Tuesday AM Update on the Newport to Bermuda Race

The weakening conditions expected across the course on Monday showed up, but not enough to slow the boats still on the course. The result? The Navy 44′s are showing that a “Sail Training Craft” is a force to be reckoned with. This is shaping up to be the best finish for the Naval Academy since 1992 when Constellation won the whole thing.

NA 23 Defiance sits at 2nd place in their Class and 2nd place overall this morning. The difference over the course of 635 miles? A scant 34 minutes and 34 seconds behind race leader Carina. Amazingly enough, Carina won the 2010 version of the race, meaning they could possibly repeat as winners if the current standings hold.

NA 11 Swift is sitting atop their class and is 3rd overall, 26 mins and 14 seconds behind Defiance. A class win here would be the first for USNA since Constellation.

The result has been a slight slide for the crew of Invictus – they now stand 11th overall in the St. David’s Lighthouse division.

We’ll let all the boats finish and give a final update once the trophies have been presented at the Governor’s Mansion at the end of the week.

The Varsity Offshore Sailing Team Goes to Bermuda

The Varsity Offshore Sailing Team’s season continues throughout the summer, providing us with some actual results to talk about while the Brigade is spread around the globe. There are 5 boats that have been competing in June, with 2 in the Bermuda Ocean Race and 3 in the Newport to Bermuda Race. I’ll be writing more on the Newport to Bermuda race when the boats return to Annapolis, but there are a couple of things to address before then.

In the Bermuda Ocean Race, which began on June 8th, the Navy 44′s finished in 2nd and 3rd place in their class. It’s the 3rd race in a row (the BOR is held every other year) that Navy has finished 2nd in class and the first time since 1996 that the team places 2 boats in the top 3 of the class.

The Newport to Bermuda Race started a week later on June 15th. Navy has 3 boats in this race – 2 Navy 44′s and the TP 52 Invictus, the latter of which yours truly coached aboard for the 2010 running of the race. The weather set up to be fantastic for the race, with low pressure systems bringing winds that would favor the fastest boats and set up a rhumb line run under spinnaker.

While the 44′s are still on the course and looking to finish sometime during the night tonight, Invictus finished around dinnertime Sunday. In finishing the 635 mile race in 53 hours and 11 minutes with an average speed of nearly 12 knots, they became the 6th of the eventual 7 boats that broke the 10-year-old course record of 53 hours 29 minutes and 22 seconds set by Roy Disney’s Pyewacket in 2002 (yes that Disney). By comparison, it took us 76 hours 51 minutes and 56 seconds to complete the race in 2010. The new course record was set by the 90 foot boat Rambler which sailed the course in an astonishing 39 hours 39 minutes and 18 seconds for an average speed of 16 knots.

Invictus finishes the race in 3rd place in their class (the top class of the non-professional division) and will likely finish 3rd overall out of the 94 boats in the division. And as an added bonus, they beat the US Merchant Marine Academy TP52 Conviction across the line by 37 minutes 7 seconds when the USMMA boat had a faster handicap rating.

Here’s a shot of Invictus at the start of the 2010 Newport to Bermuda Race.

Links 6/7

- CBS has announced a partial 2012 TV schedule for football. We’ve known for a while now that Navy’s match-ups against Notre Dame and Air Force are going to be on CBS with morning kick-off times. The big news here for Navy fans is that the Army-Navy game will kick-off at 3pm EST.

Army-Navy will kick off at 3 p.m. Dec. 8 from Lincoln Financial Field in Philly #weirdtime #armyfootball

— Sal Interdonato (@salinterdonato) June 6, 2012

I have to disagree with Sal here. It’s not a weird time. It puts kickoff at noon PST, making it that much more attractive to viewers west of the Mississippi. We all know the game got a bump by shifting to the weekend after conference championships. Perhaps we can get a few more viewers with this slight adjustment (last year the kickoff was at 2:30pm EST). With the Big East TV deal looming, any boost in Army-Navy ratings now will deliver more TV dollars later.

- Navy Baseball had two players drafted in this year’s MLB draft. The Blue Jays selected outfielder Alex Azor in the 10th round – putting him as the highest drafted Navy player of all time – while the Brewers took pitcher Preston Gainey in the 11th round.

- Navy’s Zack Duncavage, a Youngster, placed 16th in the discus at the NCAA track and field championships this week. His finish nets him 2nd team All-American honors.

- Finally, this one slipped through the cracks at the beginning of the week, but bears mention. The Navy Men’s Lightweight Four won the IRA National Championship this past weekend in Camden, NJ. This was the final feather in the cap of Coach Rick Clothier, who has retired after leading the crew program for 38 years.

Links 6/6

- The Annapolis Capital is reporting that three members of the Navy football team have left the school. They are Center Dale Howard, Fullback Mike Patrick, and linebacker Jarvis Cummings. All three were back-ups on the depth chart, with Howard and Cummings listed as #2 at their positions, while Patrick was 3rd string. While this doesn’t hit the top-line, it certainly undermines depth at those positions.

- Navy Women’s Lacrosse team captain Kierstin King has been selected to play in the IWLCA Senior All-Star Game on June 16th. She joins two other players from the Patriot League, Lehigh’s Leigh Ann Torcivia and Colgate’s Courtney Miller.

- The Big East is looking towards the Poinsettia Bowl for possible western expansion of their bowl game tie-ins starting in 2014. Their current bowl inventory does not reach the Mississippi River, with the westernmost bowl game being the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama. The MWC has an agreement with the Poinsettia Bowl that expires in 2013. With Navy scheduled to play in the bowl game in 2014 (if bowl eligible), such a match-up could give us a preview of league play in 2015.

- The demo for NCAA Football 13 has hit the PS3 and Xbox 360. While this normally wouldn’t be huge news for our blog, there’s a hook. Users who share the demo with friends will unlock Nike Pro Combat uniforms for five teams: Ohio Shate, LSU, Boise State, Stanford and…wait for it…Navy. That’s not bad company to keep.

No word yet if there is a combat coaching mode for Air Force fans.

Links 5/23

– Inside Lacrosse is reporting that Richie Meade will be named as the first head coach of the new lacrosse program at Furman. It’ll be weird seeing him on another college sideline, but we all knew it would happen at some point. Good for him, and good for Furman.

– Navy won the Patriot League Presidents’ Cup for the 2011-2012 academic year. It’s the first time Navy has won. Bucknell had won the last six, with the Mids finishing second in five of those years. Navy doesn’t play Patriot League football, field hockey, or softball, and only recently added women’s lacrosse and women’s tennis. Both of those programs have become very successful very quickly, and their rise (along with the rise of women’s programs in general) helped to finally push Navy over the top. I’ve never worried much about the Presidents’ Cup, but it’s a nice to get a bit of affirmation for a great year by the athletic department.

– Speaking of the rise of women’s lacrosse, Cindy Timchal shall now be addressed as Hall of Famer Cindy Timchal.

– Not all the news is good. As the kids say, “smh.” Sperry had dropped on the depth chart this spring thanks to the rise of Jonathan Wev, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have fought back. At the very least he would’ve provided experienced depth for a defense that had none last year. I hate the offseason.

– On to the conference expansion mess… The headline here says “Texas AD not for expanding,” but that’s not really the impression I get from reading the article. The way I read it, DeLoss Dodds is just trying to remain noncommittal, either for the sake of not tipping his hand or just not wanting to set off a firestorm of rumors based on his comments. Like this. I do believe that Big 12 expansion is far from a given, though, especially after their recent monster television deal. Would Florida State and Clemson really add that much value? Would a championship game make enough money to offset splitting television revenue by two (or more) additional teams? Maybe, but I don’t know if that’s a certainty. Let’s hope not.

– The Big East’s league meetings are wrapping up today, but there is plenty to talk about already through days 1 & 2:

• The most interesting (and important) bit is that NBC and Fox both gave presentations on why the Big East is appealing to them. I don’t know what was contained in those presentations (or where that lovely $2 billion number came from), but I suspect that it pretty much sounded like the last few paragraphs of this. I’m telling you, this conference has the potential to make money if it can just stay together.
• Speaking of which, one report is saying that “multiple sources” expect Air Force or BYU to join along with Navy in 2015. Well, OK. I don’t know if anyone’s “expectations” are really worth mentioning, since these stories change by the day. I’m going to need to see a lot more smoke before I believe there’s a fire there. If we’re just going to speak hypothetically, then either one of them would be a good addition. Air Force would be better for Navy, although BYU would be better for the league. The best-case scenario would be to add both of them plus Army, but don’t hold your breath. Of the two, BYU might (somewhat surprisingly) be the most likely since they are facing most of the same challenges as an independent that Navy had. I was a big fan of BYU’s independence (still am, actually), but a lot has changed even in the short time that they made that decision. I’m sure that BYU is at least keeping their options open. As for Air Force, I get the feeling that they’re content with attempting to rule the tattered remnants of the Mountain West. A Gazette column calling them “cowardly” is surely on the way.
• Divisional alignment possibilities were also discussed, although no decision was made. I had always assumed that it would be an east-west split, given that Boise State and San Diego State were both adamant about having a western partner for the conference. I still think it makes the most sense, although I’m also sure that neither Louisville nor Cincinnati get giddy over the thought of joining a western division. All I want is for Navy to be in the same division as UCF so we can create a rivalry trophy out of George O’Leary’s severed head on a stick.
• The championship game for the conference will be played on-campus instead of at a neutral site. GOOD.

Links 5/18

– Filed under “obviously we all know nothing about anything,” SMU fired AD (and former Navy associate AD) Steve Orsini. As an outsider, the move is a bit of a shock since it appears on the surface that all of SMU’s athletic vectors are up. This is one of those things reminding us that when all we know is what’s on the surface, we don’t really know anything at all. One writer in Fort Worth panders to his audience by wondering if TCU’s successes influenced the move. Kate Hairopoulos reports the far more likely scenario that it was more about clashes with SMU’s president, R. Gerald Turner. Whatever the reason, I can’t imagine that Orsini will be out of a job for long.

– It’s official: Old Dominion is joining Conference USA. As Navy people, a lot of us have spent considerable time in & around Norfolk and are quite familiar with ODU. This is crazy! In a good way, though. I’ve only recently become used to the idea of the Monarchs having a football team. But a I-A team? Bananas. I’d say to get them on the schedule, but that’ll be hard to do once Navy is in the Big East. But it HAS to happen, right? Meanwhile, Pete Medhurst wonders what it means for the future of the CAA.

– Pre-Snap Read continues with its look at every I-A program, including Navy opponents Central Michigan and Troy (plus a bit more on Troy).

– I’m telling you, it’s consolidation.

– Lafayette lacrosse coach Terry Mangan resigned. The Leopards had half of a good season in 2010. That’s about it.

– A life well lived.

– Finally, I will be a guest on the Three Point Stance show tomorrow, talking Navy and the Big East and whatever else comes up. It’s archived afterwards, so you don’t need to plan your Saturday night around me. Because you know you were totally thinking about it.

Links 5/17

– If I was going to steal money from Maryland taxpayers, I’d probably buy Navy season tickets too!

– Some recruiting bits here and here.

– CollegeSwimming.com has some accolades for Navy assistant coach Rob Lias.

– Press Box has a blurb on local football programs, and PennLive.com has a Navy preview from a Penn State perspective. Neither is all that profound, but at least it isn’t more conference expansion stuff.

LADIES DOIN’ WORK

The women’s lacrosse team beating Oregon on Saturday to clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season is one more accolade in what has been a banner year for women’s sports at USNA. The team is 18-2 and went undefeated in conference play, winning their third Patriot League title in only their fifth varsity season. The other upstart women’s team, tennis, finished 20-3 and advanced to the conference finals in their third varsity season. The women’s track team just won the Patriot League championship on Saturday, while the crew team placed second the week before. The basketball team advanced to the NCAA tournament after winning their second straight Patriot League tournament. The soccer team completed another winning season, finishing 13-6-3 and advancing to the Patriot League tournament final. The swimming & diving team set a meet record in winning the Patriot League before moving on to their first ECAC championship. The cross country team won the Patriot League championship and placed 7th at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship, their highest finish since 2000. Our cup runneth over.

That’s a good thing, not just as a fan, but because it’s important to the school that Navy’s women’s programs have success. In order to attract high-achieving women to USNA, it’s vital to show that they can excel in an environment that has traditionally been more appealing to men. Individual women are themselves the best recruiting tool as they go out into the fleet and have successful careers, but athletics are another highly visible way to demonstrate overall kick-assness. Navy’s ladies are doing just that, putting together what might be the most successful year for women’s athletics in service academy history.

I’m not going to look it up. Let’s just accept it as fact and brag about it.

SOME CHATTER

A few things to discuss:

– The conference expansion gong show continues. Moving on from its failed merger with the Mountain West, Conference USA is adding five teams: North Texas, FIU, Louisiana Tech, UTSA, and UNC-Charlotte. Old Dominion also reportedly has an invite, but is mulling things over. The Sun Belt added Texas State and Georgia State to make up for its losses. In a move that was long anticipated, San Jose State and Utah State made their way to the Mountain West.

The departure of Louisiana Tech, UTSA, Texas State, SJSU, and Utah State on top of those that have already left means that the WAC is pretty much dead as a football conference. Only Idaho and New Mexico State remain, and the future looks pretty bleak for them as those two might be the first casualties of the haves-have nots divide. Even if they intend to find a way to survive in I-A, how on earth will these guys be able to recruit? Who’s going to want to sign on for four years when they can’t be sure that there will even be a program in four years? Expect a lot of JUCO transfers for the Aggies and Vandals in the near future.

Paul Meyerberg sums it up:

As someone who grew up watching Hawaii and epic BYU-San Diego State shootouts, seeing the WAC go is a sad thing, even if those days were already long gone. There was a lot of innovation in that league, from Air Coryell, to the spread option, to the 3-3-5 defense. Even the modern WAC was fun to watch, with Pat Hill’s take-on-all-comers Fresno State teams, Boise State’s rise to the national spotlight, and Hawaii’s run & shoot for those of us who wanted our college football Saturdays to stretch into Sunday morning. Those programs are still around, but having them all in one crazy package made for a good time. Of course, the Mountain West is basically the nuWAC now, so maybe some sense of the spirit of the WAC will live on for a little while longer, just with a stupider logo.

For those of us who have been stationed in Norfolk or have been long-time residents… ODU MIGHT BE PLAYING FOOTBALL IN C-USA. How bonkers is that?

– Speaking of the Mountain West, they released their hodgepodge national television schedule yesterday. Of note is that Navy will be playing Air Force on CBS again (cool), but at 9:30 a.m. local time (lollerskates). Crazy early start times and midweek games were a driving factor for the MWC in leaving ESPN and starting their own network, but I guess beggars can’t be choosers at this point. CBS Sports Network owns the conference’s rights, but “will sub-license games to NBC Sports Network and ESPN” according to the release. Judging by television appearances, the Mountain West is made up of Boise State and the nine dwarves, with the Broncos getting 10 of their games picked up under this arrangement. The announcement includes games like Boise State at Michigan State and Air Force at Army that aren’t part of the Mountain West package, but rather the respective home teams’ TV deal. Not on the list is Air Force’s game at Michigan on Sept. 8, which will definitely be televised. It might end up on ESPN, although looking at the Big Ten schedule that week there’s a chance it’ll be on the Big Ten Network instead. Teams will be forced to look for local TV coverage for the rest of the conference’s games.

– Don’t forget the women’s lax game vs. Oregon on Saturday, which will be streamed live online for free.

Weekend of Champions

Watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs tonight (Go Caps!), I remembered that Navy is home to some new Patriot League Championships thanks to an excellent showing this past weekend. A few quick words on each:

Women’s Lacrosse – Six years ago, Navy did not have a Varsity Women’s Lacrosse team. Now Navy is home to a three-peat Patriot League champion. And as if winning three titles in a row isn’t impressive enough, the Mids went undefeated in league play this year. With a season record of 17-2 (a season opening loss at High Point and late March loss the only blemishes on the schedule), Navy now heads to Oregon for a play-in game to the NCAA tournament.

Golf – Winning the title for the first time since 2008, Navy now has 6 of the last 14 titles. And there could be no sweeter way to win it than edging out a 3 stroke victory over Army. With the win, Navy earns an automatic bid to the NCAA regionals in mid-May.

Men’s Tennis – Two championship titles at the expense of Army? In my Navy sports? It’s more likely than you think. The Navy men took down Army 4-1 in Annapolis to claim the league crown. Navy held serve on it’s #1 seed through the tourney and will now move on to the NCAA tourney, where Florida (12th seed out of 64) awaits. This is Navy’s 5th Men’s Tennis title in the last 6 years.

Not bad for a weekend, huh?