Air Force Academy in the NCAA

Colleges & Universities Service Academy Parents
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<p>This column is more about athletics in the service academies than about a particular game. Enjoy!</p>

<p>It’s OK to Root Against Air Force
Mike Imrem
Daily Herald
Posted Thursday, March 16, 2006 </p>

<p>SAN DIEGO — As if Illinois fans have to be told, it’s OK to root against Air Force tonight just as if it were Iowa or Michigan State.</p>

<p>No problem there. Heck, college sports fans would pull for their teams to run up the score against nuns, orphans, the infirm … and future defenders of our country.</p>

<p>Fortunately, this is only Falcons vs. Illini, not Americans vs. al-Qaida.</p>

<p>When Gary Moeller coached Illinois football more than a quarter-century ago, Navy was on the Illini schedule.</p>

<p>“Coach,” an enterprising Daily Illini reporter asked, “do you think it’s disloyal to try to beat a service academy?”</p>

<p>“No,” Moeller bluntly said.</p>

<p>I didn’t quite have the nerve to ask the same question Wednesday to Illinois’ basketball players, who play Air Force tonight in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.</p>

<p>But is Air Force just another opponent? The answer to that is the same as the one Moeller provided.</p>

<p>No, Air Force isn’t just another opponent.</p>

<p>“I would think it is a little different,” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said.</p>

<p>The service academies aren’t normal, everyday, pedestrian universities. Their student-athletes aren’t normal, everyday, pedestrian student-athletes.</p>

<p>Like, Illinois had a little problem with its flight here Tuesday. The charter was delayed an hour because of a malfunction to the stairway leading up to the plane.</p>

<p>When the Illini did arrive, buses weren’t waiting. After one came, it proceeded to break down on the way to practice. Tough day, huh?</p>

<p>Well, some of Air Force’s students on the court tonight and in the stands and back at school will have their own little travel stories to tell in a couple years.</p>

<p>You know, possibly like flying bomber missions over Iraq or Afghanistan, or perhaps by that time over Iran or North Korea.</p>

<p>Illini guard Dee Brown said of the Falcons: “They’re not afraid of anything. That’s huge. I think about that. They’re going to do something I’d never do. It’s a good thing they’re doing.”</p>

<p>Meanwhile, Brown and teammate James Augustine will try to make it in the NBA. Other Illini will try to make it in business.</p>

<p>So, no, neither Air Force nor Navy nor Army is like other college athletics opponents, especially not during wartime.</p>

<p>The Falcons’ mental makeup is different. What else would you expect when, after the ball stops bouncing, a six-year military commitment follows?</p>

<p>Much has been said about how Air Force uses the “Princeton offense” Illinois sees from Northwestern. Except, there’s a difference there, too.</p>

<p>“The toughness level,” Weber said. “The (Falcons) made a major decision in their life to be part of the academy, to protect our country, so it is a little different than what we have faced.”</p>

<p>Mention Air Force, and the Illini bring up characteristics like motivated and disciplined. Weber repeated something Brown said.</p>

<p>“Their fear factor is a little different,” Weber said. “They’re not afraid of Illinois. … They could be in Iraq or Afghanistan in a couple years. There’s a different mind-set to those kids.”</p>

<p>Considering that, where does basketball fit into their lives compared to other college athletes?</p>

<p>“Our players are so multitalented,” said Air Force coach Jeff Bzdelik, a Mount Prospect native. “They want to be the best students they can be, and they want to be the best basketball players they can be. They want to be successful in a lot of ways.”</p>

<p>It’s OK for Illinois fans to hope they aren’t tonight.</p>

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<p>Here’s a great one about the Army Women’s Team, especially the last couple paragraphs and the last sentence.
<a href=“Army coach is just like her team: tough when it counts - ESPN”>http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/ncaatourney06/columns/story?columnist=wojnarowski_adrian&id=2369378&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab5pos2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>"West Point won’t beat Tennessee, the way it didn’t beat Baylor and Connecticut this year. Yet the Black Knights will fight to the bone. Maybe they’ll hang with the Volunteers, the way they did with the Bears and Huskies.</p>

<p>“Our players handle pressure situations very well,” Dixon says. “That’s what they’re trained to do.”</p>

<p>So much of the joy of coaching the West Point women has been the way her team has bonded, a tightness that Dixon has never seen in her years as a basketball player and coach. In the male-dominated culture at Army, Dixon has found that their time together is the most cherished for her players.</p>

<p>“It’s the only time of the day here when it’s just the girls,” she says.</p>

<p>Together, they’ve made some history at West Point. They won a championship. Now, they get Summitt and Tennessee. For once, the toughest team won’t be wearing orange."</p>

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<p>Service Academy sports are special. Besides the Army Navy game, perhaps the coolest Academy event I have ever been to is the All Academy Wrestling Championships. Its the five federal academies plus VMI, The Cidadel and Norwich. I think its the only time all the academies compete against each other in any sport at the same time. Next year it will be at USAFA. Its worth going to see.</p>

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<p>On the subject of sports–how many mids get to travel to away football games? I’m assuming that plebes don’t get to travel…</p>

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<p>Most schools travel 55 to 60 players more to some games than others. Whether you travel is pretty much based on where you are on the depth chart. KP had a Freshman kicker who was first team Div. III All-American You bet he traveled</p>

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<p>I didn’t make myself clear–how many spectator mids can travel? Any?</p>

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<p>I can only speak from the WP side, but it’s probably similar. Cadets can take a spirit pass to attend an away competition, if they are eligible and training schedule allows (grades, discipline issues, etc.). For the most part, they must provide their own transpo there and back.</p>

<p>Army Navy football is a completely different animal…they will be transported to that. When Army played basketball at Navy, the Academy provided buses for those cadets eligible for a spirit pass that weekend.</p>

<p>Spirit passes are a great way to get away and if the cadet is from that area, get a brief visit home. Here’s a scenario: Cadet A is from Boston. Army is playing something or other in Boston. Cadet A and roommate Cadet B are eligible for a spirit pass. They somehow arrange transportation (rent a car, etc.) and go to Boston. They must attend the sporting event but they can stay at Cadet A’s house.</p>

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<p>nova07- Thanks for that info!
Any USNA folks out there to explain USNA similarities?</p>

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<p>wooo go UIUC!!! all the way!</p>

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<p>taffy,</p>

<p>My other daughter is at UIUC and that Washington game was a big disappointment. Now we’re rooting for Bradley as the only Illinois school left. And it appears that after they beat both Kansas and Pitt, they are this year’s Cinderella Team. </p>

<p>And I had to laugh at the tv abbreviations of the schools today. Brad was playing Pitt.</p>