Navy Football

The opportunity for a rousing comeback is there for Navy's football team tomorrow as it plays host to Southern Methodist at 1:30 p.m.That fumbling, sleep-walking comedy of errors committed by the Mids last week at Vanderbilt, which frustrated and embarrassed everyone, was not the true Navy team.Coach George Chaump described the game as a "once-in-a-lifetime experience" and admonished everyone to "keep our mouths shut, grit our teeth and wait for another day.""Another day" will arrive tomorrow and with the dedication and spirit displayed all week on the practice field, the Mustangs from Dallas will see a Navy team eager to improve on last week's performance.

ANNAPOLIS -- The ancient mariner phoned Navy athletic director Jack Lengyel last week and said he was returning his Army-Navy game tickets. He didn't feel up to the trip to Philadelphia, but vowed to watch on TV."Beat Army," he said before hanging up. As it developed, those were his final instructions.Adm. William Fitzgerald, the self-proclaimed "ancient mariner," won't be watching the game on TV. Perhaps Navy's most devoted sports fan, Fitzgerald died in his sleep Saturday night at the age of 91."

ANNAPOLIS -- The ancient mariner phoned Navy athletic director Jack Lengyel last week and said he was returning his Army-Navy game tickets. He didn't feel up to the trip to Philadelphia, but vowed to watch on TV."Beat Army," he said before hanging up. As it developed, those were his final instructions.Admiral William Fitzgerald, the self-proclaimed "ancient mariner," won't be watching the game on TV. Perhaps Navy's most devoted sports fan, Fitzgerald died in his sleep Saturday night at age 91."

Around the capital city early yesterday, word began circulating that 188 state lawmakers might descend on Annapolis as early as this weekend for a special session of the General Assembly. On an otherwise quiet, drizzly, end-of-summer day, Annapolis reacted to the news like a host preparing for unexpected guests at a moment's notice. City officials expressed their surprise that the lawmakers might converge on a Saturday when Annapolis would be brimming with events, including a Navy home football game and commemoration of Sept.

There are just a few days remaining before "America's Game," and Navy football coach Ken Niumatalolo has some explaining to do. The last time the Midshipmen were in the national spotlight, they were across the Atlantic Ocean being trampled in their season opener by a Notre Dame team that has never looked back on its way to the upcoming BCS Championship Game. Two weeks later, they were beaten soundly by Penn State - the combined score of their first two games a humbling 84-17. Coming on the heels of his first losing season at Annapolis and a period of understandable "self-reflection" within the program, Niumatalolo could have been forgiven for wondering where his team - and his career - was heading, but he says now he knew in his heart that the Mids would find their way back.

DON'T LOOK now, but the U.S. Naval Academy's zipper is down, and the whole country's laughing at the sight of its hypocrisy.Having caught four midshipmen in forbidden sexual relations, the Navy sentenced three to expulsion and simultaneous public humiliation while allowing the fourth, star quarterback Chris McCoy, to graduate and pursue a professional football career, showing that his breakaway running abilities are at least the equal of his runaway glands.The...

The Navy football team, crushed by three opponents to open the season, has picked itself off the floor and responded aggressively to a seeming hopeless situation with a spirit that always has characterized football in Annapolis.In the past two games against winning teams -- North Carolina and Air Force -- the Midshipmen were ahead in the final quarter before losing.It is difficult to recognize that the first half of the season is history. Locker-room talk centers around what is being designated as the "second season" that begins with the homecoming battle with a strong University of Delaware team a week from tomorrow.

Navy's football team has no reason to lack inspiration this week. After a dull effort in a 17-6 opening-game loss to Temple two Saturdays ago, the Midshipmen move to higher ground with a visit to a Georgia Tech team that extended No. 2 Florida State to the final whistle before losing, 26-21, last week. Moreover, Georgia Tech - with All-American Joe Hamilton at quarterback - blasted the Mids, 49-14, in Annapolis to start 1999, by far Navy's worst defeat of the season. Play it back for payback purposes.

From a classic first half to startling reality in the second, the Navy football team experienced a range of emotions during three hours Saturday against Notre Dame.The highs during the first 30 minutes defied description, as the 35-point underdog Midshipmen were actually outplaying the Irish, ranked second in the nation.Incredible is not too strong a word to describe the scene.The only question remaining was, how much more than 24-17 would Navy be leading by had its receivers not dropped six passes?

ANNAPOLIS -- Perhaps no one has a better perspective on Navy football than Capt. J.O. "Bo" Coppedge, USN (Ret.).Bo played tackle for the Middies in the mid-40s. He was Navy'athletic director for 20 years until he retired and turned the job over to Jack Lengyel three years ago.Annapolis being Coppedge's permanent home, he still goes out -- even on excruciatingly hot August afternoons -- and watches football practices.And what does Coppedge think of the Navy team that will opeits season here tomorrow (7 p.m., WNAV-AM 1430)