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Army Black
Knights
vs.
Navy
Midshipmen
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December 1, 2007, M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore
My brother and I had talked
about going to this game for
over year, trying to get tickets
until we eventually exhausted
all of our options; Ravens PSL
holders weren't offered the
option to purchase, my cousin (a
high school principal who
coached football) couldn't find
any through his contacts, and
even a coworker of my mother's,
who had a son in the Naval
Academy, couldn't get us
tickets. We weren't going to be
denied a chance to see this game
and I was under the impression
that we would just go to scalp
tickets.
But, my brother pulled through. He told me he got us tickets, my Christmas gift, and figured what the hell, cost isn't an issue when it comes to a game like this. Honestly, how many times will we have the chance? (As a side note, we probably only saw about 5 scalpers) Awesome gift and well worth it, it really was a great experience; though it hasn't been a major game in college football for a while now, it still is a great rivalry and a fun day. It goes beyond the football field between the two academies.
Gameday
We didn't really know what to
expect, other than getting into
the stadium three hours early to
see the respective academies'
"March On," where they march in
by company. One of the jokes
was that the Army would be very
tight and regimented, whereas
the Navy was loose and just
"slacking," and it was true. It
was pretty funny to notice it,
several of the Middies had "Beat
Army" signs on top of their
hats. I've never seen a stadium
more than half-full three hours
before kickoff. After the March
On, they then showed spirit
videos made by the Midshipmen
and Cadets making fun of each
other; some were completely
inside only and others were
pretty funny. Here are a few
examples:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IZhJnc4trK4,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW8VvI23jgw,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=HlLmqmKwpX8,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-UcaoPRfkc,
&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_2rez0Jjxs.
They showed videos throughout
the game.
After the videos, they inroduced
a group of students from each
academy who do a traditional
"running of the football," where
they run a football from their
respective academy to the site
of the game. Next, they did a
transfer of students at midfield
(you will see it in the pics).
Each year, a few of the top
students are selected from each
academy to study at the other acadmey
for a year; they do the transfer
so that the students can join
their "home" academy to watch
the game. Following that,
the academies had their
parachute teams jump into the
stadium, doing a few
demonstrations and stunts as
they made their way in. After
that was a flyover by the
academies, Navy first with
F-16's and Army was second, with
Blackhawks; that was pretty
awesome and from our seats you
could see them both making their
approaches. Very loud.
The national anthem was pretty
moving, never have I heard a
stadium so quiet and so still
for the Star Spangled Banner.
Cadets were at attention,
saluting the flag. And
thankfully, nobody yelled "O!"
Game
Everyone knows that Navy has
owned the series as of late and
this game was no exception, as
they won 38-3. Army had chances
but they shot themselves in the
foot on several occasions,
missing an early field goal,
settling for a field goal,
fumbling twice in the red zone,
and giving up a 93 yard kickoff
return for a touchdown. They
held Navy's high powered option
offense in check, but just
couldn't score points. Navy has
now won 6 in a row, first time
in the history of the series,
and they also took home the
Commander in Chief Trophy for
the fifth year in a row.
At the end of the game, both
teams assembled in front of each
academy's students to sing the
respective alm maters, and that
was pretty cool to see and
hear. Army first, Navy was
second.
Conclusion
Just an awesome, awesome
experience. You need to go in
not expecting much of a game, as
this is way more than that; its
like watching "living history"
of our country. I kept thinking
to myself that these academies
have been doing the same
marches, cheers, jokes, and
wearing the same uniforms for
well over 100 years. These are
the brightest of the bright and
brave kids who will lead our
country, first on the
battlefront and then onto bigger
things, maybe even as
Secretaries in Congress or even
President. We were there
cheering for Navy but my brother
said it was impossible to hate
or talk smack to Army,
considering they defend us. And
he was right. It really is
something everyone should
experience at least once; we are
talking about doing it again
next year up in Philly. Road
trip?
Here are some pics (videos of
the flyovers are at the end):
http://picasaweb.google.com/UpInThis/ArmyNavy?authkey=_ZcWIOd4tZk
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