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Guest #1Stunner

Navy Coach Ken Niumatalolo not happy that Air Force is only playing 2 games

Should the MWC grant AFA a 1-year allowance to play Fall football?  

12 members have voted

  1. 1. Should the MWC grant AFA a 1-year allowance to play fall football?

    • YES - the cadets won't be available in the Spring with their strict schedule.
    • NO - AFA is an integral part of the MWC, and shouldn't be given special treatment. Let's play this Spring.


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Guest #1Stunner

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/09/14/sports/sports-breaking/navy-football-coach-ken-niumatalolo-blasts-pentagon-decision/

Navy head football coach Ken Niumatalolo today blasted the Pentagon for allowing the Air Force Academy to play two games in the Commander-in-Chief’s Cup series despite the Mountain West Conference having postponed the rest of its football season.

“I’m sure I’ll get reprimanded,” Niumatalolo said at his weekly media session. “I’m just the head football coach, but that’s how I honestly feel. It’s not right.”

Niumatalo, a Honolulu native and former University of Hawaii quarterback and assistant coach, joked that if he continued to pursue the subject, “My next interview might be coming from Hawaii.”

Niumatalolo said, “Where else in the country would you play for something of value and everybody’s schedules are not the same? This is the No. 1 thing we fight for every year, the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. We’re playing a full schedule. You got Air Force playing just two games? I don’t think those people (in the Pentagon) care.”

 

 

The Mountain West Board of Directors announced on Aug. 10 that its members would postpone the 2020 fall season, saying, “The fall sports affected by today’s decision include men’s and women’s cross country, football, women’s soccer and women’s volleyball (with the exception of the unique circumstances involved with the military service academies).”

But not until Monday, when Air Force put out its schedule listing an Oct. 3 game with Navy in Colorado Springs, Colo., and a November game at Army-West Point, was it publicly confirmed the games would be played. They are the only two games the Falcons will play.

 

 

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Guest #1Stunner
11 minutes ago, smithy said:

Fine...let AFA play BYU for a third game.

That'd be fun. But the issue I've read is that their football players probably can't play in the spring because of school / graduation requirements.

 

@afafan @afacademydad  What is the real story on this?

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23 minutes ago, #1Stunner said:

That'd be fun. But the issue I've read is that their football players probably can't play in the spring because of school / graduation requirements.

 

@afafan @afacademydad  What is the real story on this?

It's complicated.  The entire cadet wing was allowed a semester turn-back (semester off) due to COVID.  Primarily for personal or family reasons.  It appears that a lot of athletes are taking advantage of the policy (I'm hearing up to 25 football players) which would allow all current seniors to play next fall and graduate in 9 semesters.

Spring football is very difficult for AFA football players because many of them use their last semester to cut weight to make graduation and officer height/weight limits.

Niumatalolo is playing a little Troy Calhoun here and most likely deflecting his inability to prepare his team with the no tackling policy.  I think he sees a subpar season ahead and is now looking for scapegoats like the pentagon, the conference, scheduling, etc... He is also losing players to the transfer portal, because, apparently this new generation can't handle quarantine at an Academy - back in my day, the Academy was pretty much four years of quarantine, lol.

The only pressure from the pentagon is to complete the mission and all service academies define the mission as academic, military, and athletics.

IMO, AFA playing only two games actually puts us at a disadvantage and more than likely we will be suiting up a JV team for all intents and purposes, so KN is just having a little meltdown

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Guest #1Stunner
5 minutes ago, Zoomie said:

It's complicated.  The entire cadet wing was allowed a semester turn-back (semester off) due to COVID.  Primarily for personal or family reasons.  It appears that a lot of athletes are taking advantage of the policy (I'm hearing up to 25 football players) which would allow all current seniors to play next fall and graduate in 9 semesters.

Spring football is very difficult for AFA football players because many of them use their last semester to cut weight to make graduation and officer height/weight limits.

Niumatalolo is playing a little Troy Calhoun here and most likely deflecting his inability to prepare his team with the no tackling policy.  I think he sees a subpar season ahead and is now looking for scapegoats like the pentagon, the conference, scheduling, etc... He is also losing players to the transfer portal, because, apparently this new generation can't handle quarantine at an Academy - back in my day, the Academy was pretty much four years of quarantine, lol.

The only pressure from the pentagon is to complete the mission and all service academies define the mission as academic, military, and athletics.

IMO, AFA playing only two games actually puts us at a disadvantage and more than likely we will be suiting up a JV team for all intents and purposes, so KN is just having a little meltdown

Yes, Maryland has very strict rules and limited Navy's practices.

It's too bad that the MWC didn't immediately step up and grant AFA a scheduling waiver for 1 year, back in August.  Seems very unlikely that AFA will play this Spring, especially since no Army or Navy on the schedule.

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The two games are scheduled. If the Mwc could or wanted to do anything about it, they’d have already done it. 

AFA’s participation isn’t necessary for a spring season to happen. If they’re adamant about not playing in the spring, then I don’t see the harm in letting them play these two games. None of the other schools in this conference are military academies; their mission is far different from ours. They deserve consideration. 

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5 hours ago, #1Stunner said:

That'd be fun. But the issue I've read is that their football players probably can't play in the spring because of school / graduation requirements.

 

@afafan @afacademydad  What is the real story on this?

I don't think there will be spring football, but why would this be an issue for the football team?  They have plenty of other sports that play in the spring.

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If anybody in this conference wants to keep a brother university from playing football, it should probably just STFU first....

Words can't describe how disappointment I am with our conference and its failure to uphold the tradition of FB, as if we're just carpet baggers who made the D1 jump 5 years ago... 

Most folks I talk to are utterly indignant that BSU ins't playing football.  It really is egregious, and our President, AD, University, and State Board all need have thier heads bounced around for a while...

Force majeure...

BSU's in house council could surely provide the university any needed breathing room to go rogue for one season; our MW contracts don't need to be breached, and we can still salvage our testicles by actually playing football...  Then again, do we really need Boise State Football?

Maybe we should consider our priorities??

I'm sorry; I didn't pick the song...

Please mute your volume...

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Yes, yes, again-and-and, yes...

It's totally proper to accommodate AF...

Otherwise we could just piss 'em off and run them off...  

BYU, AF.....  Hmmm, teams that actually want to play FB - schools like this make you realize just how sick people are, when you consider the implications with COVID....

wont-somebody-please-think-of-the-childr

But don't get confused, the MW would be just fine sans schools like Boise, BYU, and AF, you know, the righteous football stalwart universities that actually... give a shit... 

 

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Big reason to dismiss Navy FBall Coach K's comment on unfairness of playing AF who is playing their 1st game of the year: Navy lost to BYU 56-3 in opener-2 weeks off to play Tulane 19Sep-2 weeks off to prepare for AF 3Oct-Time to get the kinks out, to rest up players, AND PRACTICE TACKLING AND BLOCKING LIVE. Wow....Air Force would love to have that! GO FALCONS BEAT NAVY

 

..GO FALCONS..

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Guest #1Stunner
13 hours ago, Cannibal Bob said:

BYU, AF.....  Hmmm, teams that actually want to play FB - schools like this make you realize just how sick people are, when you consider the implications with COVID....

 

But don't get confused, the MW would be just fine sans schools like Boise, BYU, and AF, you know, the righteous football stalwart universities that actually... give a shit... 

 

 

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I don't get his beef with the AFA? This is about winning the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. Regardless if all three teams come into that 2 GAME SERIES undefeated, or winless, it’s about just those two games!

Winning the CiC trophy = two wins to glory, and bragging rights for the year  for the winner of said trophy, over the other two. One will care what each teams season record is or was, it’ll be either 2-0, 1-1, or 0-2... that’s it, as far as the trophy is concerned.

"Make a mistake once and it becomes a lesson, make the same mistake twice and it becomes a choice."
 

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