Army West Point Athletics
Black Knight Blog - November
November 03, 2008 | General
The Black Knight Blog is a new initiative provided by the Office of Athletic Communications to offer Army fans an even more in-depth look into the everyday happenings here at West Point. The intent of this blog is to keep readers informed with a light, personal touch that will further enhance the fan experience. Please enjoy and send any comments, questions or concerns to tracy.nelson@usma.edu. We welcome as much feedback as possible!
Click below to ready blogs from past months:
August
September
October
Thursday, Nov. 27
Happy Turkey Day!
Happy Thanksgiving from Colorado Springs! I hope all of you enjoyed wayyyy too much turkey and mashed potatoes and have now moved on to one of my favorite parts ... dessert! Tracy Nelson coming to you on this holiday from a very snowy Colorado Springs area. Although I certainly do miss my mother’s turkey and stuffing, I am thrilled to be out here with the women’s basketball team as they prepare to take on Air Force on Saturday.
It’s my first trip out to this state, which my travel roommate, the lovely Jennifer Murphy tells me is one of the best in the U.S. (probably next to her beloved Iowa). So far, she is right! The west is just so much more relaxed and people are so friendly! After what seemed like an eight-hour flight out here on Wednesday, we spent last night in Denver.
The girls got the pleasure of “sleeping in” this morning until around 8:30 or so before we took off to Lakewood High School for a practice. This trip is a bit of a homecoming for one of our freshmen, Kait Goodall, who attended Lakewood just outside of Denver. The school was beautiful and it the principal was nice enough to open up the gym and stick around for a two-hour practice on Thanksgiving. Again, a testament to how nice everyone is out here! Practice went well, but it was obvious that the altitude had the kids a little winded. Good thing that we have two days to prepare for the Falcons!
Then it was off to what has been the highlight of the trip thus far ... Kait’s family was absolutely amazing and invited the entire team and staff over to their beautiful home for Thanksgiving dinner. Yep, that’s right 15 cadets and eight staff members in addition to their own relatives. It was funny to see entire charter bus maneuver through the neighborhood streets, but our driver, John, did fabulous. Inside was a spread like I have never seen. Kait’s mom and sisters must have been cooking for weeks! There was turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing and that is all after the enormous amount of finger foods and snacks that were out to greet us immediately off the bus. They even had signs and were all out on the lawn as we pulled up!
Needless to say, I sure missed my mom’s turkey, but this Thanksgiving was no slouch! The food was delicious (so much so that I don’t think that I’ll eat for days!) and the company was even better. Thanks to Kait and her family for taking us in and being such gracious hosts!
After we all said our thank-yous and a few gifts were exchanged, we hopped back on the bus and headed down here to Colorado Springs. With my tummy bursting with food, I fell sound asleep for the hour-plus trip and when I woke up, there was snow on the ground. I could do without that part of the trip, but the rest has been spectacular! The only thing that would make it even better would be a WIN on Saturday!!!
Happy Thanksgiving to all, and don’t forget, GO ARMY!
Wednesday, Nov. 26
...cricket...
It's a quiet afternoon here in Athletic Communications and around the entire Athletic Department. It seems everyone has taken some extra time to get ready for the Thanksgiving holiday and whatever plans go with it. Be it a big family dinner, or being en route to cover a big game (such as our own Brian Gunning, who is on his way to the men's basketball game at Brown tonight, or Tracy Nelson, who is on the road with the women's basketball team), you can be sure everyone at ODIA is making the most of whatever time they may have off tomorrow. Yours truly, Annie Holliday, has been running around all day helping with getting the last of the Army-Navy credentials mailed out, prepping media materials for Monday's press conference in Philadelphia, and mailing media packets to the CBS crew. I'm currently without wheels due to an unfortunate meeting with a deer last week, and I owe Mady big time for carting me all over post to pick up various odds and ends that needed to get taken care of before the long weekend that so many offices are making of the holiday. Bob is finally getting a chance to breathe after issuing all those credentials, and the phones have hardly made so much as a chirp for the last couple hours. The parking lots have all but cleared out by now, and the sounds of radiators knocking are all to be heard out in the hallways of building 639. It is a strange sort of quiet... kind of like the calm before the storm.
Earlier this week I had the opportunity to escort a crew that is producing the opening segment for the Army-Navy game. The weather was perfect, and they got some awesome footage of one of the West Point drummers in his full uniform (and he was using a gorgeous brand new drum too, to boot). I am so excited to see the final production now (and of course I'm even more excited about the game itself!) The sound tech that was part of the crew was telling me how inspired she was by her visits to West Point and USNA, and I was reminded of what a privilege it is to work here and play even a small part in the promising mission of developing leaders for our great country. It may be hard to remember how it felt to look at West Point from a newcomer's perspective, but it is always easy to connect to the deep appreciation and gratitude I have felt since day one for the USMA mission and everything that comes out of it. Thanksgiving is such a perfect time of year to remember this!
On that note, it is my turn to head out for the night. Thank you for your readership and support of Army Athletics and goARMYsports.com. Have a most happy Thanksgiving. Be safe, have fun, and GO ARMY!
Monday, Nov. 24
Right Around the Corner
Good morning BKB faithful ... Bob Beretta joining you on this chilly Monday morning along the banks of the Hudson. Hard to believe that Thanksgiving week has already arrived. It never amazes me how quickly the seasons zip by in the world of collegiate athletics. It seems we were just readying for our season opener in football last week, and before you know it we’re heading to Philadelphia today for the annual Army-Navy roundup meeting. That game will be here and gone before you know it, and we’ll be on to the next big thing. And that’s the beauty of athletics, there’s always another big thing right around the corner.
But there’s nothing really quite like Army-Navy. Today will mark my third trip to Philly in the past three weeks in support of the game, with the annual Army-Navy press conference at Lincoln Financial Field set for next Monday. It’s always a hectic two weeks, but always my favorite time of the academic year. Today’s meeting will include representatives from every entity associated with the game from city officials to administrators from Army and Navy and everything in between. We may even have some secret service reps there based on last week’s announcement that President Bush will be attending the game. That announcement made us all look like visionaries because we selected the Army-Navy program feature this year to center on past presidential attendance at Army-Navy games. We selected the topic a few weeks back realizing that President Bush might attend, but that in a presidential-election year, we felt it was timely nonetheless ... Hey, even a blind squirrel ...
Army and Navy rotate duties as host school for the classic every year and this year, Army draws the honor. With that comes press box hosting responsibilities, and of course, the massive task of issuing between 400-500 credentials. Other than college football’s national championship game, no game in college football generates more media requests than Army-Navy. We generally issue between 150-200 credentials for a normal home game, but that figure triples for A-N. it’s quite an intricate process, one that my fine cohort Mady Salvani taught me to master over the years. We’ll be spending ALL DAY Tuesday issuing those (I hope the mail is moving well these days).
As we drift closer to Turkey Day, the athletic department will begin to thin out as folks start heading all across the country to join up with their families. For the members of the Athletic Communications staff, that is no different. I happen to be one of the lucky ones to be working in my hometown, but that is generally not the case in collegiate athletics. People come from far and wide to work at institutions, and for a variety of reasons. Mady, Annie, Gunny and myself will be staying close to the Hudson Valley for the holiday, but for the others it’s off to the madness that is the travel world. Tracy will be accompanying our women’s basketball team to spend Thanksgiving in Colorado in advance of Saturday’s game against Air Force, and Shak will be cutting his holiday short to join the hockey team as it heads to Union on Thursday night. Other than that, the rest of the platoon will be off in different directions.
I just hope we’re all back together for Monday, because Army-Navy week will be staring us in the face on Monday, and with the President set to attend, much craziness is expected.
Sorry for the short entry but I have to head up to the stadium to meet a CBS TV crew that is here today to shoot the opening feature for the Army-Navy broadcast, then head to Philly for the roundup meeting.
A safe, healthy and blessed Thanksgiving to all.
Be well and GO ARMY!!!
November 21
Road Tripping
Happy Friday everyone, Mark “[insert nickname here]” Brumbaugh at the controls.
I’ve learned a good lesson this week: check the weather before accepting an outdoor job. Broadcasting extraordinaire Rich DeMarco needed someone to hold the parabolic microphone on the sidelines for tomorrow’s Army Sports Radio broadcast, and I happily obliged. Then I looked at the weather forecast. Granted I am from upstate New York, so 32 degrees at kickoff is nothing to me, but 15 to 25 mph winds? That’s where the infamous wind chill factor comes into play, so it will apparently feel like 22 degrees. The good news is that the sun is supposed to be out, so hopefully that will be warm. . .but I probably should not count on that. As long as I defrost in time for the basketball doubleheader on Sunday, I should be good.
The travels Shak mentioned yesterday meant we had light representation at This Week In Army Football, hosted by Chili’s in the Palisades Mall last night, which is a shame because they had a ton of good food. Thinking of all of the ribs, chicken wings and pasta I had might add one or two degrees of warmth for me tomorrow. I think the player guests, DB David Black and FB Bryson Carl, both demolished a full-rack of ribs.
As I write this we are just about a couple of hours away from hockey at Mercyhurst followed by some Patriot League volleyball action from American at 8 p.m. As evidenced by the front and volleyball pages, it looks like they are keeping Tracy Nelson plenty busy! It was announced yesterday that the team was ranked sixth in the Northeast Region, Alma Kovaci was named Patriot League Coach of the Year and senior Briana Stremick was named Patriot League Scholar Athlete of the Year (congrats!) I’m looking forward to reading a couple more winning recaps from T-Nel this weekend.
Unfortunately our very own Annie Holliday, who was not scheduled to make any travel news this week, encountered one of those deer not trained in the art of looking both ways before running across a road yesterday. Luckily she is alright and I guess the damage is nothing her insurance company’s money can’t fix.
In the Office
As for the office fun, I’ve been working on the track and field and men’s tennis media guides this week. Head men’s tennis coach Jim Poling and I went over some final points today for that guide. The track guide is definitely starting to take shape and the team’s athletic intern, 2nd Lt. Heather Owney, was a big help in identifying who was who in some of the pictures from last year. Track and field is a bit tricky for identifying people since they don’t wear permanent numbers like many other sports and many of the facial expressions the athletes make when they are either sprinting, running forever or heaving a large object don’t exactly match their smiling headshots.
C'mon Buffalo
Tim Volkmann has mentioned the high population of Bills fans here at West Point, and to say the least, we are not a happy bunch after the events of Monday night. Col. Sam Johnson, the ODIA Chief of Staff, and Pointer View’s Eric Bartelt were among the disappointed Bills Backers in our office this week.
Luckily we have plenty of other teams here in the Hudson Valley to give us big wins. Go Army!
Thursday, Nov. 20
Good morning and welcome to a special Thursday edition of the Black Knights Blog. It’s Ryan Yanoshak coming to you from the road (what exactly did people do for Internet access before wireless cards). The Army hockey team is on its way to Erie, Pa., for a weekend series with Mercyhurst and I am three seats back, in my normal spot.
Traditionally, the seating on the bus is pretty straight forward. Head coach Brian Riley in the front on the right, Director of Hockey Operations Tom Doran behind the bus driver, assistant coaches in row 2, the Officer Representative and I in the third row, athletic trainer and Athletic Intern in the fourth row. The younger players sit closer to the front with a seatmate while the upperclassmen have two seats apiece. Captain Zach McKelvie has the back row all to himself.
Apparently, there were a lack of buses available this weekend so the team had to charter a bus. A bigger bus this morning means a change in seating. The front right seat doesn’t recline, so Coach Riley is in the second row and Athletic Intern 2nd Lt. Chase Podsiad is in the money seat (the only seat on a bus where you can put your legs up without hitting another person or seat). A charter bus also means a DVD player instead of VHS so the eight-hour -plus trip may be just a bit better, depending on what comes on the small TV in the middle of the bus. While there is a DVD player, there are no plugs so my plan to watch three movies each way on my laptop will depend on my battery life.
It’s impressive to watch the team get ready for a trip. Doran was in bright and early this morning, packing the skate sharpener, bag of game jerseys, bag of game socks, bag of towels (the visiting team is supposed to provide them but hey you never know), a trunk that has everything needed for a hockey game including tape, tools, extra helmet parts, stick blade, extra towels, an extension cord, souvenirs from previous road trips, the cleaner the guys use on their shields, knobs for sticks and a bunch of things that I couldn’t identify, two stick bags and a fan for the locker room (have you ever smelled a locker room, not a pleasant odor when gear is wet).
A traveling FYI, we are off to a rough start and making a loop on 9W so we can get on Route 17 for this journey. I was typing and missed the credits and I have no idea what the movie we are watching is.
I am not the only one traveling this weekend. Gun Boat (Brian Gunning) is off to Long Island University this afternoon for a men’s basketball game at LIU tonight at 7 p.m. Knight Vision’s own Dennis Trapini will also be making the trip and calling the game.
T-Nel (Tracy Nelson) is probably getting ready to get on a bus of her own with the women’s volleyball team. Coach Alma Kovaci and the Black Knights are heading to Washington, D.C., this morning for the Patriot League Championships at American. Army plays Friday night at 7 p.m. against Colgate in the first semifinal. When the BKs win, they will play the winner of American and Bucknell Saturday night for the league title and automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. When Tracy gets back early Sunday morning, she will have enough time to caffeine up for a basketball doubleheader Sunday at Christl Arena beginning at noon.
BB (Bob Beretta) is taking the trek down Route 287 on Friday with the football team as the Black Knights play at Rutgers on Saturday. A few from our office, including The Coach (Mady Salvani), Gun Boat and Mark Brumbaugh (man the kid needs a nickname) will be heading to N.J. on Saturday morning.
The good news is the bus is now pointed in the right direction. The bad news, we still have eight hours to go. I am going to settle in with the morning papers and my IPod since I missed the start of the movie.
Safe travels and Go Army!
Wednesday, Nov. 19
Hello all. Tim Volkmann taking care of today’s blog. After experiencing some technical difficulties with our website, we are back up and running ready to tackle the afternoon.
My fingers are a bit sore as this is my second blog in as many days. I’m sure you all were reading my live wrestling updates last night as the Black Knights took care of business against visiting Franklin & Marshall, 41-3, in their home opener. It was good to see Coach Barbee’s troops take care of business, despite some nagging early season injuries to some of the guys. They will get right back on the mats this Saturday at the Body Bar Invitational, hosted by Cornell. (I had to look it up the sponsor, Body Bar, specializes in a piece of gym equipment. Not surprising I didn’t know that. Guess that is a sign it might be time to get my behind to the gym one of these days.)
The wrestling media guides were delivered yesterday as well. Boy do they look great (if I do say so myself.) I enjoy coming up with cover ideas and I thought this one came our pretty good. I’ve already started chewing on what I’m going to do for this season’s lacrosse cover so stay tuned.
Speaking of lacrosse, it is never too early to start talking about your Army Black Knights and the 2009 campaign. We released the latest schedule on Monday and Army gets to play nine of its 16 regular-season games at home, so nobody has any excuse for not coming out and catching at least one or two games this spring.
Fourteen players graduated from last year’s Patriot League regular season championship team that finished the season ranked No. 19 nationally, but five of the team’s top six scorers return. While the biggest losses came on defense, including All-America goalie Adam Fullerton and the entire starting close defensive unit, reigning Patriot League Coach of the Year Joe Alberici has a strong group of returners, along with a large and talented freshman class, eager to fill their shoes. It should be another great season.
Tonight is all about women’s basketball as UMES (that is Maryland-Eastern Shore for those that like things spelled out) invades Christl Arena for a 7:00 p.m. showdown. I’ll be “calling” for tonight’s game, which means I will be basically watching everything that happens and telling our ace “inputter” Ryan Yanoshak what to type into the computer program we use to keep track of all the stats. I inputted for last Saturday’s men’s victory over Dartmouth and I definitely could tell it was the first time I had done it in a while. Once I shook the rust off and remembered how to type in a defensive dead ball rebound, I was good to go. (Ahh, the glamorous and intriguing life I lead.)
Well, I’m off to pick up my car from the mechanic. Lately, my car has been sounding like the opening 15 minutes of the movie “Saving Private Ryan” whenever I hit the gas pedal, so I figured it was time to get it checked out. I also volunteered to help women’s basketball SID Tracy Nelson move some heavy boxes and equipment around for tonight’s game in return for giving me a ride. Maybe I don’t need a Body Bar or trip to the gym after all. Just give me a 10-year old monster printer and a couple cases of media guides to haul around and I’ll be all set for another couple weeks. Where are those leftover brownies from yesterday’s press conference anyways.....
Monday, Nov. 17
Good morning everyone! It’s Tracy Nelson here. I’m going to do my best to stay awake as I type this after what has been one crazy weekend for me! The transition from fall to winter sports is always a tough one to handle. They say that time flies when you’re having fun, but I say that it just flies. Our work really is fun 99% of the time, but it can get a bit hectic in the process! To make things a bit easier to break down, here’s a look at how I spent this past weekend:
Friday, Nov. 14 The majority of my day was spent preparing for the Army-Navy volleyball match, which was aired live on ESPNU Friday night at 8 p.m. Whenever a national network comes in for TV it’s a bonus for the fans and a lot of work goes on behind the scenes. I spent most of the day just making sure that they were ready to go, workers were in place and everything else was set up. It’s by no means a one-man show the great people from facilities, operations, etc. were great. Not to mention the volleyball coaches as well head coach Alma Kovaci and assistant coach Jeremy Sands. The pretty much are the best people to work with ever and do anything and everything that they can to help me out! The best part of the entire night, however, was watching the team post a 3-0 win over Navy. They played so well together and the blocking was on-point (something that they had worked on tirelessly all week at practice). It was Army’s seventh-straight win over the Mids, but it was there was no time to celebrate as Saturday loomed...
Saturday, Nov. 15 I took the time to sleep in a bit and arrived at work around 10 a.m. I met Brian Gunning up at Christl Arena as he was setting up for the men’s basketball home-opener (yay for a win over Dartmouth!). Then I headed back down to Gillis Field House as volleyball was about to pull off a shocker ... it was senior day for Elizabeth Lazzari, Jamie Clark, Rachael Breinling and Briana Stremick. Those four girls have been the backbone of the program since arriving at West Point and there was no better gift for them to receive than a win over perennial powerhouse American. The Eagles won the first set, but Army rallied to take the next three and earn a tie for the Patriot League regular season title in the process. It was easily the most exciting volleyball match that I’ve ever seen live! They played so well and it was nice to finally see somebody really have American rattled. That really bodes well for the BKs as they head into this weekend’s Patriot League Tournament down in Washington (American won the tiebreaker to host). #2 Army faces #3 Colgate a rematch of last year’s semifinal in the first round on Friday night. My plan is to be down there blogging at the event, so keep an eye on www.goARMYsports.com for that!
Sunday, Nov. 16 I left West Point at 3 a.m. to head down to the Newark Airport in hopes of catching my 6 a.m. flight out to Columbus, Ohio. You see, back to that critical transition period, I also cover women’s basketball and they had already left on Saturday morning for No. 18 Ohio State, who the team played on Sunday. After a brief layover in Detroit (and a chance for me to get my first Starbucks Frappachino of the day), I was back on a plane to OSU land. A lot of flying, walking and taxi-cabbing later and I arrived to meet the team at their hotel before the game. It was a tough loss for the BKs, who were just completely overmatched. OSU had a center, Jantel Lavender, that was so mobile and solid around the basket that nobody could stop her. The scary thing for other Big 10 opponents is that she is just a sophomore. After the game we had a post-game meal delivered to the bus and headed back out to the airport. Needless to say, Columbus was short-lived for me, but I did see a couple of snow flurries in the air when I landed, so I’m okay with that. We sat in the airport for a while and after a bit of a delay, were finally on the plane and ready to roll. Luckily, it was not completely filled, so the girls could spread out and work on some homework. I immediately fell asleep after listening to the team talk going on about alphas, betas, and some other word-kind of angle. I had no clue what they were talking about! We flew over NYC at night, which was a gorgeous site, and finally arrived at LaGuardia around 9 p.m. The ever-so-reliable West Point bus was there to greet us and we came through the gates here around 11 p.m. What a day!
Monday, Nov. 17 My week starts up again as per usual. I’m currently taking a break from getting things ready for Wednesday night’s home women’s hoops game against UMES. It starts at 7 p.m. and there are still plenty of tickets available! Thursday through Saturday, I’ll be down in D.C. with the volleyball team as they go for a chance to win the Patriot League title for the first time since 1994. Honestly, I can’t contain my excitement for with that possibility up for grabs! Then I will return Saturday night to host a basketball doubleheader on Sunday.
I can’t wait for Christmas break already!! Thanks for checking in:)
Friday, Nov. 14
Hi, this is Mady Salvani reporting to you from Charlottesville, Va., for the women’s soccer NCAA Tournament hosted by Virginia. Army takes on the Cavaliers Friday at 5 p.m. followed by the Princeton-West Virginia match at 7:30 p.m. Thhis is not my usual blog day, but as my esteemed colleague Brian Gunning noted, I am excited and wanted to tell you about the first day of our trip.
Army left for the tournament Thursday morning at 7:30 p.m. on a West Point Tours bus the luxury kind. Everyone on the team is excited because it is not everyday that you are part of the NCAA field and it is a first for women’s soccer.
The bus ride was roughly about eight hours but it flew by because we had three moves two were the mushy kind with happy endings and third I couldn’t tell you it was 21 about an MIT student playing blackjack because I fell asleep and didn’t see the ending.
I think I was the only one who kept asking Coach Gene Ventriglia if we were there yet. When we hit Virginia it didn’t take us long to get to our hotel. From there we had a chance to change, then went to the field so the players could loosen up.
It was dark so we didn’t get a chance to see much of the campus but there were lights on various playing fields. We went to football’s practice field, which was right next to the field hockey field, and the players practiced about an hour. They seemed loose and were having a good time.
Army’s Athletic Director, Kevin Anderson arrived at the field having driven down with Maj. Chris Kingston the tournament.
Though we are further south I was still cold and wished I had taken by hat but I had a sweatshirt on and was fine. A few of the players had shorts on but I got cold just looking at them.
After the practice, coach told the players plans for Friday, which is to come in the morning to see the field.
We then headed back to the hotel to clean up and head for dinner at the Aberdeen Barn, a steak and seafood restaurant. Army had its own room and it was a good meal with everyone laughing and enjoying each other’s company. A few patrons asked the girls where they from and wished them good luck.
A few of the players ordered crab cake, some had prime rib (which one had to go back because it looked more alive than medium rare), some ordered chicken, others steak, lamb chops, while assistant coach Michael Geller opted for swordfish.
We arrived back at the hotel after 10 and everyone went to their room for the night. So it proved a very exciting first day.
There was some confusion with breakfast Friday morning as the Hotel was worried about Army and West Virginia eating in the same area so they gave Army its own room.
So now it’s off to see Virginia for a walk through, come back, have a team meal then
GAME TIME!
Thursday, Nov. 13
Start Up The Bus
Brian Gunning coming at you on this Thursday at West Point. I apologize for the tardiness of my post, but it’s been one of those weeks. With football off on Saturday, you’d think the schedule would lighten up a little, but we’re at that crossroads where the gridiron meets the hardwood so there’s no shortage of things to keep everyone busy.
I’m busy, but at least I’m in my comfortable office. My colleague, Mady Salvani, departed with the women’s soccer team this morning for Charlottesville, Va. and the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. Army takes on the host Virginia Cavaliers on Friday at 5 p.m. It is the Black Knights’ first trip to the NCAA postseason, and I know Mady (“The Coach”) is very excited. Just like retiring head coach Gene Ventriglia, Mady has been with the squad since its first game in 1985. I hope Mady’s excitement can last her through the 8-hour bus ride to Charlottesville.
We’ve all been on our share of long bus rides, and I think each of us has developed different mechanisms for passing the time. Of course, a lot of it depends on the team. For instance, a lot of squads will have a selection of movies to watch on the trip, while others prefer quiet. From our standpoint, it becomes very important to find out the team’s routine and try to fit in seamlessly. For example, when I travel with men’s basketball, we all have “assigned” seats for each trip. There are no movies and no talking on the cell phone. The players spend the majority of their time studying and catching up on some rest, while the staff up front is going over the game plan, reading the opposing team’s notes to try and glean some information, and of course, catching up on some rest as well. The trips usually go pretty fast for me since I can sleep anywhere (including while writing a blog). There are a few roadies last year that I don’t remember at all fast asleep before we hit Stony Lonesome and didn’t wake up until we were in the hotel parking lot. For me, those are the perfect trips.
I think the longest bus ride I’ve ever been on was during my first year in the profession at Marshall. On a softball trip, we bused from Huntington, W.Va. to Tallahassee, Fla. You know it’s a long one when there is a driver change in the middle. I also had the 10-hour trip from New York City back to Syracuse when I was the contact for the Orange women’s basketball team. It’s normally about a four-hour ride, but in that state-wide snow storm, it took us three hours just to get out of Queens.
Getting to travel with our teams can be a lot of fun. It gives us a chance to get to know the cadets and coaches a little better. I’ve had a few great feature story ideas come from a conversation on a bus ride.
So here’s a tip of the cap to Mady. I’m sure The Coach’s enthusiasm made it all 387 miles.
Other happenings: It’s going to be a busy weekend around here for everyone. On Friday, in addition to the women’s soccer game, the volleyball squad is hosting Navy. The match can be seen live on ESPNU at 8 p.m. If you watch very closely you might get to see me sitting at the scorer’s table with my ESPN headset on ... The women’s basketball team takes a quick bus trip when it opens its season at Wagner on Friday and then has a little longer trip to Ohio State on Sunday ... The men’s basketball team begins its 2008-09 campaign at home on Saturday against Dartmouth at 4 p.m. ... Shak is the office’s other road warrior this weekend. He left this morning with the hockey team for its Friday and Saturday series at RIT. The weekend starts an 11-game road stretch for the Black Knights.
Wednesday, Nov. 12
Good Times At Army
Watch your step on your way down! The addition of Bob Beretta to the alphabetical blog rotation has created quite the fall down the Army Athletic Association organizational chart as Bob is the Senior Associate AD for everything external and yours truly, Mark Brumbaugh, is just a mere “athletic communications assistant.” Since we’re all about illustrating things with numbers here, Bob is in his 21st year in the Army Athletic Communications department while I am in my 22nd year of life. To be honest, I’m kind of fuzzy about the first few, so does that mean Bob knows more about Army sports than I know about life? Food for thought.
Nonetheless, we are finding plenty to do around here on this football bye week. The women’s soccer postseason guide has been among the bigger projects of the week for much of the staff while the start of basketball season and the upcoming Army-Navy football game (less than a month away!) keeps everyone entertained.
I have been focusing much of my efforts on the 2009 Track and Field Media Guide. We are going to have some pictures done of the captains this afternoon for the cover, but I almost cancelled it when Tim Volkmann plucked out the 1975 Outdoor Track Guide from the pile of old guides I was going through while doing some research. The cover just featured a cartoonish mule in a track uniform. I thought about bringing it back for this year's cover, maybe adding some Photoshop effects, but I thought better of it. I’ll scan it in and post it here sometime later since I’d hate to replace a picture of our victorious women’s soccer team with a mule in shorts.
Working with cross country, and now track, makes me think that I should start doing some running myself to stay healthy and all. My car reminded me that running is much cheaper, as well. A horrible squealing noise from the wheels led to a trip to the shop and some new rear brakes. I could buy a couple of nice pairs of shoes for the cost of making sure my car continues to stop. I guess I should take solace in the fact that the squealing noise didn’t involve something that makes the car go, since I imagine that would harm the bank account much more.
What To Watch For
Today is Wednesday, so that means another Black Knight Spotlight. With a new season of women’s basketball starting this weekend, how about learning about a new face on the team? Sophomore guard Laura Baranek (you may remember her from last year’s softball team) joins the women’s basketball team after sitting out a season as a transfer, so check out what she had to say about her time at West Point so far.
Diver Lindsey Adao and hockey’s Mark Tilch are also keeping Army fans up-to-date on their seasons with their diaries, so if you have been missing out, take a few minutes and catch up. It is always impressive (and often humorous) to learn about what these fine cadet-athletes go through during their seasons.
Stay tuned to http://www.goarmysports.com/ over the next couple days as we preview the busy weekend. For NCAA tournament action, women’s soccer will be looking to advance on Friday night and cross country has the Northeast Regionals on Saturday morning. Volleyball has big games against Navy and American at home. Hockey will be on the road in my homeland of Rochester, N.Y. to take on the Rochester Institute of Technology, and both basketball teams (the men at home) will kick off their seasons. Rifle and wrestling will also be in action.
Until next time, GO ARMY!
Tuesday, Nov. 11
A Day For Remembrance
Good morning and Happy Veterans Day to everyone out there in cyberspace? Bob Beretta manning the first of what I hope will be a regular turn in the blogging rotation at goARMYsports.com. Due to some added responsibilities in other areas here in the athletic department that required much attention during the home portion of our football season, I’ve been unable to join in on the blogging fun the past few months, but for a few random posts. Rather than sharing my daily experiences online, I’ve been sitting in meetings upon meetings, the past few months, most centered on enhancing the game day experience for our fans at Michie Stadium planning the logistics for things like our giveaway program, Black Knights Alley, the video board programming and halftime entertainment. But enough of that. It’s good to be back in front of a keyboard.
Those of us fortunate enough to work at the United States Military Academy are reminded of the special role our military members play in our own lives every single day they are the ones most responsible for protecting the freedoms and lifestyles all Americans enjoy daily. On this Veterans Day, we hope that those not as connected to the military take some time to reflect upon these brave servicemen and servicewomen, particularly at this time of war.
While Veterans Day remains a federal holiday, as is the case with most national holidays, it just means a bit of a quieter day in the world of athletics. It also means a casual dress day, which excites all the members of the External Operations area, and particularly those down here in the Athletic Communications wing (I prefer the term wing over basement) of Building 639. Holidays are almost non-existent when you work in the world of collegiate athletics. This is not a complaint, merely a fact. Over the years, I’ve spent Thanksgivings in places like Salt Lake City, Christmases in places like Honolulu and Easters in places like Lewisburg and Annapolis. Some of our staff members will be hitting the road during the holidays this year as well, with Ryan Yanoshak prepping for a Thanksgiving Day jaunt up the Thruway with the hockey team and Tracy Nelson heading to Colorado with the women’s basketball team, among others.
Speaking of holidays, I ran into a local store this morning to pick up a few office survival items (see Cheeze-Its and Arizona Ice Tea, two of my late-night dietary musts) and somehow the North Pole had exploded inside the establishment. When exactly did that happen? I haven’t even taken the ghosts and pumpkins off my lawn from Halloween yet and Christmas is suddenly upon us. Now, I know I don’t get out much during the football season, so this might be old news to readers of the BKB, but what happened to Thanksgiving? Seems to me the Pilgrims have been short-changed in all this merchandising madness.
Well, enough rambling ... last night was a special night around the athletic department with the announcement of the NCAA Tournament field for women’s soccer. As you are well-aware, Army’s women’s soccer team qualified for its first trip to the NCAAs with a riveting overtime defeat of arch-rival Navy on Sunday in Annapolis. Team and staff members gathered at the house of Army Director of Athletics Kevin Anderson last night for the official announcement and roared with approval when “Army” appeared on the television screen, listed opposite 16th-ranked and No. 2 seed Virginia in the UCLA bracket. Hey, a trip to Charlottesville, sure beats a trip to Penn State or Boston College (two of the Black Knights’ other likely destinations) this time of year. It’s always fun to see a team catch fire like Army’s women’s soccer team did this year and enjoy a magical run to a championship, especially when the team does so as an underdog. Congratulations to longtime head coach Gene Ventriglia and his team. “Coach V” is a legend in the industry and the only head coach Army’s women’s soccer program has ever known. He is retiring at the end of the season and there can be no better feeling than leaving his program with a championship in hand. He mentioned a trip to the NCAAs was the one thing he felt missing from his coaching career Well, Coach, not anymore. Great job by you and the ladies. There’s nothing better than watching a room full of our athletes celebrate a trip to the NCAAs in that manner. It is a time for celebration and a time for hope. What a great night it was.
Football is off this week, but still plenty of activity around the Army sports scene this weekend. While the hockey team is away at RIT, the women’s volleyball team hosts Navy (in a game televised nationally on ESPNU) on Friday and American on Saturday. It’s a huge weekend for the volleyball team, which has authored a tremendous season in its own right under head coach Alma Kovaci. Army is 24-3 overall and 11-1 in the Patriot League with its only loss to American. The Black Knights can gain a share of the regular season title with a sweep this weekend, but it seems unlikely that Army will host the league tournament the following weekend.
Our basketball teams have been hard at work for nearly a month now (I’m sure it seems like an eternity for them), and they finally get the chance to lace em up for real this weekend as both teams kick off their respective seasons. The women open at Wagner on Friday, while the men will host Dartmouth on Sunday. You can catch all the action on Knight Vision with Rich DeMarco calling both games. Deputy Director of Athletics Gene Marshall (my trusty radio fill-in) will handle color analysis on Friday, while I will return to the mike with Rich on Saturday. Hard to believe, but this will be my eighth year on the basketball calls and fifth with Rich. Good news and bad news for our listeners there. Good news is that Rich is back for a fifth year. He’s tremendous and does an outstanding job. Bad news is that you’re all stuck listening to my ramblings again ... sorry about that, but I work cheaply.
Odds and Ends
I need to talk to hockey head coach Brian Riley about his schedule this year ... here we are one full month into the season and I haven’t been able to see one single hockey game due to football conflicts ... not happy about that ... not only have I been unable to return to my old hockey blogging post on game nights, I’ve been unable to sample one of BK Hockey Blog regular June Jones’ special home-baked cookies ... I can rest easy knowing that “Shak” has ably filled my role of press box “cookie destroyer” ... he’s gotten so good at it he hasn’t had to bring one single cookie back to the office, much to my disgust ... and now the hockey team is not back home until Jan. 9, ready to begin an 11-game road stretch ... that’s a lot of games without a chocolate-chip cookie ... I hope “Shak” can last ... and yes, the BK Hockey blog will make its triumphant return that night so my legion of hockey blog faithful can mark the date on their keyboards ... I’m sure I will have all kinds of interesting tidbits to share by then, we might even mix in some hockey ... how about former Army baseball standout and current NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough ready for his first space shuttle mission, which is set to launch on Friday ... it’s a lifelong dream for Shane about to be realized and we at West Point could not be prouder ... “Shak” has a terrific story posted on the main site today located here ... Shane is a class act and about as humble as they come ... we will be following the mission closely and living vicariously through one of our own in space the next few weeks ... hard to believe that Army-Navy is right around the corner ... looking forward to returning to Philly for America’s Game in a few weeks ... Army-Navy Saturday remains one of my favorite days of the year ... getting the chance to work that great event reminds me of a note that local scribe Kevin Gleason wrote in his Times Herald-Record column on Sunday ... he wrote that he once was told that if you love your job, you never really work a day in your life ... well, spending some time around these great young people at West Point, and I am reminded how privileged I am to hold this position at the Academy ... on this Veterans Day, we should all say “Thanks” to these special folks in Dress Gray, all of their predecessors, and all who have served their country in the name of freedom and democracy.
Happy Veterans Day to all.
Be well, and Go Army!!!
Monday, Nov. 10
A good Monday morning to you as Ryan Yanoshak sits at the keyboard for the Black Knights Blog.
What a weekend. First, on Friday, the men’s soccer team beats Navy, on national television no less, and the women’s soccer team advanced to the Patriot League finals on penalty kicks. On Saturday, more than 2,000 fans packed Tate Rink to watch the hockey team beat AIC before a long road trip, the women’s volleyball team continued its strong play, the football team rallied to almost upset Rice, the swimming and diving team had a strong showing at Connecticut, the rifle team split a pair of matches and the wrestling team had a handful of placewinners at the Oklahoma Gold Classic.
That all set the stage for Sunday and the women’s soccer team in the Patriot League Tournament finals. The game appeared headed for penalty kicks until Pia White hustled her way to the game-winning goal in double overtime. White was dominant in the two extra sessions so it seemed fitting that she got the game-winner. Need more women’s soccer, here is a notebook from Sunday’s game that talks about Sarah Goss earning MVP honors.
This will mark the first NCAA appearance for the women’s soccer team. Their site and opponent will be announced this evening on ESPNews between 8 and 8:30 p.m. I have not heard details of viewing party but I am sure the team at least will be gathering to learn who and where they will play. Check back to the site early in the afternoon and maybe you can join the team. Then check back tonight to learn all the details.
A programming reminder for our faithful ITT Knight Vision subscribers. There will be no Stan Brock Weekly Press Conference and no radio show since the football team has a bye this week. Coach Brock returns behind the microphone to discuss the game at Rutgers on Tuesday, Nov. 18. “This Week in Army Football” continues to its road swing as well and will be live from Chili’s in the Palisades Center Mall on Thursday, Nov. 20, beginning at 7 p.m.
Shameless plug for the June Jones family who continues to spoil the Tate Rink press box with outstanding cookies each and every home game. Thanks June, it is much appreciated.
Make it a great one.
Friday, Nov. 7
Happy Friday everyone! It’s Tracy Nelson checking in actually pinch hitting for Timmy “Touchdown” Volkmann this afternoon. Tim is out at Clinton Field getting everything settled for tonight’s big Army-Navy men’s soccer game (more to follow on that). Since I completely neglected my blogging duties on Wednesday, and am very sorry for my forgetfulness, I told Tim that I would jump in the driver’s seat today.
While on the topic of driving, it was an interesting evening spent with Tim last night. As Mady mentioned at the end of yesterday’s blog, the office headed out the West Point gates and down to the Captain’s Table in Monroe for football head coach Stan Brock’s weekly radio show. Coach, along with our own Rich DeMarco, entertained a very large crowd and lots of good eats! I think everyone had a great time, so if you’re looking to catch the coach’s show again, there’s only two dates left to do so! Click here for more info.
Speaking of “good” things, the opposite can be said for Tim’s driving skills on the way down the mountain. Didn’t he realize what precious cargo he had in the van (albeit a 15-passanger monster that I’m sure was not easy to maneuver)? Not only did he have me, his co-pilot, but also Mark Brumbaugh and the legendary Mady Salvani, who is like a landmark of this place! Then, add into the mix football players Mike Evans and Josh McNary and it was a recipe for disaster. Thankfully, there were no accidents, but it was a bumpy ride to say the least ... I’m already volunteering my superb driving skills for our next adventure.
I told you that I would get back to men’s soccer eventually! If you are any sort of Army fan, you know that the mere mention of Navy makes ones blood start to boil and that’s just as a fan! Imagine what the kids feel like taking the field against such a bitter rival. Tonight, the men’s soccer team is looking to salvage what has been a bit of a disappointing year with its third-straight win against the Mids in the 75th meeting between the arch nemeses. If you can’t make it to Clinton Field for the unconventional 8 p.m. start, tune-in to FOX Soccer Channel to catch all the action. The last two matches between these clubs have gone into OT, so tonight has the potential to be a thrilling dual! And if the game doesn’t reach that level of excitement, you can watch me on the field I’ll be the one in the red hat, serving as the FOX timeout coordinator for the game (aka the person that all on-field officials and coaches usually find overly annoying!). More specifically, I’ll be sporting a Red Sox hat thanks to Army assistant softball coach-extraordinaire Michelle DePolo for lending even though I am not a fan at all. Timmy V is having some trouble with this, as an avid Yankee fan. But last time I checked, it was better to be a fan in Boston than in the Bronx ...
Since I’ve devoted some significant typing time to men’s soccer, I have to touch on the women’s soccer team. Coach Ventriglia (aka “Coach V”) has led a young, talented group all the way to the Patriot League Tournament. At last night’s banquet, hosted by No. 1 seed Navy, Coach V was named Coach of the Year. Not bad for the program’s lone mentor and a guy that has devoted 23 years to this program. Not to mention that Army was picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll and overachieved all year long. Let’s hope that trend keeps up tonight, as the third-seeded BKs face No. 2 Bucknell at 7 p.m. Click here for live stats from the game. Pick up a win ladies - and a championship showdown with the Mids could be in the works!
Before I wrap things up here, I have to give a quick kudos to four volleyball seniors Briana Stremick, Rachael Breinling, Elizabeth Lazzari, Jamie Clark - that have been the rock of a program that has produced an 88-23 record since their arrival at West Point. Not only do they represent Army’s top four hitters, but somehow each one has found time to excel in the classroom and within the corps. They are simply amazing human beings in my eyes and something that every kid should strive to emulate. Earlier in the week, I got word that all four cadet-athletes were named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I. Way to go ladies! Sure their studies are of the utmost importance, but those will take a bit of a backseat as the BK head down the home stretch of the regular season. The team left yesterday to start a brutal road trip (more than 600 miles traveled) to Colgate and Bucknell for weekend matches. Check out the volleyball page to see results from those matches tonight and tomorrow.
I think that about does it for today. I hope you have wonderful weekend and enjoy this beautiful fall weather! Or, just be thankful that it’s not snowing ... yet!
Thursday, Nov. 6
Welcome to Army’s Blog with Mady Salvani on the keyboard. Last week Air Force came to West Point to take on the Black Knights. In gearing up for the festivities, ESPNU’s play-by-play announce Dave Armstrong along with color Analyst Larry Coker, former Miami football coach were at Michie Stadium on Friday practicing jumping out of an Army helicopter with the game ball.
When I learned of this, I raced with Tracy Nelson to Michie Stadium, but we were a split second too late. Next stop however was the helicopter pad at the bottom of the hill where we work. When Tracy and I arrived, the chopper was on the pad and the pilots were tremendous with all the fans (by the river is where folks park RVs) who were taking photos taken sitting in the cockpit.
I took a few shots of Tracy in the back of the chopper, then the pilot told her to come up front. I egged her on and at first she didn’t want to put on the helmet, but I told it would make a great shot for her mother and grandmother. She looked like a true pilot and it was a great opportunity for me to check out the lighting for my photos.
The first group to take off was the Cadet Sky Diving Team. They sat in the back of the chopper with the doors wide open. I had told Tracy I was concerned about being on the pad (which is very close to the water) when it took off because I was afraid of flying into the Hudson River. She just laughed.
While waiting for Armstrong and Coker to arrive, Tracy raced back to the office to see if Tim Volkmann could join us. Well, when she was gone, the chopper revved up its engines, which meant the propellers started turning, which kicked up the wind and I quickly ran off the pad and grabbed a barrier because of my fear of being swept into the Hudson.
When Tracy arrived back, minus Tim, I told her what happened and just as I was explaining about the wind, the chopper was landing and the water was being whipped all over the place case closed.
But unfortunately I was starting to loose the light when the TV folks, dressed in sky diving gear, walked to the helicopter. I went along but wasn’t allowed to use flash as they were recording the segment. I had my backpack on in case I needed different lenses, but that wasn’t a smart move on my part.
Suddenly they told the pilots to start the engines which meant the propellers were churning and suddenly I thought I was going to go off the side of the pad, and with the backpack on I would have gone straight down into the depths of the Hudson. But before that happened, I raced off the pad as Tracy was laughing.
Since they were still filming and I hadn’t gotten great shots, I kind of crawled back onto the pad to get a few more photos. My best photo of the day, however, was Tracy in the cockpit.
Saturday’s football game with Air Force was a festive day at West Point with the 1988 Sun Bowl Team returning with coach Jim Young and former Army athletic director Carl Ulrich.
I rushed down to Black Knights Alley Saturday morning to take photos on what proved to be a perfect day for a football game. It was great to see the stadium filled, along with all the fans in Black Knights Alley, which make for great shots.
Right now the winter season is just around the corner, while several of the fall teams are looking at postseason berths. Women’s soccer heads to Annapolis, Md., as the No. 3 seed for the Patriot League Tournament. Army takes on No. 2 Bucknell in the first round, and a win puts the Black Knights into Sunday’s championship round at the team looks to make the 2008 season a memorable one for outgoing coach Gene Ventriglia.
Volleyball has already clinched a tournament berth and is still in the mix to host, which would be exciting to have the games here at West Point. Men’s soccer closes out its season Friday evening in the Star match with Navy in a game that will be on Fox TV.
Winter sports already in progress are hockey, wrestling along with swimming and diving, but next week the basketball teams take to the floor and I am looking forward to the start of the season.
Tonight we are having the Football Radio Show in Monroe, N.Y., at the Captain’s Table, and I am looking forward to the road trip.
Tuesday, Nov. 4
Welcome to an Election Day edition of the Black Knight Blog! Brian Gunning at the keyboard on this Tuesday afternoon (Or should I say evening? It gets dark quickly around here now, which definitely makes it more fun dodging deer on 9W on the ride home.). Hopefully, everyone went to the polls to exercise their voting rights.
I guess it is officially basketball season since I just received the list of basketball officials for our November and December home games. I can't believe that our season-opener is less than two weeks away. The women's squad opens the season on the road at Wagner on Nov. 14, while Jim Crews' squad starts on Saturday, Nov. 15 at home versus Dartmouth. It seems like yesterday I was watching Jarell Brown light up Annapolis for 35 in a win at Navy and Josh Miller carrying Army to a Patriot League quarterfinal win at Lehigh.
The home portion of the football schedule wrapped up last Saturday which means I have to get my travel on for the next month or so. We're headed to Texas this week to play Rice - our second trip to the Lone Star State this season. After that, football is off for a week, but hoops really gets cranked up with six games in 16 days, including four on the road. Football is back at it on Nov. 22 at Rutgers and then Dec. 6 versus Navy in Philadelphia. Rich DeMarco and I were finalizing some plans today, and realized that between Nov. 15 and Dec. 10, we have eight road trips to make for football and men's basketball. No worries though, I've got my Willie Nelson and Roger Miller all cued up.
Speaking of Rice, Coach Brock had his weekly press conference today. It is definitely going to be an interesting match up - Army's triple option against Rice's spread. The Owls throw for more than 300 yards a game, so the Black Knights' secondary has its work cut out. It's going to have to be a big day for the offense, not only to post enough points (Rice has scored at least 42 in three straight games and is averaging 41.1 for the season), but to keep the Owls' prolific passing attack standing on the sideline watching. To read Coach Brock's and some players' thoughts on the game, check out this week's transcript.
Rice head coach David Bailiff also spoke with the media gathered at Randall Hall today over the phone. Coach Bailiff was very complimentary of the Black Knights and talked at length of their improvement throughout the season on offense. My favorite quote about the offense was in reference to senior FB Collin Mooney, who is on the verge of cracking the 1,000-yard mark. Bailiff commented, "He's just a BIG man who gets downhill in a HURRY."
He also spoke highly of the defense and gave what I consider to be one of the best compliments a team can get. He talked about how when he watches film of the Black Knights' stop squad (a phrase I've just recently started stealing from Bob Beretta) he can see that all 11 players understand
