Navy Team

ANNAPOLIS -- As Roger Staubach stood at his side, Adm. Thomas Lynch, the superintendent at the Naval Academy, was asked to describe perhaps the best player to ever wear a Navy uniform."

Between errant shots, shaky decisions or a growing sense of uneasiness, No. 13 Johns Hopkins appeared vulnerable to yet another late-season loss to Navy on Saturday. Then the second half arrived. The Blue Jays scored 11 straight goals to close the game, routing the Midshipmen, 15-4, before 3,646 at Homewood Field. Mike Poppleton won 15 of 17 faceoffs, Brandon Benn scored five goals and John Kaestner added three goals and three assists for Hopkins (8-4), which lost to Navy in two of the previous three years.

Aberdeen Proving Ground's "Super Pond" has been closed indefinitely while investigations continue into the deaths of three divers in the underwater explosion test facility in the past month, the Army announced Friday. Col. Gordon A. Graham, commander of the proving ground's test center, ordered the shutdown Tuesday, the day two Navy divers died while in the man-made impoundment. Graham had ordered a "safety stand down" after a diver's death Jan. 30, but the Navy dive operation went ahead because it had already been scheduled, according to a proving ground news release.

Sixty-six runners dashed, jogged and walked through the streets of Annapolis on Saturday to honor the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing and raised money for one of the hospitals that treated their wounds. "When I saw what happened in Boston, I knew we had to do something, and we had to run," said Caitlin Chapman, who organized the race and got quick permission from an Annapolis official to stage the start and finish at City Dock. "It could have been any of us running in that race in Boston," Chapman said, "and it could have been our family members who were standing there watching us finish.

Sixty-six runners dashed, jogged and walked through the streets of Annapolis on Saturday to honor the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing and raised money for one of the hospitals that treated their wounds. "When I saw what happened in Boston, I knew we had to do something, and we had to run," said Caitlin Chapman, who organized the race and got quick permission from an Annapolis official to stage the start and finish at City Dock. "It could have been any of us running in that race in Boston," Chapman said, "and it could have been our family members who were standing there watching us finish.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- For Navy, today's game against 10th-ranked Notre Dame is a matter of getting out healthy so it can attempt to salvage its season in its four final games, against Tulane, Vanderbilt, Rice and Army.For Notre Dame, the game will be a tuneup for a final stretch against Boston College, Penn State, Southern California and a possible appearance in a major bowl game.That Navy (0-6, the only winless team in Division I-A) is given no chance against Notre Dame (5-1-1) was clear in the questions fielded by Fighting Irish coach Lou Holtz during a series of teleconferences this week.

They were bigger and stronger inside, had better athletes than the current Navy team and, after their first NCAA tournament, were expected to win . . . often.The last midshipmen to represent the academy in postseason play were anchored by David Robinson. From 1985 to 1987, Navy made the NCAA tournament every season, creating some big waves in 1986, when Robinson, forward Vernon Butler and point guard Doug Wojcik led the team into the final eight before it was eliminated by Duke in the East Regional final.

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.

Navy's basketball team has been clearly on the rebound since launching the season with three straight losses, but last night it hit a record-setting gait in that department. The Midshipmen shattered the school record with 71 rebounds, an amazing 37 of them off the offensive boards, and had little trouble routing Liberty, 79-53, at Alumni Hall for their ninth victory in the last 10 games. Liberty, which had beaten both Richmond and Virginia Tech on the road, simply couldn't cope with Navy's superior size, desire and hustle and was never really in the game.

ANNAPOLIS -- It has been said for years that the regular season is meaningless as long as Navy beats Army in football, but don't try to sell that to members of this year's Navy team -- especially fullback Brad Stramanak."

After a two-year hiatus, the Navy football team was back at the White House on Friday to accept the Commander in Chief's trophy from President Obama in a ceremony held in the East Room. The Midshipmen had won the trophy - which is presented to the winner of the series among the three service academies - seven consecutive times beginning in 2003, but that record streak ended when Air Force claimed it in 2010 and 2011. Navy has won the trophy 13 times in all. "This never gets old," Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said.

President Barack Obama awarded Navy's football team with the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy on Thursday afternoon in the East Room at the White House. Here are the president's remarks: Hello, everybody.  (Applause.)  Hello.  Please, everybody have a seat.  Well, good afternoon.  Welcome to the White House.  I want to start by recognizing Coach Ken Niumatalolo, my fellow Hawaiian, for being here once again -- where is he?  There he is right here.  (Laughter.)  Hard to miss him.  Give him a big round of applause.  (Applause.)

Eleven years ago, Navy Capt. Barbara "Bobbie" Scholley dived more than 230 feet into the ocean to help bring back the past: two sailors killed when their Civil War battleship sank in 1862. On Friday, the Annapolis woman joined the crew members' descendants and dignitaries to usher them into eternity. The two sailors, whose remains were recovered from the wreckage of the USS Monitor in 2002, were buried at Arlington on Friday, 151 years after the ship battled the Confederate ironclad Virginia in the critical Battle of Hampton Roads, which revolutionized naval warfare.

Aberdeen Proving Ground's "Super Pond" has been closed indefinitely while investigations continue into the deaths of three divers in the underwater explosion test facility in the past month, the Army announced Friday. Col. Gordon A. Graham, commander of the proving ground's test center, ordered the shutdown Tuesday, the day two Navy divers died while in the man-made impoundment. Graham had ordered a "safety stand down" after a diver's death Jan. 30, but the Navy dive operation went ahead because it had already been scheduled, according to a proving ground news release.

There were times in recent seasons when Navy's offense would go weeks without making any huge gaffes. The snaps from center Brady DeMell to quarterbacks Ricky Dobbs and Kriss Proctor would be crisp, and thehandoffs from Dobbs and Proctor to fullbacks Vince Murray and Alexander Teich textbook. Even if the Midshipmen did not run the true triple option, particularly with Dobbs, Navy often played mistake-free. The rushing game was ranked in the top six in each of the last four seasons, including No. 1 in 2008.

As expected, Navy fullback Alexander Teich returned to the team Monday after being suspended for last week's game against Southern Mississippi.    Teich, a senior co-captain who had led the Midshipmen in rushing through the first four games, had been suspended by Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo for "leadership issues" in the aftermath of the team's 35-34 overtime loss to Air Force Oct. 1. Without Teich, the Midshipmen were blown out by the Golden...

Sunday's 24th annual showdown between St. John's College and the U.S. Naval Academy is of the most collegial and civilized kind - a croquet match - but that doesn't mean the stakes aren't high. The Navy team won narrowly last year in an upset, 3-2, since traditionally the Johnnies triumph on their own turf - the games are always played on the three-century-old campus, which has a serene lawn facing College Avenue. The so-called imperial wicket, or captain, of the St. John's College team, Matt Mangold, says that's not likely to happen again.

What went right Navy's offense worked like a precision-tuned watch most of the afternoon. Two of the most impressive performances came early and late. With eight minutes left in the first quarter, the Mids began a drive that covered 85 yards in 19 plays and lasted 8:04. It was Navy's longest drive this season. And in the third overtime, Navy quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada needed just two passes, both to Reggie Campbell, one for a 25-yard touchdown and the other for a two-point conversion that wound up being the difference.

We've heard a lot about SEAL Team 6 in recent days -- the elite Navy team that killed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. One of the things that's been oft-repeated is the team members' penchant for humility and secrecy.  For instance, as TIME puts i t: "The first rule of Navy SEAL Team 6 is you don't talk about SEAL Team 6. In fact, the U.S. military has never publicly acknowledged its existence. "  And no one takes that dedication to clandestine operations more seriously than the individual Navy SEAL who actually pulled the trigger, killing bin Laden, as Funny or Die's Rob Riggle shows us in the following bit.  (Warning: There is profane language in this clip.