Sunday, December 31, 2006

Anatomy (Well, Kinda) of the Triple Stack

Yea, what, exactly, was that?

That's the question some of us Navy fans are asking this morning, as we try to make sense of the first wrinkle in what I would deem a very odd game. While I'm sure this is the least of our concerns after yesterday's 25-24 heartbreaking loss in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, it nevertheless is a place to start in explaining the game.
(Picture by Me, ask before stealing it please)

HEARTBREAKING


PHOTO BY TODD SUMLIN

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Navy Recruiting News

In case you haven't been paying attention, I've got you covered. We're in the "dark period" of recruiting right now, but Paul Johnson has already been able to secure eight verbal commitments and should be able to really lock up some great prospects come January. Here's a collection of links to get you acquainted with both the situation and Navy's current commits.

General

Success Serves Navy in Recruiting Mission (Bill Wagner, Annapolis Capital)

Navy Recruiting Update (Me, Navy Football Fan House)

Navy Commits Lead Teams to Playoffs (Me, Fan House)

Player Specific

Navy Gets the Other Caleb King (Me, Fan House)

Cabbage Picks Navy (Me, Fan House)

QB of the Future: Davis To Be A Mid (Me, Fan House)

As usual, updates when they come available. Hope everyone is having a pleasant and productive day.

(Picture from The Daily Commercial / Keri Rasmussen)

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

College Football Blog Awards Part Uno


The 2006 College Football Blogger Awards. They're all the rage these days, really. Remember when nominating your favorite Independent blog that Notre Dame is being filtered in with the Big East blogs for this event, which means by default I'm really the only candidate. Alright, I'll shut up now.


The Dr. Z Award
Cogent, interesting analysis.



Dawgsports.com. I still don't understand much of what Kyle is actually saying, but that doesn't make it any less interesting. He has a great base of knowledge on teams all over the country, and does a phenomenal job keeping track of all the daily happenings around the world of college football.

The Trev Alberts Quits To Do Construction Award
Comic relief; overall hilarity.

Like I'm sure you've read on a number of blogs to date, this one is simply a no-brainer. Orson's Every Day Should Be Saturday was the first college football blog I ever read, and is still the first I read when I get up every morning. I think I speak for all of us, however, when I say I wish he could have toned down the humor when interviewing Michael Lewis. I had no idea people actually could be that annoying when they laughed.



The Sports Fans Don't Cry Award
The blog that has suffered through its chosen team's dismal season with the most dignity.

How Ornage 44 can still find the will to not only post on his own blog, but on his Fan House blog, I'll probably never know. Let us all hope we can find such inner strength when our own teams suck that much.

The Keith Jackson Circa 1995 Award
The blog with the most consistently expressive and excellent writing.

The Blue Gray Sky. Excellent analysis combined with just solid diction and tone. If there was a "classiest blog" award, these guys would win it. Note that my overt fondness of the 'Domers played a huge role in this nomination. Deal with it.

The Brady Quinn Award
The prettiest blog, the best layout and design.


Defiantly College Football Resource. Brian has not only been a friend to Pitch Right since its inception, he's also been a friend to every blog since its inception. In a world of Blogger sponsored clones, CFR gets it right.

Best New Blog
The best new college football blog

There have been a lot of great blogs that have launched within the past year. The only problem is, I have no idea which ones are which, considering I've only launched within the past year. However I'm going to nominate another friend of Pitch Right (a reoccurring theme here) in Block U. Jazzy Ute does a great job not only keeping tabs of the Utes, but of keeping us all informed on whats going on in my favorite region of the country, The Mountain West.


More (hopefully anyway) tommarow...

Monday, December 18, 2006

Playoff = Dumb

For those of you wondering (all four or five of you) I am not in favor of a playoff for the Bowl subdivision or whatever they've decided to call Div I-A. The reasons for my opposition are simple. I just don't want one. I'm worried that the hoopla surrounding a playoff would take away from the excitement of Bowl season and even the playoff system in place for Divisions I-AA, II, and III. It's not a concept too alien, and I link it to the relationship between the NCAA Basketball tournament and the NIT tournament. Do you know who won the NIT last year?

Exactly, nobody (at least not regular fans) knows, and once more, nobody really cares. I don't want this to befall the Bowls, and the I don't want the matchup between two of the best teams in the land detracting from the significance of say, oh a Rice (which hasn't had a winning season in forever) in albeit a very low-tier Bowl. That's not to say I hate the hoopla of the big game or I'm anti big-time college football, I just would be very suspicious of where the "rest" of the Nation's teams would fit in amongst an ESPN/ABC controlled playoff system. Do we really think the powers that be would take anytime to contribute (meaningfully) to the Bowl games featuring teams that (gasp) aren't a prominent feature in the Top 10?

Because I don't, and that's why I'm proud to be part of what Brian has labeled the "Playoffs are bad, m'kay?" coalition. Well, that's my short little speil. I have more to say about this issue but not a lot of time to say, so if by chance you should like to either rudely disagree with me or give me the thumbs up, feel free to leave a comment.

Q&A With a BC Blogger

Just a heads up for anyone interested in reading this who hasn't already seen it on the Fan House. I've just published Part I of an interview Bill Maloney and I had over the weekend. Bill, as some of you know, is the author of the Boston College Fan House page and does some great work over at Eagle In Atlanta. Among other things, we discussed Tom O'Brian, Navy's secondary, Paul Johnson, Brian Toal, and even Doug Flutie. Check it Out.



(Picture from Reuters)

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Paul Johnson and the Fall of Fisher DeBerry

They say that things like this are bound to happen. That in all manner events, whether on or off the football field, all things must eventuall come to an end. For Fisher DeBerry and the Air Force football community, the dynasty built during the 1980s and 1990s has come to a sudden halt following a third consecutive losing season, an event which culminated with the retirment of the 68 year old living legend and the beginning of a new Service Academy football era.

And just as Rome did not fall by the hands of the Visigoths alone, so to can we trace the fall of Fisher DeBerry's Air Force program to a multitude of different causes and events. And while one can dispute the label of "fallen," one certainly cannot find argument in the fact that the Falcons of today are not the Falcons of five, ten, fifteen, or even twenty years ago. The possible explanations for this are many, and in reality we will come to find that it was probably a combination of both internal and external factors which finally slowed DeBerry's Juggernaut. From the advent of a more competitive Mountain West to the changing face of the Air Force Academy's administration, these factors finally came to a head in 2003, which, not by coincidence alone, was also the year another Service Academy asserted itself onto a winning stage. But for the sake of argument, I wish to focus in on only one of the many aspects that contributed to the recent downswing of the Air Force football program, and with it, DeBerry's career; The advent of Paul Johnson's resurgent Navy Football program.
(Picture from Deadspin.com)