For the second season in a row, I’ll be trading Navy v. Air Force-related e-mails with my good friend Christian Swezey and posting them here.
Sweze covered Navy for years while with The Washington Post. He left The Post in the summer when he was offered a columnist position at Inside Lacrosse, but he still covers the Midshipmen for GoMids.com. He has terrific insight about Navy and is an incredible historical source for college football in general and service academy football in particular.
In other words, you’ll learn a lot more from him than me this week when I post the e-mails we trade on the blog.
So enjoy. And if there are any questions you’d like me to ask Sweze, please leave them in the comments section.
Yo Sweze –
So Navy is 2-2 on the season.
A few quick questions for you:
-Navy looked like it might be down after starting 1-2. But the Midshipmen have recorded two straight big wins, including Saturday against then-No. 16 Wake. How good is this Navy team compared to last season?
-How is first-year coach Ken Niumatalolo doing in his first season? He had some enormous shoes to fill.
-I know the return of quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada was a huge shot in the arm for Navy, but he got hurt again against Wake. Will he play against Air Force? If not, how much does that hurt the Midshipmen?
-Have you ever mis-spelled “Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada” in print? And have you ever covered a team that had a prominent player with a more difficult name to type? Over-under on times I blow the spelling this week is 2.5.
Hi Jake,
One question I have for you and Christian is how Navy funds their sports programs versus how AF and Army fund them. Has anyone really described how they treat their funds? I am not trying to criticize them, but when Army interpreted the rules and came up with their alternate service option, AF and Navy was careful not to criticize them but pointed out they interpreted the rules differently. In regards to funding their programs, I have heard rumors that “Navy interprets the rules differently”. Are they operating as a non-profit? Why aren’t the other 2 Academies following suit? They seem very successful…thanks for your time on this, I am not sure its a quick and easy answer.
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ’1854276686 which is not a hashcash value.
Stats -
As far as I know, Army and Navy both operate as non-profits — 501(c)3. That is why Air Force is trying to re-cast its department as a non-profit entity.