A Word on the New Administration

EDIT: David Ausiello has a good article over at GoMids.com that runs down some the changes and covers the "official" response from the Academy in regards to support for athletics. I'd recommend reading this if any of the below is news to you.

There is not a lot I can say about the ongoing changes that VADM and new Superintendent Jeffrey Fowler has made at the Academy. As frequent readers know I did not attend the Naval Academy, and have never served in the Navy in any capacity. This, admittedly, makes me a little wary of passing judgement upon administrative decisions and, as my West Point friends say, "navy stuff."

All that being said, it would be pointless for me to ignore these questions altogether. As I pointed out in my last scrimmage debrief, there is a general concern on the count of the players concerning these changes and how they relate to athletics, particularly Brigade support and the question of Army week. As Coach Johnson pointed out the other night on WBAL, there are only expected to be 200 Midshipmen in attendance for the temple game, a figure which does not reflect well when you consider the by-products of Navy's success on the gridiron; most notably increased attention for the Academy and it's athletic programs. There is also growing concern that these decisions may be precursors to other attempts to reduce the role of athletics at the Academy, although to be fair many of these concerns are still rooted in rumors. I won't lie, these new changes certainly concern me, and I only hope that the new Superintendent can understand just how important Navy's recent success across the athletic spectrum has been. But more than anything else, I hope that he does what's in the best interest of the Brigade, the Navy, and the country itself, and finds an appropriate course of action that benifits each.

For those of you looking for a more thorough review of these changes and an opinion from both a graduate and navy sports fan, I highly recommend heading over to the Bird Dog and taking a look at Phelix's post entitled "Self-Inflicted Wounds." There is also some very good discussion in the comment section of the post, so be sure to give that a perusal as well. As far as the rest of the week goes here, I can't make any promises with regards to posting. With school starting up again I have to pack up all my stuff and get moved in tomorrow and Friday, and depending on how much crap I'm required to do over the weekend, I may or may not be able to finish up some posts I've had in the works for awhile. I'll definitely try to chime in if I get the chance, but it may just be passing along stuff I've read on the Internet.