Air Force Academy Graduate that loves ALL THINGS AIR FORCE SPORTS! I write this AFSports blog w/ newslinks+season/game/player previews/postgame analysis
Monument, CO
Joined September 2009
- Tweets14K
- Following176
- Followers793
- Likes7.1K
As @AF_Football prepares to face Army on Saturday here is a good read on what Army needs to do. But I'll present my counter points to you @AF_Falcons fans first before you read it as they also apply to us.
-Make Tackles: indeed this goes both ways. Both defensive teams have had problems at times making tackles even after the first point of contact. Not only is this a key for Army but a big key for Air Force as well.
-Win the turnover battle: the writer of the article incorrectly insinuates we have a fumble problem saying we average won a game. In reality we had one fumble in Nevada and then two fumbles in the bad loss at Wyoming. Just need to be smart and take care of the ball. Conversely Army has had three fumbles and three interceptions, indeed we must win that battle.
-Army needs to win the fourth quarter as they have not played as well in the third and fourth. Conversely we have been much more of a second half team and we need to continue to do so.
- Army needs to win the Red Zone battle and come away with seven points. Our Falcons need to win the Red Zone battle and come away with seven points
------
Let me add a couple of my own:
- Do not get burned over the top by a pass OR let a Monken trick play fool us.
- Control the edges when they have the ball and get outside when we have the ball
- Complete one pass in the first quarter to make them think. They have not been very good against the pass.
- Win the special teams battle on both sides of the ball
By doing these things and not allowing Army to do these things we will win.
GO @AF_Falcons -Rick'77 @RicksFalconRev
#BEATAirForce: Four Keys to Grounding the Zoomies
from @DannoECabeza
#GoArmy #ArmyFootball #ArmyBlackKnights
#CollegeFootball #CFB #BuiltToRise
asforfootball.com/2026/11/05…
The love and camaraderie seen here between @CoachCrispin and our players tells it all.
GO FALCONS -Rick'77 @RicksFalconRev
Ricks Falcon Review retweeted
Coach Crispin earns his first win at Air Force in historic fashion, highlighted by a 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺-𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝟮𝟭 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀 and 𝟭𝟬𝟳 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 — the 8th most all time and highest since 1999. 🙌
Ricks Falcon Review retweeted
Air Force men’s basketball settling in with win in home opener: gazette.com/2026/11/05/air-f…
Great read on @AF_Football 's QB Hosges.
GO FALCONS -Rick'77
During Basic Cadet Training at the Air Force Academy, the upperclassmen gave one of the new arrivals a nickname, and the nickname was Big Bad Basic.
He was a fullback at the time, six feet tall and built like a door.
His name is Kemper Hodges.
He grew up in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, played his high school football at South Walton, and spent a year at the Academy's prep school before he ever enrolled. He is studying civil engineering.
He played fullback for Air Force in 2024, and in the spring of 2025 the coaches moved him to quarterback, where his job was largely to stand in the short yardage package and wait to be handed the football on third and one.
He had taken quarterback snaps the year before, he had made one start, and he had split the job against Colorado State.
Then, over the course of a few weeks, Air Force ran out of quarterbacks.
Liam Szarka was injured, and Evan Medders was injured after him, and by Halloween the Falcons had reached the third and fourth names on the depth chart. A freshman named Howard Fisher IV took the start against UConn.
Hodges was handed the football 35 times in that game.
He ran for 200 yards and he scored four touchdowns. One of those runs covered 62 yards, which is the longest play Air Force has produced all season. Before that afternoon he had never had a 100 yard game in his life, at any level of football.
Air Force won the game 35-26, and the win made the program bowl eligible.
"No sir, not like that," Hodges said afterward, when somebody asked him whether he had ever been through anything of the kind.
"When I came back to the sideline, I could tell a lot of the guys were shocked," he said. "But I had to show them I still had it in me to get to that end zone."
His head coach, Troy Calhoun, needed fewer words than that.
"The pounding, the resiliency. He's the one that just kept asking for more."
On Monday the Davey O'Brien Award named him one of its Great 8 quarterbacks for the week, and the Mountain West named him its Offensive Player of the Week.
On SATURDAY, Air Force plays Army with the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy on the line.
Whether Hodges takes a single snap in that game is not settled. Medders may be available again, and Fisher is a freshman who just banked the most valuable afternoon of his young career. Calhoun was asked about it this week and said only that Hodges's body would tell them the answer.
That is approximately where he has lived for three years.
"I just know that whenever my name's called, I'm going to give the best effort," he said.
He is a senior at a federal service academy who will be commissioned as an officer when he graduates. On a Saturday in October there was nobody left to carry the football, so the cadet they called Big Bad Basic carried it 35 times and ran for 200 yards.
Jim Arthur @JARTHURAFA gets down and dirty on why this @AF_Football vs Army game is so important.
GO FALCONS -Rick'77 @RicksFalconRev
My new Air Force Football Blog is now up at kvor.com/2026/11/05/jim-arth…
Ricks Falcon Review retweeted
Home opener tonight!
🆚 Calumet College
🕡 6:30 pm MT
🏟️ Clune Arena | USAFA, CO
📺 MW+ bit.ly/48A5jie
📻 AM 740 KVOR bit.ly/4jNPSKn
📊 bit.ly/4BLi0nU
#FlyFightWin | #MWMBB | @Firestorm_Labs
Good morning fellow FALCONFANATICS! I want to say welcome to the newest followers here (792 followers) and a thank you for pushing my Air Force Falcons @AF_Falcons unofficial fan page on Facebook to over 800 followers (8 more followers and I match that 800 here on X). I appreciate each and every one you for supporting me here and more importantly, our Cadet Student Athletes on the field, the ice, the pitch, the court or the pool!
I'll continue to try to give you some of my couch potato insights into various matchups while providing links where I can from as many sources I can find on our Falcons and our opponents.
As always, I appreciate your comments, point of view (and counterpoints) and suggestions for improvement. Big weekend starts early tonight with Air Force Men's Basketball @AF_MBB and @AF_Volleyball then Friday for Air Force Men's Soccer @AF_MSOC and Hockey @AF_HKY both at home . Saturday we are on the road for Air Force Football @AF_Football at Army and Women’s Soccer @AF_WSOC at New Mexico while our Air Force Women's Basketball @AF_WBB team is home in Clune Arena and @AF_Wrestle in South Carolina.
Blessings and....
GO FALCONS -Rick'77 Rick's Falcon Review
A pic of and the ultimate AF fan that I wish was here, my Dad!
Here is the week through Sunday for Mountain West Conference @MountainWest basketball. This weekend we get a direct comparison of our Air Force Men's Basketball @AF_MBB team with another Mountain West team. While we play Calumet tonight, Idaho State plays at Wyoming Friday then they play our Air Force Falcons @AF_Falcons in Clune Arena on Sunday.
GO FALCONS -Rick'77 @RicksFalconRev
@MWCConnection
@MattMcGahey27
Ricks Falcon Review retweeted
Air Force-Army digital game program available
tinyurl.com/437c9sjc
We cannot forget another side of the Commander-in-Chief's trophy is the @AF_HKY vs Army rivalry on the ice. We are SOLD OUT so let's get 10000 other @AF_Falcons fans to heat it up and stand outside the rink and shout....
GO FALCONS -Rick'77 @RicksFalconRev
Air Force-Army digital hockey game program available
tinyurl.com/2j8yc9se
Two big Air Force Falcons @AF_Falcons soccer games this weekend. In the biggest play for seeding, our Air Force Women’s Soccer @AF_WSOC travel to NM to play Saturday at 730pm MT. Sitting currently in third with NM in fourth, a win over the Lobo's combined with a tie or loss by Hawaii could move us to second place and the #2 seed in the MW tournament.
Our Air Force Men's Soccer @AF_MSOC finish their season playing GCU at home on Friday night at 6pm MT. They will be the #4 seed when the tournament begins next week!
Both games will be available to watch on the MW+!
GO FALCONS -Rick'77 @RicksFalconRev
KNOW OUR OPPONENTS Speaking of Air Force Women's Basketball @AF_WBB we have a game Saturday!! Our @AF_Falcons Air Force Falcons welcome Saint Mary's (0-1) into Clune Arena for a 1pm MT tipoff. If you cannot make the game it can be watched on the MW+ or listened to on am1300 with Ryan Kaufman.
Our Air Force Women’s Basketball play Saturday at home vs St Mary’s who were 15-17 last year and played Stanford Wednesday night losing 54-87. Like Air Force, as a roster they bring a strong contingent back from last year with multiple starters back although not all played Wednesday. I’ll give some stats to highlight how big they play as they bring back their three top scorers: #1 Shof 6’0”/9.4ppg; #2 Foy 6’1”/7.7ppg; #3 Ali Wedin 5’10”/7.6ppg plus #8 Ohiaeri 6’1”/3.5ppg. In their first game on Wednesday night they fell to Stanford led by guards Aherne and Azouri and 6’2” Tounkara.
It will be a challenge for us inside and for Julia Leach our 6’2” sophomore. Note that for our Falcons, freshman Marrissa Taylor 6’3” did suit up and is available as a big although she did not play in game #1 vs Denver University.
As always, key for our Falcons will be to take care of the ball and use the altitude to our advantage pushing the ball on offense and defending from baseline to baseline. I hope in this game we go a little deeper into the bench. I know we have 5 seniors but note we have no juniors on this team so Coach McIntyre will need to garner experience throughout the year to bring success this 2026-2027 season but to also be ready for next year!
GO FALCONS –Rick’77 @RicksFalconRev
Respectfully to our @AF_WBB team and Coach @mcintyre_stacy from a long time fan. I was happy to attend our opener and so excited about how well we played and the win. Congratulations. With that said, our team introduction entry video's music did absolutely ZERO to engage the fans. In fact it was one of the worst audios to date that I can remember. We all know the music is not for the players, it is to excite the fans prior to them taking the court. It is to get the fans on their feet clapping their hands and stomping their feet and yelling GO FALCONS. NONE of that happened. In fact zero fans stood for the video as it began until the cheer squad took the court. I respectfully ask that you get with your media/video coordinator and consider revamping the music. Our players and our fans deserve more. Just an old fan here that is so happy with what you put on the court. Let's make the rest of the experience equally good.
Remember this is just one old guy's point of view, but I have talked to many others that were there. If you take the time to re-listen to it you would have to agree. It's like the music was put there as an afterthought.
Excited for the start of @AF_MBB
tonight and hope we get the fans involved there also.
Again respectfully....
GO @AF_Falcons -Rick'77
@NancyHixson
@Brianjjerman
OT NON-SPORTS
Scroll by if not interested.
It is all about making America safer and better for all OUR citizens. And all of these are positives IMHO.
GOD BLESS THE USA
GO FALCONS -Rick'77
"What has President Trump done for our country since beginning his second term?
Glad you asked 👇
- Signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law on July 4, 2025
- Made the 2017 tax cut rates and brackets permanent
- No tax on tips, up to $25K a year through 2028
- No tax on overtime, up to $12.5K ($25K for couples)
- Deduction for interest on loans for American-assembled cars
- Raised the SALT deduction cap from $10K to $40K
- Expanded the child tax credit
- Created "Trump Accounts," which give kids a $1,000 starter deposit
- Median household income hit a record $87,460 in 2025
- Poverty fell to 10.2%, and child poverty hit a record low of 13.4%
- The S&P 500 is up 28.6% and the Nasdaq up 34.6% since the inauguration
- GDP grew 2.5% in Q1 2026 and 2.2% in Q2
- The trade deficit is down 10.4% from 2024
- The private sector added more than 1 million jobs
- 72,000 manufacturing jobs added in 2026
- Investment pledges include $600B from Apple and $340B from Amazon
- "Most Favored Nation" drug-pricing deals and the launch of TrumpRx
- Price-cut commitments from major grocery chains
- Southern border apprehensions down about 91%
- 17 straight months with zero releases of border crossers
- Signed the Laken Riley Act, which requires detaining illegal immigrants charged with certain crimes
- Signed the HALT Fentanyl Act, which permanently classifies fentanyl-related drugs as Schedule I
- Designated Tren de Aragua and MS-13 as terrorist organizations
- Net migration was negative for the first time in 50+ years
- More than 175,000 visas revoked
- About 250 more miles of border barrier completed
- Violent crime fell 9.7% in 2025
- Murder fell 18.5%, the biggest one-year drop on record
- The 2025 murder rate was the lowest since 1900
- More than 17,000 arrests in the DC crime crackdown
- DOJ health care fraud takedowns charged nearly 800 people in more than $21B of alleged fraud in 2025 and 2026
- Nine fugitives from the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list captured
- All 20 living Israeli hostages freed under a US-brokered ceasefire
- Created a Board of Peace to oversee Gaza's reconstruction
- NATO allies committed to spending 5% of GDP on defense by 2035
- Nicolás Maduro captured and now facing charges in New York
- Struck Iran's nuclear enrichment sites
- Brokered a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan
- Brokered a peace deal between the DRC and Rwanda
- Brokered a peace deal between Cambodia and Thailand
- Brought home more than 100 Americans held abroad
- Reached more than 20 new trade deals
- The military hit 103% of its 2025 recruiting goals, the best in 15 years
- Gave nine military bases back their original names
- Record US crude production of more than 13.8M barrels a day
- Record LNG exports of more than 100 million metric tons in 2025
- Crude oil imports down about 5.5%
- Revoked the EPA's 2009 "endangerment finding" on greenhouse gases
- Confirmed 56 federal judges, leaving no appeals court seats vacant
- Cut the federal workforce by 328,000 (10.9%)
- Signed the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, bringing whole milk back to school cafeterias
On top of all that, he took a bullet for you and has worked his ass off every single day, including holding 30 rallies in one month ahead of the midterms."