First time at the Army Navy Game

In September, I was driving home from work and heard that tickets to the Army Navy game were going to be sold to the general public for the first time ever. I didn't even know the game was held in Philadelphia. Being a college football fan, that rivalry has to be one of the top 10, so I jumped on the chance to see it. I bought two tickets and Big O came up for the game.

Wow, was it cold. Not so much when the sun was up, but as soon as it ducked under the horizon, which happens around 4:30 PM up here, it felt 10 to 15 degrees colder. The high today was around 40. Tonight at 10:16 PM, it says 32. But sitting in the upper deck at Lincoln Financial field in Philadelphia, with a breeze rolling over us, mid-thirties is cold! The good thing about it… your beer doesn’t warm up. That’s right SEC fans, you can drink beer at a college game.

The last time I was at a game this cold was in 1993 when Auburn played in Fayetteville, AR, and it started snowing on Friday night. Fortunately, this time I was prepared: long johns, hand-warmers, and balaclava (I want to pronounce that like the greek desert). The saving grace was sitting on a blanket. I never knew I lost so much heat from my hiney. My feet were fine throughout the game. I had good boots on. But as soon as we left, my toes went numb and it was a pain to walk. My hand warmers jumped from my gloves to the boots, and everything was right in the world.

At least, everything was right for me. Big O wasn’t happy Army lost, but what do you expect when you only run three plays all game. Literally, they switched from the full-back dive to the option every other play. To mix it up, two other times during the first 3.5 quarters, they called a pass play. Finally, on the last 2 drives of the game, they threw the ball and marched down the field. Once they stopped at the 15 yard line (missed field goal), and again at the 4 yard line (turn over on downs with 30 seconds left). But they moved the ball. The Army defense was stopping them in the first half. The offense just didn’t hold up their end of the bargain.

But I wasn’t there to watch a boring, grind it on the ground game. Since Matt Dishongh seems to despise the gimmicky “forward pass,” he should change his allegiance to one of the military academies. The real reason you go to this game is for the tradition and rivalry. That was awesome. You really felt the 110 year history these two schools have playing each other. I still think the Auburn/Alabama rivalry is the greatest, but this one was incredible to see.

Plus, this rivalry has some innovative ideas that extend the competitiveness from the field to the stands. I think more schools should incorporate this first idea into their big games, particularly if they are played at a neutral site. Each school comes up with spirit videos, usually lasting 30 seconds to a minute, that disparage and degrade the other academy. They played the videos on the big screens for everyone in the stadium before the game and sprinkled a few in during stoppage of play. Here is a link to some of Navy’s last year to give you an idea.

I also witnessed a cheer off. Male cheerleaders held a female cheerleader up in the air with one hand. They start at the same time right in front of the both student sections and everyone is cheering for their school. Whoever drops first loses… and the other school gets to scream, yell and taunt you even more. Big O said this isn’t fair because all the Army cheer babes are bigger than their Navy counterpart.

The funniest thing I saw, probably of any game I’ve been to in 37.5 years happened today. Somehow, the Army cadets took the head of Navy’s mascot off and started throwing it around in the stands like a beach ball. The stadium camera was following the action on the big screen, including watching Navy cheerleaders amongst the cadets trying to chase down the head. Unfortunately it happened one minute before the national anthem so you never got to see how it ended.

One of the other aspects of the game that is great is the fact that it is about the military. From fly overs (4 Osprys… cool, but the calendar said 4 F-18s and 4 Apache helicopters; combining the plane with a helicopter in one vehicle doesn’t make up for the spectacle I thought I would see), to soldiers parachuting into the stadium (I rate that up there with having a huge golden eagle circle the stadium for pre-game), to swearing in enlisted navy men and women on the field. It was great being in a stadium full of people with a higher purpose than football game bragging rights and what bowl game their team will play in. They’re keeping our country safe and this is just a minor time out they get to enjoy before possibly giving their lives for our freedom.

You can see more photos of the game here.