Herbert On Sports
NOTE: For comments, corrections, etc.: Morris.Herbert@wpaog.org
Herber On Sports 31 August 2010
Old Age is rapidly catching up with me. Off to a great start last week: forgot to mention we also hired a new golf coach over the summer (more on that below), and while rattling off statistics, I said that Army football had won no more that 3 games in any season since 1996 – until Ellerson’s 5 wins last fall. Wrong. The 1997 and 2005 teams each finished 4-7. Still, it has been 13 straight losing campaigns. Thanks to my readers who (very politely!) corrected me.
WOMEN’S SOCCER (2-1): I wasn’t happy about opening the season with 3 straight away games, but it’s turned out okay. Our opening game loss at Sacred Heart (reported as 1-3) was actually a 0-1 defeat. (I don’t know how that mistake happened, either) Playing at Central Connecticut, Senior Carlie Turnnidge scored with 36 seconds remaining to give Army a 1-0 win. On Saturday, Army visited Delaware and won, 1-0, as plebe Molly McGuigan scored in the first minute of the second half.
Two games at home this Friday and Sunday: Quinnipiac and Manhattan.
VOLLEYBALL (2-2): Got off to a good start in our own tournament last Friday, defeating Fairleigh Dickinson, 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-21) and New Hampshire, 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-22). But Saturday the unbeaten season came to a halt as we lost to Iona, 1-3 (23-25, 25-11, 22-25, 21-25) and St. John’s, 2-3 (16-25, 28-26, 16-25, 25-20, 7-15).
GOLF: After 20 years as Army’s head coach, Jimmy Ray Clevenger retired last fall. Major Chad Bagley and LTC Rob Kewley served as interim coaches for the spring season while an intensive search was held to find a new coach. Brian Watts came aboard this summer, leaving Oregon State where he has been head coach for the past 9 years. Watts led the Beavers to 4 consecutive NCAA Regional berths. This past season, Watts’s team finished 16th in the NCAA tournament. Colonel Kewley sent me a photo of Coach Watts talking to – and supporting – one of our golf recruits on “R” Day. It looks like we found the right guy to lead the program.
FOOTBALL: With the college season scheduled to begin this coming weekend, the media is full of predictions. New Yorker magazine – not known for sports coverage – had a very positive article on Army football but suggested we would win only 4 games. The August 16th issue of Sporting News predicted Army would finish 6-6 but not get a bowl bid. We are a 10 point favorite over Eastern Michigan Saturday on their field. Navy opens against Maryland on Labor Day, Monday.
Although this isn’t in concrete, here’s how Army will line up for the opening kickoff: On offense, in the backfield, we will start one senior (slotback) and three yearlings (QB, FB, slotback). On the line, the offense will have two juniors at WR, and 4 seniors and one yearling in the interior line (T-G-C). The defense will line up with 4 seniors in the defensive backfield and 4 seniors, 2 juniors, and a yearling playing defensive line and linebackers. Overall, we will return 7 starters on offense and 7 on defense.
WRITE! If you haven’t written an email “to the Army Team” wishing them success and good luck for the coming season, PLEASE DO IT TODAY! The address is: Jennifer.guzman@usma.edu
COL (Ret.) Morris J. Herbert ’50
Herbert-on-Sports is a sports summary from the corridors of Herbert Hall by our in-house USMA sports expert, COL (Ret.) Morris J. Herbert ’50. Morris has long been contributing sports information on a regular basis to many graduates and friends of West Point through word of mouth and his private network. Now, he has responded to the call of the information age to expand his readership by agreeing to write a short summary of USMA sports highlights by e-mail newsletter. COL Herbert’s unbiased reporting will give you another perspective on the fields of friendly strife.
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