Black Knight Blog - February

The Black Knight Blog is a new initiative provided by the Office of Athletic Communications to offer Army fans an even more in-depth look into the everyday happenings here at West Point. The intent of this blog is to keep readers informed with a light, personal touch that will further enhance the fan experience. Please enjoy and send any comments, questions or concerns to [email protected] . We welcome as much feedback as possible!

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Saturday, February 28

Brian Gunning coming at you live from Lewisburg, Pa. with an unprecedented Saturday edition of the Black Knight Blog. Just wanted to update all the men's hoops fans out there about where things stand as of 4:30 p.m. Lafayette nearly pulled off the upset over American, but the Eagles came away with a seven-point win in overtime. That simplifies things somewhat for the Black Knights. If Army loses against Bucknell tonight, the BKs are locked into the seventh seed and play at Holy Cross next Wednesday.

There are still some question marks out there with an Army win. If Holy Cross can maintain its 11-point halftime lead over Lehigh AND Navy takes out Colgate (7 p.m. tip), the Black Knights will host Lehigh on Wednesday night. If Army wins, but Lehigh makes a comeback and Colgate sinks the Mids, the Black Knights will be the sixth seed and travel back to Annapolis. If Lehigh AND Navy win, Army is the fifth seed and plays at Lehigh. If Holy Cross AND Colgate win, the Black Knights are the fifth seed and will play at Colgate.

Slowly but surely things are coming into focus. The bottom line, as I'm sure the coaches would tell you, is that Army needs to take care of business to have a chance, so there is no use worrying about anything else. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's what Coach Crews meant during our dinner conversation last night when he gave me a polite hand wave to shut up about it.

Be sure to check out my game recap later tonight. I'll be sure to include the final outcome of all this hoopla. That is of course, the Navy-Colgate game ends at a reasonable hour and doesn't go into an overtime or seven.

Friday, February 27 - Part II

(Not sure what got fouled up in the Space-Time Continuum, but lucky you - there are TWO entrys in the Black Knight Blog today. It is like Christmas around  here if you ask me.)

Well, here it is 1321 (or 1:21 p.m. for all you non-military types out there) on Friday and I just realized that today is my regulary scheduled day in the blog rotation.

Tim Volkmann here and I just got back from meeting with the ESPNU production team that will be working our lacrosse game tomorrow versus Cornell. Faceoff is schedule for 5:00 p.m. in the friendly confines of Michie Stadium where Army will play its next three games. Following tomorrow’s meeting with the Big Red (the Ivy League school not the gum), your Black Knights will host Bryant on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. followed by a showdown with service academy rival Air Force next Saturday at 12:00 p.m.

Legendary coach and former Black Knight boss Jack Emmer will provide the color commentary for Saturday’s broadcast, along with play-by-play announcer Eamon McAnaney, who traded his lacrosse stick in for a microphone after graduating from Notre Dame in the late 1990s.

Cornell edged the Black Knights, 9-8, in last year’s meeting in Ithaca, N.Y. in what I have heard from the coaches and many of the players was the worst weather conditions they have ever played in. The turf field was saturated with ice and freezing rain that pretty much came down for the entire game. I haven’t heard the complete weather forecast for tomorrow, but I think I heard something about rain, so hopefully tomorrow isn’t a replay of last year. That would be terrible. (or maybe I should say terrible for all the people on the field, since it is guaranteed to be sunny and about 68 degrees in the press box tomorrow where I’ll be working).

Looking ahead to Wednesday, Army head coach Joe Alberici will see a familiar face looking back at him as the Bulldogs, which are playing their first year at the Division I level after spending their first nine seasons of existence at the Division II level, are led Mike Pressler, whom Alberici served as an assistant coach for from 1997-2005 at Duke. Alberici will be serving at Pressler’s assistant once again next year as the duo will be reunited to lead the U.S. National Team at the World Championships in 2010.

THIS JUST IN According to our ace ticket manager Tom Richard, everyone will be admitted free to Wednesday’s game no charge. So come on out and enjoy what should prove to be a great game, under the lights of Michie Stadium. And don’t worry, I promise the weather will be nice.

Next Saturday, fans will be in for a treat as Army will be honoring the last five head coaches of the Black Knight lacrosse teams dating back to 1929. Coaching legends Jack Emmer, Al Pisano and James “Ace” Adams will be on hand, along with family members of the late F. Morris Touchstone, for a halftime ceremony during the Air Force showdown.

Have a great weekend everyone GO ARMY BEAT CORNELL!

Friday, February 27

I must start today's blog off with a huge I'M SORRY!  I must say that I got caught up doing lots-o-women's basketball stuff yesterday and completely neglected my blog duties. Thankfully Gunny graciously filled the hole with his men's basketball info, so I will try to do the same today!  Thanks for being patient!

For those of you following the men's and/or women's basketball teams have noticed a common theme this year. That is ... everything is a mess!  For the casual fan, it can be a disaster trying to figure out who will play whom and what seed Army will be, etc. Luckily, you have "experts" like ourselves to fill you in!  Since Gunny did such a lovely job yesterday, I'll do my best to catch you up on the ladies side of things ...

Here's the bottom line ... (1) Army must win to finish in 2nd and (2) Army can finish anywhere from 2nd-6th depending on the outcome of Saturday's games. To catch you up, the Black Knights enter Saturday's home contest in a three-way tie with American and Holy Cross for second place. They will host Bucknell, which will put a four-game winning streak on the line against the Black Knights on Senior Day. I spoke with coach Dave Magarity this morning, and he didn't have to tell me how important this game is!  Simply put, it's a must-win in order to guarantee us at least a No. 2 seed.

The Black Knights must win on Saturday to have a chance at the second seed. If Army wins and both Holy Cross and American fall, the Black Knights will claim the second seed. Army can pick up the second seed even if American wins, provided the Black Knights win and Navy defeats Colgate. If Army and Holy Cross win and American loses, the Black Knights and Crusaders would be tied for second place. The tie would be broken by the teams' standing in the RPI ratings on Sunday. As of right now, Army has an RPI of 174, four spots ahead of Holy Cross at 178. Stay tuned for the rocky road ahead ... or maybe it will be smooth sailing? Nobody really knows for sure!

I must also mention that along with Saturday's game being a critical contest for the Black Knights, fans attending will also be treated to a variety of pre-game, in-game and post-game activities. Click here for details on Scout Day, Senior Day, Black Knight Buddies Day and West Point Youth Sports Day. Phew ... that's a lot going on!  Army's players will also stick around (hopefully following a win!) for an autograph session, so bring your Sharpies!

Before I leave you on this busy Friday afternoon, here's a look at what is also ahead on the Army sports calendar this weekend ... the hockey team is also in a must-win situation as they host AIC tonight at 7 p.m. before traveling to AIC on Saturday ... Friday night will also be Senior Night for seven Army players ... there are plenty of playoff implications this weekend for hockey as well, so to better inform yourself, take a gander at Shak's prize-winning hockey notes by clicking here ... also in action, the baseball team hitched a flight down to South Carolina for a three-game series with USC-Upstate this weekend ... coming off last weekend's Patriot League Championships, the track and field teams head to the NYU Fast Track Invite at the NYC Armory ... both the men's and women's tennis teams will host matches at home this weekend ... oh, and I can't forget the lacrosse team taking on powerhouse Cornell on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Michie Stadium ... if you can't make it out for the game, catch all of the action live on ESPNU (I hear some famous guy with Army ties named Jack Emmer might be part of the production - you'll have to tune in to find out!).

Here's to a great weekend for all!  GO ARMY, BEAT EVERYONE!

Thursday, February 26

Tracy will be along a little later today with her thoughts, but I wanted to catch everybody up on the Patriot League men's basketball scenarios following Wednesday's results. Everything that needed to happen to keep the Black Knights in contention for fourth place and a home game in the quarterfinals took place last night. Army had a convincing 24-point win at Lafayette. Not only was it our first win in Easton since 2002, it was the program's largest margin of victory ever in a Patriot League game. You can read the complete recap here. In addition, both Colgate and Lehigh lost, locking the Black Knights into a three-way tie for fourth at 5-8 in league play.

Now down to business. Thanks to Matt Dougherty at the Patriot League office for providing us with all the possible scenarios heading into the final day of the regular season on Saturday.

First, the top three seeds are set. American earned the top seed for the second straight  year with its win over Navy. Holy Cross' victory over Colgate secured the Crusaders the second seed, and Lehigh's loss to Bucknell secured the third seed for Navy.

Saturday's schedule looks like this ...

American at Lafayette - 1 p.m.
Lehigh at Holy Cross - 3:30 p.m.
Colgate at Navy - 7 p.m.
Army at Bucknell - 7 p.m.

And away we go ...

Army, Holy Cross, American, Navy Win:
Army No. 4, Lehigh No. 5, Colgate No. 6, Bucknell No. 7, Lafayette No. 8

Army, Lehigh, American, Navy Win:
Lehigh No. 4, Army No. 5, Colgate No. 6, Bucknell No. 7, Lafayette No. 8

Army, Lehigh, Lafayette, Navy Win:
Lehigh No. 4, Army No. 5, Lafayette No. 6, Colgate No. 7, Bucknell No. 8

Army, Lehigh, Lafayette, Colgate Win:
Colgate No. 4, Lehigh No. 5, Army No. 6, Lafayette No. 7, Bucknell No. 8

Army, Lehigh, American, Colgate Win:
Colgate No. 4, Lehigh No. 5, Army No. 6, Bucknell No. 7, Lafayette No. 8
 
Army, Holy Cross, American, Colgate Win:
Colgate No. 4, Army No. 5, Lehigh No. 6, Bucknell No. 7, Lafayette No. 8

Army, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Navy Win:
Army No. 4, Lafayette No. 5, Lehigh No. 6, Colgate No. 7, Bucknell No. 8

Army, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Colgate Win:
Colgate No. 4, Army No. 5, Lafayette No. 6, Lehigh No. 7, Bucknell No. 8

Bucknell, Holy Cross, American, Navy Win:
Colgate No. 4, Bucknell No. 5, Lehigh No. 6, Army No. 7, Lafayette No. 8

Bucknell, Lehigh, American, Navy Win:
Lehigh No. 4, Colgate No. 5, Bucknell No. 6, Army No. 7, Lafayette No. 8

Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette, Navy Win:
Lehigh No. 4, Colgate No. 5, Bucknell No. 6, Army No. 7, Lafayette No. 8

Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette, Colgate Win:
Lehigh No. 4, Colgate No. 5, Army No. 6, Bucknell No. 7, Lafayette No. 8

Bucknell, Lehigh, American, Colgate Win:
Lehigh No. 4, Colgate No. 5, Bucknell No. 6, Army No. 7, Lafayette No. 8

Bucknell, Holy Cross, American, Colgate Win:
Colgate No. 4, Bucknell No. 5, Lehigh No. 6, Army No. 7, Lafayette No. 8

Bucknell, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Navy Win:
Colgate No. 4, Bucknell No. 5, Lehigh/Army RPI for No. 6/7, Lafayette No. 8

Bucknell, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Colgate:
Colgate No. 4, Army No. 5, Bucknell No. 6, Lehigh No. 7, Lafayette No. 8

Boiling everything down, it means is that Army can finish no lower than seventh. The only two teams the Black Knights can not play on Wednesday are American and Bucknell. If Army wins at Bucknell, it can finish no lower than sixth, and that is only if Lehigh and Colgate both win.

If the Black Knights host a game, it will be Lehigh if American beats Lafayette, and Lafayette if the Leopards pull the upset and knock off the Eagles.

Army's potential road opponents are Lehigh, Navy, Colgate and Holy Cross. Of the Black Knights' potential quarterfinal opponents, Colgate and Holy Cross are the only two teams to beat Army twice in the regular season.

Hope that helps. Again, thanks to Matt and the rest of the folks at the league office for providing us all the scenarios.

Hopefully we see you at Christl!

Wednesday, February 25

Hi, this is Mady Salvani taking care of Wednesday’s Blog. I included a new photo for the page from last night’s Brigade Boxing. It is a great shot of a majority of the staff starting from left to right with Mark Brumbaugh, Annie Holliday, Bob Beretta , Tracy Nelson and Ryan Yanoshak . I dubbed it the “motley crew.”

All five had various jobs last night at the Brigade Boxing that was on ESPN-U. Boxing is not a collegiate sport now, but for you history buffs it was from 1921 to 1955. I never covered boxing back then for those thinking I might have been around. True, I have covered a lot of sports, but boxing wasn’t among them.

Back then some of the teams Army competed against were Catholic University, Bucknell, Maryland, Penn State, Syracuse and Western Maryland to name a few. I don’t know how they kept score but results were listed as 5-3, 2 1/2 -5 1/2. Army had numerous intercollegiate champions during that period to include the most outstanding boxers in A.A. Jordan in 1945 and  P.H. Monroe in 1948. 

Boxing is still part of cadet life and the Brigade Boxing is big time. I missed it last night because I didn’t want to see any “blood and guts”. When Tracy came back she told me a boxer’s nose was split open and blood was gushing everywhere, so I was doubly glad I had made that decision.

Boxing is a well controlled sport and the young man was quickly attended it, but as much as I love to go to athletic events, this is one of those sports not high on my list. Yet I love lacrosse and there is a lot of contact in that sport go figure.

Today is not my regular day for blogging. Tracy and I switched because after tonight’s women’s basketball game versus Lafayette, she will be better able to give you a scenario of where Army stands in the final regular season standings as we head into next weekend’s tournament. The same is true for the men who are Lafayette tonight ... Brian Gunning told me the men could finish as high as fourth or as low as eighth here’s hoping we are fourth, and if we finish that high, we earn a home game in the tournament.

This is an exciting part of the winter season as teams prepare for conference tournament. In addition to exciting games with basketball and hockey vying to earn a top seed  in their conference tournaments, the rifle team is headed to Ole Miss this weekend for the Great America Rifle Conference Championships. Army is the defending champion and will be pressed to defend, but coach Ron Wigger has a young squad that is peaking at just the right time.

I always get sad when tournament time ends one season, but on the other hand I can jump into the spring sports and in my case it is softball. I am hoping for my team to win the Patriot League title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament my goal is the same as my coaches. I was with women’s soccer team in the fall that went to the NCAA Regionals in Virginia after defeating top-seeded Navy in overtime  in the championship finals of the Patriot League Tournament to earn that automatic NCAA bid which was the first in school history. And being a greedy person, I want to go with my softball squad to the NCAAs this spring.

Tuesday, February 24

Army Athletic Communications, this is Annie (Holliday!) Well I was trying to come up with a clever way to open this blog entry that would incorporate boxing terminology, but with the way this day has shaped up, my creative juices just aren’t flowing, and I only have a short time with which to knock this out (see, at least I tried). Tonight is the 53rd Brigade Boxing Open, and this year marks the fourth time ESPNU will be broadcasting the event. Although Boxing isn’t normally a sport we cover, Athletic Communications gets to be involved with supporting the coordination of everything media related, especially with the ESPNU side of it.

I’ve been lucky enough to sit ringside two years in a row now (will it be a third? I’ll find out when I get there this afternoon) and I’d say it’s one of my favorite USMA events to behold. The atmosphere alone, with the pep band playing, a big crowd of cadets on the floor as well as the track above, and cheerleaders and honored guests stepping into the ring to hold up the cards in between rounds, is enough to charge one up for an exciting night of competition. Then the boxers come in and fight with unlimited amounts of determination, heart and respect, all under the watchful eye of their coach, who referees every bout. And there’s something about the way it all comes together, too. With all of the wonderful people showcased in the event itself, there are some seriously great people behind the scenes, going above and beyond to make this a special night for all the fighters that earned a spot in the finals. It is hard not to leave inspired, and I’ve got to admit, I wasn’t really a fan of boxing before experiencing this particular event. But I’m always a sucker for shining examples of the old adage that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Well with all that said, it’s five minutes to 3:00 and I’m about to owe a buck if this gets in late. Tune in to ESPNU tonight at 7 p.m. EST, or pop on over to Arvin Gym at 6 p.m. if you are local (the event is open to the public), and check out the BBO yourself!

Until next time... Go Army!
 

Monday, February 23

Somebody Grab Me My Abacus
It's a windy day at West Point, so who better to write today's blog than the person in the office most full of hot air. Brian Gunning at the controls today as I hope no trees end up on the roof of my car out in the parking lot. Seriously, between the clanking of the heating system and the wind beating at my windows, it sounds like I'm in the middle of a washing machine or something.

It took me all day Sunday, but I think I've recovered from the trip to Annapolis last weekend. For those of you who have ever have the occasion to travel on Rt. 13 in Delaware, make sure you stop at The Dog House. Bob introduced me to this place, a favorite of his for years, on last year's trip to Navy and now I look for excuses to head in that direction. My aunt actually lives in that area so she may find me on her doorstep a bit more often than usual. Anyway, if you couldn't tell by the name, it is a hot dog joint. It's one of those places that doesn't look like much from the outside, and well, not much from the inside either with only about 25 stools in at the counter, but has tremendous grub. We all have our own "House" routines. I prefer a small cheesesteak with mushrooms and onions and a chili dog with onions (followed by several Altoids). Rich DeMarco usually goes with a combo of cheese and chili dogs, while Bob also enjoys a cheesesteak, but goes with the cheese dog instead. We made two trips this year, once on the way down and once on the way back, and while delicious and well worth it, I should have bought stock in Pepto. Don't get me wrong. I'd gladly spend a week downing nothing but the pink stuff for a Dog House trip.

Another thing I'm over is the disappointment in losing Saturday's men's basketball game to Navy. One of the things that has brought me back is that the Black Knights are still in the running for a home game in the Patriot League Tournament. Lafayette's win over Lehigh yesterday has thrown positions four through eight in the league into a quagmire. American (11-1) has a two-game lead over Holy Cross (9-3) for the league lead and Navy (7-5) is currently in third place, two games ahead of both Lehigh (5-7) and Colgate (5-7). Army (4-8) and Lafayette (4-8) are tied for sixth, one game ahead of Bucknell (3-9). See why I came up with today's title? Make sure you follow this closely, it gets kind of crazy ...

Since Colgate owns two wins over the Black Knights, Army has to finish a game ahead of the Raiders to pass them. That means that the Black Knights have to win both of their remaining games (at Lafayette on Wednesday and at Bucknell on Saturday) and Colgate must lose their last two games (home versus Holy Cross on Wednesday and at Navy on Saturday) for the Black Knights to have any chance of finishing as the fourth seed. Also, Lehigh must lose to Holy Cross in their finale on Saturday for this to work since Army lost two games to the Crusaders.

The easiest scenario is Army wins two, Colgate loses twice and Lehigh loses twice (at Bucknell on Saturday and at Holy Cross on Saturday). That puts the Black Knights in sole possession of fourth place at 6-8 with Colgate and Lehigh tied at 5-9. Those two teams split the regular-season series so it would go to the next tiebreaker - record versus the rest of the league in descending order. Both teams lost to American twice, both teams would have lost to Holy Cross twice, but Lehigh would win the tiebreaker because of their win versus Navy earlier this season.  That means the Black Knights would host the Mountain Hawks on March 4. It would be the third straight season Lehigh and Army met in the Patriot League quarterfinals, however, the previous two meetings were in Bethlehem. The Black Knights pulled out two road upsets - one as the sixth seed in 2007 and one as the fifth seed in 2008.

That's easy right? Now the fun stuff.

If Army wins both games and Lehigh splits its two remaining games by defeating Bucknell and losing to Holy Cross, both the Black Knights and Mountain Hawks are 6-8. The two teams split the season series so we go back to the tiebreaker fun. Both teams would have lost twice to American, lost twice to Holy Cross and split with Navy. This is where it matters what order the rest of the league finishes in. If Colgate finishes sixth, then Lehigh would win the tiebreaker due to its split with Raiders (Army lost both games to Colgate). If Lafayette finishes sixth, Army would win the tiebreaker because it would be 2-0 against the Leopards, while Lehigh would be 1-1. In order for the Leopards to pass the Raiders, they need to pull off the upset at home versus American on Saturday. Either way, it's Army vs. Lehigh in the Patriot League quarterfinals for the third year in a row.

I won't go into the rest of the scenarios quite yet. There are all kinds of variations that have the Black Knights finishing anywhere from fourth to eighth. The only thing for certain right now is that American and Holy Cross will host quarterfinal games (Navy needs one more win or a Lehigh or Colgate loss to wrap up a home game). The rest of the league is still in contention for that final home game in the first round. The picture will become a lot clearer after Wednesday night's games - at least that's what I'm hoping for.

Army has never hosted a Patriot League tournament game since the league went to its current format of the top four seeds hosting. The Black Knights would love another game at Christl Arena. Army is 4-3 at home in league play this season and  have won six of their last nine conference games at West Point. The Black Knights are still searching for their first conference road win of the season and have lost seven straight regular-season Patriot League games oustide the gates. Although, in the postseason, Army is 2-2 on the road in the last two years.

The women's team is also jockeying for position down the stretch, but I'll let Tracy go through all that stuff. The only thing I know is that they could finish as high as the No. 2 seed and no lower than No. 6 in their tournament. The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will be played at Lehigh on March 7 and 8. The championship game is played at the arena of the highest-remaining seed.

One final note ... I'd be remiss in not congratulating all the tracksters, swimmers and divers that won Patriot League titles this weekend at their respective meets. Especially big props to diver Lindsay Adao for winning the Diver of the Meet award, Brandon Thurman for winning the Most Outstanding Male Track Performer of the Meet and Ebony Thomas for winning two events and breaking the Patriot League championship records in the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes.

All this thinking has made me hungry. I think I'll call my aunt to see what she's up for a visitor.

GO ARMY!!!

Friday, February 20

Conference Championships, Beat Navy and More. . .
My original opening to today’s post was going to be, “With the swimming and diving and track and field Patriot League Championships getting underway . . .,” but I realized that might be as confusing as “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.”

Then I got thinking, wouldn’t that be a cool event? Why not throw a pool in the middle of a track and just have one big Olympic event? I imagine the tracksters would probably like the option of jumping in a pool after their races. The swimmers would probably enjoy lounging in the warm sands of the long jump pit after their races (when not in use, of course). Throw in some heart-warming stories on the athletes ( Rich DeMarco , Dennis Trapani: we’ll need you if Bob Costas is unavailable) and you’ll think its August in Beijing all over again. All we need is millions and millions of dollars to build facilities like this.

Coming back to reality though, Mark Brumbaugh here getting set for yet another entertaining weekend in the wonderful, wide world of West Point sports. Before I got sidetracked, I was going to remind you that there are three Army-Navy duels tomorrow, and the swimming and diving teams and the track and field teams are both contending for their respective Patriot League crowns. In the pool, the Army men finished day-one yesterday in second place in the team standings, while the women stand fifth.
 
The track and field teams are at Navy with the pentathlon and heptathlon events getting underway today and the remaining bulk of the events to be contested Saturday and Sunday. As always, I am quite optimistic about the Black and Gold’s chances. Army has been consistently posting some of the top performances in the conference all season.

After last weekend’s BU Valentine Invitational, two Academy records fell and Army took four of the six weekly Patriot League awards. You would think that Ebony Thomas, who broke the indoor 200-meter dash record, would have been in that four. She wasn’t though, and I hear that she was not very pleased about that. Hopefully, she can defend her status as the “Outstanding Track Athlete of the Meet” and earn herself another piece of hardware to make up for it.

As Bob mentioned yesterday, the men's and women's basketball teams will be taking on Navy in the annual star games tomorrow. He and Brian Gunning left this morning for Annapolis to join Tracy Nelson for the weekend. Tracy has been enjoying the D.C. area since Tuesday night as she has stayed with the women’s hoops after they beat American on Wednesday night to start the road trip.

With Tim Volkmann departing yesterday for Army lacrosse’s game with Syracuse tonight at 7 p.m. live on Time Warner Cable and Mady Salvani a little under the weather, only Annie Holliday, Ryan Yanoshak and yours truly are here holding the fort down at West Point today. We’re going to lose Annie soon though as she is going to brave a trip to the DMV (good luck!). Figures that we have both of the people with a variant of “athletic director” in their title out, but we really don't have enough for a raging office party. We have to be ready for hockey tonight and tomorrow night, so I guess it’s for the better.

As it has been fairly well documented in this blog, I am from Rochester, N.Y. (where you can tell Spring is coming when snow is only forecasted for seven out of the next 10 days), which is the home of Army hockey’s weekend opponent, the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). You might think that this might represent a loyalty issue for me. However, aside from the most important “I know who allows me to buy food every week” factor, I don’t have much of a rooting interest in RIT since I actually have never seen them play in person. RIT didn’t join Division I and get the corresponding publicity bump until I went off to UMass for the hockey season months, so I was never that inclined to go. However, they have always had a tremendous following, so even if I tried to go to a few games, I probably would not have been able to get in the building.

RIT was actually a school I strongly considered going to. I applied and was accepted, but the lure of sport management specific classes proved to be too much for me to resist, so off to UMass I went. A few of my friends from Webster Schroeder High School ended up going to RIT though, so I would love for Army to pick up a pair of wins and award me at least a couple weeks worth of bragging rights.

Of course today also includes men’s tennis in the Lichtenberg Tennis Center, while tomorrow morning will feature women’s tennis. The women’s tennis team will also be home on Sunday while the men will head to Yale.

Again, Saturday is “Army-Navy day” as both basketball teams will be at Navy while the wrestling team hosts Navy in Christl Arena at 4 p.m.  Hockey will take on RIT again at 7 p.m. in Tate Rink.

I can’t leave out baseball as they will be competing in North Carolina against Ohio University and Davidson on both Saturday and Sunday.

With conference titles and stars on the line, there is no other way to sign-off today than with, "GO ARMY! BEAT NAVY!"

Thursday, February 19

Wild Weather Days
Hard to keep healthy around the Northeast these days with the wild weather swings. Yesterday was a terrific example. Sunny and cold in the morning; snow and ice during rush hour; heavy rain during the night-time and now sunny and mild this morning. No wonder why half of the staffers in the athletic department are walking around with some form of the flu and/or cold these days. The best news is that major league baseball teams have reported to their respective camps in Florida and Arizona, so the warm weather can’t be that far away. That should be a dead giveaway that it’s Bob Beretta here with you for a Thursday edition of the Black Knight Blog.

Busy week here in the land of Army athletics. As I’m sure you all read in Tim Volkmann’s Tuesday blog entry, we had a special visitor around West Point earlier this week none other than former Army baseball player and current astronaut Lt. Col. Shane Kimbrough. One of my favorite life experiences came on Thanksgiving morning last November when I checked my Blackberry (much to the chagrin of my wife) and received a note from Shane. Why was that such a memorable moment you ask? Well, beyond that fact that it’s pretty cool to have correspondence with any astronaut, it’s even more momentous when that astronaut happens to be in space at the time said astronaut sends the note. I can honestly say that no one else I know has ever received an email from someone in space. Seriously, how cool is that?

Getting ready to head to Annapolis this weekend for the annual Army-Navy basketball doubleheader. The men’s game will begin on Saturday at 1 p.m. and will be televised regionally by CBS. What does regionally mean? In this case, “regional” means the game will be shown to 12 percent of the country on CBS affiliates in the following television markets: New York, N.Y., Albany, N.Y., Washington, D.C., Norfolk, Va., and San Diego, Calif. I’m looking forward to heading down to Annapolis to call the game along with Rich DeMarco on the Army Sports Network, so be sure to tune in to Knight Vision for the radio call whether you get the game on TV in your market or not. We tell Army fans to fire up the flat screen, pull down the volume and head to goARMYsports.com for our call. Rich does a great job and we’ll do our best to only show slight favoritism to the guys and gals in Black and Gold.

Big hockey weekend on tap as well with first-place RIT coming to Tate Rink for a key Atlantic Hockey weekend series. I apologize to our loyal live hockey blog followers that I will not be able to participate this weekend, but the road beckons. My advice hop on to Knight Vision for Tony Morino’s game calls both Friday and Saturday. If you haven’t tuned in to a hockey game yet, make it a point to do so. Tony does a terrific job.

In addition, our wrestling team hosts Navy on Saturday at Christl Arena, and that event will be video streamed live, while our swimming and indoor track teams participate for their respective Patriot League titles and our lacrosse squad heads to Central New York for a showdown with defending national champion Syracuse. And if major league baseball teams have reported to camp, that can only mean that Army’s baseball season is set to begin ... and it does this weekend with three games against Ohio University and Davidson down in North Carolina.

How’s that for a full slate of activities? Now hopefully, the weather will stay mild enough so we can all get to those events safely and cheer the Black Knights on to victory. For that’s the fearless Army way. Hmmm ... that sounds familiar.

Until next time, be well and GO ARMY!!!

PS -- Shak wished Molly Ringwald a happy birthday yesterday, but he neglected to mention that he shares a birth date with the famed actress ... happy 29th Shak!!!

Wednesday, February 18

Ryan Yanoshak joining you on this lovely Wednesday (Happy Birthday wishes to Molly Ringwald!) version of the BK Blog.

My friends and family (and no I don’t have any cousins who ever injected me with anything and I never took Ripped Fuel, obviously) are always asking why working at West Point is so great and yesterday was a perfect example of being exposed to things you never thought possible. Volk covered Shane Kimbrough’s visit pretty well in yesterday’s late blog post (yes, it cost him a $1) and there is a story and photo gallery here. The post-it note version: Lt. Col. Kimbrough is a West Point grad and former baseball player who was on Space Shuttle Endeavour in November. He was on post yesterday to present gifts that flew it space. He also showed a 15-minute video clip that contained some amazing images. Interesting to me that the school where I used to work is mired in a scandal while I spent time with a Lt. Col. and astronaut who happens to be one of the most humble and hard-working people I have ever met in my current job. Thanks BB for recruiting me.

On to some new news: the golf team played in its first event of the spring. Unfortunately, the team went all the way to California for rain, wind and cold temperatures. I’m sure head coach Jimmy Ray Clevenger would have preferred a higher finish than 10th but keep in mind it was the first time the team has been on grass since last year and long delays on both days of competition couldn’t have helped either. The final results have been slow in coming in but you can read a recap here.

It’s Wednesday so I guess that means snow and basketball. The women are in D.C. to play American while the men are hosting the Eagles at Christl Arena tonight.

Great weekend of hockey coming up. RIT, who leads the Atlantic Hockey Association, is in town for a two-game series. Army and RIT split a pair of games in Rochester in November. RIT is one of the hottest teams in the country having won 14 of its last 15 games and locking up home ice through the entire AHA Tournament. Army has won three of its last four games though and sits in sixth place in the conference standings. Tate Rink has been loud the last three weekends and I know the players appreciate it. We have had some big crowds this season and the players have all commented on how loud the place has been. There is a reason there are so many home games late in the season, a home-ice advantage. I have to update some stats but the hockey notes will be posted by tomorrow.

If you are coming out to Tate Rink on Saturday, bring your skates. Following the game with RIT, fans will have a chance to share the ice with members of the hockey team during a 20-minute post-game skate. Pretty cool opportunity that our marketing department and coach Riley have put together.

Go Army!

Tuesday, February 17

Good afternoon everyone it is another blogtastic day here in West Point, N.Y. and I, Tim Volkmann, will be bringing you today’s late edition.

I decided to wait until later in the day to type up today’s installment so I could talk about the event that I just got back from. No, it wasn’t the Alex Rodriguez press conference (I also did some pretty stupid thing with my cousins when I was growing up, but somehow injecting each other with needles never really crossed our minds), but the return of USMA ’89 graduate and former baseball player Shane Kimbrough to West Point to talk with members of the Army baseball team about his flight on the Space Shuttle Endeavor last November.

You can read a full article and view a photo gallery by clicking here.

He started off by presenting Senior Associate Athletic Director Bob Beretta with a coin and a varsity letter “A” that he had taken with him during the flight, and then gave head coach Joe Sottolano a baseball jersey that had also made the trip. He also had a print made up to hang in the baseball facility that had photos of the flight and an official mission patch attached.

We then got to watch a 15-minute DVD of the mission and learned a lot of the objectives that he and the other astronauts worked on during the 15-day trip, including the space walks he took to work on International Space Station that they docked with.

He likened the trip to an episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” in that the mission’s objective was to deliver a bunch of new amenities (including a new bathroom to install on the American side of the space station, and a machine that turned urine into drinking water sign me up!!) to be installed in the station, while working on several repairs on the exterior.

There were many different facts and tidbits he described about the flight and living in space. He and the crew were strapped into the shuttle and laid on their backs for three hours before takeoff. Once the candle was lit, the shuttle reached upwards of 17,000 miles per hour and only took eight minutes to reach orbit. (Imagine not being able to move for over three hours and then shooting into space at a speed like that and arriving at your destination in only eight minutes. Guess you can’t really stick your head out the window at anytime to feel the wind on your face, eh?)

He said it was tough tell what time it was because it took about 90 minutes to complete one orbit of the Earth so there were 45 minutes of sunlight and 45 minutes of darkness at a time. Sleeping in zero gravity is also a little bit more challenging than when you lay your head down under the covers at night. Instead, climbing into a sleeping bag that is lashed to the wall and strapping your arms to your chest (to prevent them from floating around and hitting you in the face) is the way to go in space. Oh, and if you want a pillow, it needs to be strapped to your head.

He talked about one space walk in particular where he was trying to focus on completing one of the outside repairs and he kept getting distracted by the view of Earth floating around in the background. Yeah, I guess that might be pretty cool.

The most interesting part of the tale I found was the shuttle landing. Imagine busting through the Earth’s atmosphere and screaming toward the ground at a 20 degree angle in a glider. Yeah...no power. It is also the pilot’s first actual shot at landing a shuttle like that under those circumstances (I guess that makes sense I’m sure there aren’t exactly old space shuttle laying around that you can go take a practice flight in) and you really only have one shot at it since you can’t just power the engines back up and circle around again like an airplane. No pressure.

We actually got to talk to Shane over the summer, a couple months before the mission (it might have even been the first entry in the Black Knight Blog if I am not mistaken). It was a great experience talk to him then, but it was even cooler to shake his hand and hear all the stories he had to tell.

If you think about it, you are reading a blog, typed with a hand that shook that hand of a guy that was in space. If you ask me, that is almost as good as being strapped down in a seat for three hours and catapulted into space at over 10 times the speed of sound. But again, that is just me....

Monday, February 16

This is Mady Salvani taking care of today’s blog. I have missed a couple and was just reminded about today's by former co-worker Christian Anderson, who is the head Sports Information Director at Norwich University.

The ice is back on the Hudson River, just when I felt spring was in the air with the completion of my softball guide. The softball team went to North Carolina over the weekend and enjoyed 55 degree days, which wasn’t too far above what we had here last week. One of the days I even shed my winter coat and was thinking about the spring sports (lacrosse, baseball, softball, tennis and track) along with visiting Delafield (swimming hole on post), but reality snapped me back Sunday night with a cold front that hit the Northeast Region.

It seems that every Wednesday night that we have a basketball game, we have snow. Last week was one of the few times we didn’t and that was the start of warmer weather and melting snow. Well, I checked the weather report and we are expecting snow this coming Wednesday night into Thursday.

Speaking of basketball, there have been all kinds of promotions for the basketball and hockey games and the crowds have been great. Anyone who attended Saturday’s men’s basketball game was in for a treat in the first triple-header in school history. I thought it was the first ever because I have been here a long time, starting with the 20th century not the 19th century - and have seen plenty of men’s overtime games, but not three OTs!

However, I would not have to look that stat up if  it was for women’s basketball. I still remember when they went head to head with Navy in Annapolis in 2003, bowing 86-85 in triple overtime on a Saturday afternoon.

I was back in the office fielding calls from other teams and listening on the internet to the game along with keeping notes for the A line. After Army overcame an early deficit, the game went back and forth and I was going crazy screaming each time Army went up I’m glad no one was around to hear me because they would think I was a crazy old fool.

We were in the second or third overtime and the phone rang. I hesitated to answer it but I was suppose to be fielding calls from other sports, so I had no choice but to pick up the phone. It was gymnastics coach Doug Van Everen calling in results after sweeping a triangular at William & Mary. Doug is a good guy and I probably would not have been able to get away with this had it been any other coach, but I remember saying, “Doug, can I call you back, the women’s basketball team is playing Navy and we are in triple overtime and I can’t talk right now.” He was okay with me calling him back which I did.

Unfortunately the game resulted in a one-point loss, but it was a thriller to listen to and it is something you just don’t forget. But I would have loved to have been there.

Luckily I was at the men’s game Saturday and it was exciting, especially when you win. I remember saying to Mark Brumbaugh, who called the game to Tim Volkmann on the computer, that if we play enough overtimes we are going to win this game. Lehigh’s players kept fouling out and we had the better bench, so my wish came true.

A look back in rifle. Last week former All-American rifle star, Kim Pienkowski, stopped by our office and was looking for a copy of the latest guide to see if she still held the school air rifle record. Kim was a first team All-American in air rifle in 2001, and earned honorable mention honors in air rifle in 2000 and picked up a pair of HM certificates in both disciplines in 2003.

Unfortunately, the record was broken first by Chris Abalo, who graduated last year, and most recently by sophomore Stephen Scherer, who competed at the Olympic Games last year.

This weekend men’s and women’s basketball will be at Navy for the “Star” match and I’ll be back in the office anxiously listening to the games. The men won at home and the women last to the Midshipmen so my wish is A SWEEP OF THE STAR GAMEs AT ANNAPOLIS. Those of you in the area, please take the opportunity and attend the games I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Friday, February 13

Good afternoon loyal blog readers!  My apologies for being a bit tardy at the keyboard today, but it is Friday the 13th, so I just wanted to keep you guys on your toes!  Speaking of Friday the 13th, as I sit here typing away, Gunny and Volk are debating the best of the Friday the 13th horror flicks ... a conversation that I cannot partake in since the last horror movie that I watched was Candyman back in the early 90s. I was probably about 10 or 11 back then and it spooked me for months!  I haven't seen a slasher movie since ... nor do I plan to! 

It's been a rather quiet day for me here at the office, tying up some loose ends before heading down to PA for tomorrow's women's basketball game at Lehigh. The team is coming off a critical 63-62 win against Holy Cross on Wednesday night, a game during which sophomore F Erin Anthony played her behind off!  She scored 16 of our last 20 points and the Crusaders just couldn't stop her inside. Hopefully that'll continue tomorrow night as the team faces a very tough test in Lehigh. Army won the first meeting, 54-52, back in January in one of the quickest comebacks that I can remember. They were down five with under a minute to go and ended up coming away with the win. Army and American remain the only two Patriot League teams to top the Mountain Hawks this season, so let's hope the Black Knights' luck continues tomorrow in the Lehigh Valley!  The trip also marks a homecoming for Anthony and classmate Laura Baranek, who both hail from the area and attended Parkland High School in Allentown, Pa. It's always great to play close to a hometown of any of the players - not only do we get a good crowd, but it's a rare chance for them to spend some quality time with their families!  (Not to mention the parents usually come up with some treats for the bus ride home!)

Although I know that most of you have been sitting by you computer constantly refreshing www.goARMYsports.com in anticipation of today's blog, this is actually great timing for me to be writing. I am taking a mini-break from writing a few releases about new hires that we have in the department, including new assistants for volleyball and women's tennis. Keep an eye out for those names and read all about them when they pop up online!  We've actually added a few new assistants to the department, most of whom are fairly young and with great personalities!  I always love when new blood comes into the workplace and spices things up a bit. Granted West Point is a beautiful, vibrant place to work, but it also helps tremendously that there are so many young people to hang out with (during all of our free time, right guys!?). I say this only after finding out that many of my friends here read the blog pretty religiously, so I'm just trying to butter them up so that they laud me as their favorite blogger in the rotation!

Heading to the Lehigh Valley is always a fun trip for me, as I spent two years prior to coming here working in the same capacity at Lafayette. Making the switch to another Patriot League institution wasn't easy (I am still mocked as a traitor when I step foot on the Leopards' campus), but it has turned out great in the long run. I have learned to hate Navy just as much as I hate Lehigh from my days back in Easton, Pa. That being said, no pressure on the ladies, but I would like nothing more than to leave Bethlehem tomorrow night with a nice, big W over the Mountain Hawks!

Ahhh, I digress ... part of the fun in writing these is to be able to just keep typing away with whatever comes to mind! Something else that the West Pointers here will appreciate ... I just returned from a little Subway trip with Volk (neither one of us has much motivation to bring/make lunch, so we end up eating out a lot). If you live here, you know that Subway just becomes a part of your regular diet. Other than Burger King, which I'm not a huge fan of but will settle for, Subway is about all that's around post and convenient to get to. Nine times out of 10 I run into at least one ODIA employee and today's lucky winner was Mickey Wender , our amazing swimming and diving coach. His team has this week off, but then travel to the Patriot League Championships the following weekend at Bucknell - GOOD LUCK! Let's play a little lunchtime trivia ... which Athletic Communications member/blogging extraordinaire used to proudly wear the crown as a BK employee and made the best whoppers around?  See below for answer ...

Looking ahead to the weekend, it's gonna be a busy one. I've already touched on women's hoops, but the men are also in action hosting Lehigh at Christl Arena tomorrow at 4 p.m. The men's game serves as the meat of a tripleheader sandwich here at West Point on Saturday, as lacrosse opens its season against VMI at 1 p.m. (Michie Stadium) and hockey hosts Sacred Heart at 7 p.m. (Tate Rink). For tickets to either event, click here.

Also in action, the softball team opens its season (yes, that's right, spring is on the way!!!) at the Green and White Classic held at UNC-Greensboro, while track, wrestling, and women's tennis also compete. Just in case you like to plan ahead like me, here's an easy way to do so ... visit our "All Sports Schedule" listing online to get a complete, comprehensive look at what's ahead. You can locate it by hovering over the "Schedule" tab on our main page.

(Drum roll please ...) It's time to let the cat out of the bag!  Our very own Tim Volkmann can flip burgers with the best of them!  He escaped Burger King just in time to join us here at West Point! I think my lucky stars every day that we are blessed with his talent ...

Until next time, enjoy your weekends and as always, GO ARMY! BEAT EVERYONE!

Thursday, February 12

Happy Thursday, Happy Birthday to Lincoln, Happy almost Valentine's day! Annie checking in with you this beautiful morning, and judging from the quick read through I did of Brian's blog, this isn't coming too much longer after his was posted. So, your RSS feed doesn't have a glitch... this article really was just updated again!

Last night I successfully argued with several coworkers that I win the award for the most awkward desk in the building. For those that don't grace the halls of 639 regularly, I'm in a spot where I get to see everyone enter and leave the first floor building doors... all the cadets that use the weight room, the random people who choose to hike through this building to be warm for three seconds en route to Central Post or Ike Hall, the maintenance men who have discovered the convenience of our soda machines, lost parents on football weekends, A-day weekends and graduation weeks, vendors trying to find the marketing office, the list goes on... and of course that includes all the coaches, administrators, and support staff and family that I actually know from working here for several years. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the frequent greetings and opportunities to connect with people, so keep those "hellos" and smiles coming, folks. But, please don't be startled if you start a conversation with me while you pick out the perfect snack, and I get out from behind my desk to come out and talk to you. As entertaining as it might be for my officemates to hear loud one-sided conversations, I try to keep them to a minimum. They get enough of those with the phone calls I get every day. So anyway, add to that the receptionist part of my job description, and I get to be the front lines for all sorts of visitors to this building, whether they are seeking out Athletic Communications assistance or not. But, this desk doesn't exactly sit in a formal "main entrance" type of reception area. Instead of nice glass doors like one finds up at football or over at A-club, I am behind two solid white doors with a non-descript "sports information" sign at the top of the doorframe. Add in a 60 foot long hallway with not much else to catch the eye except vending machines and a pair of baseball cleats that have been hanging on the wall for a week, and you've got all the reasons why I believe I have the most awkward desk in the building. If you would like to challenge that assertion, please feel free to stop by and give it a shot. In fact, stop by and say hi anyway! It would be nice to know who is out there reading the blog on a regular basis.

A couple of days ago I had the opportunity to attend lunch at the mess hall. The golf team was kind enough to invite me to check out that little unique sliver of USMA life. The cadet that escorted me gave me a great run down on the facts about the barracks, lunch formation, and procedures in the mess hall before we sat down to eat. (I finally learned who gets that great view from the apron in front of Washington Hall, and which regiments get to stare at stone in the courtyards behind) From there, it was a very controlled chaos as 4000 people all ate in the span of about 15 minutes. The company was great, the food was decent, and as I marveled at the thought of the logistics behind this massive operation that happens every day, we all had to pause as someone came over the PA system to give announcements (and what do I remember? That "the firstie club will be moved to the cow club Thursday"... something might have also been said about the Flipper dinner.). After that, the firsties were free to leave, and those at our table did, reluctantly rushing off to tackle a MilArt exam (a subject notorious for being difficult and less-than-fun). I then learned that as a particular series of lamps on the balcony lit up, the other classes would be released. Fortunately, a few of the golfers didn't have Dean's hour obligations to run off to, and they kept me entertained while I finished my meal. It was pretty amazing how quickly the place cleared out. You know, I am sure I learned all about the mess hall in the books I read before moving to West Point, but I've forgotten so much of it. Now is as good a time as any to start a summer reading list, and I'm thinking I'll be dusting off Absolutely American next time I head to the beach.

Speaking of golf, they kick off their spring competition slate Monday with a tournament in California. Other Army teams on the road this President's Day weekend are Softball headed to the UNC-Charlotte tournament, Indoor Track at the St. Valentine's Classic in Boston, Wrestling and Women's Basketball at Lehigh, and Gymnastics at the All-Academy Championships in Portland, Ore. Keep your browsers pointed to goARMYsports.com all weekend long for the results of all the home and away Army action.

As with the many impromptu conversations spurred by those walking through the hallways, I must bid you an awkward adieu and get back to the projects in progress here at my desk. Have a fabulous holiday weekend, be safe, have fun, and...

GO ARMY!

Wednesday, February 11

That Will Be A Dollar
Even though the date on this entry says Wednesday, I have to come clean and let you know it was posted on Thursday. My apologies to our loyal readers, I did not enter the February blog rotation into my calendar so of course, I forgot yesterday. I guess I, Brian Gunning, get to be the first to contribute a $1 to our office fine pool. I think I mentioned this before, but we actualy all signed the document the other day, making it official. I'll have to confess during our kangaroo court session tomorrow morning.

It was pretty easy to forget about doing it yesterday. I was actually out of town with the men's basketball team. We were holed up at our hotel in Worcester getting ready for the game at Holy Cross. I got wrapped up in all the Brett Favre coverage. Actually, that's not true. I was pretty much done with it after I heard the initial announcement. I didn't see the need to devote about four hours of programming to his SECOND retirement. It's obviously a story when one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history (you have no idea how hard it is for me to type that sentence as a Chicago Bears fan), but yesterday was a bit of overkill. It was the same stuff they did last March when he hung it up for the first time. Let's put it this way - I actually chose to watch the 2000 North Carolina-Duke game on ESPN Classic instead. I'm not a fan of either of those teams, and honestly, I get sick of hearing about that deal too. I guess I'm a little jaded getting to witness all the great Army-Navy contests in all our sports.

Anyway, it was a rough day. I had to get up and eat breakfast. We were joking in the office the other day about travel and how we eat regularly scheduled meals. I think it was Shak who commented that with hockey's recent homestand, he hasn't eaten breakfast since the Air Force trip. The team headed for the gym around 10 a.m. I tried working a little mojo and did not go to the workout. I remember last year's trip to Holy Cross when I didn't go to practice. We won the game, which snapped the Crusaders' 23-game home winning streak and Army's 13-game losing streak to Holy Cross. I figured I'd stick with the same routine and headed back upstairs. That was actually the last time I saw anything outside of my hotel room until our pregame meal around 3:30 p.m. It was a busy day of checkign some e-mails, trying to work on Saturday afternoon's game program and reading.

My no practice mojo almost worked again. We jumped out to a 17-point lead, but Holy Cross found its shooting touch and came all the way back to score a 62-59 win. You can check out all the details here. I think the best comment I heard all night was from one of the gentlemen from Holy Cross who was keeping statistics. After a loose-ball scrum on the baseline, he said, "Well, we definitely aren't going to out-hustle these guys." I think that is a trademark of this year's team. I know the guys are disappointed with our record, but they have definitely played hard all season, regardless of the circumstances.

After finishing up the story and updating the statistics during the bus ride home, I tried to show a little mental toughness, but failed miserably. It seems I've developed a little bit of a reputation as a sleeper on the bus. I took some good-natured ribbing from a few of the coaches about my innate ability to basically fall asleep on command (I believe one comment was, "You're worse than a 2-year-old."). Honestly, not counting the time that I'm doing work on the bus, I think I've been awake for about 20 minutes. It definitely makes the ride go a lot faster. Anyway, I thought I'd show a little fortitude and stay up the whole ride home, but that didn't happen. I dozed off for about an hour before we pulled back into West Point around 12:30 this morning.

I definitely have gotten a lot of sleep lately with three straight road trips. Thankfully, we're back home for a week. Be sure to check out the game with Lehigh on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. There are some "sweetheart" deals being given by our marketing staff in honor of Valentine's Day. You can make a whole day of it. Check out the lacrosse season opener at Michie Stadium at noon, the basketball game at 4 p.m. and the hockey game at Tate Rink at 7 p.m.

Again, my apologies for the tardiness, but I hope you can take comfort that my wallet is now $1 lighter. I'll try not to let it happen again. Now back to the regulary-scheduled Thursday blog.

GO ARMY!

Tuesday, February 10

Think Spring!!!
Well, the temperatures are finally starting to climb out of the 30s, the snow is beginning to melt and the true color of my car is actually discernable now that the first layer of  body salt has actually disappeared. Spring can’t be far away.

With a full slate of tennis action lined up for the Army teams this weekend and the Black Knights’ lacrosse opener set for Saturday at Michie Stadium, why not think spring on this mid-February morning? Did I mention that it’s only three days until pitchers and catchers?

Bob Beretta helping to navigate through a Tuesday around West Point. While Mark Brumbaugh covered all the events from this past weekend and the rest of the team charged with looking ahead to this weekend’s happenings, I thought I’d spotlight a couple of promotions the athletic department has in store in the next few weeks.

It’s been a long, cold winter, so even a hint of above-freezing temps gives us Hudson Valleyers a reason to drea