Army West Point Athletics
Tuesday, March 2 - Playoff Radio
March 02, 2010 | General
Good morning faithful Black Knight Blog readers. Ryan Yanoshak with you on this lovely Tuesday morning.
Thank you to those who turned out for our first Winter Inside Army Athletics Radio Show. As usual, the Thayer Hotel put on a great spread and hockey coach Brian Riley, men's basketball coach Zach Spiker and women's basketball coach Dave Magarity were great guests.
Kudos to Assistant A.D. Rich DeMarco, the host of the hour-long show, for his preparation and great interviews. Brian, Dave and Zach are all such great coaches and wonderful public speakers and if listening to the three of them talk about their teams and what they have to do to be successful in the second season doesn't get your blood flowing I am not sure what does.
Last night's show was the first time we have tried the radio program in the winter and it's something we hope to build on, maybe try it earlier in the season, work in some special guests and continue to provide you, the fan, access to our coaches and cadet-athletes.
Two more radio shows are planned, one that will focus on spring football and the other that will preview our spring teams as they head towards the postseason.
Thank you all for coming out and offering your support.
Amazingly, the winter sports seasons are starting to wind down. Spiker talked about the challenges of playing at Lehigh in the first round of the playoffs for the third straight year. He will lead the Black Knights in his first playoff game on Wednesday at Stabler Arena at 7:05 p.m. Keep an eye out for Gun-Boat's notes for all the details of the contest.
Magarity has the daunting task of trying to beat a team three times and playing the host school when the women's hoops teams plays Holy Cross, in Worcester, Mass. Army earned the No. 4 seed and will play the host Crusaders at noon on Saturday. I usually get to read Tracy's notes and I can tell you they are a great resource so check back to the site later this week for all of your information on the game.
Riley gets a week off before taking his team to Colorado Springs, Colo., to face the three-time defending champion Air Force Falcons. Army battled its way to a first-round bye and the No. 6 seed and will play a three-game, quarterfinal series at the Falcons, the third seed beginning March 12. In an interesting schedule quirk, the Army lacrosse team will also be in town so hopefully the laxers can make it to a game and help squelch some of Air Force's home-ice advantage.
The wrestling team is also getting set for the postseason and will compete in Bethlehem, Pa., this weekend at the EIWA Championships. I am working on my notes and will have them up soon but I am excited to see how Kyler, Starks, etc., all wrestle Saturday and Sunday and how can advance to the NCAA Championships.
BKB: Those awesome men's basketball jerseys are on the auction site ... It's a quiet week with the men's basketball playoff game on Wednesday the only action until Friday ... Spring football practice is at the halfway mark. You can read BB story here.
