FIELD

We've moved to field-journal.com

2011-09-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

FIELD has packed up most of its things and moved to field-journal.com, which is closer to our name and fair to say a little easier on the keyboard than fieldmagazine.blogspot.com. We're currently adding bells and whistles to that site.

The transition starts with Robb Hemmelgarn's preview of this week's Navy football season opener.

The technical staff at FIELD will duct tape their way back to the archives of FIELD posts here so that readers can continue to access them. In the interim, simply return to this address to have a look back at the older posts.

Boston Takes Crown

2011-08-29T07:07:00.000-07:00

The victorious Cannons (photo / bostoncannons.com)

The Boston Cannons, one of Major League Lacrosse's (MLL) original franchises, won their first title in team history on Sunday by besting the Hamilton Nationals, 10-9, in Annapolis.

Kevin Buchanan put the Cannons up 10-8 with just over three minutes left in the game. The Nationals' Cody Jameison returned fire with :32 seconds left in the game to bring the score to 10-9. Boston won the ensuing faceoff, but the Cannons' Paul Rabil turned the ball over as he was hammered to the turf by several Hamilton defenders. The Nationals ensuing desperation pass upfield with seconds left sailed long, and Buchanan's goal held as the game-winner for the 11-3 Cannons.

The game was played under sunny skies before an announced crowd of over 5,000 storm-weary fans, many venturing forth for the first time since weathering Hurricane Irene overnight on Saturday.

FIELD Report: Cannons Advance to MLL Finals

2011-08-27T13:55:00.000-07:00

Nationals' Jeremy Boltus (Photo / Hamilton Nationals - Justin Edmonds)

FIELD Report for Saturday, August 27, 2011

Lacrosse - Under ominous skies the Boston Cannons (10-3) advanced to the MLL's scheduled final tomorrow. They beat the Chesapeake Bayhawks (6-7) with just over a second left in the game, 14-13, in Annapolis.

In the second game, the Hamilton Nationals (9-5) topped the Denver Outlaws (7-7) to gain Sunday's final. West Point grad and rookie Jeremy Boltus took game MVP honors with two goals and one assist. The Nationals are in just their third season of play and are in contention for their second league title. Their first came in their inaugural season of 2009.

The Cannon's Buchanan (in Towson Patch)

2011-08-22T17:31:00.000-07:00

Boston's Kevin Buchanan (Photo / Getty Images)

The Boston Cannons head into the MLL's Championship Weekend with a unique talent in Maryland native Kevin Buchanan. FIELD's midfielder Tom Flynn caught up with Boston's Buchanan, who is weaving together a career that most twenty-somethings would pay to have.

FIELD Report: Harwich Mariners Take Cape

2011-08-15T18:56:00.001-07:00

Harwich Mariners' Overman, Capps, Nola, and Garza (photo / harwichmariners.org)

FIELD Report for Monday, August 15, 2011

College Baseball - In some of college baseball's last action of the season, the Harwich Mariners won the 2011 Cape Cod League title on Saturday. The Mariners beat the Falmouth Commodores, 7-5, to claim their second title in four years. Harwich concluded the season with six straight wins.

FIELD Report: Baltimore's Best Birds

2011-08-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

Redbirds' pitcher Curtis McCombs (photo Lisa Kammerman / bigtrainphotos.com)

FIELD Report for Monday, August 8, 2011

College Baseball - With the O's lack of success over the past decade, 'winning Baltimore baseball' are not three words usually found in succession. Several miles to the north of Camden Yards, however, there is a team with a bird's moniker, the Baltimore Redbirds of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League (CRCBL), that makes regular visits to the 'W' column. The CRCL begins play in June and wraps up in the waning days of July.

This summer, the Redbirds (25-21) fell for the third straight year in the league championship to the nationally-ranked Bethesda Big Train (36-9). Despite the loss, the 'birds of the red variety have a system in place for winning annually, as FIELD'er Tom Flynn tells in a local Baltimore paper.

FIELD Essay - Rodal's Norway

2011-07-29T18:20:00.001-07:00

As I, like everyone, tried to fathom the incomprehensible news coming from Norway, I was reminded of my visit there many years ago. At the time a story was coalescing that, in stark contrast to the current tragedy, will forever inspire the country. Hopefully there are those there who are recalling it now as they move along their path to recovery.

This Sunday will mark 15 years to the day that Vebjorn Rodal became the country's only Olympic track gold medalist in history. - Tom Flynn
(this article first appeared in its entirety in August 2008 and is copyright thefanzine.com)

********************
There will be 302 scheduled events at the Beijing Olympic Games this summer, resulting in the awarding of over 900 total medals. In the U.S. our focus is naturally on the events in which we’ve got a chance at making a good showing. This will lead to some scattered viewing: Sports Illustrated predicts we’ll depart China with over 120 medals in our weighty USA bags, including 45 golds. Although it shouldn’t, it’s hard for the sheer volume of probable success not to obscure the difficulty of winning an individual medal.

SI’s medal projections for smaller countries such as Uruguay are decidedly less shiny. In Uruguay’s specific case it is completely without luster: 0 silver, 0 bronze, 0 gold. Try to imagine the same prospects for the US and it’s unlikely you’ll conceptualize the notion; Americans have never watched an Olympic games without at least a solid hopeful. We’re fortunate enough to wonder instead if Michael Phelps will leave China with his rightful share of the bounty.

For the smaller countries often their entire hope for victory lies in an upset. No improbable upsets, no medals. More specifically no improbable upsets directly involving their country, no medals. In the summer of 1995 I touched down in Oslo, the capital of a country with perennially scant summer Olympic prospects (2008 SI Norway medal projection: 0 gold). I arrived just in time to experience through a small country lens the faint stirrings of what would become the unlikeliest of Olympic triumphs at the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

Oslo is not your ordinary place for an American to visit, but my reason for the trip was straightforward enough: get my 11-year old nephew Noel on a plane from the US, return him safely to his home in Norway, and if I converted on parts one and two of the deal I could stay and enjoy a weeklong visit. I pulled it off.

On the same day as we were arriving in Oslo, the 1995 Track and Field World Championships were getting underway in Gothenburg, Sweden. I was aware of them, as Michael Johnson at that time was compelling almost every American into at least a dilettante’s glance towards track and field as he tore up the record books in the 200 and 400 meters. Johnson was the most celebrated American sprinter since Carl Lewis and it was expected that in Gothenburg he would handily take both races.

In the in-flight SAS magazine I got my first view of the championships through Scandinavian eyes as it mentioned the two best Norwegian hopefuls: Geir Moen in the 200 meters and Vebjorn Rodal in the 800. Moen was the more highly touted of the two, having recently won the European Championships and in doing so becoming the first Norwegian medalist in a sprint competition since Haakon Tran Berg turned the trick in 1946. Earlier in the year he’d won the World Indoor Championships at the 200 and was by most measures world class.

But the 200 meters were firmly in Michael Johnson’s domain, so I dismissed Moen’s prospects somewhere over the North Atlantic. The next best Norwegian medal contender was Rodal. Like Moen, he had the misfortune of running in an event that was dominated by one individual, in this case Wilson Kipketer. Kipketer immigrated to Denmark from his native Kenya and now represented the Danes in international competitions. Like Johnson in the 200, Kipketer appeared a lock in the 800 meters. But since I’d only read of Kipketer whereas I had seen Johnson’s speed, his triumph seemed less assured. Rodal had put up a 1:43.50 the summer before, and I knew enough of the 800 to know that Kipketer or not, that was world class territory.

Stepping off the plane in Oslo I left behind Johnson, Moen, Rodal and Kipketer. The timing of the championships in Sweden with my visit was a nice coincidence but track and field was hardly foremost in my mind upon arrival. I was interested instead in seeing fjords and the fetching Norwegian countryside.

In Oslo, my primary guide would be Jon, my nephew Noel’s stepfather. Our first few days were spent in and around the city, including a requisite visit to the National Gallery of Norway to see Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream.’ It recently had been stolen from the museum, and there was an attempted ransoming back to the Norwegian government by the burglars. The government showed equal doses of pluck and disregard for a priceless national treasure when they told the thieves that they could keep the painting, there would be no ransom forthcoming. It showed up shortly thereafter relatively unscathed.

Jon, an electronics buff without peer in the Northern Hemisphere––this will become relevant momentarily––then promised some touring of the countryside to the southeast of Oslo and even a brief visit into Sweden. Owing perhaps to a series of territorial wars in the 19th century, not all Norwegians and Swedes are fast friends, so I took it as uncommonly generous that Jon would take me to see Sweden when he had the opportunity to further showcase his own country.

Jon had two goals in taking me to Sweden, one stated and one unstated. Stated goal: Get across the border so that I could get my passport stamped and add to my skimpy collection contained therein. Unstated goal: To electronics buffs, these were the heady early days of cell phones, and quite simply Jon wanted to see what would happen to his cell phone service when we crossed the border with his fancy new Nokia phone. This surprise goal he announced 100 yards into Sweden.
“Here Tom, look at my phone,” he said as we pulled away from the border guards. I opened it and looked at the screen: blank. I’m not sure what Jon expected exactly but presumably either service or some message welcoming us to Swedish phone space.

“Try it again, Tom,” Jon implored, somewhat panicked. Trying it again meant turning it on and off and making a small waving gesture in the air to perhaps pick up some wayward Scandinavian phone service signal that had missed us the first time. Blank. I attempted a half dozen variations of turning the phone on and off and waving or shaking it.

Norwegian phone service did not extend into Sweden which in Jon’s estimation rendered any further travel into the country superfluous. Undeterred, I quickly tried to think of Swedish destinations that I could rattle off for us to visit. They included…Stockholm, Stockholm, Stockholm, and Stockholm. Finally Gothenburg popped into my head and I tried to play to Jon’s inner track and field fan. This met with mixed success: rather than waste further phoneless travel into Sweden, we could head northwest back into Norway and visit his parent’s small vacation cabin, or hytte, on the Swedish-Norwegian border to take in the championships on television. It was a fair compromise.

So we drove through pretty if unspectacular Scandinavian countryside to an area known as the Finnskogen. They met us warmly at the quaint cluster of tiny wooden cabins set on an upward sloping bluff that collectively comprised their hytte. The cabins overlooked a placid blue lake that drifted off westward through ever-narrowing mountains back towards Sweden. It was beautiful.

After recounting with much flourish and gesturing our phone failure, Jon asked his father Svetta about the championships in Gothenburg and sure enough Rodal was running in the semi-finals that afternoon. It was beer and salmon all around as we settled into the main cottage in front of the aged but functional television. The first semi-final featured Kipketer and Atle Douglas, the Norwegian who had surprisingly bested Rodal’s time in the qualifying heats and was in the semi-finals with the Dane. We watched and cheered but it was no contest: Douglas finished sixth, over a second behind the winner Kipketer, and was out of the championships. The first four finishers advanced to the finals and Jose Parilla and Mark Everett of the US were amongst them.

Six minutes later and it was Rodal’s heat. His field was not as strong without Kipketer but he was not an overpowering runner; an exit here was entirely possible. Vebjorn did not disappoint, winning his heat, besting Kipketer’s time, and for the first time perhaps rearing his head as an Olympic medal hopeful.

The next day was spent pleasantly milling about the hytte, meandering the surrounding hills, and having a swim in the lake. That evening Michael Johnson easily won his 400 meters race to advance to the finals. The 200 would come later in the week.

I awoke early on Tuesday, got in some fishing (I got skunked…Svetta attributed it to the Norwegian fish being far too clever for my garishly bright American fishing tackle) and then again wiled away a flawless sunny day and waited as the long twilight settled in and the competitions began. Before the starting gun, neighbors drifted in from nearby hyttes to watch the race. In a large city like Oslo an American was not altogether uncommon; here in the dense woods of the Finnskogen I was something of a minor celebrity. Jon and his family were gracious, generous hosts and I thanked them by dutifully keeping America’s relative place in the world fishing order (well below Norway) by getting skunked throughout the trip. By race time, eight of us crowded around the television.

This time Rodal would be facing Kipketer and three Americans. You may hear the term grueling used to describe the 800 meters more often than you will a marathon. In the 800, you must run the first lap all out to stay with the leaders, and then you must do it again for a second lap with virtually no fall off. The race combines formidable speed with steadfast endurance like no other distance.

Rodal could not beat the unconquerable Kipketer but he did finish third to take the bronze. He also beat all three Americans. After a moment of mild disappointment, an air of celebration swept through the room. Svetta, perhaps seeking to take the sting off my poor fishing and my fellow American’s shoddy performance, sprung to his feet and shoved back the throw rug in the center of the room to reveal a trap door set in the wooden floor.

Into the basement he happily descended and within a moment he was back up with a platter of smoked salmon, offering it to me first as the guest perhaps in the greatest need of the curative power of fish. We passed the platter and the ale, recounted the race countless times with the significant barrier of Norwegian and English between us, and at the end of the evening hugs all around sealed our bonding over a courageous 800 meter race and salmon.

The next summer I was in the Outer Banks for the 1996 Olympics. I’d kept an eye on Rodal and his continued success, but also saw that Kipketer and several other runners slightly outclassed him in international events. Unfortunately for Wilson, his eligibility to race for Denmark in the Olympics was challenged by Kenya, and ultimately he was declared ineligible for the Games. The door had opened finally for Rodal and he would sprint through it like none other in Olympic history.

Just before the final turn of the 800 on July 31st, Rodal broke into his kick and then broke his personal record, the Norwegian record, and the Olympic record simultaneously and won the first gold medal for the country in 40 years of summer games. His Olympic record still holds after 12 years, in plain view for all the countries that head to Beijing with little beyond slim prospects and hope.

His mark also stands as a reminder that if we take a momentary glance away from the bright din of the accomplishments of our own athletes, we may just see something even more Olympian.

The Race:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzJhUhM7_Yk

FIELD Report: A Distant Fire and a Near World Cup

2011-07-18T18:07:00.000-07:00

The 1944 Baltimore Orioles at Municipal (nee Venable) Stadium

FIELD Report for Monday, July 18, 2011

Sports History - It was on this date back in 1944 that the Baltimore Orioles of the International League returned home to play their first homestand since a devastating fire on July 4.

The Independence Day fire destroyed Baltimore's Oriole Park, which had served as the team's home since 1916. Originally built for the Federal League's Baltimore Terrapins, the all-wood park went up like tinder in the pre-dawn hours of the 4th. The blaze was likely begun by an errant cigarette tossed at an Orioles/Syracuse Chiefs game on the third.

Baltimore Style magazine, not typically a hotbed of page-turning baseball fare, featured an excellent article on the July 4 fire in its recent issue.

Soccer - Although the US fell to Japan on Sunday in the final of the Women's World Cup, US goalie Hope Solo proved she understood the meaning of sportsmanship following the disappointing loss. Solo made no excuses, and tipped her hat genuinely to an opportunistic Japanese team.

Some quotes from Solo posted on the US Soccer website:

“We lost to a great team, we really did. Japan is a team that I’ve always had a lot of respect for, and I truly believe that something bigger was pulling for this team. As much as I’ve always wanted this, if there was any other team I could give this to it would have to be Japan. I’m happy for them and they do deserve it.”

“This is something everybody’s wanted their entire lives. I’m realistic. It doesn’t always go your way. I felt like it was going to go our way this entire time and I felt like this was our tournament to win. I think we played great soccer tonight. I think the fans were incredibly entertained. We were attacking, we had chances on goal. It was fun to watch. It was a fun game. What can I say? Let’s just hope I can stick around for another four years so I can go after the gold.”

Books: The Streak

2011-07-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

(Image / copyright Sports Illustrated)

FIELD outfielder Tom Flynn interviewed author and SI writer Kostya Kennedy on his new book, 56 - JoeDiMaggio and the Last Magic Number In Sports. In the interview for Gelf Magazine, Kennedy delves deeply into DiMaggio's record-breaking hitting streak, including examining points where revisionists have implied the streak ended somewhere shy of 56 games.

DiMaggio remains one of baseball's most compelling figures, if not always for the right reasons, and it's no lofty claim that the streak that has weathered 70 springs intact may be the last of its kind.

2011 Navy Football Schedule

2011-07-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

(Photo / courtesy Damon Moritz/USN)

With Navy football getting underway just over 60 days from now, presented here is their 2011 schedule of games. An analysis of the schedule strength, as well as predictions, will follow.

09/03 Delaware
09/10 @ Western Kentucky
09/17 @ South Carolina
10/01 Air Force
10/08 Southern Miss
10/15 @ Rutgers
10/22 East Carolina
10/29 @ Notre Dame
11/05 Troy
11/12 @ SMU
11/19 @ San Jose State
12/10 Army at Landover, MD
****
If Bowl-Eligible:
12/18 Military Bowl at Washington, DC

South Carolina Takes Two, Wins Title

2011-06-30T05:38:00.001-07:00

South Carolina (55-14) posted its second straight win and second straight title on Tuesday by beating Florida (53-18), 5-2. The Gamecocks went undefeated in NCAA tournament play and broke a record with 16 straight postseason wins.

Second baseman Scott Wingo drove in two runs and had six assists in the field to lead USC. Wingo also garnered CWS Most Outstanding Player honors for his efforts.

South Carolina Tops Florida in 11, 2-1

2011-06-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

South Carolina (54-14) held fast with a Florida (53-18) runner on third and no outs in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra frames and an eventual win, 2-1.

Game two of the best-of-three series airs tonight on ESPN at 8 PM eastern.

FIELD Report: Florida vs. South Carolina in CWS Final

2011-06-23T11:39:00.001-07:00

FIELD Report for Sunday, June 26, 2011

College Baseball -The University of South Carolina (53-14) will seek to defend its 2010 title when it faces Florida (53-17) in the CWS finals beginning on Monday. After completing a double-elimination round in Omaha that narrowed the field from eight to two teams, the CWS will conclude with a best-of-three series to decide the national champion.

Last year South Carolina took the first two games of the final series to beat UCLA. The title was the first CWS championship in school history. Florida has made seven CWS appearances but never taken home the title.

FIELD Report: CWS Update+, Bruins Triumphant

2011-06-19T18:08:00.000-07:00

FIELD Report for Sunday, June 19, 2011

Collge Baseball - #1-ranked Virginia (55-10) continued to ride stellar pitching as they bested the surprising Cal Bears (37-22), 4-1, in the two teams' series opener. Cal will drop to the losers bracket in the double elimination round and will await the loser of tonight's Texas A&M (47-20) and South Carolina (50-14) contest.

In other opening round action, Vanderbilt (53-10) topped North Carolina (50-15), 7-3, and Florida (51-17) beat Texas (49-18), 8-4.

Pro Hockey - The Bruins returned the Stanley Cup to Boston after a 39 year absence as they bested Vancouver Canucks, 4-0, in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals.

FIELD Report: Stanley Cup Final Tonight, Cal Baseball Completes Miraculous Turnaround

2011-06-15T18:40:00.000-07:00

Canuck goalie Roberto Luongo (Photo / courtesy davidgsteadman)

NHL Hockey - The Vancouver Canucks hope to break a 40+ season Stanley Cup dryspell tonight at home against the Boston Bruins. The series is tied at three games apiece. A key to the game will be the performance of Canucks' goalie Roberto Luongo. Luongo has been a stalwart at home in Vancouver but has yielded 15 goals in just 112 minutes of work in Boston.

College Baseball - The California Bears (37-21) completed a miraculous turnaround this year by qualifying for the 2011 College World Series. Just nine months ago the Cal program appeared to have played its last game when the University announced plans to shutter the program. North Carolina (50-14), Vanderbilt (52-10), Texas (49-17), Florida (50-17), Virginia (54-10), South Carolina (50-14), and Texas A&M (47-20) round out the CWS field bound for Omaha.

Cape Cod League Begins Play Tonight

2011-06-10T13:55:00.000-07:00

With most of players having completed their 2011 collegiate seasons, the Cape Cod Baseball League will begin play tonight in Massachussetts. Five games will open the season for the ten-team circuit.

FIELD Report: How About Those (Dallas Baptist) Patriots?

2011-06-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

DBU's Jason Krizan (Photo / courtesy dbupatriots.com)

FIELD Report for Wednesday, June 8, 2011

College Baseball - The Mids have exited the field, but the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship rolls on. The DI field was paired from 64 to 16 teams by regional play, and now enters the Super Regional round, comprised of eight best-of-three series. The winners of the Super Regionals will head to Omaha for the College World Series.

The names, for the most part, in the Super Regionals are familiar to college baseball fans: Texas, North Carolina, Arizona State, Florida State and Oregon State are included among them. The most interesting team still standing is surely Dallas Baptist (42-18). They emerged from the Fort Worth Regional despite entering it as the #3 seed. The Patriots saddled the top-seeded TCU Horned Frogs (43-18) with their first loss in tourney play, then later TKO’d Oral Roberts (39-21) to win the regional. The Pats' victories were their first NCAA tournament wins in team history.

Closer to the Mid-Atlantic, the Virginia Cavaliers (51-9) yielded a total of three runs in three games while piling up 29 to advance to their Super Regional against UC Irvine (42-16). That series is hosted by the Cavs and gets underway on Saturday at 1 pm. - Tom Flynn

Navy Season Finale

2011-06-06T20:44:00.000-07:00

The week which began with a rousing celebration as the Navy Midshipmen punched their tickets to the NCAA baseball tournament, concluded quietly as their campaign came to a close with a pair of losses over the weekend. In Friday’s opening battle of regional competition at Davenport Field in Charlottesville, Virginia, Navy took on the number-one seeded Virginia Cavaliers (52-9). Facing the sensational pitching of Cavalier ace Will Roberts (11-1), Navy struck out 14 times and managed just four base hits in the 6-0 loss. Earlier this year Roberts threw just the second perfect game in ACC history.

In the elimination meeting the following day, the Midshipmen (33-25-1) faced off with the East Carolina Pirates (41-21), and again struggled at the plate before falling by a final of 6-1. The Pirates plated a run in each the second and third innings, before icing it in the seventh frame when a grand slam pushed them in front, 6-0. Navy avoided the shutout when catcher Jeff Bland reached base on an error in the bottom of the ninth before scoring on an RBI groundout by Andrew Hahn. Alex Azor paced Navy’s offense with two of their five base hits, while Sam Long (5-5) suffered the defeat on the mound. Despite the loss, Long finished the season with 52 strikeouts, second among the Navy staff only to Ben Nelson's 80. - Robb Hemmelgarn

Navy's Stellar Season Ends With 6-1 Loss to East Carolina

2011-06-05T19:52:00.000-07:00

Navy (33-25-1) acquitted itself well at the Charlottesville Regional, but again came up short in a 6-1 loss to East Carolina (40-20) to end their 2011 campaign. FIELD's Robb Hemmelgarn will be posting a full report.

FIELD Preview: Navy in Charlottesville Regional

2011-06-04T05:25:00.000-07:00

Within a week of carving their names into the 2011 Patriot League championship trophy, members of the Naval Academy baseball team stood side-by-side on Memorial Day watching on television to learn what their next step in this baseball season’s remarkable journey held. Heading into Monday’s NCAA baseball tournament selection presentation, the Midshipmen were certain that whoever their next opponent was, it would be a stiff test. By the time they all headed for home, they were preparing to engage with one of the best teams in the nation.

This Friday, coach Paul Kostacopoulos’ crew will head to Charlottesville, Virginia, for their David vs. Goliath-esque match up against the Virginia Cavaliers. As the number-one seed in the four-team Charlottesville region, the 49-9 Cavaliers were also dubbed as the top seed of the entire NCAA tournament. In the other contest in Charlottesville on Friday, the St. John’s Red Storm (35-20) and the East Carolina Pirates (39-19) will duke it out, with the losers of the two games facing off in an elimination meeting the next day. At 33-23-1 overall, the Midshipmen are making their first NCAA tournament appearance in nine years after they earned the automatic bid as the Patriot League champions. - Robb Hemmelgarn

FIELD Report: UVA Takes Lacrosse Title; Baseball Team to Face Mids

2011-05-31T12:35:00.000-07:00

Virginia's Rob Emery (Photo / copyright Tom Harding)

FIELD Report for Tuesday, May 31, 2011

College Lacrosse - The Virginia Cavaliers lacrosse team won their fifth national title by besting the Maryland Terrapins, 9-7, in Baltimore on Monday. The Cavs (12-5) were seeded seventh in the tournament while the Terps (13-5) entered the 16-team field unseeded and posted wins over North Carolina, Syracuse and Duke to gain the final. The game was played in searing heat at M&T Bank Stadium with temperatures on the field reportedly reaching 120 degrees.

Navy Baseball - As expected, Navy (33-23-1) drew a tough card in the opening round of the NCAA Division I college baseball tourney. They face #1 seeded Virginia (49-9) in the opening round at Charlottesville. FIELD's Robb Hemmelgarn will be posting an article shortly on the Mids' first round.

FIELD Report: Lax Final Four and NCAA Baseball Tourney

2011-05-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

FIELD Report for Friday, May 27, 2011

College Lacrosse - The NCAA DI Final Four lacrosse tournament will play out in Baltimore this weekend. The Virginia Cavaliers (11-5) will face the Denver Pioneers (15-2) in Saturday's early semifinal while the Maryland Terrapins (12-4) will face Duke (14-5) in the late game. The championship game will be played on Memorial Day.

College Baseball - The Patriot League champion Navy Midshipmen (33-23-1) will host fans at the Federal House Bar & Grille in Annapolis at noon on Monday to await their seeding in the NCAA Division I college baseball tournament. The tourney begins on June 3 at regional sites.

Champs! Navy Wins First Patriot League Tourney Title Since '02

2011-05-24T18:39:00.000-07:00

Navy baseball captured it's first Patriot League tournament championship since 2002 by beating Army, 5-3, in Annapolis on Tuesday to win the best-of-three series from the Black Knights (22-26).

Trailing 3-1 in the sixth, the Mids (33-23-1) rallied to a 4-3 lead en route to the two-run victory. Freshman Preston Gainey (2-0) earned the win in relief of starter Wes Olson. Joel Rhinehart pitched the final 1.2 innings to earn his sixth save.

With the victory, Navy earns an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Tournament seedings will be announced on Monday. FIELD will have a longer report following the seedings.

Upset! Pioneers Stun Hopkins in Lacrosse Quarterfinals

2011-05-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

(Photo / copyright Denver Post)

FIELD'er Tom Flynn traveled to Hempstead, NY to cover the University of Denver/Johns Hopkins lacrosse game for The Denver Post. The Pioneers stunned the Blue Jays, 14-9, becoming the first team from west of the Mississippi to advance to the NCAA DI lacrosse final four.

FIELD Report: Patriot League Title To Be Decided Tuesday

2011-05-23T20:43:00.001-07:00

Mids celebrate an earlier season win at Army (Photo / copyright David Doonan)

After splitting a Monday doubleheader, the Patriot League championship comes down to one game between Army (21-25) and Navy (32-22-1) in Annapolis on Tuesday.

Navy opened the series with a 4-3 victory behind the right arm of sophomore Ben Nelson. Nelson fanned seven and allowed just two earned runs in 8.1 innings of work. Reliever Preston Gainey earned his fourth save by getting the final two Army outs.

The Black Knights bounced back in game two and earned a 6-3 victory to level the best-of-three series at one game apiece.

The deciding game will begin at 1 PM at Max Bishop Stadium. Look for Navy to send righthander Wes Olson (7-1) to the hill. Olson earned the win in last week's series deciding contest against Bucknell. - Tom Flynn

FIELD Preview: Recap & Navy / Army Final

2011-05-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

Navy shortstop Dylan Wheeler (Photo / copyright David Doonan)

For the past four seasons, the Bucknell Bison entered the Patriot League tournament as a number-four seed and each time responded by winning the opening series. On Saturday, the Bison (25-28) rolled into Annapolis looking to extend that streak. As the innings wore on in game one of the best-of-three series, the battle was an intriguing pitcher’s duel, as the score was knotted at zero after nine frames. Following ten complete innings on the hill, Navy hurler Ben Nelson was lifted after tossing 130 pitches. His efforts were remarkable, as he struck out 11 and allowed five hits during that span. In the 16th inning, Bucknell’s lone run in the top of the frame proved to be the game-winner in what was Navy’s longest baseball meeting since 1949. Later, the Midshipmen evened the series at one game apiece with a 6-1 victory. Alex Azor led Navy’s eight-hit attack with two base hits while on the mound, Sam Long earned the victory.

In the decisive game the following afternoon at Max Bishop Stadium, Navy wasted little time in determining the outcome when they plated four runs in the first inning. From there they cruised to a 6-0 victory as pitcher Wes Olsen chalked up his seventh win of the year. Greg Dupell paced the Midshipman (31-22-1) at the dish with three base hits and two runs scored. The Midshipmen are idle until Monday when they open the best-of-three championship series against Army, whom they split with during the second week in April. - Robb Hemmelgarn

FIELD Report: Division I Lacrosse Round 1 Results

2011-05-16T05:25:00.000-07:00

FIELD Report for Monday, May 15, 2011

A quick round-up of this past weekend's opening NCAA Division I Lacrosse Tournament games:

Cornell 12 Hartford 5
Virginia 13 Bucknell 12
Johns Hopkins 12 Hofstra 5
Denver 13 Villanova 10
Syracuse 10 Siena 4
Maryland 13 North Carolina 6
Notre Dame 13 Penn 6
Duke 15 Delaware 14

Rebound! Mids Rally to Series Win After Dropping 16-Inning Epic

2011-05-15T19:32:00.000-07:00

Freshman outfielder Brandon Beans (Photo / copyright Chuck Durgin)

Navy Baseball – Taking a 16-inning 1-0 loss could have been especially demoralizing for Navy when they opened up the Patriot League semifinal series against Bucknell on Saturday. It ate up 10-innings of stellar pitching from sophomore Ben Nelson and confirmed that Navy’s bats, at least for the moment, had gone completely silent. Fortunately, the 2011 Navy team proved it had a short memory and rebounded to take the next two games, and a series victory, over the visiting Bison.

Navy (31-22-1) went on to win the nightcap on Saturday, 6-1, and then took the series clincher on Sunday with a commanding 6-0 victory over Bucknell (25-28). Senior Wes Olson ran his mark to 7-1 in just his second start of the season in Sunday’s contest. The Mids will advance to face Army (21-24) in the Patriot League finals this weekend in Annapolis. Army won their semifinal by sweeping Lafayette (18-30) on Saturday at West Point. FIELD’s Robb Hemmelgarn will preview the Patriot League final later this week. - Tom Flynn

FIELD Preview: Patriot League Playoffs, Navy vs. Bucknell

2011-05-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

With the regular season now officially in their rearview mirror, the Navy Midshipmen will look to advance through the first round of the Patriot League playoffs this weekend with a best-of-three series against Bucknell(24-26, 10-10 PL). Navy (29-21-1, 12-8 PL) wound down their regular season with a 14-3 victory on Sunday over Maryland Eastern Shore before closing out on Wednesday with a 14-1 loss to Delaware State. Against UMES, the Midshipmen piled up 13 runs and just as many base hits in the final three innings of action to score the win, while in the defeat to Delaware State, they found themselves in a three-run hole after the first inning and never recovered.

Earlier this week, the Patriot League’s all-conference teams were announced. Navy landed six players on the squad, including two first-teamers, as well as the head coach. Paul Kostacopoulos, in his sixth season coaching the Naval Academy, was named the league’s Coach of the Year, while outfielder/pitcher Taylor Cato was awarded Rookie of the Year honors. Reliever Wes Olson and designated hitter Dave Milanes were both chosen for first team honors, while pitchers Sam Long and Johnny Schoberl, as well as first baseman Greg Dupell and second baseman Nick Driscoll, were all named second team all-conference. - Robb Hemmelgarn

Navy Looks for Win 30 Today in Annapolis

2011-05-11T12:55:00.000-07:00

Navy Baseball - Navy (29-20-1) will close out their regular season against the MEAC's Delaware State (23-24, 11-7 MEAC) today in Annapolis. Delaware State is typically one of the MEAC's better clubs and for the Hornets the game is a tune-up for an upcoming weekend series against East Carolina (30-17, 11-10 C-USA). Sophomore righty Stephen Geiss (Calvert Hall) will open the game on the mound for Navy. Geiss is 0-1 on the year.

The home Mids will try to notch their 30th victory of the season and more importantly will gain reps at the plate and on the hill before opening the Patriot League playoffs this weekend at home against Bucknell (24-26, 10-10 PL). The Bison will enter the weekend series having not played a contest since a May 1 doubleheader against Army (19-24, 11-9 PL).

FIELD Preview: Navy's Week Ahead

2011-05-06T13:10:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon the Navy Midshipmen (28-20-1, 12-8 PL) were halfway through their second of two games against Lafayette with the score knotted at one. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Navy plated two runs and never relinquished their lead before eventually posting the 4-2 victory. The triumph capped off a four-game split with Lafayette and pushed Navy to 12-8 in the conference, which earned them the regular-season Patriot League crown. In the final game of the series, first baseman Greg Dupell connected for three base hits in four trips to the plate, while knocking in two runs. From the pitcher’s mound, Wes Olsen improved his pitching record to 5-1 on the season as he earned the win.

The Midshipmen are back on the diamond this Sunday when they face the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (8-37, 7-11 MEAC) - a team they downed 10-3 a little more than two weeks ago. They will then tangle with Delaware State (23-21,11-4 MEAC)in the regular season’s closing game the following Wednesday afternoon, before opening their conference tournament on May 14 with the first game of a best-of-three series with the Bucknell Bison (24-26, 10-10 PL). The number-one seeded Midshipmen split their four meetings with Bucknell during the regular season, 2-2. - Robb Hemmelgarn

Books: Remembering Fenway

2011-05-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

Fenway from deep right (Photo / courtesy Werner Kunz)

FIELD'er Tom Flynn recently interviewed Harvey Frommer about his book Remembering Fenway for Carl Bialik's Gelf Magazine.

FIELD Report: Navy Won and Done, Gilman Takes Cup

2011-05-02T05:45:00.000-07:00

FIELD Report for Monday, May 2, 2011

Navy Baseball - The Mids (28-20-1, 12-8) took the drama out of their weekend bid to make the Patriot League playoffs by taking the first of four games against the Lafayette Leopards this past weekend to guarantee a berth. Sophomore workhorse Ben Nelson (5-5) threw a 7-inning complete game five-hitter to get the win. The Mids dropped the Saturday nightcap and went on to split Sunday's doubleheader.

By winning the last game of the four-game series Navy finished atop the conference at 12-8. They also led the league with overall wins at 28.

After a trio of non-conference games, Navy will open the 2011 Patriot League playoffs against the Bucknell Bison (24-26, 10-10) at Annapolis on May 14. All series are best-of-three games. The other PL semi-final series pits Lafayette (17-25, 10-10) against second-seeded Army (11-9, 19-24) at West Point.

Gilman posing with President's Cup trophy (Photo / copyright John Hammond)

Varsity Baseball - The Gilman Greyhounds topped the Mt. St. Joseph Gaels, 2-0, at Camden Yards on Sunday to capture the inaugural President's Cup tournament in Baltimore. The Greyhounds were led by 5 2/3 innings of no-hit pitching from junior Charles Cross. The Greyhounds sported replica caps of the Baltimore Elite Giants, while the Gaels donned replica Baltimore Black Sox caps.

FIELD Preview: Navy vs. Lafayette

2011-04-28T14:14:00.000-07:00

Barring a letdown this weekend against the Lafayette Leopards (14-23, 8-8) , the Navy Midshipmen should apply the finishing touches on a successful Patriot League campaign. Currently sitting at 10-6 in the league, Navy is knotted in the top spot with the Army Black Knights, and two games ahead of the Leopards. Last weekend, the Midshipmen grabbed three of four games from Holy Cross, but in order to conclude their conference slate on a high note, they'll have to rebound from a lopsided 17-2 loss on Wednesday to Georgetown. In the defeat, the Midshipmen connected on just five hits, while defensively committing five errors. From the pitching rubber, junior righthander Zach Sipe (1-3), was one of six Navy pitchers to log time on the hill, but was tagged with the loss.

With a possible postseason berth ahead, junior outfielder Alex Azor continues to sparkle offensively for the Midshipmen, as the #3 batter in the lineup paces the Patriot League in hits and runs scored with 62 and 41, respectively. - Robb Hemmelgarn

FIELD Report: Cal Baseball Back From the Brink; Navy Takes 3 of 4 From Holy Cross

2011-04-26T20:02:00.000-07:00

Cal's dugout (Photo / copyright Alison Au)
FIELD Report for Tuesday, April 26, 2011

College Baseball - When Cal-Berkeley announced that it would be cutting its nearly 120 year-old baseball program last fall, it provided a simple reason: economics. Like many college baseball programs around the country, Cal struggled to produce revenue from the sport. Compounding the issue was a university decision to stop raising funds for sports individually ; as a result direct gifts for baseball declined from $500,000 in 2006 to $180,000 in 2010.

Six months later, as The Wall Street Journal reports, an innovative fundraising effort has kick-started the Cal program and has them ranked in the top 25 in the country.

Navy Baseball - The Midshipmen took 3 of 4 games over the weekend at Holy Cross, taking a crucial step towards returning to the Patriot League playoffs for the first time since 2008. The top four teams of the six-team circuit qualify for the playoffs. The Mids lost only the first game of the four game series and put up 32 runs en route to three wins. Senior lefty Sam Long (4-3) posted a complete game victory in the first game on Monday while striking out four.

Navy faces Georgetown (19-22) on Wednesday and then concludes their Patriot League schedule with four games against Lafayette (14-23, 8-8) in Annapolis this weekend. Winning at least one of the four games will put the Mids in the PL playoffs.

Per patriotleague.org, the current league standings are:
Army 10-6
Navy 10-6
Lafayette 8-8
Bucknell 7-9
****
Lehigh 7-9
Holy Cross 6-10

- Tom Flynn

The Cure of the Bambino

2011-04-22T07:57:00.001-07:00

The Babe (Photo / courtesy baberuthcentral.com)

The Cure of the Bambino
A new tournament in the Babe's hometown looks to level the playing field between the city's private and public school teams.

The notion of Baltimore's inaugural President's Cup high school tournament was a skeptic's delight: take several of the city's competitively outmanned public schools and pit them against some of the city's well-funded, and fielded, private school teams. Despite the potential for lopsided scores, the idea was championed by City Council President Joe "Jack" C. Young as a means of returning teams from diverse backgrounds to the same diamonds. All the city's schools once competed in the Maryland Scholastic Association - a unique alignment of public, parochial, and independent schools that folded in 1993. A two-tiered system of baseball have and have-nots has emerged in the MSA's absence.

Three public schools: Mervo, Douglass, and Dunbar battled the historically black St. Frances Academy, as well as private schools Friends, Gilman, Boys' Latin and Mt. St. Joseph.

The first round confirmed the gap between the publics-and-privates as four of the five private schools advanced to the tourney's semifinal. Still, the first step in bridging any divide is gauging its measure and gaining a sense of the far side. The members of the Douglass High squad turned a nifty inning-ending double-play in their first round loss to Gilman, and also got to meet the Gilman assistant coach who partook in a fair share of twin killings during his day: Cal Ripken, Jr.

The city that spawned one of sport's greatest figures did so from one of its more austere diamonds: The Babe spent the better part of his earliest years calling the St. Mary's Industrial School for Orphans, Delinquent, Incorrigible and Wayward Boys home. He proved that given the opportunity, the city's diamonds are fertile grounds for baseball talent, regardless of address.
- Tom Flynn

FIELD Preview: Navy vs. Holy Cross

2011-04-21T13:34:00.001-07:00

Navy hurler Zach Sipe (Photo / courtesy USN Chad Runge)

With an overall record of 23-16-1, and with the tail end of the 2011 baseball season quickly peaking over the horizon, the Navy Midshipmen pack their bags and hit the road this weekend to square off with Holy Cross (18-19-1, 5-7) in a pair of Easter weekend doubleheaders. A heavy downpour washed out last Saturday's games against Bucknell, forcing the two teams to play twinbills on Sunday and Monday. By series' end, Navy split four games with the Bison (17-23, 4-8). The Mids moved to 7-5 in the conference after opening Monday with a 6-5 victory in eight innings before dropping the second game by a final of 15-7.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Midshipmen took to their home diamond against UMES (5-31) and promptly sent them home with a 10-3 defeat. A pair of freshmen turned in vital performances in the victory with pitcher Jordan Heller (1-2) hurling four complete innings to record his first career collegiate win on the hill. Third baseman Chris Campbell, also a freshman, belted in three runs to help ignite Navy’s 14-hit attack in the seven-run victory. - Robb Hemmelgarn

FIELD Preview: Navy vs. Bucknell

2011-04-15T05:20:00.000-07:00

Following a weekend split of their four games against the Army Black Knights (13-16, 6-2), Navy (20-14-1, 5-3) returned to the baseball diamond on Wednesday and tangled with the CAA's George Mason Patriots (15-19-1). Unfortunately when the lights dimmed, the Midshipmen witnessed their losing streak slide to two games as they fell by a final of 13-6.

The Midshipmen pushed out to a 2-0 advantage in the top of the first inning after a two-run double by sophomore catcher Dave Milanes. Their advantage proved short-lived when the Patriots quickly plated three runs in their half of the frame. Navy responded by knotting things at three in the second inning, but George Mason added two more runs in the third frame and never looked back, eventually rolling to the 13-6 victory. Navy senior designated hitter, Jonathan Wright, smacked four base hits and batted in a pair of runs in the loss.

Head coach Paul Kostacopoulos, hopes to reverse recent fortunes this weekend when his men host the Bucknell Bison (14-20, 2-6) in a pair of double-headers in Annapolis. Last season, the Midshipmen fell in three of their four meetings with the Bison. With one Patriot League series win behind them against Lehigh, and a series split with Army, the games will have a critical impact on the Mids' postseason fortunes. - Robb Hemmelgarn

FIELD Preview: Navy vs. Army

2011-04-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

The Midshipmen launched a promising start to their 2011 Patriot League campaign this past weekend after grabbing three of four games from the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (16-12, 1-3). After splitting two games on Saturday, the Midshipmen kicked off Sunday’s sweep with a 9-4 victory. In the series-capper, senior catcher Jeff Bland logged a perfect five hits in five trips to the plate in a 12-2 victory, which vaulted the Midshipmen to 18-11-1 overall on the season. This weekend marked the fifth time in six years that Navy was victorious in their season-opening series of conference action. They hope to keep their momentum rolling this coming weekend when they head to West Point for a pair of doubleheaders with Army (11-14, 4-0).

It was announced earlier this week that Navy’s lineup is dotted with several Patriot League-leaders. Junior Alex Azor leads the PL with 45 hits and 33 runs scored, while freshman outfielder Brandon Beans is tops in triples with four, and sophomore catcher Dave Milanes leads with 32 RBI’s. Sophomore RHP Ben Nelson (4-2) is at the top of the list in the Patriot League with 36 strikeouts on the season. – Robb Hemmelgarn

FIELD Report: Mids Top Hoyas in Big Midweek Win+

2011-04-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

FIELD Report for Thursday, April 7, 2011

Navy Baseball - Winning a non-conference game midweek will have little impact on the Mids' postseason prospects this year. Still, Wednesday's win against the Big East's Georgetown (18-13) will certainly have momentum carryover into the team's key conference games this weekend at West Point. The Mids beat the Hoyas in convincing fashion, 9-2, in Annapolis to run their win streak to four games. Junior pitcher Zach Sipe (1-1), who owned eight career wins for Navy coming into the game, returned to past form and posted four solid innings of work for the Mids.

Maryland Baseball - The Maryland Terps bested #7 Florida State (22-7) this past weekend to snap a 40-game losing streak to the Seminoles that dated back to March 1998. The Terps are now 14-15 on the season after beating West Virginia (17-14) earlier this week. - FIELD staff reports

FIELD Preview: Navy vs. Lehigh

2011-03-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

As the spring thaw looms just around the corner, the Navy Midshipmen (14-11-1) are set to ignite their Patriot League schedule this weekend in Pennsylvania against Lehigh (14-8). Last spring, the Midshipmen split their four games with the Mountain Hawks, who are currently enjoying a five-game winning streak. Navy head coach, Paul Kostacopoulos, is looking forward to a strong start to the conference slate in the coming weeks, following his squad’s sub-par 7-13 mark in league play in 2010. The Mountain Hawks enter this weekend’s series boasting one of the top hitting and pitching teams in the Patriot League, although the Midshipmen should counter with their own offensive firepower.

Navy sophomore catcher Dave Milanes expects to continue his early-season success, as his 25 RBIs are currently tops in the Patriot League. Outfielder Alex Azor enters the weekend leading the league in hits, and also owns a team-high batting average of .381. He also leads the squad in runs and doubles on the season. Following their four-game series with the Mountain Hawks, the Midshipmen are back in action next week Wednesday at home against the Big East's Georgetown, before an important conference series next weekend at West Point against Army. Last year the Midshipmen dropped three of four to the Black Knights, who went on to post the best record in the league by season’s end. - Robb Hemmelgarn

FIELD Report: Zbikowski For Four

2011-03-29T13:25:00.000-07:00

Ravens' safety Tom Zbikowski (Photo / courtesy Saquan Stimpson)

FIELD Report for Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Boxing - Although best known for his handiwork on the gridiron, Ravens' safety Tom Zbikowski moved to a modest 3-0 in the professional ring by besting a largely unknown opponent, Caleb Grummet (0-1-1), last week in Atlantic City. The fight was scheduled for four rounds and went the distance. Zbikowski is presently unsigned by the Ravens, providing him some leeway to pursue his boxing career while the NFL is sidelined by a labor dispute. The Notre Dame graduate has a career amateur record of 75-15. - Tom Flynn

FIELD Report: Princeton South to Annapolis

2011-03-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

FIELD Report for Friday, March 25, 2011

Navy Baseball - The Mids (11-9-1) will host the Princeton Tigers (3-10) for a four-game weekend series beginning at noon tomorrow at Max Bishop in Annapolis. Navy is scheduled to start Sr Sam Long (1-2), So Johnny Schoberl (2-1), So Ben Nelson (2-2), and Fr Taylor Cato (1-0) in the weekend finale. Schoberl and Nelson are tied for the team lead in strikeouts with 25, while the lefty Long has posted 17. The Tigers 3-10 mark is reflective of a more challenging schedule than the Mids to date, with a season-opening trio of games against #8 LSU (16-5) included in their first 13 games. They've also faced #12 North Carolina (20-3), Patriot League power Holy Cross (8-8-1), and VCU (7-12) of the CAA. The series will be a good gauge of Navy's overall strength as they head into Patriot League play next weekend against Lehigh (9-8). - FIELD staff report

FIELD Essay: Ice Outside

2011-03-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

The following article (replete with illustrations) by FIELD'er Tom Flynn on the allure of ice hockey outdoors recently appeared unabridged in thefanzine.com as The Pull of the Pond:

A little over seven years ago, just before Thanksgiving, I was picking up a bat from a teammate at the conclusion of our geriatric league baseball season. Jack was as sick as a dog when he told me it was okay to stop by to get it, a fact only made evident when I arrived at his house to find him in his pajamas and wrapped in a blanket, doing his best impression of a pre-mortem Marley. His wife Rose was so sick she never came out from the bedroom; even their daughter was sick. Illness hung over the place like a fog.

I eyed Jack, eyed the bat, and made plans for a quick exit.

“ "Check this out, Tom,” Jack said feebly, a hand jutting out from under the blanket towards the TV. On screen was a hockey game, easy enough to see, but it was being played outdoors in a huge football stadium.

“Oilers-Habs, outside in Edmonton. They're calling it the Heritage Classic. I get CBC,” he threw in, with pride momentarily trumping misery.

I was immediately hooked, and quickly grabbed a seat sans invite. The temps had plummeted so precipitously during the game that the ice was now brittle and began breaking up, with the puck skittering erratically all over the rink. The Canadiens’ goalie, Jose Theodore, had a tuque pulled atop of his mask. Vapor plumes spewed from the players with every effort. The game, although a regular season contest, had a carefree recklessness long absent from pro sports as they have become increasingly lucrative, and conservative in taking needless risks. Somebody could certainly get hurt if they caught a blade on the sketchy ice, the puck could randomly bounce past a goalie for a cheap decisive goal, Theodore’s tuque could fly off, who knows?

Watching the Classic was seeing a professional league with its guard down; it was letting itself and its fans have fun for the night, with profit taking a backseat. I loved it. The Oilers put the game on and, after investing millions in the affair, weren’t even sure they would clear anything for their trouble. It was a “Thank you” to their fans and over 57,000 of them showed up despite a wind chill of -22 F as the game wore on into the Alberta night.

I said goodbye with a wave following the final horn, didn’t contract anything terminal, and Jack and his family rebounded in due course. The game made a far more lasting impression than any lingering germs. Although not literally on a pond, it clearly evoked in me the open air allure of its implied predecessor: pond hockey.

I was never a rink rat, but I played pickup as a teen on a pond replete with crusty snow and rutted ice, my cheeks blossoming red as the games wore on. I was never good, but it was the rare sport in which being good was a distant second to being out there. Something told me then that with my talent level these were found moments, and that I would let life encroach on them in the ensuing years with relative ease, as it has. A hip check from bills, repairs and the daily grind would surely put pond hockey on its back.

As with me, the pond experience appeals inordinately to America (and of course, Canada) as reflected in the perennially high TV numbers for the Winter Classic, the league’s New Year Day successor to the Heritage Classic. This year’s Caps-Pens contest was the most-watched regular season NHL game in 36 years. On a day dominated by college football, a hockey game now carves out a considerable niche in the TV market. It's not entirely pro hockey itself—a regular season (read: indoor) game would raise nary an eyebrow outside the NHL faithful—so some part of its popularity must be due to the metaphoric "pond" that it's played on. This year, the game received an extra boost from the elements when early rains pushed it into prime-time and away from some of the early day bowl games. Pond hockey in prime time, if you will.

With the roaring economy of the mid '90s to mid '00s came a boom in arenas built for the indoor game; I can think of several indoor rinks built in metro-Baltimore alone, hardly a hockey hotbed. Simultaneously with the growth in the number of arenas has been a general increase in societal safety-consciousness. When you were a kid, did you wear a helmet when you skated, road a bike, or skateboarded? Hell, I remember jumping off the garage roof without a helmet. By today’s mores, the prospect of skating outdoors on a pond, with its potential for a break through the ice, is a prohibitively dangerous affair.

I experienced this firsthand that same winter of 2003 when I took to the ice at a local pond, which was all of 6 inches deep at its most proud. It was really more of a flood plain, and my sons and I brought out a few pucks and sticks and “noodled around” as George Plimpton might have described it.

During our short stint out there, no less than a half-dozen parents called out to me, their voices grave with concern. “Hey! What are you doing?” was the most common refrain, as if my sons were juggling flaming knives while I slugged whiskey and phoned in bets to a bookie. I had one parent divert her child’s gaze and walk-run away from us rather than risk having him realize that someone might skate on a frozen pond. I would just lift my stick, smile, and think “So this is what we’ve become,” as I politely lipped aloud, “It’s fine, really, it’s not deep,” then pointed to a bottom-lying rock that protruded from the ice.

Summer in metro-Baltimore is an air-quality alarmist’s delight; to be speeding around outside in haltingly clean air for a change was worth the risk of damp ankles if we broke through the ice. It was exhilarating. I’d had the boys out on some makeshift rinks I’d erected in the backyard, but they were nothing compared to this broad expanse and Mother Nature had done all the work.

But maybe there’s something other than a personal recollection of a simpler game in these outdoor affairs. In the Mid-Atlantic, at least, so few people now skate outdoors, perhaps the games are a vision of what we should do in winter, rather than a recollection of we actually do. A Currier & Ives appreciation rather than a memory.

Further north, the appeal of the NHL’s outdoor Classics is more obvious. I recently watched the documentary Pond Hockey, a feature length-film devoted entirely to the topic, which chronicled the pond hockey championships now held annually in Minneapolis. Almost everyone interviewed in the film had spent significant time out on a pond, and opined against the sanitizing trend for young skaters to learn the game indoors. Noted players such as Wayne Gretzky and Neal Broten weighed in, as well as U.S. Pond Hockey Championships co-founder, Fred Haberman. “You see out here all these adults playing as if they were kids… with their friends from grade school, high school, college…. You don’t see too much of that.”

Last week we turned on the second incarnation of that original Heritage Classic, this time set in Calgary. I was curious to see if the boys, now collectively availed of more electronic distractions than NASA, would be interested in the simple notion of an NHL game played outdoors. The game again featured the Canadiens, this time as guests of the Flames. Calgary was dressed to the nines in retro-uniforms that had an undeniable “Where’s Waldo?” look to them (maybe the league was doubling down their nostalgia bet by appealing to our inner Waldo-ite). We settled down and watched the game from start to finish, even though it proved to be no contest as the surging Flames easily handled the Habs, 4-0. Talk of our outdoor skating abounded and we collectively pined away for our own days out on the pond.

Navy Baseball Tops Coppin State in 12th, 4-3

2011-03-09T09:04:00.000-08:00

The Midshipmen (6-6) drew their record to .500 by besting in-state foe Coppin State 4-3 in Annapolis on Tuesday. It was the Mids' fourth straight win. Coppin (1-9) was looking to beat the Mids for the second straight time after knocking them off 13-11 on March 2.

The Eagles are playing with a limited 14-man roster in 2011 and despite their 1-9 mark will likely make inroads toward the .500 line as they enter MEAC play.

Navy Baseball in Maryland Life

2011-03-06T11:24:00.000-08:00

This month's newsstand issue of Maryland Life magazine includes a brief article on Navy baseball by FIELD'er Tom Flynn.

FIELD Report: SI on College Football

2011-03-03T18:02:00.001-08:00

FIELD Report for Thursday, March 3, 2011

College Football - Give credit where credit is due, and this case Sports Illustrated and CBS News deserve praise for their six month investigation of criminal activity of college football players. The report looked at the 2011 preseason top 25 teams and found that 204 players had criminal records totaling 277 incidents.

The investigation included pulling 7,030 background checks on 2,837 players in the top 25. The results ranged from egregious to encouraging. Pittsburgh had 22 players with criminal records, while undefeated Rose Bowl winner TCU had none.

The article details the description of some of the Panthers' players offenses: one senior on Pittsburgh threw a man through the glass door of an art gallery, then continued to punch him. He pleaded guilty in early August, received a reduced charge and was back with Pitt in time for the season.

TCU employs a basic cornerstone of employment screening to be successful: a criminal background check. Ironically, TCU coach Gary Patterson quipped, "Some schools will use that against us in recruiting. I'm sure of it."

FIELD Report: Opening Day, Open Air

2011-02-23T04:55:00.000-08:00

The Flames' Jarome Iginla ( photo /courtesy Getty Images)

FIELD Report for Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Navy Baseball - The Mids already have their opening series behind them and, weather permitting, will face the Maryland Terps today in College Park. Navy (0-3) dropped a three game set over the weekend to South Carolina's Presbyterian College (4-0). The Terps are 1-3 after facing six-ranked Texas (3-1) in Austin to open their 2011 Schedule.

Pro Hockey - The NHL played its second open air game of the season on Sunday in Calgary, Alberta. Dubbed the Heritage Classic, the game featured the Flames and the Canadiens, with the hosts taking a 4-0 decision as temperatures plunged below zero with the wind chill. 57,000 Calgary faithful were rewarded with a win from the home town team. It was only the second time in six outdoor affairs that the local squad skated off with the win.

Calgary's goalie Miika Kiprusoff was flawless in net, turning away 39 shots for the Flames. The teams played at McMahon Stadium, the city's Olympic Stadium in 1988 and the home gridiron of the CFL's Calgary Stampeders.

Book & A Beer, Feb 25, Slainte NYC

2011-02-15T19:36:00.001-08:00

Slainte NYC, 304 Bowery (Between Bleecker & Houston )

FIELD'er Tom Flynn will be hosting a Venable Park book signing at Slainte NYC on Friday, February 25 at 8:15 PM. Stop by and pick up a signed copy of VP and share a tall tale and pint with the author and fellow FIELD friends.

FIELD History: Max and his Stadium

2011-02-01T13:51:00.000-08:00

The infield at Max Bishop Stadium ( photo / FIELD)

Back in late 2008, FIELD'er Tom Flynn penned the following look back at former Oriole and Navy great, Max Bishop, for examiner.com. We revisit it here in preparation for the quickly approaching Navy baseball season. Flynn will feature an article on Navy baseball in the upcoming issue of Maryland Life magazine.

The Quiet Oriole in Annapolis
December 31st, 2008 12:17 am ET
By Tom Flynn, Navy Midshipmen Examiner

There's a brick baseball stadium on a branch of the Severn that is quiet this winter, deaf to the $100 Million prattle of the Hot Stove League echoing down from New York. It's named for a man that was the antithesis of the modern baseball player, spending his career anonymously and fittingly doing yeoman's work as he helped propel his teams to heights they would have only glimpsed without him.

Max Bishop Stadium, Navy's home baseball field, draws its name from a teenager who broke in with the minor league Baltimore Orioles while still a senior at Baltimore's City College (High School). Jack Dunn, the Orioles manager and owner, had a penchant for finding young local talent, signing George Herman Ruth to a contract just four years earlier in 1914. Dunn was forced to sell the Babe that same season as his team faced financial insolvency and he struggled to save it. By 1918 he was well on his way to building back the powerhouse that had its foundation swept out in '14.

1918

Bishop was 5'8" and perhaps 140 lbs. soaking wet when he first trotted out to play third base for Dunn's Orioles. Bishop didn't hit for power, but he had a good eye and the 1918 club was built around pitching and could carry a light-hitting third baseman. Rube Parnham would win 22 games and their ace Ralph Worrell, another teenager in his first year, would dominate the league with 25 wins. With Worrell and Bishop now in the fold, Dunn had back a young nucleus around which to build.

That would all change that fall when the worldwide flu epidemic ravishing the globe struck the Orioles and took the life of Worrell. For the second time in four years, Dunn had lost his brightest star, this time tragically. The 1919 club would not be the team he envisioned.

1919-1923 Bishop Paces Five Pennants

Dunn contacted third baseman Fritz Maisel of Catonsville in the off-season, his former star now in the American League with the hapless St. Louis Browns. Fritz agreed to return. He would move Bishop to second base and partner him with another kid, Joe Boley, at shortstop. Max didn't have the range he wanted at second but Boley covered for him and the two together solidified the middle infield. It all came together in '19, with the Orioles winning 100 games and dropping just 49 to easily win the International League. Maisel was outstanding, hitting .336 and stealing 63 bases, and it was often Bishop crossing the plate out in front of him.

From 1919 through 1925 the Orioles would repeat as champs; an unprecedented seven straight International League pennant winners. In 1920 the powerful major league Yankees, led by Babe Ruth en route to a record 54 home run season, stopped in for an exhibition game against the Orioles. They were sent packing without a win, or a run, by their hosts.

Bishop was too good to be around for all seven. In 1923 Max played in 159 games, batted .333 and laced 179 hits, including 10 triples, 35 doubles and even 22 home runs lofted over the wooden fence in Oriole Park's rightfield. Philadelphia A's owner Connie Mack had seen enough and offered Dunn $25,000 for Max's contract. Dunn sold and the native Pennsylvanian was off to Philly.

A Thousand Walks, Three Pennants, Two World Championships

In Philadelphia, Bishop continued to do what he did best, setting the table for the likes of Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Cochrane and Al Simmons. He would later be joined by former Oriole teammate Lefty Grove and his old double play partner, Joe Boley. Once Boley arrived in 1927 Bishop and the A's began to take off, nearly catching the Yankees in 1928 and passing them en route to World Championships in '29 and '30. Bishop would play in the majors through 1935, compiling over 1,100 walks in the process and playing for a total of eight pennant winners in his professional career.

On to Annapolis

Bishop spent time with Orioles organization in '36 and the Tigers as a scout in '37 and then arrived in Annapolis for perhaps his greatest baseball achievement. From 1938 through 1961, the quiet, unassuming leader piloted the Navy Midshipmen to 306 wins against just 143 losses for a .681 winning percentage over 24 seasons. In 1961, his last as head coach, the Mids went 24-2. Just prior to announcing his retirement, Bishop passed away at the age of 62, leaving behind an impressive legacy at the major, minor and collegiate baseball levels.

Venable Park on WYPR

2011-01-29T19:26:00.000-08:00

FIELD's Tom Flynn was interviewed about his book Venable Park this week on WYPR by The Signal's Aaron Henkin. Click here for an online recording of the interview (note: the interview begins at approx. minute 31).

FIELD Report: Wildcards Under Center

2011-01-20T19:08:00.000-08:00

Slingin' Jay Cutler (Photo courtesy / mattquinnan.com)

FIELD Report for Thursday, January 20, 2011

Pro Football - With 28 of the NFL's 32 teams having exited the field for the season, it's about the time when FIELD begins its annual coverage of the league. The NFL is America's most fully reported league and doesn't suffer for its lack of ink here. That said, this year's final four, with the Steelers (13-4) and Jets (13-5) in the AFC and the Packers (12-6) and Bears (12-5) in the NFC drew the interest of even our late-waking writers.

Both the Steelers and Jets bounced excellent foes this past weekend with Pittsburgh helping the Ravens (12-5) to the exits and the Jets knocking out the previously 14-2 Patriots, the odds-on favorite to win the Lombardi trophy. Mark Sanchez dispelled late season concerns about his performance by dealing 3 TDs, including a picture-perfect flag route to Santonio Holmes for a fourth-quarter score. Look for Sanchez's success to continue as he leads the Jets into Super Bowl XLV.

The Packers brought the worst of the foursome's record into the postseason with a 10-6 mark but to appearances, look like they may be the best of the group. Aaron Rodgers led the Pack to an outright rout of the NFC's top-seeded Falcons, 48-21, after pushing aside the Eagles in Round 1 of the playoffs.

Across from them are the Monsters of the Midway, led by Jay Cutler. Cutler, along with the Jets' Sanchez, is a true playoff wildcard. FIELD has watched Cutler dot an 'i' with his uncanny precision, only to fire the ensuing four dots directly into opponents' hands. He also shares the baseball delivery of legendary hurlers Favre and Elway, if not their demeanors, and like those two his economy of motion seems most effective when moving a trailing team up the field quickly.

By rights, the Packers should beat the Bears, but if Cutler gets the hot hand - and the Bear defense can slow the almighty Aaron - FIELD's (Monopoly) money is on Chicago.

FIELD Report: Tennis Down Under, Terps in 25

2011-01-16T19:36:00.000-08:00

Maria Sharapova ( Photo courtesy / etoile)

FIELD Report for Monday, January 15, 2011

Tennis - The 2011 Australian Open is underway and the first news from Down Under is that Maria Sharapova is through to the tourney's second round. Not surprising given her ability, but as Alix Ramsay points out, a bigger feat than one might guess. Sharapova won the crown in 2008, but was sidelined by a shoulder injury in 2009 and made a hasty exit this time last year.

Navy Baseball - Baseball season is a mere month away if you know where to look. In the Mid-Atlantic, the Navy Midshipmen will begin their 2011 campaign on the road at Presbyterian College on February 18 as part of a three-game series. The Mids schedule includes Maryland, Georgetown, and Air Force in non-conference matchups. Navy looks to return to the Patriot League playoffs in 2011 after a two-year absence.

College Football - The Maryland Terps (9-4) received their just due by finishing in the top 25 in both the AP and USA Today bowls. As covered last week in FIELD, Maryland handily won the Military Bowl over East Carolina, 51-20, and made a compelling case for loftier expectations as they head into the 2011 season. Nevada (13-1), triumphant over the ACC's Boston College (7-6) in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (also covered by FIELD), fell to 11 and 13, respectively, in the AP and USA Today national rankings.

FIELD Report: A Few Good Games, A Wet Classic

2011-01-10T20:02:00.001-08:00

Friedgen & his Terps enjoy a final roar (Photo courtesy / militarybowl.org)

FIELD Report for January 10, 2011

College Football - The bowl season is over and FIELD has found its gems among the overcrowded slate of 35-games.

Maryland's win over East Carolina in the Military Bowl is a memorable one for Chesapeake-area football with the Terps (9-4) putting up 51 points against a porous East Carolina (6-7) defense. It was hardly a classic with the final score 51-20, but it was Ralph Friedgen's last as a head coach of the Terps and a fitting departure for the former Maryland player who turned around his alma mater's fortunes only to get pink-slipped after going 9-4 and winning the ACC Coach of the Year award.

Friedgen went 5-2 in bowl games and 75-50 over a decade (the Terps had one winning season in the decade prior to Friedgen's arrival), which leads FIELD to wonder aloud if the Terps boosters and university administration expected an NFC East title as well.

The TicketCity Bowl, despite a lamentable name, was held at the still bowl-worthy 80 year-old Cotton Bowl and featured two up-tempo offenses in Northwestern (7-6) and Texas Tech (8-5). The Red Raiders proved the better team by beating Northwestern, 45-38, and the TicketCity Bowl rates mention for posting 83 points yet playing out in less time than most of the BCS games.

Yesterday's Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, held at AT&T Park in San Francisco, was a great game in a perfect setting, as it pitted one of college football's most exciting teams, Nevada, against Boston College (7-6). The Wolkpack (13-1) won, 20-13, and completed one of the program's most successful seasons in history.

Hockey - The Winter Classic went off for the fourth time on New Year's Day, and for the first time a healthy dose of rain played into the forecast. The game pitted the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Washington Capitals at Heinz Field and the Caps added to the rain by besting the Pens, 3-1.

Sun Bowl: Notre Dame 33, Miami 17

2011-01-02T13:14:00.000-08:00

FIELD's bowl focus this year, as you've probably noticed, was on El Paso's Sun Bowl, due in large part to the revival of the Miami-Notre Dame rivalry for the first time in twenty years.

A record crowd of 54,021 proved that the game captured not only our attention as the Irish defeated Miami convincingly, 33-17, in the 77th Sun Bowl.

Snow flurries prior to and during the game continued the Sun Bowl's ironic history of intemperate weather, but Notre Dame freshman QB Tommy Rees was unaffected as he hit junior split end Michael Floyd on two first quarter TD strikes to set the tone for the game. Freshman counterpart QB Stephen Morris played well in relief for Miami, going 22-33 with two TDs of his own, but the 27-3 halftime deficit was too much for the Hurricanes to overcome.

Notre Dame (8-5) finished the season with four straight wins for the first time in 17 years, while Miami (7-6) dropped their last three. The 'Canes recently hired former Temple coach Al Golden to lead the team into the 2011 campaign.

FIELD Report: Navy, Miami, and 13 Titles.

2010-12-31T10:53:00.000-08:00

FIELD Report for December 31, 2010

Sun Bowl - By 2010 BCS ranking, the top bowl games will be played in early 2011 in the 5 BCS bowl games (Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange and BCS National Championship). Historically, the best bowl game will take place on this side of the New Year's stripe when the Sun Bowl matches Notre Dame against Miami tonight in El Paso.

The two will bring the most combined titles ever into a bowl game, BCS or otherwise. Notre Dame with its 8 titles, based on the All-Time AP National Poll Championships utilized by the NCAA FBS record book, and Miami with its 5, will combine for a total of 13 crowns. By comparison, the BCS national championship game will tally a single crown when Auburn attempts to double its all-time take while keeping Oregon title-less since the program's inception in 1894.

Poinsettia Bowl: San Diego State 35, Navy 14

2010-12-27T17:29:00.000-08:00

Ricky Dobbs (Photo courtesy/ USN Trevor Welsh)

The Mountain West's San Diego State Aztecs (9-4) proved the better team last week when they convincingly beat a solid Navy (9-4) team, 35-14.

Freshman running back Ronnie Hillman rushed for 228 yards and four touchdowns and paced the Aztecs to their first bowl victory in 41 years. Their last bowl victory was over Boston University in the Pasadena Bowl.

2010 Poinsettia Bowl Preview

2010-12-23T05:58:00.000-08:00

Navy slotback John Howell scores against Army (Photo courtesy/ USN)

Tonight the Navy Midshipmen (9-3) will take to the field for the final time this season in hope of closing out their 2010 campaign with a second straight bowl game victory. They'll face the improved San Diego State Aztecs (8-4) of the Mountain West Conference in the Poinsettia Bowl, and will also look to apply the finishing touch to a second consecutive ten-win season.

Senior quarterback Ricky Dobbs commands the nation’s fifth-leading rushing attack. Dobb’s 48 rushing touchdowns currently stand as the fifth most by a quarterback in NCAA history.

The Aztecs, who are enjoying their first winning season in twelve years, have been putting up 35 points per game while yielding 22. Quarterback Ryan Lindley (26 TDs, 14 INTs) and running back Ronnie Hillman (1,304 yds., 14 TDs) will try to solve Navy’s defense led by senior safety Wyatt Middleton, whose five fumble recoveries this season are tops in the nation.

A victory for the Midshipmen on Thursday assures the seniors of 36 wins in their careers, tying them with the class of 1909 for the most victories in school history.

The game will air at 8 PM ET on ESPN. - Robb Hemmelgarn

The Warmth of a Distant Rivalry: Miami - Notre Dame Heats up the Sun Bowl

2010-12-08T18:14:00.000-08:00

Stanford and Oklahoma in 2009 Sun Bowl Action (Photo Copyright Stephen Baack)

A Retro-Rivalry Spurs Interest in One of College Football’s Oldest Bowl Games

The Notre Dame-Miami football rivalry had its heyday twenty years ago, but the echoing intensity of the matchup is driving a surge of interest in El Paso’s 75-year old Sun Bowl.

The Sun Bowl, along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, began when the country needed something to cheer about: New Year’s Day, 1935. All three outlasted the Depression, and seventy-five years later the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl figure centrally in the BCS bowl structure (along with the Fiesta, Rose Bowl, and BCS Championship Game) while the Sun Bowl struggles to stand out in a bowl landscape overcrowded with 35 games. In 2010, at least, it has managed the feat by locking in a rivalry two decades past its prime but still flourishing in retrospect. Officially the Hyundai Sun Bowl, the game announced that the stadium of 51,000+ seats sold out in 21 hours, the fastest in its history.

“We knew the matchup would make a huge impact in ticket sales,” said Sun Bowl Association President Amen Ayoub. “But we did not think it would be anything like this.”

Back in the late 1980’s Miami and the Irish battled annually in their quests for national prominence. Currently, Notre Dame is one of only three remaining independent FBS teams but at that time Miami – now of the ACC – was an independent and could schedule the Irish outside the constraints of a conference schedule.

The Hurricanes and Irish alternated wins between 1987 and 1990 with the Hurricanes having the upper hand in 1987 and 1989 and the Irish winning in ’88 and ’90. The Hurricanes bookended a Notre Dame national title in 1988 with national championships in 1987 and 1989.

The two grappled in the polls seemingly weekly. In 1988, the Hurricanes held the AP’s top spot for the season’s first six weeks while Notre Dame held it for the final 7. Coming out of their title season of 1988, the Irish held the top spot in the AP Poll for 12 weeks in 1989, and Miami didn’t lay claim to the top spot until January 2, 1990 after beating Alabama 33-25 in that year’s Sugar Bowl.

Buried in the statistics of the era is the intensity of the games. In 1985 coach Jimmy Johnson and his Hurricanes embarrassed Gerry Faust’s Irish 58-7 in Faust’s last game. Prior to the 1988 match there was a pregame shoving match and in 1989 the teams nearly squared off at midfield before the coin toss. It was during this era that the game earned the moniker Catholics vs. Convicts, due in part to the off-field actions of some Hurricanes’ team members.

Lofty rankings are a distant echo for both teams, with Miami’s last visit to the summit on December 9, 2002 after starting out 12-0 that year. The Irish’s absence from the top has been nearly a full decade longer, having last topped the AP weekly poll on November 16, 1993, when they were 10-0.

Overall, Miami has won 5 national titles (1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 2001), while the Irish have won a total of 8 AP crowns, the most in FBS football. Their last championship was the ’88 title. The two teams have not faced each other since the 1990 season and have never met in a bowl game before.

''This is absolutely unbelievable,'' says Mr. Ayoub. “This is the greatest game we’ve ever put together in the 77-year [1958 saw two Sun Bowls when the game moved from New Year’s Day to New Year’s Eve] history of the Sun Bowl.” While Mr. Ayoub’s description would certainly have been fitting in 1990, in terms of the 2010 teams it better fits the criteria for Greenspan’s irrational exuberance.

2010 has not been easy on either team. Miami (7-5) will be led by interim coach Jeff Stoutland after head coach and former player Randy Shannon was fired on November 27 following an embarrassing 23-20 overtime loss to South Florida. Stoutland previously was the offensive line coach. "If I wasn't involved in this game, Miami versus Notre Dame would be a game I would definitely watch," Stoutland stated after hearing of the Sun Bowl matchup.

Things in South Bend are gradually improving following a season marred most notably by the tragic death of Declan Sullivan while taping a Notre Dame practice. Sullivan died when the video tower he was filming from collapsed under the duress of heavy winds. First year head coach Brian Kelly came under heavy criticism following the incident for allowing the filming under severe conditions.

On the football field things have slowly improved for the Irish (7-5) as it finished the season with wins over Utah, Army and USC in succession following disheartening losses to Navy and Tulsa.

It’s no secret that Notre Dame “travels well,” and is appealing to many bowls for that reason, even when having, by historical standards, a subpar season. Other teams with better records may have been passed up by the Sun Bowl due to the Irish’s ability to pack them into the stadium and in front of televisions across the country, a boon to longtime game sponsor CBS. Dyan Rohol, the president of the Notre Dame Club of New York, knows that people will be traveling to El Paso and “I’m sure we’ll have a big crowd at our usual viewing location in New York, the Public House.”

Although the Sun Bowl, like the Notre Dame-Miami rivalry, has been eclipsed in national stature, fans looking in on the game will also see a bowl in a retro-setting befitting the matchup. Built in 1963 and tucked between two hills with the sprawling Franklin Mountains as a backdrop, the bowl and the matchup confirm that there’s life in bowl games outside the BCS.

FIELD Report: Navy Update

2010-12-01T10:59:00.000-08:00

Navy slotback Gee Gee Greene (Photo courtesy/ USN Damon Mortiz)

Field Report for Wednesday, December 1

Navy Football - Navy (9-3) has an open date this weekend before facing Army (6-5) in Philadelphia on December 11. The Mids have won seven of their last 8, with their only setback a 34-31 loss to Duke in Annapolis on October 30. The Black Knights are coming off a 27-3 loss to Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium on November 20. Both teams have secured postseason bowl bids, with Army heading to the Armed Forces Bowl in Dallas and Navy slated for an appearance in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego. Neither bowl has settled on an opponent for the two service academy squads.

QB Ricky Dobbs has posted 13 rushing TDs this year while adding 10 more through the air. Fullback Alexander Teich has emerged a legitimate threat for the Mids up the middle, averaging over 6 yards a carry while rushing for 5 scores and hauling in two TD passes from Dobbs.

Navy (7-3) vs. Arkansas State (4-6)

2010-11-18T12:58:00.000-08:00

Ricky Dobbs presses the corner (Photo courtesy / USN Chad J. McNeeley)

As they trot onto the field at Marine Corps-Memorial Stadium for the final time in their respective careers, 23 Navy seniors will be honored in a Senior Salute during pre-game festivities this Saturday.

The seniors will lead the 7-3 Midshipmen, powered by their option attack, as they host the 4-6 Arkansas State Red Wolves in the first-ever tilt between the two programs. The Red Wolves arrive in Annapolis with a potent passing attack ranked 22nd in the country. QB Ryan Applin is 13th in the nation in total offense per game (303.1 yds.) while his primary target, Dwayne Frampton, averages over six receptions per game, placing him in the top 25 nationally.

Navy QB Ricky Dobbs leads the fifth-ranked ground game in the country and will try to add to his 45 career rushing touchdowns, currently eighth best in NCAA history. He needs just two more TDs to break the NCAA mark for most rushing TDs by a quarterback in consecutive seasons.

If Navy wins its final three games of the 2010 campaign, the senior class will become the first in school history, and only the second in Service Academy history, to post ten wins in back-to-back seasons. - Robb Hemmelgarn

Hausler on Zenyatta

2010-11-05T14:11:00.001-07:00

FIELD'er Pete Hausler once again proves he knows his ponies in his insightful look at Zenyatta's odds in Saturday's Breeder's Cup Classic. The six-year old mare is 19-0 lifetime and will take on the boys in what is reported to be the last race of her career.

All Things Maynard

2010-11-03T19:09:00.000-07:00

FIELD'er Tom Flynn recently interviewed author Matthew Shepatin on the autobiography that he assisted former NFL star Don Maynard in setting to paper. The Q&A appeared in Carl Bialik's Gelf Magazine and is Flynn's 10th in a series of interviews that serve as preludes to the magazine's ongoing Varsity Letters author events.

Duke 34, Navy 31

2010-10-31T15:45:00.000-07:00

Navy couldn't repeat the comeback that bested SMU (Photo courtesy / Chad Runge USN)

Despite a furious fourth quarter comeback, Navy (5-3) failed to surpass Duke (2-6), dropping a 34-31 decision on Saturday. Duke's Sean Renfree bore more than a passing resemblance to another #19 in blue and white, going a Unitas-esque 28-30 for 314 yards in leading the Blue Devils.

Books: Venable Park - Preview

2010-10-26T09:15:00.000-07:00

Baltimore's Municipal (nee Venable) Stadium

To give FIELD readers some idea of the narrative basis for Venable Park, and in turn some measure of whether they'd want to read...Venable Park...below is the prologue to the book, excerpted here from the Mill City Press edition:

Venable Park - Prologue

On December 3, 1921, a football game was played on the campus of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore pitting two unusual opponents against each other. The referees represented four different Ivy League schools, yet it wasn’t a college game. It was instead a match between two military teams: the Army’s Third Corps Area squad against a group of Quantico Marines.

The crowd overwhelmed tiny Homewood Field as civic hot air filled the skies above it. Anyone willing to listen was told that this game, in just its second year, stood only behind the venerated Army-Navy tilt as the most important military game of the season.

Quantico prevailed 22-0, dealing a setback to young Army assistant coach Dwight D. Eisenhower in the process. As Baltimore Mayor Joseph Broening looked on from his seat at midfield, he reveled in the crowd’s enthusiasm for the game, and envisioned in the contest an opportunity to elevate his city’s national stature.

In the weeks following the game, the Mayor revived a civic notion adrift for a decade to build a major stadium in Baltimore and worked rapidly to make it a reality. It was proposed that the city’s Mt. Royal Reservoir, no longer used for water, should be drained and a football stadium with baseball potential be fitted within its sunken confines.

The revered former Baltimore Oriole manager Ned Hanlon lived in Mt. Royal, however, and sat on the Parks Board. He opposed the notion of 40,000 football fans in his neighborhood each fall weekend and proposed that the city’s larger Lake Clifton be drained and fitted with a bowl.

En route to viewing Hanlon’s suggestion, members of the Board spied nearby Venable Park, a park in name only. It was in truth an old brick quarry turned trash dump, rapidly filling with the used ash cinders that 1921 Baltimore spewed out at a prolific rate. Why not put the stadium there? The cinders weren’t yet fully settled, and excavation could be done much more easily and quickly than at other locations.

With the president of the Park Board, J. Cookman Boyd, now backing Venable, it was chosen, passing both Mt. Royal and Clifton Park. Ground was broken in early May and a stadium of Olympian stature was promised.

What resulted was Venable Stadium, built cheaply and speedily in just seven months in 1922. A 40,000 seat horseshoe shaped bowl, it was erected substantially from dirt and wood with a modest plaster wall at its interior base (a classically-inspired façade would be added in 1923). The required upkeep of the stadium in future years would become legendary.

On December 3, 1922, Venable Stadium opened to fanfare seldom seen in twentieth century Baltimore. Two members of the Cabinet and three governors were on hand, and a Marine sergeant called the play-by-play into a radio telephone linked directly to the White House. The Marines once again edged the Army, this time by a score of 13-12, and Baltimore was on its way to a future forged by toil, war, and ultimately, Venable.

Navy 35, Notre Dame 17

2010-10-25T15:21:00.000-07:00

For the third time in four years, the Navy Midshipmen (5-2) did what was once near-impossible: beat Notre Dame. For the first time in four years, they did it resoundingly, notching a 35-17 victory over the Irish (4-4) at the New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey.

A healthy Ricky Dobbs ran for three TDs and hit fullback Alexander Teich for a fourth through the air. Teich was even more effective on the ground, churning out 210 rushing yards on the day.

The Mids will look to remain hot this weekend in Annapolis when they take on Duke (1-6). Notre Dame will host Tulsa (4-3) at South Bend.

FIELD Report: Mids to 4-2+

2010-10-18T14:32:00.000-07:00

Navy's Aaron Santiago (Photo courtesy / USN - Curtis K. Biasi)

FIELD Report for Monday, October 18

Atlantic League - Closing out our Atlantic League coverage for the year, the York Revolution swept the Bridgeport Bluefish in three games to claim the 2010 crown. The Revs went from worst to first in claiming the 2010 title in their fourth season of play.

Navy Football - Fullback Alexander Teich broke a 21-21 tie with the SMU Mustangs (4-3), to lead Navy (4-2) to victory in Annapolis on Saturday. On the afternoon Teich gained 95 yards and scored twice. Gee Gee Greene added a touchdown plunge from a yard out and Ricky Dobbs found Aaron Santiago on a short scoring strike for Navy's only points through the air.

SMU senior linebacker Pete Fleps had 10 total tackles while fellow backer Taylor Reed led all tacklers with 20.

Navy will face Notre Dame (4-3) this week at New Meadowlands Stadium. The Irish hold a 14-o advantage over the Mids on games played in the Garden State, including an 11-0 mark at Giants Stadium.

The SMU Mustangs will take on Houston (3-3) at home.

Navy 28, Wake Forest 27

2010-10-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

For the second straight week the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-4) were beaten by a pass play from an option team in the waning moments of the fourth quarter. This time the culprit was Navy (3-2), and the winning strike was from Mids' quarterback Ricky Dobbs to Greg Jones with 27 seconds left in the game. Navy's Joe Buckley "won" the game by adding the extra point to seal a 28-27 victory.

True freshman QB Tanner Price scorched a Navy pass defense that led the nation in fewest yards yielded per game after three contests. Price hit on 37 of 53 attempts for 326 yards and two touchdowns. Dobbs countered with an 8 of 19 performance with two scores and one pick, but also added two TDs and 113 yards on the ground.

River Hill grad and freshman split end Michael Campanaro had 165 return yards and 44 yards receiving while Gilman's Joey Ehrmann had six tackles for the Deacons.

Wake travels to Virginia Tech (4-2) on Saturday while Navy returns home to Annapolis to face SMU (4-2).

Navy (2-2) vs. Wake Forest (2-3) Preview

2010-10-08T19:22:00.001-07:00

Navy in 2008 EagleBank Bowl action vs. Wake (Photo courtesy / Dustin Gates, USN)

Navy heads into Winston-Salem to face the ACC's Wake Forest on Saturday at a crossroads in their season. The Deacons (2-3) are a typical ACC foe for Navy (2-2) -not upper echelon- but having faced stiffer competition than the Mids to date. In recent years, they've represented a critical test for Navy to prove its FBS (Division I-A) bowl quality, and this year will be no different.

Last year Navy beat Wake Forest 13-10 in Annapolis without attempting a pass. It will be the third straight road game for the Mids when they face the Deacons tomorrow, having defeated Louisiana Tech, 37-23, in Ruston, La., and losing to Air Force in Colorado Springs last week.

Wake Forest opened the season with a lopsided 53-13 victory over Presbyterian, then outlasted Duke 54-48 in week two. Since then they've dropped their next three to Stanford, Florida State and, most recently, Georgia Tech.

The Demon Deacons boast two metro-Baltimore products. Michael Campanaro is a freshman wideout and punt returner from Howard County's River Hill High School, and standout linebacker Joey Ehrmann (son of former Baltimore Colt Joe Ehrmann), hails from Baltimore's Gilman High School. Campanaro rushed for 41 yards and a TD in the Deacons' loss to Stanford earlier this year.

Navy will be led on offense by senior QB Ricky Dobbs and senior FB Vince Murray. On the defensive side of the ball senior linebacker Tyler Simmons has proven stout, with 36 total tackles, a half sack, and one forced fumble. Simmons and the Mids will be hard-pressed to contain a Deacon offense looking for a reprieve from its ACC schedule.

The two teams did not play between 1929 and 1991, but since resuming semi-regular matchups Wake has had the upper hand, going 7-3 and besting Navy 29-19 in the EagleBank Bowl in Washington, DC in 2008.

Venable Park on amazon.com

2010-10-07T20:40:00.000-07:00

Venable Park by FIELD'er Flynn (Photo courtesy / MCP)

FIELD'er Tom Flynn's Venable Park has wandered off the crowded shelves of its publisher and bolted out the door, finding its way to amazon.com, bn.com, and tomflynnbooks.com. It's also landed a home on the racks at a handful of metro-Baltimore indie bookstores, including the Ivy Bookshop.

Changing of the Guard: Air Force 14, Navy 6

2010-10-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

Air Force's Tim Jefferson (#7) tallied two TDs on Saturday

(Photo courtesy / Denise Navoy USAF)

Although the Air Force Falcons (4-1) went into yesterday's game as favorites, they had history against them, having lost seven straight to the Navy Midshipmen (2-2). Sporting custom uniforms for the contest, the Air Force bucked their own tradition and then recent history by besting the Navy Midshipmen, 14-6.

Falcons' quarterback Tim Jefferson galloped for a 50-yard scoring run in the first half and bookended it with a one-yard dive in the fourth to account for both Air Force touchdowns. The Mids' kicker Joe Buckley provided all of their scoring by putting through 25 and 32 yard field goals. Buckley had an early miss in the first quarter from 21 after having a Navy drive stall out at the Falcons' four yard line.

QB Ricky Dobbs led the Mids with 67 rushing yards but was ineffective over the top, going 6-18 with two interceptions. Navy travels to Winston-Salem on Saturday to take on the ACC's Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-3). Air Force will face Colorado State (1-4) at home on Saturday.

Navy (2-1) vs. Air Force (3-1) Preview

2010-10-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

Navy's leading rusher, FB Vince Murray (Photo courtesy / MC1 Chad Runge)

Riding the momentum of consecutive wins, the Navy Midshipmen (2-1) head west this week, hoping to run their streak to three straight. For the 43rd time in history, they will face off against the Air Force Falcons (3-1) in the first leg of the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy competition.

The Midshipmen march into Colorado Springs balanced on both sides of the ball, with the ninth-ranked rushing attack in the country, and the best pass defense in the land. Across the line of scrimmage, the Air Force ironically does the majority of its damage on the ground, averaging a nation's best 394 rushing yards per game. The running duties have been distributed among Jared Tew, Asher Clark, and Tim Jefferson, with each racking up more than 300 rushing yards on the young campaign. Jefferson is also an efficient passer, hitting for 420 yards through four games.

The Midshipmen hope to grab their 8th straight victory over the Falcons, but will face a stiff challenge as Air Force enters the game as a more than touchdown favorite. Five of the last six games between the two have been decided by a TD or less. - Robb Hemmelgarn

Movies: The Tillman Story

2010-09-26T13:03:00.000-07:00

Pat and Kevin Tillman

Although 'The Tillman Story' is by no means a sports movie, it is about a sports figure - the late Pat Tillman, a standout safety for the Arizona Cardinals who was killed in Afghanistan in 2004.

The documentary can be readily distilled into two primary components: one illuminating the life of Tillman and offering some insight into his motivation to leave behind a lucrative NFL career to serve in the military, and a second shedding valuable insight into the true circumstances surrounding his death.

The two are inextricably linked as the convictions of the living Pat Tillman stood in stark contrast to the manner in which his killing was 'spun', and seemed to posthumously motivate those he left behind to depict his death as it was: tragic, heroic, but accidental, and not of the glorious variety befitting a recruiting poster. Much of the movie focuses on the battle that his mother Mary "Dannie" Tillman undertook to find the true details of his death. Tillman's father, Pat Sr., also tirelessly waded through the abundance of redacted documents provided to the family to essentially obfuscate the facts of his death. Tightly written and directed, the movie stands solidly on the legs of both of its primary components, and offers at its core both an inspiring story of one man's patriotism, and a cautionary tale of the dangers of myth-making to advance an agenda.

FIELD Report: Blue Crabs Poised+

2010-09-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

The Blue Crabs' John Halama (Photo Courtesy / SMBC)

FIELD Report for Monday, September 20

Atlantic League - Although Buck Showalter's Orioles have shown some admirable rebound in recent weeks, the best pro team still standing in the Free State is the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. Just as the AL playoffs are set to begin on Wednesday, the Crabs have reacquired veteran John Halama, who finished his tour of duty with the AAA Sacramento River Cats in the Oakland A's organization.

Complementing the veteran lefty will be righthander Dan Reichert, who on Friday night broke the all-time Atlantic League single season win record by posting his 18th victory. Reichert sports an 18-9 overall mark and leads the league in strikeouts (148) and innings (189). Southern Maryland will open their playoff run against the Bridgeport Bluefish to decide the league's Liberty Division. The York Revolution and Somerset Patriots will face each other in the league's Freedom Division playoff.

Navy Football - The Mids soldiered on Saturday, beating Louisiana Tech 37-23 in their home opener in Annapolis. Ricky Dobbs ran for one touchdown and passed for another to lead his team back from a 23-16 halftime deficit. Navy improved to 2-1 while the Bulldogs dropped to 1-2.

Navy travels west to face the Air Force Falcons (2-1) on Saturday, October 2. Air Force dropped a close decision to #7 Oklahoma (3-0), 27-24, in Norman last weekend.

FIELD View: BCS Implications or Football

2010-09-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

College Football - In light of James Madison's surprise upset of the #13 Virginia Tech Hokies (0-2) on Saturday there's been relatively little made of the football involved and much prattle about the BCS implications for Boise State.

One backstory that makes the game so compelling was JMU's decision the week prior to completely scuttle it's usual Pistol formation -a modified shotgun-based offense- against Kentucky's Morehead State in an effort to throw off the scouting and pre-game prep of Virginia Tech. The result: a convincing week 1 victory against a weaker opponent and game film that showed the Hokies an uneven offense in the wrong formation.

The Hokies aided the Dukes (2-0) with three turnovers as JMU surged from a 10-point deficit halfway through the second. Fifth-year senior QB Drew Dudzik returned from a 2009 foot injury to rush for two TDs and throw for a third.

Since Boise State (1-0) narrowly defeated Virginia Tech, 33-30, in the season's first week, the contention is that the Dukes in effect damaged Boise State's BCS Bowl hopes by topping the Hokies. An aside for certain, but one that shouldn't distract football fans from what matters: the game, not the overblown import of all things BCS.

Navy 13, Georgia Southern 7

2010-09-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

Navy pressures Georgia Southern QB Jaybo Shaw (Photo courtesy / georgiasoutherneagles.com)

For the second game in a row Navy’s triple-option offense sputtered at times, but the defense flexed its muscle, helping to lead the Midshipmen to a 13-7 victory over FCS (nee I-AA) Georgia Southern (1-1). Navy dented the scoring column initially with 8:16 left in the first quarter when kicker Joe Buckley connected on an 18-yard field goal. Later in the period, a sack by Shane Bothel forced a fumble that Bill Yarborough pounced on. With 2:07 remaining in the opening quarter, Buckley extended the Mids' advantage to six points by putting through a 42-yard field goal.

With just over a minute to play in the second quarter, Navy signal-caller, Ricky Dobbs, extended the lead with a one-yard touchdown run. Buckley’s extra point gave the Midshipmen a 13-0 lead at intermission. In the first half, Navy’s stingy defense held Georgia Southern to just 23 yards on 21 snaps.

The lone score for either team during the remainder of the battle was a 17-yard touchdown pass by the Eagles in the third quarter. Navy’s defense prevailed the remainder of the way to secure the 13-7 victory. Vince Murray led the Midshipmen on the ground with 50 yards on nine carries.

Navy (1-1) will go for their second straight win next week when they travel south to face the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (1-1), who lost 48-16 yesterday to Texas A&M. - Robb Hemmelgarn

Navy (0-1) vs. Georgia Southern (1-0) Preview

2010-09-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

Five days after falling in their season opener against Maryland, the Navy Midshipmen (0-1) hope to get well against Georgia Southern (1-0) when they open their 2010 home football season in Annapolis on Saturday. In order for Ken Niumatalolo’s crew to regroup from their disappointing 14-17 loss on Labor Day, they'll need to improve on their red zone offense, where they crossed the goal line on just two of seven trips.

Between the 20 yard lines, the Midshipmen had their way with the Terrapins, though, and outgained them 485-272 yards overall while holding the pigskin for 40 minutes. Fullback Vince Murray led the ground attack with 112 yards on 14 carries.

Georgia Southern (1-0) head coach Jeff Monken returns to the Naval Academy for the first time since he was a member of the Mids' coaching staff from 2002-2007. Monken originally came north along with former Navy head coach Paul Johnson. Johnson returned to Georgia in 2008 to take the helm for Georgia Tech.

Last week the Eagles pounded Savannah State, 48-3, rolling up 540 yards in Monken’s head coaching debut at the school.

On the ninth anniversary of September 11, 2001, a moment of silence will be observed at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium just prior to a 3:30 kickoff. It will be followed with a flyover by a pair of FA-18E Super Hornets. - Robb Hemmelgarn

Terps 17, Mids 14

2010-09-08T13:46:00.000-07:00

Navy fullback Alexander Teich powers into Maryland's linebackers (Photo / USN)

Navy won in the stats column on Labor Day but lost on the turf, as they bowed to the Maryland Terps, 17-14, before 69,348 fans at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium.

The Mids amassed 412 yards on the ground, but more critically they turned the ball over at the Terps' 1-yard line twice via fumble. Their final stall at the goal-line came with less than a minute left in the game on a 4th and goal. Navy trailed by three and went for the win, but QB Ricky Dobbs was stuffed when he tried a leftside off-tackle keeper. Maryland took over possession of the ball on downs and ran the final seconds off the clock from their one.

Maryland snapped a seven-game skid extending back to last year and the Mids suffered their first loss since falling to Hawaii in late November, 2009.

Navy will play their home opener on Saturday in Annapolis against Georgia Southern (1-0) while Maryland plays its second straight in-state foe, Morgan State (1-0), at College Park this weekend.

FIELD Report: Navy Aweigh vs. Terps +

2010-08-30T16:59:00.000-07:00

Ricky Dobbs and Navy open their 2010 campaign this weekend (Photo courtesy / USN)

FIELD Report for Monday, August 30.

Navy Football - While America lounges on Labor Day, the Navy Mids will get to work against the Maryland Terps at M&T Bank Stadium in the college football opener for both schools. Maryland head coach Ralph Friedgen will begin his 10th season leading the Terps, and seeks to end a seven-game losing skid that began last season with a 42-32 loss at Wake Forest. On the far sideline, Navy’s Ken Niumatalolo looks to build on last year's 10-4 overall mark, punctuated by a drubbing of the Big 12's Missouri in the Texas Bowl, 35-13.

The in-state rivals haven't met since 2005 when Friedgen’s crew edged the Midshipmen 23-20 to narrow Navy’s 14-6 lead in the all-time series. For the Terps to reverse recent fortunes in 2010 they must contain Navy’s perennially relentless running game. Navy returns its top six rushers – including senior quarterback Ricky Dobbs and senior fullback Vince Murray - from a year ago when they ended the season ranked fourth nationally in rushing yards per game. - Robb Hemmelgarn

Atlantic League - Although the Atlantic League's Newark Bears will likely bring up the rear in 2010, they can at least (in name) claim lineage to far more victories than their current league rivals.

In 1917, Newark's International League entry (previously dubbed the Indians) began play as the Bears at Harrison Field, former home of the short-lived Federal League's Newark Peppers. The junior circuit was perhaps the best in the country at the time and regularly fed its best players to a handful of American League clubs. In 1931 the Bears became an affiliate of the New York Yankees and grew into a powerful franchise seemingly overnight. The 1937 team is still considered one of the greatest in baseball history. They obliterated the rest of the International League, posting a record of 109-43 and winning the pennant by 25 ½ games. Faced with declining attendance a decade later, the Bears ultimately left Newark for Springfield, Massachusetts after the 1949 season.

In 1998 the Bears were reborn as an original member of the Atlantic League. The Bears won league titles in 2002 and 2007, but the team’s on-the-field success didn't convey to the bottom line: in 2008 the Bears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Through reorganization, they have continued to play.

Despite a roster sprinkled with former major leaguers, the Bears will head to an early hibernation in 2010 after finishing the first half of league play in last place in the AL's Freedom Division. As of late August, they held the same spot in the second half. - Russ Roberts

Baseball by the Beach

2010-08-15T14:49:00.000-07:00

The Last Best League (Photo courtesy / Da Capo Press)

My copy of The Last Best League is fairly dinged up now that I'm through with it. That, for me, is typically a good sign that I liked a book enough to lug it along to book-unfriendly places.

Jim Collins's 2004 story of a summer spent following a team in the elite Cape Cod League certainly earned the travel. It's a straightforward look at a baseball circuit that regularly spawns major league prospects. The team he zeroes in on is the 2002 version of the Chatham A's. Although historically a league power, ironically that year's sub-par A's add poignancy to the book because of their struggles.

The Cape Cod League provides for a unique team environment. Each player is pursing his individual dream of professional baseball; the team coalesces for roughly two months and quickly dissolves at season's end as players return to their respective colleges. The short-life span of each year's team further heightens the individual-centric nature of the club.

Collins moves the overall narrative along compellingly and deftly handles the precarious balance between ample and excessive game accounts. He also spends plenty of time off the field with the A's and effectively weaves in the backstory of the team's prominent players.

It's here where The Last Best League stalls at times, through no fault of Collins's. The A's as a group are not to be confused with a gritty, endearing bunch of ballplayers. Therein lies the book's challenge; it can be hard to care whether they're successful in chasing their major league dreams. Still, as a detailed portrait of a time & place the book makes a compelling case that baseball's last best league indeed resides on Cape Cod. - TF

Flynn on a Diamond

2010-08-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

Joseph Wallace's Diamond Ruby (Image courtesy / Touchstone )

FIELD'er Tom Flynn interviewed Joseph Wallace, author of the new baseball novel Diamond Ruby. The Q&A was for Gelf Magazine and was part of the magazine's Varsity Letters series.

Navy 2010 Football Schedule

2010-07-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

Heisman hopeful Ricky Dobbs will lead Navy over the top in 2010 (Photo courtesy / USN)

Opponent Date/Time* Location

09/06/10 Maryland 4:30 pm (Baltimore, MD)
09/11/10 Georgia Southern 3:30 pm
09/18/10 at Louisiana Tech 7:00 pm
10/02/10 at Air Force 2:30 pm
10/09/10 at Wake Forest TBA
10/16/10 SMU 3:30 pm
10/23/10 Notre Dame 12:00 pm (East Rutherford, NJ)
10/30/10 Duke 3:30 pm
11/06/10 at East Carolina 3:30 pm
11/13/10 Central Michigan 3:30 pm
11/20/10 Arkansas State 3:30 pm
12/11/10 Army 2:30 pm (Philadelphia, PA)

*All times Eastern, games in gold @ Annapolis, MD

Hausler World Cup Post-Mortem

2010-07-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

FIELD'er Pete Hausler offers up his post-mortem on the 2010 FIFA World Cup Tournament. Although out-predicted by an octupus, Hausler nonetheless offers great afterthoughts on a tourney that ended with a 1-0 Spain win over the Netherlands.

FIELD'er Novel Due out in September

2010-07-13T14:48:00.000-07:00

Working cover for Venable Park (Photo courtesy / MCP)

FIELD'er Tom Flynn is expected out with his first novel, Venable Park, this September. It's a trim 155-page affair set in Baltimore and will include elements of interest to the FIELD audience. But that's all we're letting out of the bag so as to not bring down Google with queries.

Stay tuned for details as the release date approaches.

FIELD Report: A New Crown in South Carolina

2010-07-05T12:01:00.000-07:00

The grass was greenest for South Carolina in 2010 ( Photo courtesy nsdis. )

College Baseball - Although South Carolina rarely visits the highlight reels on the SEC gridirons, its baseball counterparts proved they are second to none in the conference, or the nation, last week in Omaha, Nebraska. The Gamecocks won their school's first national championship -in any men's sport- by defeating UCLA in the College World Series finals.

USC was paced by pitcher Michael Roth and a staff that posted a 2.15 ERA and held opposing hitters to a .191 batting average in seven CWS games.

Hausler Rings in on the World Cup

2010-06-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

FIELD'er Pete Hausler will be following World Cup play for thefanzine.com, an online sports/culture magazine. Hausler opens with an ambitious round of predictions, and has already correctly predicted an ignoble departure by the French.

FIELD Report: Quinzani Cannonade at Harvard

2010-06-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

Quinzani and crew at Harvard Stadium (Photo / T. Flynn)

Pro Lacrosse - FIELD traveled far...afield...this past Saturday to see Duke's Max Quinzani's pro debut for the Boston Cannons at historic Harvard Stadium. Quinzani hails from nearby Duxbury, MA and lived up to his billing by scoring a trio of goals and adding an assist in a 17-12 win over the Denver Outlaws. On Memorial Day, Quinzani and his Duke teammate's captured the school's first NCAA title in lacrosse.

6,000+ fans were reported on hand although the #'s looked sparse against the vast Greco-Roman backdrop of Harvard Stadium. The skies threatened throughout, but the Cannons lit up the turf with five goals from the MLL's leading goal-scorer, Matt Poskey.

This MLL's version of the Summer Classic -the All-Star Game- will be played at Harvard Stadium as well. Rather than follow MLB's Tuesday tradition, however, the game will go off on Thursday, July 8 at 7 PM.

FIELD Report: Chicago's Stanley+

2010-06-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

An Original Six Squad Reclaims the Cup (Photo / V. Baxter)

After a brief editorial siesta, the FIELD Report is back with a couple of quick items on the road to the latest news.

NHL Hockey - The Chicago Blackhawks convincingly claimed Lord Stanley's Cup by earning a hard-fought 4-2 series win over the Philadelphia Flyers. It was the Blackhawks first Stanley Cup since 1961. The Hawks paid a visit to the Tonight Show last night as part of a well-earned victory lap.

College Lacrosse - Hockey's landlocked cousin, lacrosse, had its DI collegiate men's title claimed by the Duke Blue Devils in dramatic fashion with a 6-5 win over Notre Dame in Baltimore. It was the first time that the Duke men have laid claim to the DI lacrosse crown.

FIELD Report: Blue Jays Vacation in Wisconsin+

2010-05-28T16:55:00.000-07:00

Johns Hopkins rounds third in its 2010 DIII title pursuit (Photo / Chris Trotter)

College Baseball - The Johns Hopkins Blue Jays are spending their Memorial Day weekend at the Division III College Baseball World Series in Grand Chute, Wisconsin. The top-ranked Blue Jays (43-5) open today against #6 Heidelberg (40-6). The Jays feature centerfielder David Kahn, who was named the d3baseball.com National Player of the Year this week. The 5'11" righty batted a stratospheric .473 with 70 RBIs in 48 games during the regular season while earning a spot on the Dean's List.

Elsewhere in the FIELD purview, Bucknell (25-33) won the Patriot League tourney title by taking the opening doubleheader of a best-of-three series from the Holy Cross Crusaders (26-26) in Worcester, MA. The win earns the Bison an automatic berth in the DI NCAA tournament. Navy posted a 30-win season but failed to qualify for the Patriot League postseason.

College Lacrosse - The DI lacrosse Final Four gets underway this weekend in Baltimore when Notre Dame (9-6) faces #7 Cornell (12-5) and #1 Virginia (16-1) faces #5 Duke (14-4) in a pair of semi-finals. Virginia's only loss of the season came at the hands of Duke on April 17 in Charlottesville. The winners will play on Monday in the national championship game at M&T Bank Stadium.

FIELD Report: Maryland Exits, NHL Idles, Nats Cut Off O's

2010-05-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

Notre Dame clamped down on the Terps offense Saturday (Photo / J. Cinosky)

College Lacrosse - And then there were four. The 2010 Division I NCAA college lacrosse field has been reduced to four remaining teams: Virginia, Duke, Notre Dame and Cornell. The Irish put the clamp on #3 Maryland en route to a 7-5 win in Princeton this past weekend. The Terps were the last of four Maryland entries - Mount St. Mary's, Loyola, and Hopkins rounded out the quartet - to exit the 2010 DI tournament. Virginia and Duke will face off in the semis on Saturday while the Irish will take on Cornell. Both games, and Monday's finale, will be held at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

NHL Hockey - The Blackhawks are in the Stanley Cup finals and will face the streaking Philadelphia Flyers this weekend. Chicago ousted the San Jose Sharks in four straight while the Flyers needed five to send the upstart Canadiens to their playoff exit. The Flyers entered the NHL playoffs as the #7 seed and ousted the #8 Habs, while the Blackhawks entered the postseason tourney as the #2 seed in the West.

The NHL will unfortunately hold off until Saturday to start the Stanley Cup series, creating a huge scheduling gap that threatens to lose the interest of fans with a wide palate of other sports options in May. Criticizing NHL management is done too easily to merit the effort, but moving the Cup finals up given the quick wins in both semis would clearly benefit the sport and its fans.

Nats/O's - Funny that MLB should dub interleague play between the Nats and the O's 'The Battle of the Beltways.' Beltways encircle both DC and Baltimore, yet are as deserving of inclusion in a marquee as pot holes and humidity.

The Nats took 2 of 3 from the Orioles to establish themselves as the lead car in the beltway baseball traffic snarl, at least for the moment. The O's took the opener 5-3 before dropping 7-5 and 4-3 decisions to Washington. The scores indicate tighter competitive parity between the Birds (14-31) and the Nats (23-22) than their respective records might suggest. The Orioles and Nats face off again in June, this time with Baltimore playing host.

FIELD Report: Army Stunner, Bison Stampede, Hobbs Can Hit

2010-05-18T17:34:00.000-07:00

Army handled Syracuse in 2 OTs (Photo / Jamie De Pould/thenewshouse.com)

FIELD Report for Wednesday, May 19

Lacrosse - Army (11-5) pulled off a stunning 9-8 upset of # 2 Syracuse (13-2) in double overtime this past weekend in the first round of the NCAA Division I playoffs. The Orangemen were reigning DI champs after winning the crown in 2008 and repeating as champs in 2009. Earlier this month, Army bettered Navy (7-8), 11-8, at Mitchie Stadium for the Patriot League crown and an NCAA tourney bid.

Maryland had four representatives in the NCAA DI tournament: Mt. St. Mary's, Maryland, Loyola and Johns Hopkins. Of the four only the Terps advanced, with an 11-8 win over Hofstra (9-5). Loyola (9-5) lost an 11-10 heartbreaker in triple overtime to Cornell (11-5).

#3 Maryland (12-3) faces Notre Dame (8-6) in Princeton on Saturday and will be the de facto home team after the Irish ousted Princeton (11-5) there last week in their opening round matchup.

College Baseball - On the baseball diamond, the Black Knights were on the wrong end of a stunner of a milder variety when they lost their opening round Patriot League series to the Bucknell Bison (23-32). Army (28-17) entered the series as the tourney's top seed with Bucknell its lowest at #4, but it's the Bison who will advance to play Holy Cross (25-24) in the league finals. The Patriot League tourney champ earns an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Bucknell was paced by four home runs from Doug Shribman. The 6'4" junior now owns the all-time Patriot League single season home run mark with 17 round trippers and continues to light up the radar screen of pro scouts.

Atlantic League - In early April, FIELD reported on the Hobbs-ian (as in R. Hobbs, not T. Hobbes, although we hear he could swing a pen) Val Majewski's appearance on the York Revolution's roster. We may be onto something at that, as Val is third in the league with a .349 clip to go along with 16 RBIs. Stories like Majewski's abound on the rosters of the Atlantic League as a mixture of fringe and solid players strive to stay on the diamond. As a result, FIELD staffers often prefer indy league baseball to the bigs (although there's been no formal vote).

FIELD Report: Mining Elite, Speciale Goes Out in Style, Habs Have It

2010-05-12T20:48:00.001-07:00

Baltimore Elite Giants photo from the Henderson Collection (Photo / MdHS)

FIELD Report for Wednesday, May 12

Baltimore Elite Giants - While its teams battle out on the playing fields this spring, a group of students at Towson University are making a contribution off the field to the region's sports and cultural history. Nine students have been categorizing a collection of photographs by Paul Henderson, a longtime photographer for Baltimore's Afro-American Newspaper and Morgan State University. His collection focuses primarily on the time period of 1945 - 1960 and captures a wide range of glimpses of African-American life in Maryland during that time. It also includes a subset of stellar photos of the city's longtime Negro League entry, the Baltimore Elite Giants.

Long-sitting negatives are being developed and the devoted band of students enrolled in a historic preservation class at Towson University are hoping to have the collection accessible/researchable by winter 2010.

Navy Baseball - The Mids (30-21) ended their 2010 campaign the same way they started it, with a win over the Delaware State Hornets (12-31). Second team All-Patriot pitcher Ben Nelson showed that he'd earned the nod by finishing out his freshman year with a 3-0 win. Nelson posted a 5-3 mark and 2.34 ERA in 2010. He tied sophomore Zach Sipe (5-2) for the team lead in wins.

Senior outfielder Mike Speciale finished up in fine form as well, going 2-2 with an RBI and a run scored. He walks away from Max Bishop as Navy's all-time leader in at bats (741), runs (153), hits (241) and total bases (374). He is currently listed on the ballot for the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association's All-American Team.

Hockey - The Montreal Canadiens ousted the favored Pittsburgh Penguins in convincing fashion on Wednesday with a 5-2 Game Seven win. Goalie Jaraslov Halak stood on his head again, turning away 37-39 Pittsburgh shots.

FIELD Report: Blue Crabs Bolt, Battling Andys, Patriot Playoffs

2010-05-09T14:52:00.000-07:00

The Nats' Ryan Zimmerman makes the grab (Photo / chap02-flickr.com)

FIELD Report for Sunday, May 9

Atlantic League - The Blue Crabs are out to a 9-6 start and sit in first place in the Atlantic League's Liberty Division. The AL has two four-team divisions, the Freedom and Liberty. Veteran lefty John Halama anchors the staff and is 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA this season.

Tennis - With the French Open less than two weeks ago, the field is shaping up and two top-ten Andys will likely not play up to their tournament seeding. Andy's Murray and Roddick are the subject of an article on the official French Open website contending that neither will leave much of an impression on the red clay of Roland Garros.

College Baseball - The Patriot League playoffs start this upcoming weekend. #4 Bucknell (21-31, 8-12 PL) travels to West Point to face #1 Army (27-15, 16-4 PL) while the #3 Holy Cross Crusaders (10-10, 23-23 PL) travel to #2 Lehigh (22-25, 12-8 PL). Elsewhere in the Patriot, Navy (29-21) seeks win #30 in their season finale on Wednesday at home against Delaware State (12-27).

Nats/O's - On Sunday, the Orioles (9-23) lost a Mother's Day matchup to the Twins (21-11) 6-0. The O's gained a respectable split with the Central-Division leading Twins, but failed to get a stopper performance from budding ace Brian Matusz (2-3). The Nats (17-14) beat Florida (14-17), 3-2, in DC on a late home run from Josh Willingham.

FIELD Report: Navy Pursues Big 3-0, Nats Pace Region, Stanley Awaits

2010-05-05T19:21:00.000-07:00

Navy soldiers on towards 30 wins (Photo / David Clow)

Navy Baseball - Last week Navy (29-21) was knocked out of Patriot League playoff contention by going 1-3 in a weekend series against the Lafayette Leopards in Easton, PA. The Patriot League field is now set with Army, Lehigh, Holy Cross and Bucknell as the 1-4 seeds, respectively. Eliminated from the postseason, Navy has a new mark in sight: 30 wins. To that end the Mids edged Delaware State (12-27), 4-3, today to move within one game of their target. They close out the season by hosting the same Hornets in Annapolis next Wednesday.

Nats/O's -The FIELD hometown diamond duo were on the wrong end of a pair of losses tonight as the Orioles (7-21) dropped a 7-5 decision to the Yankees (19-8) and the Nats (14-13) lost 7-6 in 10 frames to Atlanta (12-15). In their race for the lightly-reported FIELD MLB Baseball Crown, the Nats continue to hold a commanding lead, with a 7-game margin in the win column. Both teams have gone 5-5 over their last 10 games.

NHL - Four series will beget two semifinal rounds as the Stanley Cup playoffs continue. Right now the series tallies include: San Jose 3-0 over Detroit, Vancouver 1-1 with Chicago, Pittsburgh 2-1 over Montreal, Boston 3-0 over Philadelphia. The Canucks and Blackhawks are currently underway in game 3 of their series, with the Hawks up 3-2 in the third.

Redeeming Roger

2010-05-02T18:08:00.000-07:00

(Photo courtesy - Simon & Schuster)

FIELD'er Tom Flynn interviewed Danny Peary, co-author of Roger Maris - Baseball's Reluctant Hero, for gelfmagazine.com. Maris arrived in New York in 1960 to join a third-place Yankees' team and became an integral part of five straight pennant winners. Along the way he notched two AL MVPs and shattered Babe Ruth's home run record. His reward was largely fan and media scorn. Clavin and Peary work to rectify the many wrongs visited upon Roger for doing so many things right.

FIELD Report: Caps Exit, Nats One Back

2010-04-29T03:47:00.000-07:00

Nats were the only DC team with reason to celebrate last night (Photo / A. Fagen)

FIELD Report for Thursday, April 29

NHL Hockey - In game two of their series, Caps standout Alexander Ovechkin wondered aloud if the Habs' goalie, Jarosov Hsavlev, had a case of nerves in a contest that the Caps won, 6-5. Hsavlev ultimately responded with a resounding 'nyet' as the Canadiens bounced the Caps from the playoffs, 2-1, behind Jarosov's steady hand. In game six of the series Hsavlev turned away 53 Capitals' shots and followed it up with 41 saves on Wednesday. The eighth-seeded Habs advance to take on Pittsburgh while the Capitals stellar 121-pt. season comes to an end.

Nat's/O's - The surprising Washington Nats (12-10) are keeping their head above the .500 mark as the last days of baseball's first month conclude. The Nats sit in third place in the NL East, just one game behind the division-leading Mets (13-9). They also sit eight games in the win column ahead of their regional rivals, the O's (4-17). The Birds continue their current series against the Yankees (13-7) tonight at Camden Yards, while the Nats have a travel day south to Florida to face the Marlins (11-11) on Friday.

FIELD Report: Navy on Bubble, Jays Top Charts, Habs-Caps Go to the Bell

2010-04-27T04:43:00.000-07:00

Army turns its gaze towards a repeat Patriot League title (Photo / Dave Clow)

FIELD Report for Tuesday, April 27

Navy Baseball - In 2010, Army again proved its mettle on the college diamond by clinching the Patriot League regular season crown. Last year the Black Knights finished second in league play, won the league tourney, then turned heads by earning two wins in the NCAA tournament.

The Black Knights stand at 13-3 in the league to date and 23-13 overall. They have a weekend series against Bucknell (19-28, 7-9 PL) approaching to close out their PL regular season.

The rest of the Patriot teams (Holy Cross, Lehigh, Bucknell, Navy, Lafayette) all have a shot at the final three spots. Navy (6-10, 26-18) currently sits in the fifth spot in league play and outside the four-team playoff picture. They face Lafayette (4-12, 8-28) in Easton, PA this weekend and will need a strong showing to enter postseason play. Bucknell is in the fourth spot and holds a tiebreaker advantage over the Mids should the two teams finish deadlocked.

College Baseball - The Johns Hopkins's (34-3) baseball team is well on its way to outshining its better-known lacrosse counterparts this year as it sits atop the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association's Division III baseball poll. They've won 27 straight games, the second longest streak in school history. The 2004 Blue Jays notched 33 straight wins to open their season.

NHL Hockey - Six teams have taken the first step toward Lord Stanley's Cup by winning their opening playoff series. San Jose, Chicago, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Boston and Pittsburgh have all notched first round series wins. The Red Wings and Coyotes will play game seven of their series tonight at Phoenix. Surprisingly, the Habs have pushed Washington to a game seven tomorrow in DC. The Caps paced all of hockey with 121 pts. coming into the playoffs while Montreal tied Philadelphia for the fewest points of any playoff team with 88.

FIELD Report: Three Big Wins, The Other AL Opens

2010-04-24T19:01:00.000-07:00

Navy walked off the field with two wins Saturday ( Photo / T. Flynn)

FIELD Report for Saturday, April 24

Navy Baseball - The Navy baseball team took two critical games from Holy Cross (19-19, 7-7) at home on Saturday to remain in contention for a Patriot League playoff berth. The first of the two seven-inning contests was ended by an Alex Azor two-out single to score Mike Guadagnini in dramatic fashion and cap a three-run rally in the final frame.

Sam Long (4-3, 3.62) pitched a complete game shutout to pace Navy to a 9-0 win in the nightcap.

The Mids (26-16, 6-8 PL) return to the diamond on Sunday, weather permitting, to face the Crusaders in a second doubleheader.

Army sits squarely atop the six-team circuit with an 11-3 league mark and 21-13 overall record.

College Lacrosse - The streak once most cursed around Annapolis was the string of 43 losses that the Midshipmen endured at the hands of Notre Dame on the gridiron. That skid ended in 2007 and was punctuated by a second Navy win last fall at South Bend. On Saturday, the Mids (6-7) ended a 36-game losing streak on the lacrosse field to Johns Hopkins (5-7) by earning a 9-8 OT win at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium.

Atlantic League - While major league baseball concludes its first month of play, the other AL - the Atlantic League - is just getting out of the gate. In the Mid-Atlantic, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (0-3) have dropped three straight to the York Revolution (3-0). The Crabs will try to notch their first win on Sunday at 1 pm in York.

FIELD Report: Navy Girds Up, Nelson Threepeat, Cavs Fall

2010-04-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

Navy's Andrew Hahn tags one (Photo / David Clow)

Henceforth, the FIELD Round Up is now the FIELD Report. April 19 Report:

Navy Baseball - After dropping 3 of 4 to Bucknell (17-23, 6-6 PL) in PA, the Mids (23-16, 4-8) will have to show their mettle this upcoming weekend when they face Holy Cross (17-16, 7-5 PL) in Annapolis. Holy Cross sits behind only 10-2 Army within the league and will be a stiff opponent for Navy, as the Crusaders took 3 of 4 from Bucknell when they faced the Bison two weeks ago. On Tuesday the Mids will gear up for their weekend slate when they host Towson (11-26, 6-9 CAA).

The highlights to a long weekend for the Mids were a fifth win from sophomore Zach Sipe (5-1) on Saturday and a complete game from freshman Ben Nelson (4-3) in a losing effort on Sunday. For his efforts, Nelson earned his third straight Patriot League Rookie of the Week award. It's the first time a Patriot League player has pulled off the threepeat.

Atlantic League - The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs split their first four spring training games, and will open their season at 6:30 on Thursday against the York Revolution. They have one final tune-up match, with a game scheduled against the College of Southern Maryland (9-23) at home on Wednesday.

Lacrosse - The Virginia Cavaliers (11-1) fell to Duke (11-3), 13-9, on Saturday. The two will face-off again this weekend in the first round of the ACC tournament. The Nike/IL poll has the Cavs down to #2 in the polls.

Round-Up: Roddick Rising, Badgers Pink-Slips Nike, Lee Voids Smash-Mouth

2010-04-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

Roddick powers through a back hand (Photo / Keith Allison)

FIELD Round Up for April 16

Tennis - In this week's print and online editions of Sports Illustrated, Jon Wertheim wrote of the American tennis player who's often on the radar and just below it, Andy Roddick. Roddick served notice last summer in a compelling five-set loss to Federer that his days on top may be both behind and in front of him. Last month he won the Sony Ericsson Open, a month after going to the final at Indian Wells. His S.E. Open included an impressive 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Rafa. Roddick is presently ranked #7 in the world.

Big Ten - Wisconsin showed admirable integrity in pink-slipping Nike for its negligent labor practices in Honduras. Nike closed two subcontracting manufacturers in Honduras recently and has effectively avoided paying out $2 Mn in severance to the impacted workers. For economies as poor as Honduras's a significant manufacturer's presence quickly elevates the standard-of-living for hired employees. A hasty departure, as was the case with the Nike subs, just as quickly drops it, and government support services rarely are in place to step in and ease the pain. FIELD has a new favorite Big Ten club.

Lacrosse - The "Day of Rivals" will play out at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Saturday, pitting Navy (5-6) vs. Army (5-5) and #4 Maryland (7-2) vs. #16 Johns Hopkins (5-5). While Baltimore Sun columnist Mike Preston unfortunately trotted out the favorite buzz phrase of bad football reporting -"smash-mouth"- to describe the Maryland/Hopkins lax game, the paper's primary lacrosse writer, Edward Lee, offered a studied breakdown of both games. As the Sun struggles to stay solvent, Lee continues to cover lacrosse better than any writer for a major American daily.

Atlantic League - The Orioles continue to push the case that Baltimore area fans should look for a professional baseball plan B in 2010 and beyond. After an even dozen losing seasons, the Birds are out of the gate at 1-9, with the look of a team that hasn't tough-lucked its way to that mark. Despite several budding stars in Weiters, Markakis, and Jones, realistic pennant aspirations may not last out the month of May.

Sixty miles to the south the Atlantic League's Blue Crabs opened up a brief spring training schedule with a loss to the York Revolution in Waldorf, MD. Tonight they face a barnstorming team of military all-stars. Nearer at hand, the Nats gained the .500 mark with a 5-3 win over Milwaukee on Friday.