AFA Sports   Air Force Academy sports

By tomorrow on the blog, I’ll have more to say about each of the 11 freshmen coming into the Air Force basketball program, but for now, here’s the list of names:

The Pueblo Chieftain reported that Pueblo West linebacker Ian Imamura, who was recognized as the state player of the year by the Denver Post, won’t attend Air Force until 2012 because of a wrist injury suffered in a car accident. Here is the story.

Sports Illustrated has an issue coming out on July 4, and it is honoring the military by highlighting service academy athletes in “Faces in the Crowd.”

Air Force fans should recognize the first entry.

National network television exposure is huge for Air Force football. Since the Falcons recruit all around the country, relying as little on in-state talent as any team in the nation, playing for a large national television audience (especially since many folks don’t get The Mtn. or CBS Sports Network) is important. That’s one reason bowl games, and a spot on ESPN or CBS for a few hours, excites Air Force.

For what has become one of the Falcons’ most anticipated seasons in recent history, Air Force will get a pair of dates on network television. Air Force vs. Navy was officially added to the CBS schedule for Oct. 1. The game was moved up to 12 p.m. Eastern time, up from a 3:30 p.m. scheduled start. That game will kick off a tripleheader on CBS, followed by two SEC games.

Air Force will play on network television twice in eight days. On Oct. 8, Air Force will play at Notre Dame on NBC. That will give the Falcons plenty of the national exposure it likes.

For details:

http://daveramseysez.freedomblogging.com/

Although Air Force made it through spring practice without many issues, a few linger. The good news is no player had any academic concerns, according to coach Troy Calhoun, at least through the spring semester.

“Very, very encouraging, when you look at the curriculum these guys take,” Calhoun said at the Colorado Springs Sports Corporation’s Football Kickoff Luncheon.

There are some lingering injuries. Linebacker Ken Lamendola was slow to return this spring after missing about a year and a half due to knee and ankle surgeries. Calhoun said he would have to see in August how Lamendola looks. Center Michael Hester missed some time in the spring, but Calhoun said he should be fine. Defensive end Ben Kopacka, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, should be healthy for camp, Calhoun said.

Safety Brian Lindsay, who began last year as a starter, missed most of the season with a shoulder injury, and was limited in the spring even though he returned for the bowl game. Lindsay was listed as a second-team safety on the post-spring depth chart, and Calhoun was evasive when asked if he was going to be healthy for the start of training camp in August.

“We’re going to find out,” Calhoun said. “That’s a TBA.”

- Freshmen reported for basic training last week, and Calhoun wouldn’t pinpoint if any of his football recruits didn’t report, but said none have left yet.

“Right now, there’s a good chunk of their time where they’re miserable,” Calhoun said. “But there’s a moment here or there where they realize what they’re doing is special.”

- Although new Colorado coach Jon Embree hasn’t been in the state for a while, he is well aware of what Calhoun has done at Air Force and praised him.

“I think the world of Troy,” Embree said. “I have a great relationship with Gary Kubiak and Mike (Shanahan) and I know how they feel about him. I’ve watched him from afar and what he’s done at the academy.”

- Colorado and Air Force hasn’t played a football game against each other in almost four decades (Embree avoided the question when asked if CU would be interested in scheduling Air Force) and it doesn’t sound like Northern Colorado will be on the Falcons’ schedule either.

New Bears coach Earnest Collins, when asked if he would like to play each of the in-state FBS teams to help raise the profile of UNC, joked that he might not want to schedule Air Force – which generally hosts a FCS team during Parents Weekend. Although the remark was said with a laugh, the same reason many schools have for not wanting to put Air Force on the schedule was on Collins’ mind as well.

“I said that as a joke, but Air Force is such a unique style of football and most teams don’t run the option anymore so it’s hard to prepare for it,” Collins said. “You spend all that time preparing for it and nothing really crosses over. It was kind of a joke, but that’s why most people don’t want to play Air Force, because you have to prepare for the option.”

Air Force has not announced its hockey schedule but other schools have, so here’s what I have pieced together.

Army and RIT announced their schedules with the Falcons going to West Point in mid-January and to RIT once in mid-November before hosting those Tigers twice in February.

UConn visits Thanksgiving weekend.

Here are the games that have been confirmed:

Oct. 7, Air Force at North Dakota (Icebreaker Tournament)

Oct. 8, Air Force vs. Boston College or Michigan State in Grand Forks, N.D. (Icebreaker Tournament)

Oct. 14, Niagara at Air Force, 7:07 p.m.

Oct. 16, Robert Morris at Air Force, 6:05 p.m.

Nov. 4, Sacred Heart at Air Force, 7:05 p.m.

Nov. 5, Sacred Heart at Air Force, 7:05 p.m.

Nov. 11, Air Force at RIT, 5:05 p.m.

Nov. 25, UConn at Air Force, 7:05 p.m.

Nov. 26, UConn at Air Force, 7:05 p.m.

Dec. 30, Air Force at Colorado College, 7:37 p.m.

Dec. 31, Denver at Air Force, 6:05 p.m.

Jan. 20, Air Force at Army, 5:05 p.m.

Jan. 21, Air Force at Army, 5:05 p.m.

Feb 3, RIT at Air Force, 7:05 p.m.

Feb 4, RIT at Air Force, 7:05 p.m.

Feb. 10, Air Force at Niagara, 5:05 p.m.

Feb. 11, Air Force at Niagara, 5:05 p.m.

Feb. 24, Air Force at Robert Morris, 5:05 p.m.

Feb. 25, Air Force at Robert Morris, 5:05 p.m.

Just received a release from Air Force listing the 60 Falcons on the All-Mountain West academic list for the winter and spring sports. Here are the Air Force athletes that made it:

Baseball: Evan Abrecht, Michael Ceci, Luke Dorlac, Jonathan McMahon, Vai Schierholtz, Matthew Zettler.

Men’s Basketball: Adam Brakeville, Todd Fletcher.

Women’s Basketball: Kelsey Berger, Megan Muniz.

Men’s Golf: Kyle Bailey, Caleb Leestma.

Men’s Swimming and Diving: Peter Cialkowski, Cody Deacon, Nathaniel Gilbert, Benjamin Gunn, Thomas Hansen, Alexander Pecci, Eric Robinson, Brent White, Paul Young.

Women’s Swimming and Diving: Alivia Berg, Alison Ceranski, Elvira Chiccarelli, Lauren Delaney, Cassie Fletcher, Rachel Kennedy, Kaeli Kluesner, Rosalie Mayou, Alexandra Trobe.

Men’s Tennis: Steven Young.

Women’s Tennis: Sarah Cassman, Megumi Voight.

Men’s Track and Field: Edward Artz, Jared Barkemeyer, Matthew Bell, Daniel Bieber, Jeremy Drenckhahn, Brian Ford, Bradford Hackert, Jabob Hawkins, Christopher Keranen, Zebulon Kimball, Michael Lauritzen, Gage Owens, David Pfacek, Andrew Quallio, Christopher Severino, Tyler Small, Paul Stanley, Uzochukwu Udensi.

Women’s Track and Field: Melissa Beerse, Bethany Blackburn, Jennifer Bremser, Katherine Carroll, Ashley Christ, Kate Kanetzky, Regan Rogers, Kimberly Shealy, Paige Shirley.

The Wall Street Journal’s story on the 17 major athletic programs that field a FBS team that have escaped a NCAA major violation had an interesting twist for Air Force fans: The Falcons were on the list of 17, but Army and Navy were not. A blog commenter asked me about it, and a few others I talked to wondered the same thing – what did the other military academies do to get a major violation?

The NCAA has a database for major violations, so here is the answer. For Army, the major violation was handed down in 1980. The athletic program was found to have been guilty of: “Improper recruiting contacts, entertainment, inducements, lodging and transportation; excessive number of official visits; tryouts; coaching staff limitations,” according to the NCAA’s report. The violations happened during the 1976-77 school year, mostly by the football program, but the golf team was involved too. Army was publicly reprimanded but its eligibility for postseason play and television appearances were not affected. In the NCAA’s report, it states there was no effort to circumvent NCAA rules, but the transgressions were a result of an inadequate review of athletic department policies. Here is the report.

Navy also had one major violation, handed down in 1964 for “Improper recruiting entertainment and transportation.” Navy got a year probation, in addition to a public reprimand. In that instance, a “representative of the Academy’s athletic interests” worked with an assistant football coach and “arranged for and provided an expense-paid trip to four prospective student-athletes from their home environment to Dallas, Texas, and return, in order that these young men could attend the 1964 Cotton Bowl football game in which the Academy’s team participated,” according to the report. The NCAA said there was no attempt to break the rules, but the violation was brought on by a lack of communication within Navy’s organization. The NCAA also noted that Navy reported itself to the NCAA and conducted a thorough investigation. The report is here.

The violations at the other service academies should show how fortunate Air Force has been to avoid any major violations. Army and Navy have the same standards, but over the last 58 years since the NCAA has been tracking violations, all it would have taken was one coach trying to cut corners or an unknowing mistake that led to a major violation to take Air Force off that list of 17.

In response to the latest batch of schools in trouble with the NCAA, the Wall Street Journal decided to look at the schools who have never run afoul of the NCAA’s massive rulebook. The paper found that 17 schools with major athletic departments that compete in FBS football have never had a major violation in any sport since 1953. Air Force is on that list.

I assume the Falcons’ inclusion on that list doesn’t come as a major surprise to most folks. When the honor code states “We Will Not Lie, Steal Or Cheat, Nor Tolerate Among Us Anyone Who Does,” it’s not hard to believe that the athletic department has avoided the type of scandal that is keeping Ohio State and North Carolina in the news. There really doesn’t seem to be much reason for Air Force to skirt the NCAA rulebook, at least in recruiting.

Air Force already pays its players. The academy pays all cadets. Then again, $846 per month isn’t likely to deter anyone who would be interested in $100 handshakes, so that probably isn’t the main reason the Falcons should stay above the recruiting fray. If there was, for example, a freakishly athletic quarterback selling his services, even assuming that player was able to qualify for Air Force, does anyone think that player would enter into military service and significantly impact his NFL dreams (and pass up the elite conferences to play in the Mountain West) for whatever cash Air Force could offer? Highly unlikely. And while Air Force does occasionally dip into the A pool for recruits, usually it is not battling major SEC or Big 12 powers for players. There doesn’t seem to be much reason to offer Nissan 350Z’s to players to lure them away from directional FCS schools.

If Air Force was ever to get in trouble it would probably be something that involved athletes showing little concern for the NCAA’s rules, but that still would be a surprise given the type of kids that come to the academy.

Even though there are a lot of reasons Air Force wouldn’t get caught up in a major scandal, it is commendable that over a half century, with plenty of coaches and plenty of athletes having represented the academy, it has never given the NCAA a reason to slap it with a major violation. There’s a reason that list of schools isn’t very long.