As a teenager, Tony Gianunzio dreamed of pitching at Wrigley Field, propelling the Chicago Cubs to a World Series title and breaking a long championship drought … at the time, more than 30 whole years. World affairs had other ideas: A few months after drawing some attention during a Cubs tryout camp in 1942, Gianunzio would be in the Coast Guard, eventually headed into service in the Pacific as a gunner’s mate aboard the patrol frigate Machias. “The summer of ’42 had promised me the best of days,” Gianunzio would write in his memoir. “Youth had seemed a forever gift, and now all…
Browsing: Coast Guard
As many fans know by now, this weekend’s service academy football games are questionable. Or doubtful. Or “50/50.” Or definitely happening, per an ESPN reporter’s Twitter account. Or definitely happening, but then maybe not happening, per the Naval Academy’s Twitter account. Or probably happening after some fancy financial magic and a few extra legal bills, but awaiting final sign-off from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, per another ESPN report. Or could involve Air Force, of all teams, flying commercial as a charity case. (One of few positives to social media bursts in this situation — United Airlines announced this particular PR…
The story’s been making the rounds for the past few days, about how a young boy rescued by Coast Guard crews walked across the stage at today’s commencement ceremonies at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. What you may not know is that Ensign Orlando Morel, that rescued boy, was a big contributor to Coast Guard’s swimming team. Morel was one of the Bears’ top divers, regularly capturing wins in the 1- and 2-meter dives. Nearly 20 years have passed since Morel’s rescue, but the story still resonates. “I don’t think that anything I can do will be…
Here’s a quick look at this weekend’s games. AIR FORCE (1-0) hosts 25th-ranked TCU (0-1) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday (Versus). Nothing like running across an angry Horned Frogs team; TCU is still annoyed after last week’s 50-48 loss to Baylor. And it hasn’t lost consecutive games in four years. Some numbers to chew on: Air Force has won 11 of its last 12 conference openers. TCU has won 17 consecutive Mountain West games. The Horned Frogs leave the conference after this season for — as of now — the Big East. TCU quarterback Casey Pachall threw for 251 yards in…
Day one at the 2010 Combative Tournament was a grueling 12 hours with about 800 individual bouts. Here is who is heading to the semi-finals today: Heavyweight Winners: Aaron Jackson (Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Lonnie Kincaid (Fort Riley) Ngozi Collins (2/27 REG) Matthew Gallagher (Fort Sill) Heavyweight Consolation Bracket: Jeremy Myer HBCT 3ID) Ivan Iotchkolovsky Illinois National Guard) Ryan McKraken Benjamin Bradley (Fort Bragg) Bantamweight Winners: David Mason (III Corps) Dylan Pablo (Guam) Sean Stebbins, (Minnesota National Guard) Robert Texidor Bantamweight Consolation Bracket: Elmer Arguelles, Fort Carson) Matt Yaure (Fort Riley) Jimmy WilsoN (Fort Riley) Toni Vermiglio (4th PsyOps) Flyweight Winners:…
A quick look at the weekend’s games. • AIR FORCE (2-1) has to rebound from last week’s gut-wrenching loss at Oklahoma, and a trip to Wyoming (2 p.m. Eastern) is on the docket. (Good luck finding the game on TV, unless you have a dish and can pull in The Mtn., the Mountain West Conference’s TV network.) Wyoming (1-2) hasn’t even averaged two touchdowns per game this season — and is giving up 35 a game —while Air Force is averaging 41.3 points per game, second in the Mountain West and 16th in Division I. And the Falcons’ 399 yards…
Did the hangover from winning the Secretaries’ Cup linger? Probably not. Curry is just one of the better Division III teams in the Northeast, and with the Bears going on the road on a Saturday night … Curry blocked a second-quarter punt, setting up some great field position and really helping the Colonels to roll. Senior Jesse Karr and sophomore Jon Resch split time at quarterback for the Bears. Sophomore Eric Gerken caught 11 passes, a game-high. Coast Guard’s next game is at Massachusetts Maritime at noon Saturday.
It’s another big Saturday for the academies’ squads. (All times are Eastern time.) • ARMY (1-1) hopes to rebound from last week’s crushing loss to Hawaii when it hosts the North Texas Mean Green (noon, CBS College Sports). Army won last year’s meeting in Denton, Texas, 17-13, and is 3-0 all-time against the Mean Green. North Texas will be without senior quarterback Nathan Tune, who dislocated his hip in last week’s loss to Rice, which means sophomore Derek Thompson will start against the Knights. Army quarterback Trent Steelman is listed as the starter under center, even though he hurt his…
The Gold Helmet Award is a big deal in New England college football circles – two Gold Helmets are awarded weekly to players deemed by Gridiron Club of Greater Boston members as the best in the region, one for players in Division I (both FBS and FCS), and one for players in Divisions II and III. Coast Guard often gets ignored – that changed this week when senior cornerback and kick returner Pat Bennett was honored. The Capitol Heights, Md., native, who sat out in 2009 to focus on academics, returned the opening kickoff against Merchant Marine last week for…
A quick rundown on how the service academy teams did today: • ARMY (1-1) took it on the chin, losing to Hawaii, 31-28. A fumble in the final minute resulted in Hawaii getting one last shot to win the game, and the ensuing field goal was the difference. Read more on the Army Times site. • AIR FORCE (2-0) knocked off Brigham Young, 35-14, in the teams’ last meeting before BYU bails on the Mountain West Conference. It’s a big win, considering BYU leads the all-time series 24-7 after today’s game — and it was the first time the Falcons…
