Tag: Air Force

Public New York golf course formerly on Air Force base slated to close at season’s end

The owner wasn’t prepared to close the course, but the county made him an offer.

A golf course in the Central New York region that was originally built for officers and civilian employees is slated to close at season’s end, according to a recent report.

Mohawk Glen Golf Course in Rome, New York, was built as a nine-hole course for those assigned to Griffiss Air Force Base, but once the base closed in 1995, a local owner maintained the property.

Now, according to a story in the Rome Daily Sentinel, the course will be permanently closed at the end of the season. Owner Michael DeSalvio said Oneida County will purchase the land.

The county and Mohawk Valley EDGE have been working in the area after receiving a $23 million grant in March to transform the nearby Triangle Site to be more industry-friendly.

“We’ll be open for the rest of the season,” DeSalvio said, usually closing when snow starts falling. He noted that he will not be selling Delta Knolls Golf Center on Elmer Hill Road.

When the base was still open, play was heavy on the par-36 track. During its operational years, Griffiss was its own community.

The base had barracks, its own church and numerous amenities that made it completely self-contained.

“It was a city within a city,” said state Senate Deputy Minority Leader Joseph Griffo, who served as Rome’s mayor from 1992 to 2003. “It had every amenity. Every amenity you would have in a city, it was there.”

So when Griffiss Air Base closed in 1995, it took approximately 8,000 jobs and 10,000 people with it, Griffo said. Suddenly, the “city within a city” now had a big question mark hanging over its future.

But because of the spark in commerce, the region has become attractive again, meaning the land had added value.

DeSalvio told the Sentinel he hadn’t planned on closing the golf course for another few years, but the county approached him with the offer.

“I was thinking I would go a little longer,” DeSalvio told the paper. “It’s been really good here.”

Matt’s Monday Mailbag: Did SJSU do right by signing Brock Purdy’s younger brother?

Matt’s Monday Mailbag: Did SJSU do right by signing Brock Purdy’s younger brother?

Matt’s Monday Mailbag: Did SJSU do right by signing Brock Purdy’s younger brother?

SJSU reporter Matt Weiner weighs in on Chubba Purdy signing with SJSU, burgers and buzzer-beaters.

Follow @Mattweiner20 & @MWCwire

Bay Area added another Purdy

Hello and welcome to Matt’s Monday Mailbag™ your go-to destination for all pressing SJSU football and men’s basketball matters.

Enough chit-chat. Let’s get into it.

Thomas Christian: @ThomasGoatnba: “What do we think of signing Brock Purdy’s lil bro?”

Optics wise, signing Chubba Purdy was a good move. The connection to Brock will generate buzz this program desperately needs. 

Football wise, I like this move, too. Compared to any other SJSU quarterback available, Purdy has started multiple games at the Power Five level. And sure, he went 0-4 at Nebraska last season, but I’ll take that over SJSU QB Jay Butterfield who has 15 career pass attempts. 

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Furthermore, Purdy’s mobility could be a massive help to SJSU’s offensive line which will feature four new starters. 

Ryan B: @rbizzle16 “Do you think it’s fair to say that we’d have a good chance at being 4-0 in league if we had Rob V [Vaihola] in the lineup?”

Oh, without a doubt. 

Each loss featured an example where SJSU’s frontcourt was outmatched.

In the Wyoming loss, SJSU was outscored in the paint 36-20 which played a pivotal role in the squandered 17-point lead. In its next loss to Boise State, SJSU allowed power forward O’mar Stanley to net 30 points and 11 rebounds. A few days later, No. 19 San Diego State’s power forward Jaedon LeDee finished with 31 points and 10 rebounds. 

Imagine the destruction a frontcourt of Vaihola and seven-footer Adrame Diongue could inflict upon opponents?

Ricky Delgado: @RickyDe70535587 “A sign of a good team is that they can handle adversity (especially on the road) and still find ways to win. So far this season we hadn’t done that but on Saturday we did. I take it as an indication they are starting to gel and improve. We’re on the upswing and I’m excited For the rest of the season.”

Myron “MJ” Amey Jr.’s buzzer-beating three over Air Force should signify SJSU shifting course of its late-game woes. 

But I just don’t know. 

The Spartans let a 46-33 halftime lead over the Cadets wither into a 66-61 deficit. Yes, SJSU rallied back triumphantly. But with 10 seconds left and SJSU up 67-66, what if AFA’s Rytis Petraitis went 2-for-2 not 1-for-2 from the line? More importantly, what if he didn’t step out with 1.5 seconds left after he rebounded SJSU point guard Alvaro Cardenas’ airballed three? Lastly, AFA is the second-worst team in the conference. 

Not saying it can’t happen. Just important to remember the context surrounding Amey Jr.’s dagger. 

Fake Matt Mumme:@FakeCoachMumme “What’s the best burger in Santa Clara County?”

Not sure if it’s the best burger (I’m more of a chicken sandwich guy) but the best I’ve had is the Breakfast Burger at Egghead Sando. 

Paring over-easy eggs with caramelized onions as a burger topping is beyond elite. 

Ricky Delgado @RickyDe70535587 “Incredibly happy for the players, especially MJ to get that win on Saturday. I could see some of them had that “here we go again look” like the football team did early in the season. I keep going back to football season because I can’t help how similar these two teams feel. With that said, a turnaround similar to the one the football team had is improbable. However, this team will compete night in and night out with any team in the conference and I feel like they’re even going to upset a couple of the big programs.”

I think this team will be a gambler’s worst nightmare. 

Last Tuesday, SJSU nearly upset No. 19 San Diego State, 81-78. Then followed that up by needing an improbable buzzer-beating three from Amey Jr. to escape a woeful Air force. 

Don’t be surprised if SJSU struggles at home against Fresno State (No. 254 NET ranking) on Feb. 6 and then has Colorado State (No. 20 NET ranking) on the ropes in its next game. 

Which is why I believe SJSU can win eight of its next 14 games to clinch eligibility for the CBI. But at the same time I wouldn’t put any money on it. 

Myron “MJ” Amey Jr.’s heroics lifts SJSU to first conference win

A miraculous, buzzer-beating three from Myron “MJ” Amey Jr. lifts SJSU basketball to first conference win over Air Force.

Somehow, someway, with 1.3 seconds left and the score at 67-67, Myron “MJ” Amey Jr. drilled a wildly improbable three from the corner to lift San Jose State to a 70-67 win over Air Force. 

But as Amey Jr. (16 points and nine rebounds) was a portrait of unbridled joy after his buzzer-beater while teammates mobbed him, it was easy to forget that SJSU fumbled a 10-point second half and was down 66-64 with 1:58 remaining. 

So now comes the difficulty of identifying what’s more meaningful: SJSU rallying back in those final few minutes? Or how it fumbled yet another second half lead?

“They [SJSU] can be 4-0 in this league,” SJSU head coach Tim Miles said after the win. Miles’ quote came a few dafter the Spartans nearly upset No. 19 San Diego State.

Now, some may be thinking, ‘How can you not leave a buzzer-beater completely happy?’

That’s because SJSU (8-9, 1-3 MW) has made a habit of turning promising first half starts into disappointing second half finishes. For example, it squandered a 17-point first half lead to Wyoming in its conference opener. One game later, against a stellar Boise State, it fell 78-69 after it held a nine-point lead with nine minutes remaining. And in its six non-conference losses, SJSU outscored its opponent just once following the first half.

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On Saturday, SJSU ended the first half up 46-33 after it outrebounded the Cadets 18-7 and outscored them in the paint 24-18. Then, in the second half, SJSU was outrebounded 18-13, outscored in the paint 12-10 and outscored AFA by seven fewer points than it did in the first half on second chance opportunities. 

Looking ahead, what’s particularly worrisome is that Air Force is the second lowest-ranking team in the NET (232) in the conference. The Cadets aren’t particularly sharp, either. They average the third-most turnovers in the conference (12.9) and have the third-lowest free throw percentage. Both were was put on full display in the final seconds from Rytis Petraitis who went 1-for-2 with a chance to give AFA the lead with 10 seconds left. Moments later, it was Petraitis who stepped out with 1.3 seconds left after rebounding SJSU point guard Alvaro Cardenas’ (11 points and nine assists) airballed three. 

Then came Amey Jr.’s dagger that Miles called “insanity. 

Without Petraitis’ sloppiness, it’s hard to say SJSU wouldn’t be 0-4. What’s more, it’s hard to say SJSU wouldn’t continue to crater.

But maybe, just maybe, within those final couple minutes and Amey Jr.’s heroics was SJSU realizing it can be a conference force. 

Or, will the momentum from Saturday slip away and the Spartans struggle to handle a Fresno State (No. 251 NET ranking) this Tuesday night?

Even more intriguing now is how SJSU will fare in the six-game gauntlet after FSU which features four teams in the top-40 of the NET and five teams in the top-100. 

Ask someone their prediction of how SJSU will fare in the first half on Saturday, when Adrame Diongue (four points and three rebounds) slammed down an alley-oop from Cardenas and Garret Anderson (six points) was attacking at will, it may yield a positive one. What if you asked in the second half when SJSU let a 46-33 halftime lead whither into a 66-61 deficit?

And eventually, after Amey Jr.’s buzzer-beater, where will that same person land?

“We looked like we are dead in the water and Myron Amey Jr. makes this incredible, miracle of a shot,” Miles said, “… Great way to get out first Mountain West win.”

College football: Updated ESPN FPI Ratings Through Week 9

You have to pick it right now: Which four teams are making the playoff?

As Week 9 of the college football season has come and gone, we turn the calendar to November and start to look for the teams that are going to make runs to the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six bowl games.

This year there are plenty of teams alive for both with some interesting candidates starting to somewhat separate themselves from the rest of the field.

How many teams can realistically win a national championship this season?  And who are the ones most likely to?

Who has the hardest tests the rest of the season and who has the easier tracks?

Is Notre Dame closer to being seen as a contender than we may tend to think?

ESPN releases their Football Power Index each week to handicap how teams match up.  They did so following Week 9 of the college football season and here is how the top 25 teams nationally turned out.

ESPN College GameDay Week 8 Picks for Penn State-Ohio State, Bama-Tennessee, and more!

What game has the biggest chance of being an upset today?

It’s Week 8 of the college football season and fall is very much in the air!

A nearly perfect Saturday weather-wise is coming across the Midwest that we’ll be enjoying but games all day will help shape the look of the College Football Playoff and conference championship races across the country.

As always, ESPN’s “College Gameday” was at the biggest of the games Saturday morning as they’re featuring Penn State’s trip to Ohio State.  Is this when the Nittany Lions finally get over the hump and jump into the drivers seat of the Big Ten East?

Or does Ohio State keep on track for an undefeated date at Michigan to close the regular season in late November?

Here are the ESPN “College Gameday” picks for Saturday’s slate as Houston Texans rookie quarterback CJ Stroud served as the guest picker!

Notre Dame football all-time vs. service acadamies

How long until Notre Dame finally has the guts to schedule Space Force?

Notre Dame football has a long history with the United States service academies as some of the biggest games in the early days of the game were between Knute Rockne’s Fighting Irish and the Army.

Notre Dame has also played Navy each year since 1927 before the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to that run in 2020.

The Irish have also taken on Air Force more than a handful of times with some thrillers coming against the Falcons over the years.

So how has Notre Dame fared all-time against the service academies?

Notre Dame all-time results versus:

ACC

Big Ten

Big 12

Pac-12

SEC

Former Air Force golf coach gambled on sports, including Air Force football, NCAA says

The violation included placing bets on the football program at Air Force.

A former Air Force men’s golf head coach violated NCAA rules when he knowingly participated in impermissible sports wagering, including placing bets on the football program at Air Force, according to an agreement released by the Division I Committee on Infractions.

The former head coach was not named in the report. Air Force would not confirm the coach’s identity to Golfweek but did provide this statement:

“The U.S. Air Force Academy is pleased to have this issue resolved after working collaboratively with the NCAA Enforcement Staff and taking full responsibility, consistent with our institutional values. While the individuals’ actions were disappointing, the identification of the infractions and work throughout the negotiated resolution process shows that we have a robust NCAA compliance program and that our monitoring procedures are working. We will learn from the missteps and double down on our educational and monitoring efforts to avoid future infractions,” Air Force Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Richard Clark and Director of Athletics Nathan Pine said.

The violations occurred when the former coach created an account for an online sports wagering program using his then-girlfriend’s identification information because he knew NCAA rules prohibited participating in wagering on sports (at any level) the NCAA sponsors. Over the course of four months, he wagered $9,259 on 253 occasions — both professional and college sports — using that account. Of those wagers, 107 were on NCAA events, including six Air Force football games.

Because NCAA rules do not permit sports wagering, the head coach’s conduct violated NCAA principles of honesty and sportsmanship. Because of his personal involvement in the violations and his efforts to conceal behavior he knew was impermissible, he did not promote an atmosphere of compliance and thus violated NCAA head coach responsibility rules.

The parties used ranges identified by the Division I membership-approved infractions penalty guidelines to agree upon Level I-mitigated penalties for the university and Level I-aggravated penalties for the men’s golf head coach. There were also sanctions levied against the men’s ice hockey program.

The full list of penalties include:

  • Three additional years of probation, to be served after the school’s existing probationary period stemming from a previous infractions case, extending the probationary period until September 2027.
  • A $5,000 fine.
  • A two-week prohibition in all recruiting communications in men’s ice hockey.
  • A five-year show-cause order for the former men’s golf head coach. During the show-cause order, any employing member institution shall restrict the former head coach from any athletically related position. If the former head coach becomes employed in the first year after the show-cause order, he shall be suspended for 50% of the men’s golf regular season.

Members of the Committee on Infractions are drawn from the NCAA membership and members of the public. The members of the panel who reviewed this case are Norman Bay, attorney in private practice; Vince Nicastro, deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of the Big East; and Dave Roberts, special advisor to Southern California and chief hearing officer for the panel.

Air Force football’s new alternate jersey is a cringey homage to a WWII raid in Japan

This is just cringey.

If you have the opportunity to make light of war by associating it with a football game, my guess is you should probably just not.

Apparently, Air Force didn’t get the memo.

The academy unveiled its new alternate football uniforms this week, paying homage to the 1942 Doolittle Raid in Japan during World War II, and while the uniforms themselves are probably fine, everything Air Force had to roll out alongside the uniforms for context are why the idea should have been ditched.

“An ambush,” read an uncomfortable tweet from Air Force with a quote from Lt. Col. James Doolittle that, when viewed through the lens of a football game, is just as cringeworthy considering the severity of devastation from the war.

The actual context is that Doolittle’s Raid was the first American retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor. The damage was comparatively minor to other devastation of the war, but the raid is said to have provided an important boost to American morale.

Of course, this is all important history. It happened, and I’m not saying we need to act like it didn’t. But we also don’t need to honor an airstrike as part of a football game.

Air Force has been doing this Airpower Legacy Series since 2016, rolling out alternate uniforms that honor some piece of its history. And past uniforms, as I recall, have pulled this off quite well. This year’s, however, honoring an actual attack that proceeded the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — fresh on people’s minds with the release of Oppenheimer in theaters this summer — falls short of that.

Last year’s uniform paid homage to Space Force, and it was incredible. In 2021, Air Force honored the B-52 Stratofortress — a piece of equipment, not an actual raid. The 2020 uniforms were a moving tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen. In the future, they should return their focus to honoring those who stepped up in horrific circumstances and not glorify the horrors themselves.

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman sends love and condolences to Air Force and Georgia

It’s been a tough last few days for the college football committee

Over the last few days, college football has lost some players and a staff member with [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] head coach [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] being well aware of the losses.

[autotag]Air Force[/autotag] offensive lineman [autotag]Hunter Brown[/autotag] passed away after suffering a medical emergency going to a class. [autotag]Georgia[/autotag] offensive lineman [autotag]Devin Willock[/autotag] and support staff member [autotag]Chandler LeCroy[/autotag] were involved in a single-vehicle car crash that saw both of them pass away. Offensive tackle [autotag]Warren McClendon[/autotag] was also in the car but suffered just a cut on his head that required stitches.

It’s been a difficult couple of days across the nation and Freeman made a statement about both programs, sending his love and condolences.

Being part of a collegiate football program is like being in a fraternity, even if you are on a different campus, there is still a connection. It’s great to see Freeman take a leadership role and make a statement. He is showing the country why he was the correct choice to lead the Irish program, on and off the field.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

Baylor vs Air Force Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Prediction Game Preview

Baylor vs Air Force game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl on Thursday, December 22

Baylor vs Air Force prediction, game preview, odds, how to watch. Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, Thursday, December 22

Baylor vs Air Force Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Prediction Game Preview

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– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Baylor vs Air Force How To Watch

Date: Thursday, December 22
Game Time: 7:30 ET
Venue: Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, TX
How To Watch: ESPN
Record: Baylor (6-6), Air Force (9-3)
– Sign up and live stream college football on ESPN+

Baylor vs Air Force Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl 5 Things To Know

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History

– Baylor wasn’t able to repeat as the Big 12 champion, and it lost its last three games, but it was an entertaining season with lots of offense, a decent defense, and enough on both sides to come this close to beating TCU.

But that’s the problem. Beating Oklahoma and Texas Tech was good, but it couldn’t come through in several close losses. Beating Air Force wouldn’t make up for the misfires, but getting this done and finishing with a winning season would be nice.

– Air Force was rolling along with a 4-1 start, and it closed with four straight wins. In between it lost two of three games to keep it out of the Mountain West title hunt. Even so, it was a terrific season as it went full Air Force. It led the nation in rushing, time of possession, and in total defense. It’s got the ability to take down the Big 12 team and come up with a ten-win season.

– For years Air Force was a sure-thing bowl L, going 4-10 from 1987 to 2009. Troy Calhoun was responsible for two of the losses, and then he and the Falcons kicked it in going 6-3 in the last nine bowls. Win this, and it’ll be four straight bowl victories and five ten-win seasons since 2014. Last year the Falcons beat Louisville 31-28 in the First Responder.

– Baylor has been great at this bowl thing, too. It won four of the last five going back to the end of the Art Briles era in 2015, and Dave Aranda won in his first try in last year’s Sugar Bowl over Ole Miss.

– Around since 2003, the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl always seems to deliver. The matchups might not always be the sexiest on the board, but in the 19 games, ten have been close, last year’s Army win over Missouri was thrilling. The late Mike Leach’s Mississippi State team’s win over Tulsa was – let’s just say – intense at the end, and in 2018 Army cranked up 70 in a win over Houston. This should be entertaining, too.

CFN Bowl Expert Picks: Dec 16-19 | Dec 20-27

Why Baylor Will Win The Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

It’s one of the few teams that can control the clock as well as Air Force.

It might not quite be able to gear down and hold the ball for 36 minutes, but it could – it hasn’t been terribly far off this year. There’s a good offensive balance, the attack is great on third downs, and things go well when the ground game works.

Baylor is 4-0 when running for over 235 yards and 5-1 when coming up with over 170 yards – the one loss was the last second loss to TCU. The Air Force defensive front might be strong, but the whole machine gets wobbly when teams are able to run against it.

The Falcons are 8-0 when allowing fewer than 115 rushing yards and 1-3 – the one win coming against Northern Iowa from the FCS – when they give up more. Baylor is 0-3 when not getting to 115 yards, but that’s it – just three times.

However …

Why Air Force Will Win The Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

The Air Force offense got some rest.

The team was just fine over the finishing kick off the season, but it was banged up throughout key parts of the season and it mattered. It’s a team that needs everyone in place and working to be that half-click faster with how it operates.

Baylor might be solid on defense, and it’s great at holding up against the run, but it doesn’t do much to get into the backfield – it’s not going to stop the Falcon O before it gets moving.

The Bears are 1-4 when giving up 150 yards or more, and it’s Air Force – it comes up with that before breakfast. It hasn’t rushed for fewer than 171 yards and is 9-1 when getting to 200.

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History

NEXT: What’s Going To Happen, Baylor vs Air Force Prediction, Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl History

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