Army West Point Athletics
Monday, Oct. 2 - Fall Is Here
October 04, 2010 | General
Welcome to today's Army blog with Mady Salvani at the keyboard. I apologize for missing the last few blogs, but this time of year there are a lot of days you can't get everything done. Though I hate to brag, my women's soccer team is off to a 10-3 mark with all 10 wins shutouts. I won't tell you what the shutout record is as I don't want to jinx the team.
Every job has things you like and things you don't, but one of the advantages of working in sports is the athletes. They are a special breed which makes it fun to be around them. I am fortunate because I feel close to the players in all my sports. The only team I travel with is softball and I probably know those players the best, but over the years I have gotten to know the athletes just as well in soccer, rifle and gymnastics.
This past weekend was Homecoming and former women's basketball/softball player Jen Fleming stopped by to see me. She is coaching high school basketball in Texas and loves it, and she is in an area that is close to her family. Jen was one of those rare two-sport athletes that you don't often hear about today. She graduated in 1990 and it is hard for me to believe it has been 20 years.
When I think of Jen, I see a tough, hard-nosed kid who played to win. She keyed Army winning the Empire State Conference basketball title as a sophomore after igniting a 17-0 run that rallied the Black Knights (back then they were called the Lady Knights) to the title. Jen was a key player in basketball and softball and both coaches wanted her to make a decision as to which sport she wanted to concentrate on, but she stayed on in both. The coaches said she wouldn't start, but that didn't deter her as she played softball during the non-traditional fall season and moved to basketball for winter. In spite of not practicing on the hardwood during the fall, she wound up in the starting lineup as a guard. At the end of hoop season she moved to softball, which was already in season. I remember the coach saying that because she was not able to practice during the winter months, she would not be seeing a lot of time. Yet shortly after the season began (I didn't travel with softball in those day I would see her name in the box score in the No. 9 spot in the batting order and each game she worke her way up and into the starting lineup. She was the type of athlete who didn't like losing and made her presence felt, and since that time I have been an admirer.
The photo I used on the web site is by Danny Wild, a free lance photographer who comes to all the home football games as well as several other sports. We have an impressive platoon of photographers starting with John Pellino, who has been the USMA's head photographer for 15 years or more. You see him with the Superintendent on football game day along with taking game action afterwards. Many of his photos are on the walls in the Army A Room and the Press Box along with several of our brochures. Pointer View folks in Eric Bartelt and Tommy Gilligan also provide us with photos for the gallery after football games as well as several other sports. Jon Malinowski, who is the smartest one of the group as he has a PhD and teaches at West Point, does photography as a side hobby. He has a great eye and helps me out with gymnastics and rifle and shoots several others sports to include wrestling. Several of his photos have adorned our media covers. David Hahn is another in that long line of photographers who comes and shoots along with providing copies of his work. You will usually find him at football, volleyball, hockey and basketball. As you can see we have a plethora of photographers and that is why we have such professional shots on our website.
However, if you see a few out-of-focus or slightly tilted shots, they are probably mine. Years ago Mike Albright use to try to help me when I would be taking photos of the basketball locker room. I would have the camera steady as possible but didn't realize it was not straight. Mike would try to straighten me out, but when he did that I felt tilted. So I think the reason is because my eyes are not properly spaced or the distance from my forehead to both eyes is off. That is the only reason I can find for why so many of my photos are lopsided whether I shot vertically or horizontally. Pellino has taken some great aerial shots where he hangs out of a chopper and shoots, maybe if I did that my pictures would be level but the only problem is my fear of heights so until I can find a better solution, you will continue to see tilted shots.
Have to get back to work as this is a busy week even though football is away Don't forget the GAME OF THE WEEK is the women's soccer match Friday evening between Army and Navy at Clinton Field. The game is being covered by Fox Soccer Channel on tape delay.
