't have a Rudy -- it was infested with Rudys.

''We had only two defensive starters coming back this season,'' Navy
associate athletic director Scott Strasemeier said, ''and we lost them both
on the first series of the second game. We've started 23 guys on defense so
far, a school record.''

More than that, Navy already has started 11 players in its secondary.

Against Notre Dame, 18-year-old, 175-pound freshman Kevin Edwards started
for the Middies at cornerback, his first start.

Fellow teenage freshman Wyatt Middleton, whose sister graduated from Notre
Dame, started at safety and led the team with 14 tackles.

''The vast majority of our players had no other Division I offers,''
Strasemeier said. ''They came here because nobody else wanted them. And to a
man, they came here because they wanted to play Notre Dame.''

Even if it meant getting steamrolled for, say, years 64, 65, 66 ad nauseam.

Navy had guys on the field Saturday you wouldn't notice in real life unless
they had birdbaths on their heads.
Navy peerless

The Middies' two starting running backs, Zerbin Singleton and Reggie
Campbell, go 5-8, 174 and 5-6, 168.

When team captain Campbell came out for the coin toss, standing next to the
Notre Dame giants, one wanted to rush out and yell, ''This kid's lost.
Where's his mommy?''

There was even a Navy player -- walk-on reserve defensive end Steve Dorman,
from a small town in Washington -- who got into the game and thus played in
his first football contest, at any level, any age, down to birth.

Everywhere you looked on the Navy side, there were young men whose hearts
were twice the size of their uniforms.

Navy's quarterback, 5-11, 194-pound Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada (''We just call
him Kaipo,'' the SID said) might not even be your first pick in a flag
football league.

But Kaipo completed some of the sweetest, most pressure-packed passes you'll
ever see.

Navy's ''D'' had gotten five sacks all year, and then they sacked Notre
Dame's Evan Sharpley four times.

One of those sacks was created by perhaps the most ridiculous, improper,
joyous play of this or any season: Navy's outside linebacker Ramiro Vela
launching himself like Batman over Irish blocker Armando Allen and
swan-diving into Sharpley.

''The linebacker, 34, I forget his name off the top of my head, launches
over Armando's head,'' Weis said afterward, not too happily.

They call him Ram, Coach, or as he's now known in Annapolis, ''Super Ram,''
and he's a mighty kid from San Antonio who goes a superhuman 5-9, 196.

A D-I linebacker, folks.

Maybe you even want to include Navy no-name coach Paul Johnson in the hero
mix.

After Notre Dame had curiously been given a second chance at a two-point
conversion to tie the game in the third overtime, Johnson told his players
to blitz.

All 11 of them.

Some players were quizzical.

''Just sell out!'' Johnson said. ''They're gonna run it. If they pass, it's
on me.''

Notre Dame did run it. The Middies did blitz.

And if you don't think this was a game that made the angels sing, you got no
religion at all.

Inspirational soundbite - Thats Why we Play the Game

2007-11-06T08:25:00.000-08:00

Subject: John Feinstein On National Public Radio

Navy Ends Losing Streak Against Notre Dame

Morning Edition, November 5, 2007 .
Every once in a while something happens in sports that reminds us all why we care about games even in times when it would seem games really don't matter very much.

A moment like that took place on Saturday on one of college football's most
hallowed fields. Only this time, the home team was the victim. The heroes
were the visitors. Those were the kids from Navy < young men who will never
play in the NFL but may very well fight in Iraq very soon> who somehow
found a way to beat Notre Dame 46-44 in three overtimes in as remarkable a
football game as anyone is likely to ever see.

Navy and Notre Dame play football against one another every fall. Quite
literally, this is the most one-sided rivalry in football history. Prior to
Saturday Navy hadn't beaten Notre Dame for 43 years. The last time Navy won,
John F. Kennedy was president; Vietnam was just a place in southeast Asia
and Roger Staubach was Navy's quaterback.

There are good reasons why Notre Dame dominates Navy. It has more football
tradition than anyone from George Gipp and Knute Rockne (win one for the
Gipper) to the fight song and touchdown Jesus. It has its own TV network <
NBC pays millions of dollars a year to televise all Notre DAME home games <
and more money than it knows what to do with. There isn't a football player
born who doesn't at least think about playing at Notre Dame. The Irish don't
Recruit players, They select them.

Not so Navy < especially now when coach Paul Johnson has to answer questions
in recruits homes about how likely it is that someone's son might have to go
to war if he plays football at Navy. Navy is four years of a hard life: it
is academically stringent; militarily difficult and there are no corners cut
for football players. If you graduate, your reward is five years in the Navy
or the Marine Corps.

Most of Navy's players are smart, tough kids too small or too slow to be
recruited by Notre Dame or other big time schools. They are kids like Zerbin
Singleton, who scored the first touchdown on Saturday. He's an aerospace
engineering major who wants to be an astronaut. As a kid he watched a bounty
hunter shoot and arrest his mother; was injured by a drunk-driver in a car
accident and was told by coaches at Georgia Tech that, at 5-foot 8-inches,
174 pounds he was just too small to play college football. He transferred to
Navy and Saturday he helped beat Notre Dame.

Navy's team is full of kids like Singleton: Reggie Campbell, the 5-foot-six
inch, offensive captain who scored the winning points Saturday; Brad Wimsatt
who hopes to follow his two brothers into the Marines as a pilot; Kaiponoa
Kahayaku-Enhada, the quarterback who spent the entire afternoon urging the
Notre Dame crowd to get louder because he so loved being part of a game like
this one.

There simply is no way Navy can beat Notre Dame. There are too many
obstacles < size, speed, strength, money, referees > to overcome. On
Saturday, an extraordinary group of young men proved that if you believe
enough and care enough and absolutely refuse to ever give up you can
overcome just about anything.

If that's not inspiring I don't know what is. That's why sports is worth
caring about. Because at it's best it can inspire us all.

The Irish Curse is Reversed!

2007-11-05T17:38:00.000-08:00

A YOUTUBE video of Tecumseh Court helps reinforce our "FINALLY" sentinments after 4-plus decades of losses on the field to the Irish. We probably won most of the parties for 43 years - but that is another story . . .

Please click on the hotlinked title line to see a T Court video after THE GAME.

Beat Army!

Exemplary Student Athletes!

2007-10-06T17:44:00.000-07:00

Naval Academy At The Head Of The Class For Graduation Rates

ANNAPOLIS, Md.-For the third year in a row, the United States Naval Academy
is at the head of the class for graduating NCAA student-athletes on the
Division IA level. Navy graduated 100 percent of its student-athletes in 12
of the 19 sports reported on and no sport graduated lower than 94 percent.

"Our student-athletes continually strive to set the standard on the playing
fields, in the classroom and in Bancroft Hall," said Naval Academy Director
of Athletics Chet Gladchuk. "The support and encouragement they receive
through the Commandant and her staff and the academic dean's office is
extraordinary and provides tremendous motivation to be successful across the
board. We are all proud to be leaders on the field, but even more so when
we can prove to be leaders in the classroom as well. Our midshipmen clearly
define the true meaning of student-athlete."

Over the Wall article - Don't Give Up the Ship

2007-09-27T16:36:00.001-07:00

A 4th Quarter Rally to Remember

2007-09-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

By Bill Wagner (Annapolis Capitol):
"Saturday's improbable win was uplifting because the coaches and players had
to dig deep. It took a ton of heart, determination and effort to mount the
furious fourth quarter rally. When it was over, one could tell from the
euphoria displayed by everyone associated with the program that this was the
type of victory that could change the direction of an entire season."

Beat Air Force!

A Navy Sports Blog from Crabtown

2007-09-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

You may access Bill Wagner's Navy Sports Blog by clicking on the title line above.

Go Navy!

For N and N * Winners - Football Hospitality Tent

2007-09-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

Former Varsity Athletes Invited To Varsity Club Tent At All Home Football
Games

ANNAPOLIS, Md.--The Naval Academy Athletic Association has created a
hospitality location at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for all of its
former varsity athletes during football games this fall. The Varsity Club
Tent will be located on the Southeast concourse of the stadium overlooking
the field. The NAAA invites all former varsity athletes to stop by between
halftime and the end of the game to visit with current coaches and
administrators as well as see your former teammates. Wear your blue and
gold, reunite with your teammates and coaches, and cheer the Mids on to
victory!

A fitting tribute to those who fell

2007-09-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

While the hotlinked webpage (click on the title line above) was posted to honor the sacrifice of CTT1 Daugherty - Woodrow Wilson's tribute from 1914 is as fitting now as it was then:
"In May of 1914 President Woodrow Wilson spoke at the Brooklyn Navy Yard with expressed purpose of saluting those who had recently lost their lives while serving in the U.S. Navy. His words were meant for the people of that time but they are equally applicable to men like Petty Officer Daugherty whose service and sacrifice help to preserve freedom in this day and time.

Have you thought of it, men? Here is the roster of the Navy—the list of the men, officers and enlisted men and Marines—and suddenly there swim nineteen stars out of the list—men who have suddenly been lifted into a firmament of memory where we shall always see their names shine, not because they called upon us to admire them, but because they served us, without asking any questions and in the performance of a duty which is laid upon us as well as upon them."

As we remember 9/11 - enjoy Washington Post shots of Game #1

2007-09-11T14:58:00.000-07:00

You may click on the title hotlink to view shots of the Navy-Temple game (after the Verizon flash intro - that is)

Go Navy!
Beat Ball State

Newark Star Ledger - A nice tribute after Rutgers Game

2007-09-10T16:04:00.000-07:00

Booing Military Schools unacceptable
by Tom Luicci [ Newark Star Ledger ]
Monday September 10, 2007, 4:00 PM

It's hard to be too critical of Rutgers fans with the way they have turned
out in record numbers lately, but there is one reason to be:

Whoever among them booed lustily when the Navy players came onto the field
on Friday night should be sentenced to a week in Iraq.

The noise was clearly audible, and that's a shame. Booing college opponents
is acceptable with three exceptions: Army, Navy and Air Force.

Whatever your feelings are on the war, those are the men who will put their lives on theline for us after they finish college. If anything, they deserve a standing
ovation whenever they take the field.
Wanting to beat them is one thing;
booing them is a disgrace.

Rutgers Game Friday 090707 - INfo

2007-09-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

Info about our away game vs Rutgers on Friday 09/07 :

A video tribute for Paul Johnson's 100 Coaching Victories

2007-09-03T09:32:00.001-07:00

You may click on the hot-linked title to see a nice video tribute for Coach PAul Johnson.

Go Navy.

A letter from the new Superintendent

2007-08-21T16:38:00.000-07:00

This email is being sent to all Alumni.

The Superintendent has asked us to send you the following letter sharing his vision and strategic guidance.

Go Navy!

George

George P. Watt, Jr. '73
President and CEO U.S.
Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation
410.295.4090
GPWATT@1973.usna.com

The United States Naval Academy Alumni Association - Serving the Alma Mater and its alumni since 1886

Visit us at www.usna.com

Dear Alumni,

I am honored and humbled to be serving as the 60th Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy. Since my change of command I have been using the CNO’s approach for taking on a new position of responsibility: listen, learn, and lead. I have spent the summer listening and learning, and now it is time for me to start leading. My Senior Leadership Team and I want to make sure our course is set to prepare the midshipmen to become the best junior officers in the Fleet; officers with competence, character, and compassion. As a lifetime member of the Alumni Association I value the feedback of those who have come before the current Brigade in service to our country. For this reason, my Senior Leadership Team and I would like to share our vision with you.

A Nation at War. There is no doubt that September 11, 2001, changed the face of America forever. Our enemy is ruthless, and the Global War on Terror is going to last throughout the entire commissioned career of the midshipmen attending USNA today. We must ensure that every midshipman has heard the call to duty and is prepared to defend a nation at war.
Developing Midshipmen. Every member of our Naval Academy team must be focused on developing midshipmen morally, mentally, and physically for the privilege of serving as leaders of Sailors and Marines who volunteered to serve their country. Develop is an active verb requiring intrusive leadership from staff, faculty, and coaches. We must direct and facilitate the development of our midshipmen to accomplish the mission with a sense of urgency. We must ensure our Ensigns and Second Lieutenants are ready to lead starting on the first day of commissioned service.
Face of the Navy. The Naval Academy is a showplace. Every year millions of Americans view the Brigade in Annapolis or on television and walk away believing they have just seen the best of the United States Navy. We must remember that our midshipmen represent Sailors and Marines who have made the ultimate sacrifice as well as those who are forward deployed in harm’s way. Our behavior as an institution must reflect a commitment to excellence in everything we do.

I appreciate your support in helping carry out the mission of the Naval Academy. I look forward to seeing you around the country and around the Yard.

Very Respectfully,

J. L. FOWLER
Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy
Superintendent

American Honor (Wall Street Journal 05/26/2007

2007-05-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

American Honor

By PETER COLLIER
May 26, 2007; Page A9

Once we knew who and what to honor on Memorial Day: Those who had given all their tomorrows, as was said of the men who stormed the beaches of Normandy, for our todays. But in a world saturated with selfhood, where every death is by definition a death in vain, the notion of sacrifice today provokes puzzlement more often than admiration. We support the troops, of course, but we also believe that war, being hell, can easily touch them with an evil no cause for engagement can wash away. And in any case we are more comfortable supporting them as victims than as warriors.

Former football star Pat Tillman and Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham were killed on the same day: April 22, 2004. But as details of his death fitfully emerged from Afghanistan, Tillman has become a metaphor for the current conflict -- a victim of fratricide, disillusionment, coverup and possibly conspiracy. By comparison, Dunham, who saved several of his comrades in Iraq by falling on an insurgent's grenade, is the unknown soldier. The New York Times, which featured Abu Ghraib on its front page for 32 consecutive days, put the story of Dunham's Medal of Honor on the third page of section B.

Not long ago I was asked to write the biographical sketches for a book featuring formal photographs of all our living Medal of Honor recipients. As I talked with them, I was, of course, chilled by the primal power of their stories. But I also felt pathos: They had become strangers -- honored strangers, but strangers nonetheless -- in our midst.

In my own boyhood, figures such as Jimmy Doolittle, Audie Murphy and John Basilone were household names. And it was assumed that what they had done defined us as well as them, telling us what kind of nation we were. But the 110 Medal recipients alive today are virtually unknown except for a niche audience of warfare buffs. Their heroism has become the military equivalent of genre painting. There's something wrong with that.

What they did in battle was extraordinary. Jose Lopez, a diminutive Mexican American from the barrio of San Antonio, was in the Ardennes forest when the Germans began the counteroffensive that became the Battle of the Bulge. As 10 enemy soldiers approached his position, he grabbed a machine gun and opened fire, killing them all. He killed two dozen more who rushed him. Knocked down by the concussion of German shells, he picked himself up, packed his weapon on his back and ran toward a group of Americans about to be surrounded. He began firing and didn't stop until all his ammunition and all that he could scrounge from other guns was gone. By then he had killed over 100 of the enemy and bought his comrades time to establish a defensive line.

Yet their stories were not only about killing. Several Medal of Honor recipients told me that the first thing they did after the battle was to find a church or some other secluded spot where they could pray, not only for those comrades they'd lost but also the enemy they'd killed.

Desmond Doss, for instance, was a conscientious objector who entered the army in 1942 and became a medic. Because of his religious convictions and refusal to carry a weapon, the men in his unit intimidated and threatened him, trying to get him to transfer out. He refused and they grudgingly accepted him. Late in 1945 he was with them in Okinawa when they got cut to pieces assaulting a Japanese stronghold.

Everyone but Mr. Doss retreated from the rocky plateau where dozens of wounded remained. Under fire, he treated them and then began moving them one by one to a steep escarpment where he roped them down to safety. Each time he succeeded, he prayed, "Dear God, please let me get just one more man." By the end of the day, he had single-handedly saved 75 GIs.

Why did they do it? Some talked of entering a zone of slow motion invulnerability, where they were spectators at their own heroism. But for most, the answer was simpler and more straightforward: They couldn't let their buddies down.

Big for his age at 14, Jack Lucas begged his mother to help him enlist after Pearl Harbor. She collaborated in lying about his age in return for his promise to someday finish school. After training at Parris Island, he was sent to Honolulu. When his unit boarded a troop ship for Iwo Jima, Mr. Lucas was ordered to remain behind for guard duty. He stowed away to be with his friends and, discovered two days out at sea, convinced his commanding officer to put him in a combat unit rather than the brig. He had just turned 17 when he hit the beach and a day later he was fighting in a Japanese trench when he saw two grenades land near his comrades.

He threw himself onto the grenades and absorbed the explosion. Later a medic, assuming he was dead, was about to take his dog tag when he saw Mr. Lucas's finger twitch. After months of treatment and recovery, he returned to school as he'd promised his mother, a ninth grader wearing a Medal of Honor around his neck.

The men in World War II always knew, although news coverage was sometimes scant, that they were in some sense performing for the people at home. The audience dwindled during Korea. By the Vietnam War, the journalists were omnipresent, but the men were performing primarily for each other. One story that expresses this isolation and comradeship involves a SEAL team ambushed on a beach after an aborted mission near North Vietnam's Cua Viet river base.

After a five-hour gunfight, Cmdr. Tom Norris, already a legend thanks to his part in a harrowing rescue mission for a downed pilot (later dramatized in the film BAT-21), stayed behind to provide covering fire while the three others headed to rendezvous with the boat sent to extract them. At the water's edge, one of the men, Mike Thornton, looked back and saw Tom Norris get hit. As the enemy moved in, he ran back through heavy fire and killed two North Vietnamese standing over Norris's body. He lifted the officer, barely alive with a shattered skull, and carried him to the water and then swam out to sea where they were picked up two hours later.

The two men have been inseparable in the 30 years since.

The POWs of Vietnam configured a mini-America in prison that upheld the values beginning to wilt at home as a result of protest and dissension. John McCain tells of Lance Sijan, an airman who ejected over North Vietnam and survived for six weeks crawling (because of his wounds) through the jungle before being captured.

Close to death when he reached Hanoi, Sijan told his captors that he would give them no information because it was against the code of conduct. When not delirious, he quizzed his cellmates about camp security and made plans to escape. The North Vietnamese were obsessed with breaking him, but never did. When he died after long sessions of torture Sijan was, in Sen. McCain's words, "a free man from a free country."

Leo Thorsness was also at the Hanoi Hilton. The Air Force pilot had taken on four MiGs trying to strafe his wingman who had parachuted out of his damaged aircraft; Mr. Thorsness destroyed two and drove off the other two. He was shot down himself soon after this engagement and found out by tap code that his name had been submitted for the Medal.

One of Mr. Thorsness's most vivid memories from seven years of imprisonment involved a fellow prisoner named Mike Christian, who one day found a grimy piece of cloth, perhaps a former handkerchief, during a visit to the nasty concrete tank where the POWs were occasionally allowed a quick sponge bath. Christian picked up the scrap of fabric and hid it.

Back in his cell he convinced prisoners to give him precious crumbs of soap so he could clean the cloth. He stole a small piece of roof tile which he laboriously ground into a powder, mixed with a bit of water and used to make horizontal stripes. He used one of the blue pills of unknown provenance the prisoners were given for all ailments to color a square in the upper left of the cloth. With a needle made from bamboo wood and thread unraveled from the cell's one blanket, Christian stitched little stars on the blue field.

"It took Mike a couple weeks to finish, working at night under his mosquito net so the guards couldn't see him," Mr. Thorsness told me. "Early one morning, he got up before the guards were active and held up the little flag, waving it as if in a breeze. We turned to him and saw it coming to attention and automatically saluted, some of us with tears running down our cheeks. Of course, the Vietnamese found it during a strip search, took Mike to the torture cell and beat him unmercifully. Sometime after midnight they pushed him into our cell, so bad off that even his voice was gone. But when he recovered in a couple weeks he immediately started looking for another piece of cloth."

We impoverish ourselves by shunting these heroes and their experiences to the back pages of our national consciousness. Their stories are not just boys' adventure tales writ large. They are a kind of moral instruction. They remind of something we've heard many times before but is worth repeating on a wartime Memorial Day when we're uncertain about what we celebrate. We're the land of the free for one reason only: We're also the home of the brave.

Mr. Collier wrote the text for "Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty" (Workman, 2006).

Never Forget!

2007-05-29T11:02:00.001-07:00

A stirring tribute to fallen Marines can be viewed by clicking on the title hotlink above.

'The Very Definition of Semper Fi'

2007-05-17T16:18:00.000-07:00

Click on the hot-linked title (above) to see a LA Times story about this hero.

The below article is from the Annapolis Capitol.

'The Very Definition of Semper Fi'
By EARL KELLY, Staff Writer

>Seasoned Marine infantrymen wiped away tears this morning as they said
>goodbye to one of their own.

>More than 2,000 people filed into the Naval Academy Chapel for the
>funeral Mass of Marine Maj. Douglas A. Zembiec, a 1995 academy graduate
>who died in combat last week in Iraq.

>Maj. Zembiec, 34, of Winchester on the Severn, was known for his
>battlefield bravery.

>He was known to charge the enemy as shrapnel sliced into him, and he
>made no apologies for fighting for his country.

>His closest friend and former classmate, Eric L. Kapitulik, delivered
>the eulogy, reading from the diaries Maj. Zembiec kept for much of his
>adult life.

>Maj. Zembiec had planned to write a book on leadership when he retired
>from the Marine Corps.

>The diary included entries such as "I had rather live one day as a lion
>than 100 years as a dog," and "Be a man of principle. Believe in
>something bigger than yourself."

>Mr. Kapitulik told the crowd, "Last week, Doug sacrificed his life for
>his country ... but he did not sacrifice his spirit."

>He said his friend was devoted to his family, and always put them No. 1.
>"Wrestling was securely No. 2," he said of Maj. Zembiec, an All-American
>wrestler at the academy.

>Maj. Zembiec was a man's man, and Mr. Kapitulik joked that the only
>place he didn't have hair was on his head.

>He said he felt bad for those who never got to know Maj. Zembiec. "You
>missed the opportunity to know a legend," he said.

>The chaplain, Navy Capt. Pete McGeory, looked at the huge audience and
>said, "You are a band of brothers who truly care for your own."

>Maj. Zembiec, he said, was "a hero in every sense of the word" and
>represented "the very definition of Semper Fi." The Marine Corps motto
>means "always faithful" in Latin.

>But he urged mourners to remember Maj. Zembiec's legacy.

>"You can close your eyes and pray he will come back, or you can open
>your eyes and see all that he has left," he said.

>Retired Marine Corps Col. John W. Ripley of Annapolis read from the 23rd
>Psalm. In an interview before the funeral, he called Maj. Zembiec
>"absolutely magnetic."23rd Psalm.

>"He was a great inspiration, an absolute role model for every one of the
>Marines he served with," said Col. Ripley. "He would walk into a unit
>and literally stun every Marine. They would look at him and say, 'My
>goodness, we got this guy?' "

>Maj. Zembiec earned the Bronze Star with a V-device for Valor for his
>actions in Fallujah.

>His former academy classmates remember him as a hero and a friend.

>"It will eternally be among the richest things in life to continue to
>refer to him as a hero who, as the fate of such fortune would have it,
>was also the dearest friend," academy Class of 1995 President John Fleet
>said in a statement.

>He was born April 14, 1973, in Hawaii and reared in Albuquerque, N.M.
>His father was an FBI agent.

>During his time as a wrestler at the academy, Maj. Zembiec became known
>for his determination in the wrestling ring and his fondness for pranks.

>During his career, he commanded a rifle platoon, force reconnaissance
>platoon and a rifle company. Besides the Bronze Star, he was awarded a
>Purple Heart, a Navy Commendation with Gold Star, a Navy Achievement
>medal and other honors.

>The honor guard at Maj. Zembiec's funeral consisted of the men he led,
>Col. Ripley said.

>The major is the second local serviceman to die in Iraq this year. Seven
>local servicemen died in Iraq or Afghanistan last year. Nearly 3,400
>U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq since 2003.

>Maj. Zembiec is survived by his wife; his daughter, Fallyn Justice
>Zembiec; his parents, Don and Jo Ann Zembiec of Albuquerque; and a
>brother, John Zembiec, also of Albuquerque.

>Burial at Arlington National Cemetery was planned to follow the funeral.

>The family has asked that memorial contributions be sent to the Maj.
>Douglas A. Zembiec Scholarship, MC-LEF c/o William Venezia, MC-LEF
>Office, 10 Rockefeller Plaza, Suite 1007, New York, NY 10020.

Table Salt from Reefpoints

2007-05-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

Ahhh the memories -

Along with 3 chins, 3 chews and a swallow and those salty Comearounds.

In Battery - Heave.
Boom Sir.

Navy LAX Tourney begins @ NC

2007-05-14T14:21:00.000-07:00

07May07 - Annapolis, Md. -
The seventh-ranked Navy men's lacrosse team (11-3) will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. to face eighth-seeded North Carolina (9-5) next Saturday in the opening round of the 2007 Div. I NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament. Game time has been set for 5:00 pm at the Tar Heels' Fetzer Field and will be televised live by ESPNU

Navy's Lightweight Crew wins Sprints Team Title

2007-05-13T19:18:00.000-07:00

Navy Lightweights Repeat as Eastern Sprints Team Points Champion

WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Navy lightweight crew team won a pair of individual boat titles and the team points award at the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges Championship (Eastern Sprints), held Sunday on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass.

After not winning the Jope Cup for accruing the most points in the first and second varsity and first freshman races since its inception in 1946, the Mids have now won back-to-back points titles. For the second-straight year, the Mids edged second-place Cornell by one point.

"It was a great day of racing for us," said Navy head coach Rob Friedrich. "Not only did we win the Jope Cup, almost all of our boats finished higher than they were seeded heading into the day."

Navy's varsity boat was seeded sixth in its flight at the championship, but placed second in its heat to advance to the grand final. There, the Mids encountered some technical issues with the boat, but still finished in fourth place in the race with a time of 5:42.202.

"The varsity result made it a bittersweet day," said Friedrich. "We would have liked to have done better in the race, but they still beat their seed and we are excited about their chances at the upcoming IRA National Championship."

The race of the day for Navy was the grand final of the second varsity division. After advancing to the grand final by winning its heat, the Mids found themselves in fourth place with less than 500 meters remaining. Navy proceeded to row through the other boats and win the race by 15-hundredths of a second over Cornell.

"It was an amazing race," said Friedrich of the second varsity contest. "We had an awe inspiring performance by our crew."

Also winning a title on the day for Navy was the third varsity boat, while the second freshman entry placed second and the first freshman boat placed third in their respective races.

Navy's varsity boat will now begin preparations for the June 2 IRA National Championship.

Crews Get Ready for Eastern Sprints

2007-05-09T08:15:00.000-07:00

Navy Rowing Teams to Compete at Eastern Sprints Championship Sunday

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy crew teams will each be taking part in their respective Eastern Sprints Championship this coming Sunday. The two men's team will travel to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass., for their event, while the women's team will be competing on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J.

The first varsity boat for the women's team is seeded eighth in a field of 16 at its championship, with the second varsity crew seeded 10th in its flight. Navy placed 13th overall in the varsity division last year, with its second varsity crew placing sixth. The latter crew became the initial varsity eight boat in school history to advance to the grand final at the Eastern Sprints.

In addition to the varsity seeding, Navy's freshman eight and varsity four boats are both seeded seventh.

"The Eastern Sprints is one of the most prestigious rowing leagues in the country," said Navy women's head coach Mike Hughes. "Representatives from our league have won about half of the NCAA Championship titles and always place at least one boat among the medalists at the national event.

"Our varsity seeding is one of the best we have ever had, so we are very happy about that. Our main goal is to advance to the grand final, which we can do by placing first or second in our heat."

Navy's heavyweight team placed 11th as a program in the team points standing at the 2006 Eastern Sprints Championship, with the varsity crew placing ninth and the second varsity boat placing 10th. Those two crews are both seeded eighth in their respective flights this year, with the third varsity boat seeded ninth and the two freshman crews seeded 10th and fifth, respectively.

"Our heats are tough," said Navy heavyweight coach Rick Clothier. "I believe we will be completely prepared and probably in our best health of the year, so far."

Navy's lightweight squad enters the 2007 Eastern Sprints as the defending team points champion for the first time in program history. The Mids placed first or second in each of the five divisions last year to win the Jope Cup for the first time.

Navy's varsity eight boats are seeded sixth, fourth and second, respectively, at this year's championship, while its two freshman crews are seeded second and first.

President Bush Greets Navy's CINC Trophy Winner

2007-04-02T17:15:00.000-07:00

President Bush Presents the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy to the United States
Naval Academy Football Team
(Rose Garden)

2:35 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Welcome to the Rose Garden. It seems to me that this is
becoming a spring tradition. (Laughter and applause.) For the fourth year in
a row, the football team from the Naval Academy is here to receive the
Commander-in-Chief Trophy -- the Rose Garden shall be called "the yard."
(Applause.)

This year's team was among the Navy's best ever. That says a lot. This is a
team that had the most rushing yards in the nation. That says a lot. You had
the highest graduation rate of any football team in the country. That says
even more. You went 9 and 3, you made it to the bowl game and you beat Army.

I thank you all for coming. I appreciate members of the administration who
have joined us: Deputy Secretary of the VA, Gordon Mansfield; Secretary Don
Winter, of the Navy; General Pete Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff -- and, I might add, the first Marine to serve in that capacity;
Admiral "G," Ed Giambastiani -- that's hard for a Texan to say, but it's not
hard to tell you how much I admire Admiral "G" and Pete Pace; Admiral Mike
Mullen, Chief of Naval Operations, thank you for coming, Chief; General Jim
Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps; and Ellen Moyer, the Mayor of
Annapolis. We are glad you all are here and Mayor, thanks for coming.

Vice Admiral Ron Rempt -- Ron, I notice that you gathered up my speech.
(Laughter.) Just remember, page three follows page two. (Laughter.) But it's
good to have you again.

VICE ADMIRAL REMPT: Sir, it's a pleasure to be here.

THE PRESIDENT: Coach Paul Johnson. You talk about a winner, this guy knows
how to build winners. And Coach, we're glad you're back. I'm proud to
welcome you and your staff. I appreciate very much the members of the
football team that have joined us, and I thank all of the Naval Academy
supporters who are here.

The Navy's fourth consecutive winning season may not sound like much to
people who don't follow football, but it's a remarkable feat considering
that the team was 0 and 10 six years ago. They showed up 10 times, they
played hard all 10 times, but they won zero times. And here they are,
standing in the Rose Garden with the Commander-in-Chief. It says a lot about
resilience and a lot about determination, and a lot about correcting past
mistakes.

Coach Johnson has put together a really good coaching staff, and I
appreciate very much, Coach, you motivating these players toward
championship -- toward the championships that you've earned. The season
started with three wins in a row, including a blowout over Stanford; you
beat Air Force in Colorado Springs; you beat Army by 12 points, the fifth
win in a row for the Naval Academy. They tell me that's a pretty big deal.

You earned a spot in the Meineke Car Care Bowl -- Meineke Car Care Bowl.
Nevertheless, you played a big-time school: Boston College. Boston College
is a football power, and it was a really great game. I watched it. I was
impressed by the 322 yards you earned. I know you're disappointed with the
one-point loss, but you can't be disappointed with the effort.

I appreciate the fact that your class is the first in school history to win
four straight Commander-in-Chief trophies, the first to go 8 and 0 against
Army and Air Force, and the first to play in four straight bowl games.
That's a lot of firsts.

Your class won 35 games in four years. The only Navy class to win more games
graduated in 1909. I don't know whether William Howard Taft welcomed the
team in 1909, but I can tell you, the 43rd President is proud to welcome
such champions here to the Rose Garden.

One of the reasons your team was so successful this year, of course, is
because you had a captain from Texas. (Laughter.) Five different Navy
players rushed for more than 100 yards in a game this season. That's more
than any other team in the nation. That's called a well-balanced attack.

I appreciate the fact that one of your quarterbacks stepped in for an
injured starter, and went on to score four touchdowns in a single game. I
would like to say his name, I'll probably bungle it -- I'll just say, the
guy is from Hawaii. (Laughter.)

I appreciate the fact that Keenan Little became the first player in Navy
history to score defensive touchdowns against Air Force and Army in the same
season. I'm proud to be up here with a fellow Texan from Lewisville, Texas
-- the mascot of one of the high school teams in Lewisville, believe it or
not, is the "Fighting Farmers." (Laughter.) This guy was your fullback, Adam
Ballard. He gained 134 yards against Air Force. When he was named MVP, he
wisely -- wisely -- gave the credit to his offensive line. Smart move, Adam.
(Laughter.)

You know, it's interesting -- how would you like to be the punter on the
Navy team who went two full games without showing up on the field?
(Laughter.) Veteto -- Greg is his first name, was, like, the punter on the
team, and for two games in a row, he was never used. And, yet, I think he
didn't mind.

The team had a special leader in Eddie Martin. I don't know if the country
knows this, but he was diagnosed with cancer last year. He didn't play any
games this year, but he always led the team out of the locker room for every
home game. And so, Eddie, I appreciate the inspiration you've provided for
your team and for the Academy. I know you're fighting a brave battle, and a
lot of people will pray for your full recovery.

When you signed up for the Naval Academy, you signed up for more than
playing football. I'm glad Coach Johnson -- I'm sure Coach Johnson was glad
that you said, I want to be a football player at the Naval Academy. But you
signed up to become officers in the finest military the world has ever
known. And my job is to keep it that way, and I will. But you can't have the
finest military the world has ever known without men and women who volunteer
to wear the uniform, just like you've done.

You volunteered after September the 11th, 2001. That's a remarkable decision
you have made. I vowed after September 11, 2001, that I would use the full
power of our government to protect the American people from harm. And I
meant what I said. And, therefore, anybody who signed up afterwards knew
what they were getting into. It's a remarkable country when people make such
a noble decision to serve their country in a time of war. And I'm proud to
be the Commander-in-Chief of such decent, honorable, sacrificing men and
women.

The lessons you have learned on the football field and at the Naval Academy
will serve you well on the battlefield. You learned the importance of
teamwork and leadership and strong, personal character. And you're going to
put those qualities to the highest possible use, and that is to protect the
American people and to lay the foundation of peace for generations to come.

The Navy and Marine Corps are on the front line of fighting and winning the
war against the extremists, radicals, who would do this country harm. Every
day we're on the offense against an enemy. My attitude is, I would rather
defeat them over there so we do not have to face them here. And the Marine
Corps and the Navy are helping to lead that charge.

The sailors and Marines on the high sea are sending a clear message to the
world that we stand for strength, and we stand for peace. Former Navy
football players have distinguished themselves in the line of duty. Marine
First Lieutenant Brian Stann comes to mind, the class of '03. He won the
Silver Star.

We also have some of the former Navy football players lose their lives: Ron
Winchester of '01, J.P. Blecksmith of the class of '03. Another gave his
life in flight over the Pacific, Navy Lieutenant Commander Scott Zellem, the
class of '91. The United States of America will not forget their sacrifices.
We will complete our missions so that their sacrifices will not have gone in
vain.

It is such an honor to welcome such fine men to the Rose Garden. I'm proud
to be standing with you. I thank you for your service to our country. I
appreciate the fact that you're good football players. But, more
importantly, I appreciate the fact that you're good Americans.

God bless. (Applause.)

Football Team visits the White House 4/2/07

2007-03-28T11:34:00.001-07:00

Navy Football Team To Visit The White House On Monday, April 2

ANNAPOLIS, Md.‹The 2006 Navy football team will visit the White House on
Monday. April 2 for a 2:35 p.m. ceremony with President George W. Bush in
the Rose Garden. The team will be honored for winning the
Commander-In-Chief¹s Trophy for a school record fourth-consecutive year.

Navy was victorious over Air Force (24-17) and Army (26-14) to cap a perfect
8-0 mark by the Navy senior class against the other two Service Academies.

The Mids finished the year with a 9-4 record and a school-record
fourth-straight bowl appearance. The nine wins equaled the third-most wins
in school history.

New Academy Superintendent announced

2007-03-25T13:29:00.000-07:00

MMEDIATE RELEASE No. 292-07
March 16, 2007

________________________________________
Flag Officer Announcements

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced today that the President has made the following nominations:

Navy Rear Adm. Jeffrey L. Fowler has been nominated for appointment to the grade of Vice Admiral and assignment as Superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. Admiral Fowler is currently serving as director, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Sixth Fleet, Plans and Operations/Deputy Commander, Sixth Fleet/Commander Submarines, Allied Naval Forces South/commander, Submarine Group Eight/CTF 69/CTF 164, Naples, Italy.

Our Tough 2007 Football Schedule

2007-02-22T19:51:00.000-08:00

(click on the title hot link to read the article)

Three BCS teams are among our Mids' opponents as Paul Johnson's team goes for a fifth straight C-in-C Trophy.

Go Navy!

A touching video - country and western style

2007-01-21T20:14:00.000-08:00

See what you think about this C&W singer's performance -
very patriotic.

F

Great Summary of 2006 Football Banquet

2007-01-21T20:04:00.001-08:00

Sports Comment: Mids let emotions flow for class football actBy JOE GROSS, Senior Staff WriterMore people than ever turned out on Friday night for Navy's annual football banquet. They came to celebrate another year of success on the football field.As much as the 2006 season alone, the banquet was more of a remembrance of the 35 senior members of the team and their achievements of the past four years: Thus the theme of the event, "Celebrating the Class of 2007."In recent years there has been no guest speaker at the banquet. It was strictly an in-house type of event that put the emphasis on the Midshipmen.There was no need for a rah-rah type of speaker, no need for inspirational messages, no need for emotional stories. That entire spectrum was covered by the young men who have been with the football program for the past four seasons.The messages delivered by the superintendent Vice Adm. Rodney Rempt, athletic director Chet Gladchuk, coach Paul Johnson and the team captains James Rossi and Rob Caldwell said as much as any speaker from the outside might have done.Quite appropriately, there were such words as determination, talent, work, passion, courage, devotion, commitment, desire, dedication and tenacity used to describe the players who were being honored.Simply talking about the records of the past four Navy teams was reason for excitement for the more than 1,200 faithful Navy supporters - Naval Academy personnel, families of players, Naval Academy alumni and townspeople - who filled the tables on the floor and concourse of Alumni Hall.Think about the honor of having gone 8-0 against service academy archrivals: That's defeating Army and Air Force in each of their four seasons. Those wins were biggest for a group that won 35 games during their varsity careers. The seniors were part of the first Navy teams to have four consecutive seasons with eight or more wins since the teams of 1905 to 1908.They played in bowls games after each of their four seasons. They led the nation in rushing in three of their four years including the last two seasons. The seniors helped Navy to a 17-4 home record during their four years in Annapolis.It would be difficult for fans to not get excited hearing about such accomplishments.There were plenty of emotional moments and memories for those supporters looking for that type of thing that is normal at a season-ending banquet.The emotions came from such moments as the introduction of Eddie Martin, who became a symbol of courage for his teammates as he spent the season battling Lymphoma.Moments of emotion were apparent at the mention of the season-ending knee injury to starting quarterback Brian Hampton and then again when the highlight film showed him being carted from the field early in the game against Rutgers.Emotion came from the stirring farewell comments from Caldwell, who expressed his appreciation and love of his coaches and teammates noting at the end, "It's been an honor to represent you."And emotion was evident from the hugs and back pats shared by each of the seniors as they received plaques from coaches Buddy Green and Ken Niumatalolo.Emotions were overflowing when the parents of fallen Navy football player Ron Winchester, who was killed in Iraq on Sept. 3, 2004, presented the Unsung Hero award named for their son to Anthony Picconi.And the highlight film had many moments of the emotion of joy and a few of sorrow as the 9-4 season was condensed to just a few of the more meaningful minutes.The banquet didn't need a guest speaker, though it did have such guests as Navy's first Heisman Trophy winner Joe Bellino, All-America tackle Bob Reifsnyder, 1963 team captain Tom Lynch and legendary coach Wayne Hardin.It was also a night for humility. Players credited their coaches for the success, coaches credited the players. Johnson credited his assistants, the support of the brigade and the fans.There were more than a few standing ovations during the event: All of them were well-deserved. There were tears and laughter. There was raucous applause and silence.And, there was more than an underlying subtle knowledge that those young men, the senior leaders of the 2006 Navy football team, would be leaving Annapolis in May to take their next steps toward being defenders of our nation.There was no need for a guest speaker.

Navy gains an ESPN ALL BOWL TEAM member

2007-01-13T16:32:00.000-08:00

Click on the espn.com hotlink above to read about Guard Anton Harper's great achievement.

Meineke Bowl Game - Baltimore Sun article

2007-01-01T09:44:00.000-08:00

Mids see hopeful signs in defeat
By Gary LambrechtSun reporter
Originally published January 1, 2007

Navy senior safety Jeremy McGown is no fan of moral victories. But after Saturday's heartbreaking 25-24 loss to Boston College in the Meineke CarCare Bowl, McGown talked of a message the Midshipmen had delivered."I think the program may have taken a step forward [in defeat]," McGownsaid. "I'm glad for the guys coming back next year. They should have theconfidence, knowing we can go out and play with an ACC team and dominate ina lot of aspects of the game."

Trying to beat a ranked team in a bowl game for the first time since 1958,the Midshipmen fell short when a fumble by normally sure-handed slotbackReggie Campbell set up a last-second, 37-yard field goal by BC's sophomorekicker, Steve Aponavicius.Despite losing that way, confidence is not lacking among the Midshipmen, whowill say goodbye to possibly their best senior class ever.Besides going 35-15 and winning two of four bowl games, it became the firstclass to play in four straight bowls and run the table against Army and AirForce.

It also set the modern-day record for wins by a Navy class and came within one victory of tying the all-time record set by the Class of 1908.Although the departing seniors will leave a hole - 12 starters, includingeight on defense, led by remarkably versatile linebacker David Mahoney - theprogram looks too established to stumble.The Navy offense lost three starters during the year, but it still won itsthird NCAA rushing title in the past four seasons and averaged 28.4 points.Senior quarterback Brian Hampton and junior right tackle Josh Meek went downwith knee injuries in midseason, and junior fullback Adam Ballard broke hislower leg a month ago against Army. That allowed sophomore quarterbackKaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, sophomore tackle Andrew McGinn and sophomorefullback Eric Kettani to emerge.Campbell and fellow slotbacks Shun White and Zerbin Singleton will return,as will Antron Harper, who is expected to move from right guard to center.Sophomore receiver Tyree Barnes should fill the shoes of Jason Tomlinson.Senior offensive line starters James Rossi, Zach Gallion and Matt Pritchett will move on and make way for already-productive players such as sophomore tackle Anthony Gaskins and junior guard Ben Gabbard. Defensively, the front seven will be extremely young, yet don't underestimate the potential of freshman nose tackles Nate Frazier and AndyLark, who missed the season with a broken leg. They are two of the biggerand more promising recruits under fifth-year coach Paul Johnson. Junior IrvSpencer and sophomore Clint Sovie are proven and will anchor the linebackerunit.The secondary will miss McGown and cornerback Keenan Little, but sophomorecornerback Rashawn King and freshman safety Jeromy Miles started most of theyear, and freshman Blake Carter looks like a future force at cornerback, asdoes sophomore safety Ketric Buffin.

"I'm proud of the last four years for [the seniors]. Hopefully, they've laida foundation for the program," said Johnson, who was denied his 100th careervictory on Saturday and figures to collect it in the 2007 season opener atTemple."I wanted them to win. I'm going to have other games [to coach]. Theydeserved to go out winning this game."

Navy's defense forced five punts and picked off All-Atlantic CoastConference first-team quarterback Matt Ryan twice. Its triple optioncountered the Eagles' massive size inside by exploiting the perimeter. Itthrew the ball downfield effectively enough to lead for nearly the final 50minutes. Despite all that, Navy (9-4) could not overcome its errors.During the second half, when the Mids bogged down and punted four straighttimes, two holding penalties stalled drives, including one right before thefateful fumble. The Eagles, led by Ryan, made Navy pay, and not just at theend. First, they turned an early fumble by senior fullback Matt Hall intothe game's first touchdown.Boston College later turned a failed onside kick attempt into a touchdowndrive that cut Navy's second-quarter lead to 14-13. The Eagles then drovequickly down the field for a field goal at the end of the first half -cutting the margin to 21-16 - after Johnson went for a first down onfourth-and-one at the BC 19, instead of trying for a field goal that couldhave put the Midshipmen up by 11 points.

The Eagles overcame their mistakes, which included a missed extra pointearly by Aponavicius and a two-point conversion pass dropped by TonyGonzalez after Ryan had completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to tight end RyanPurvis to pull the Eagles to within 24-22 with 7:27 left.

"We're not going to hang our heads and sulk about it," Navy seniorlinebacker Tyler Tidwell said. "We've done a lot of great things for thelast four years, and we're going to take pride in that for the rest of ourlives."

gary.lambrecht@baltsun.com

Another accolade for Roger the Dodger

2006-12-27T20:11:00.000-08:00

Last week, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans selected Roger Staubach '65 as a 2007 Award Recipient, and he will be inducted as a lifetime Member of the Association in Washington, D.C. on April 12-14, 2007.

Roger is also the 2000 recipient of the U. S. Naval Academy Alumni Association's Distinguished Graduate Award, and he co-chaired the recently completed Leaders to Serve the Nation Campaign that raised more than $250 million in total gifts, pledges and bequests - the most comprehensive fundraising campaign in the Naval Academy's history.
Founded in 1947, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans continues to fulfill its mission of honoring the achievements of outstanding individuals in our society who have succeeded in spite of adversity and of encouraging young people to pursue their dreams through higher education.

I know you will all join us in congratulating Roger for yet another recognition by a premier organization for his selfless contribution and service to community.
/s/
GeorgeGeorge P. Watt, Jr.
President and CEO
Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation

THE RIGHT STUFF: USNA Has produced more astronauts than any other college

2006-12-17T14:54:00.000-08:00

According to a recent news article - USNA has produced fifty (50) astronauts.
that tally is by far and away #1 for colleges that produce Astronauts.

A real tribute to a Navy alum- JP Blecksmith

2006-12-17T14:50:00.000-08:00

Letters to the Editor
Originally published December 15, 2006
Catching a football, serving with valor

I must admit to being in total shock when I read the following quote from The Sun's article "Football carries clout at Navy," (Dec. 10): "'Frankly, I hope that America is being defended by the best Navy men and women that the academy can get and not by some doofus that could catch a football,' saidMurray Sperber, a former English professor at Indiana University who hasbeen an ardent critic of how far colleges go to make exceptions forathletes.

"The Navy did have a guy who could catch the football graduate from the Academy in 2003.
He was a receiver named J.P. Blecksmith.
He earned the rank of lieutenant in the Marines and was sent to Iraq.
Lieutenant Blecksmith was killed in Fallujah, Iraq, by a sniper in 2004.
Hewas posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for bravery and the Purple Heart.
According to the Web site of the JP Blecksmith Leadership Foundation,Lieutenant Blecksmith "had two goals in going to Iraq:
1) He wanted to be a good leader of his Marines in combat, and
2) He wanted to bring all of hismen home safely.
"Is this the person that Mr. Sperber is referring to when he talks about "some doofus that could catch a football"?
I cannot express how reprehensible I found this article. The author fails to point out that the football players who graduate from the Academy go on to serve their country proudly; they put themselves inharm's way and in combat zones and some of them have died protecting thiscountry. Excelling on the football field does not preclude one from defending thefreedoms that our country has enjoyed for more than 200 years.
God help us if it did.
Todd Green
Annapolis

Brokaw @ Pearl Harbor - 65 years later

2006-12-11T19:23:00.000-08:00

Good words from a chronicler of "The Greatest Generation". Enjoy.
The video can be loaded by clicking on the title above.

Animation of the " Day of Infamy" - Attack on Pearl Harbor

2006-12-11T19:15:00.000-08:00

While surfing for a Tom Brokaw tribute about Pearl Harbor survivors - I tripped across this interesting animation of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Click on the title above to view.

2006-12-11T14:46:00.000-08:00

Spirit spot The Midfather

another clever bit of "Pulp Fiction" for A-N.

Mens Water Polo 4th in Nation!

2006-12-05T14:57:00.000-08:00

12/3/06
Mids End Season With Fourth-Place NCAA Finish
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- UC-San Diego's Ty Lackey scored five goals and UC San Diego held off every Navy charge to claim the third-place match at the NCAA Water Polo Championships, 12-8. The Mids end one of their most successful seasons in school history with a 24-7 record, and their 12th NCAA Tournament appearance.

Click on the title line for the full story. Way to Go Mids!

Meineke Bowl Game Notes - Beat BC!

2006-12-05T14:54:00.000-08:00

The hot-linked title line provides you with the official "GAME 13" Notes on our Football Team.
Go Navy - Beat the Eagles.

Plebe All American - Jeremy Miles

2006-12-05T14:51:00.000-08:00

ANNAPOLIS, Md.-Navy safety Jeromy Miles (Sicklerville, N.J.) has been namedHonorable Mention Freshman All-American by The Sporting News.
Miles took over the starting job for the injured Dujuan Price in Navy'sthird game of the season against Stanford and has started the last 10 games,recording 55 tackles, intercepting two passes and recovering two fumbles.
The four turnovers is a team high.

Can the Mids beat BC Eagles? Tune in on 12/30

2006-12-03T15:47:00.000-08:00

#23 ranked Boston College Accepts Bid to 2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl Charlotte, N.C. 

The Boston College Eagles, ranked #23 in both the AP and USA Today polls, have accepted a bid to play in the 2006 Meineke CarCare Bowl, it was announced today by bowl officials.

The Eagles (9-3) willface the United States Naval Academy (9-3).

The 2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl will take place on Saturday, December 30,at 1:00 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN.

The game is played atBank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

FRom IRAQ - Go Navy Beat Army

2006-11-30T14:55:00.000-08:00

Army Navy Golf Tourney

2006-11-26T17:03:00.000-08:00

Annual Army - Navy Golf Tourney
Admiral Baker Golf Course
December 1st
LAST CHANCE - CALL NOWKatie Blackburn (619) 231-1422 orMark Stender (619) 595-4264

The 17th Annual USNA-San Diego Army - Navy Golf Tournament will be held Friday, December 1st, 2006 at the ADM Baker Golf Course. Check-in time (rain or shine) is 0845 - 0930, with scramble-shotgun tee off at 1100am.
Cost is $99 per player and there is no refund or rainchecks. Reservations are "First Come, First Served". Receive 2 Free Mulligans with a timely signup. Late registrations will be accomodated if possible.
Contact Katie Blackburn (619) 231-1422 or Mark Stender '72 (619) 595-4264 if you have any questions.

Our November 06 Chapter Newsletter

2006-11-21T13:01:00.000-08:00

You can access our latest Chapter newsletter by clicking on the hot-linked title line above.