Yearbook: Maine Prism

In my mention of the conference happenings in the CAA in the recent Delaware post, I turned up this item regarding the instability in the Colonial North division.

The question facing CAA Football is, have all the dominoes stopped falling? If Rhode Island makes the move, half of what was the North Division - Northeastern, Hofstra and Rhode Island - would be gone by 2012. That would not only take away winnable games for the former division's other three programs - Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire (who would be the last three remaining original members of the Yankee Conference) - but it would mean they will have to make a bigger commitment to football financially (including travel) to remain competitive with the southern schools in what will be a true Atlantic Coast conference.

Maine has played football since 1892, achieving a Tangerine Bowl appearance in 1965. The Black Bears have been members of the Yankee Conference, the Atlantic 10 and now the Colonial Athletic Association and have collected 11 (Yankee/Atlantic 10) conference titles through the years. The CAA is easily the most competitive FCS conference and when so many good teams enjoy so many built-in advantages, it can be tough for a school like Maine to stand out.

Maine's yearbook collection, though, does stand out. The Prism is the University of Maine's yearbook and has been in print since 1895. They've done a great job of documenting Maine's football history even with the earliest two years left unwritten in the yearbooks. There are very few yearbooks online that have football team pictures dating as far back as 1895...



The Prism has that.

If you're up for a ride way back in time take a peek at Maine's Prism yearbooks. Another great yearbook for the collection.






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Weekend Programming

I've had my eye on CBS College Sports Network recently, as they've gotten around to replaying some Army football games from last year.

I caught Army/Vanderbilt (2009) on Wed. Ball State (2009) was aired again on Thursday. Now GoArmySports reports that CBS College Sports Network will air a weekend full of Army games. In typical fashion for Army/Navy football coverage is a full court press.:

Friday, July 2
6:00 a.m. Ball State at Army (originally played 9/19/09)
12:00 p.m. Army vs. Navy football (1996)
3:00 p.m. Army vs. Navy football (1998)
6:00 p.m. Army vs. Navy football (1999)
9:00 p.m. Army vs. Navy football (2000)

Saturday, July 3

3:00 a.m. Army vs. Navy football (1999)
6:00 a.m. Army vs. Navy football (2007)
8:30 a.m. Army vs. Navy football (1996)
11:30 a.m. Army vs. Navy football (2007)
2:00 p.m. One2One: The Football Coaches of Army and Navy
2:30 p.m. Inside Academy Football
6:00 p.m. Army vs. Navy football (2008)
9:00 p.m. Army vs. Navy football (2009)

Sunday, July 4

3:00 a.m. Army vs. Navy (2009)
6:00 a.m. Inside Academy Football
6:30 a.m. Army vs. Navy (2007)
9:00 a.m. Army vs. Navy (2008)
12:00 p.m. Army vs. Navy (2007)
2:30 p.m. Army vs. Navy (2008)
5:30 p.m. Inside Academy Football
9:00 p.m. Army vs. Navy (2009)

Monday, July 5

2:00 a.m. Army vs. Navy (2008)
7:00 a.m. Army vs. Navy (2009)

Of note is that these games could more easily be classed a Navy football marathon, as the Midshpmen won every game on the list except for 1996 & 1998.

Regardless, enjoy them if you have the chance.

Delaware 2010 News, Notes and Previews

A full 30% of my extended family graduated from the University of Delaware, I watched my first college football game in Delaware Stadium, and I've spent many summers and holidays milling around slower-lower.

It is easy to say the Delaware Blue Hens are one of my favorite football teams, right up there with Pitt. One of the storylines I follow regarding the whole conference realignment saga is the Big East's need to add at least one more team to balance the football schedule. Could Delaware's upcoming stadium expansion indicate Blue Hen interest in moving up to the big time? As it is, their stadium has the 16th largest capacity in the D1-AA, and their average attendance is 4th in all of D1-AA. The stadium needs to be brought up to date if they want to continue attracting the backwash transfer athletes of top D1-A teams.

Delaware has the tradition and they have a history of success, but they have, to date, shown little interest in moving up to the next level. After this planned expansion they won't have any problem filling the stadium at 30,000 seats, but Delaware alone doesn't deliver any serious TV markets. Coupled with Villanova the Hens could make a splash in Philly, but adding Delaware in all sports kind of defeats the purpose of bringing Villanova football up to D1-A for Big East football's sake. A basketball/football split within the Big East might convince Villanova to bring their football team up, but for all their recent success who knows what Villanova football would bring to the Big East? The Philly media market?.. maybe.

With Delaware the known quantity is their football - they have stability in their methods and throughout their football program. This, taken with their history that indicates that Delaware could compete at the 1-A level. On the other hand, they provide no prize market, and for all of their success they have never hinted that they were interested in 1-A football. That doesn't necessarily mean that the time isn't right to move.

The upcoming stadium expansion will bring Delaware's gameday facilities up to date, and it should place them in a position where they can evaluate their program and consider a move from there. Perhaps I'm applying my own big wishes to Delaware's construction plan, but Delaware has long deserved the challenge of playing Div. 1-A football. Once they go to 30,000 seats they won't even have to sell the building out to claim the top attendance #s in the FCS. (PDF)

Anyway, there's a lot of good Delaware stuff floating around this summer. Phil Steele ranks the Blue Hens #15 FCS and has his in-depth preview available here (PDF).

A brief Delaware preview by the Sporting News. In short, the Blue Hens are seen as a surprise team in the CAA and return 26 players with starting experience.

JMU Sports Blog has a Delaware preview up as well and there is some good stuff over there as well.

2010 JMUSB Prediction: 8-3, 5-3 CAA – with no FBS game, they could end up the very definition of a bubble team. No more divisioins in the CAA should help though because they might be fourth overall and might have been fourth in the old CAA South.

If you're inclined go ahead and hit all those links, they all are very interesting reads.

2009 Army/Vandy Replay Tonite

CBS College Sports will air a replay of Army's OT win against Vanderbilt. I don't know what the eastern time zone schedule looks like for CBS College Sports, but on the west coast the game will start at 6:00 PM (in about an hour).

Yeah, I know I'm late with this one, as I am with most of my football news. But at least we get a chance to see some of Army's games from last year. That is a definite positive of having CBS College as the team's TV network, it's Army, Navy and Air Force that will get the empty summer airtime.

Hopefully CBS will play more replays like this, if that happens I'll try to let you know here.

Class Notes

Sal has some great notes on Army's incoming recruiting class. His 845U blog talks a bit about Ellerson's thoughts on the class, the theme... adding versatility and depth.

"Most everybody who we recruited, with a few exceptions, have the potential to play multiple positions," Ellerson said.
...

"It's fragile," Ellerson said. "We have some depth in some places. We don't have enough really good players. We are still looking for really good players."

Enter Army's 55-member freshman class, which Ellerson greeted at West Point's reception day on Monday. The class includes 27 players who practiced the team's offensive and defensive schemes last fall at Army Prep in Fort Monmouth, N.J.

After Action makes mention of the incoming Cadets ... another site worth checking out.

Unlike Florida and Alabama recruits, Army’s plebes must complete Beast Barracks, which is cadet basic training, before they can even considering strapping on a helmet. First summer practice starts on Aug. 2.

In terms of comparing Army athletes to the recruits of SEC football powerhouses, Beast Barracks is just one of the rigors that sets the Black Knight athlete apart. Without mentioning the expectations in grades and curriculum, and before we even touch on West Point graduates' service requirements. These future Army athletes have joined an historic brotherhood of student athletes which will have heightened expectations in pretty much every minute of every day for their next 9 years. So while these recruits may not have the Scout or Rivals evaluation stars - the opportunity will be there for some of these men to earn much more prestigious stars in their career.


Finally, a short 2010 football preview, with this one what you see is what you get...

For 2010, Army comes in at #85 in Athlon's preseason poll. They provided this blurb on the Black Knights

No. 85: Army — Rich Ellerson came from Cal-Poly armed with the triple option and a reputation as a program builder. He used both to his advantage last fall, leading the Black Knights to five wins — the most at the school since 1996 — and creating a new attitude in the program. Now, after another spring practice with his team, Ellerson believes Army is poised to take that next step — playing in a bowl game.

2010 Freshman Class

The list of new members of the Army football team was released today.

These are new football team members who will either enroll straight from high school, or from the USMA Prep school.

2010 ARMY FOOTBALL PLEBE ROSTER

Name	Class	Position	Height	Weight	Hometown/High School
Davonte Anderson	Fr.	DB	5-8	160	Corona, Calif./Lutheran (USMAPS)
Lyle Beloney	Fr.	DB	5-11	180	Katy, Texas/Seven Lakes (USMAPS)
Casey Brewer	Fr.	LB	6-2	210	McAlpin, Fla./Lafayette (USMAPS)
Zachary Carrasco-Burge	Fr.	OT	6-5	280	Whittier, Calif./Servite (USMAPS)
Cameron Carter	Fr.	RB	5-10	195	Dakota Dunes, S.D./Dakota Valley
Jordan Crockett	Fr.	DB	5-6	160	Wesley Chapel, Fla./Berkeley Prep (USMAPS)
Julian Crockett	Fr.	RB	5-8	168	Wesley Chapel, Fla./Berkeley Prep (USMAPS)
Jonathan Crucitti	Fr.	DB	5-11	185	Salisbury, N.C./West Rowan
Tyler Dickson	Fr.	DB	6-0	189	Mansfield, Ohio/Lexington (USMAPS)
Kyle Dravis	Fr.	DB	5-9	175	Orange, Calif./Orange (USMAPS)
Alfred Fields	Fr.	LB	6-0	195	West Palm Beach, Fla./Suncoast (USMAPS)
William Fisher	Fr.	K	6-1	170	Canfield, Ohio/Canfield
James Holland	Fr.	WR	6-1	200	Renton, Wash./Hazen
John Hughes	Fr.	WR	6-1	165	Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin (USMAPS)
Cody Jackson	Fr.	QB	6-0	200	San Lorenzo, Calif./Junipero Serra (USMAPS)
Shelby Jackson	Fr.	OL	6-2	270	Rockledge, Fla./Rockledge (USMAPS)
Scott Jones	Fr.	RB	5-10	184	St. Augustine, Fla./St. Joseph Academy
Shane Jones	Fr.	OL	6-1	270	Van Alstyne, Texas/Van Alstyne
Colin Joy	Fr.	OL	6-3	230	West Islip, N.Y./St. John Baptist
Ryan Kalnins	Fr.	DE	6-1	210	Watertown, Conn./Holy Cross
Quentin Kantaris	Fr.	DE	6-2	205	Moorpark, Calif./Moorpark
Clayton Keller	Fr.	LB	6-2	220	Lakeville, Conn./Salisbury School (USMAPS)
Michael Kime	Fr.	OL	6-2	230	Zionsville, Ind./Culver Academies
Robert Kough	Fr.	DE	6-3	220	Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Colony (USMAPS)
Patrick Laird	Fr.	WR	6-3	195	Monroe, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury
Matthew Luetjen	Fr.	QB	6-1	205	Hennessey, Okla./Hennessey
Raymond Maples	Fr.	RB	6-1	200	Philadelphia, Pa./West Philadelphia Catholic (USMAPS)
Ryan McCollum	Fr.	OLB	6-1	224	Cortland, Ohio/Kennedy
Jared McFarlin	Fr.	WR	6-5	195	Monroe, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury
Marcus McInerney	Fr.	RB	5-11	190	Stamford, Conn./Stamford (USMAPS)
Mitch McKearn	Fr.	DL	6-3	215	West Point, N.Y./O'Neill
Keegan Merrigan	Fr.	DE	6-3	235	Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton
Colby Miller	Fr.	LB	6-1	205	Phenix City, Ala./Smiths Station (USMAPS)
Dylan Mohamed	Fr.	WR	5-10	175	Brawley, Calif./Brawley Union
Reggie Nesbit	Fr.	QB	6-2	190	Indianapolis, Ind./Park Tudor
Brandon Porter	Fr.	DB	5-7	160	Laplace, La./John Curtis Christian (USMAPS)
Richard Rainey	Fr.	OL	6-4	240	Cedar Park, Texas/Vista Ridge
Zachary Reichert	Fr.	OL	6-2	270	Quincy, Ill./Quincy Notre Dame
Victor Ripley	Fr.	DE	6-4	230	Glen Allen, Va./Henrico
James Rutherford	Fr.	LB	6-2	210	Marietta, Ga./Kell (USMAPS)
Luke Shumacher	Fr.	WR	6-3	170	Indianapolis, Ind./Culver Academies
Michael Sikorski	Fr.	DT	6-0	230	Temecula, Calif./Chaparral (USMAPS)
Matthew Strack	Fr.	OL	6-4	285	Champaign, Ill./Centennial
John Szott	Fr.	OT	6-3	265	Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley
Hayden Tippett	Fr.	LB	5-11	215	Tempe, Ariz./McClintock
Charles Tobin	Fr.	DL	6-3	225	Hope Mills, N.C./South View
Justin Trimble	Fr.	WR	6-0	185	Ashburn, Va./O'Connell (USMAPS)
Earnest Tucker	Fr.	DB	5-11	205	Morganville, N.J./Marlboro (USMAPS)
James Tully	Fr.	LB	6-1	205	Park City, Utah/Battle Ground Academy (USMAPS)
Corey Watts	Fr.	LB	5-11	220	Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny (USMAPS)
Daniel Whitaker	Fr.	OT	6-3	250	San Ramon, Calif./California (USMAPS)
Scott Williams	Fr.	WR	5-8	160	Villa Park, Calif./Lutheran (USMAPS)
Zachary Williams	Fr.	QB	5-11	210	Van Alstyne, Texas/Melissa (USMAPS)
James Woodward	Fr.	WR	6-4	185	Anna, Ill./Anna-Jonesboro
Brian Zalneraitis	Fr.	OL	6-2	220	Round Rock, Texas/Round Rock

Danny Wild writes on the incoming class of football players, another great piece - as to be expected from the Wildlife blog.

Good luck to all the new guys, in a few (very short) short years you will be the leaders of the Army football team.


I've been pretty pumped up to see what would happen with A.J. McGovern from near my hometown (Wilkes-Barre, PA) - I heard he was attending prep school, and as it turns out that is, in fact, the case.

McGovern, an all-star center, turned down offers to play football at Colgate University and Ivy League schools to follow his dream of attending and playing football for the U.S. Military Academy.

"I've always wanted to serve in the military," McGovern said, "and I've always wanted to play college football."

Mom and dad, Maureen and Jim McGovern, were a little wary of the idea of their son entering the military during a time of war, though.

"We are going from being tentative about what's happening to a little excited, little nervous," Maureen McGovern said.

McGovern ships out to Fort Monmouth in Oceanport, N.J. in early July. He'll attend a military prep school for one year before entering the academy.

Part of me wants Ellerson to bring in all the new offensive linemen to give them as much time as possible to learn from 2010's veteran unit. Ellerson must have that same mentality as he brings in 11 new linemen who average about 6'2.5" and 255 lbs.

I look forward to seeing all the new Black Knights in the black and gold. Hopefully this new class can get around the older guys and learn the system.

Ties Gone By

Army football is mentioned twice in Ivan Maisel's ESPN piece on the college football tie.
I have long stated that ties are necessary for the good of the game, and this article is notable for highlighting some memorable tie ballgames.

The two Army football mentions are the Notre Dame/Army tilt from 1946 and the 1948 Army/Navy game.

2. No. 2 Notre Dame 0, No. 1 Army 0, 1946: Historians of the postwar era consider it the greatest game ever played. They may be right. The tie snapped a 25-game winning streak by Army, which ultimately swapped places in the AP poll with the Irish and lost the national championship. Notre Dame didn't suffer another blemish on the football field until the last game of the 1948 season.


4. No. 3 Army 21, Navy 21, 1948: Given that the Black Knights were 8-0 and the Midshipmen 0-8, this may be the greatest upset in the history of the sport. Army had been slowed by food poisoning that felled 42 players at the Thanksgiving meal two days before the game. Navy historians don't care for that fact at all.

If you go, make sure to check out the comments after the article; the argument is many sided and the spirit of the debate on this article is a lot less poisonous than typical ESPN comment boards.