Meineke Car Care Bowl 2006

Though the score was not what we wanted with Navy losing by 1 point in the last seconds of the game, Ron, Clay and I had a great time yesterday at the Navy/Boston College Bowl Game.

We laugh that we like being Navy fans better than Clemson fans! There is such a neat ceremony surrounding Navy that it makes you really want to be a part of it. It's like you aren't just supporting an athletic team, but the US as a whole!

The game was terrific in itself and very exciting...lots of up and down and cheering. Navy played very well.....unfortunately it came down to one fumble right at the end.
This was part of Clay's Christmas and he LOVED it. We talked to a lot of different people there from the Boston College fans with a Navy Cadet neighbor, the hat people (if you watched the game, you probably saw the people with the yellow boat hats) who are Annapolis sponsor parents, see next post, the wife of an "old-goat"...ie. a USNA grad, and a cadet who assured Clay that 7th grade is NOT to early to get started preparing. I think Clay learned a lot...especially the importance of grades and athletics.

The players are ready to start the game....and so were the sideline fans and "goat-handlers"....we didn't know what else to call those in the Navy rugby shirts who kept up with the goat.

A little different from most games, the midshipmen march onto the field prior to the game. It was VERY impressive.

Afterwards, they marched out to their special seating section. The neatest thing of all was the cadets in their uniforms in a group (800 midshipmen were represented) marching through a football stadium.

The most exciting pre-game part....the cadets line up for the players to run through! I missed a picture, but while this was going on, 2 F-16s flew overhead. (One of the pilots is a Navy grad.) Oh, and as they run out, the music blaring is "Danger Zone" from Top Gun. Best football music I've ever heard! (especially since F-16s are roaring over head!)

Afterwards, the midshipmen filled their section and changed into Navy hats.

Look who else was at the game.....Mr. Grill, George Foreman. Quote of the game, as he is being introduced someone yells out, "I got your grill at home, George!"

A new goat was there to cheer on the Midshipmen.

We were advised that the game isn't over until you hear "BEAT ARMY". At the end of each game, the football players sing the Alma Mater to the cadet section. The end statement (for EVERY game) is "BEAT ARMY".