Back and better than ever!
Dec. 9th, 2003 11:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shirenomadGot back from the East Coast and our family trip to see Navy play Army on the gridiron, among other things. Time for a "how I spent my summer vacation" entry.
The last superintendent of the Naval Academy was yanked about a year ago. That guy had a serious problem with his attitude, and was a horrible example on the midshipmen. Biggest example I heard about: After 9/11, he upped security by insisting that no one, but no one, be let on the Yard (academy grounds) without showing ID. Fair enough. Then one night he comes back to the Yard drunk and out of uniform, and in the dark the Marines at the gate could not have been expected to recognize him even without the standing order to challenge all entries. So what's this genius do? He gets into a scuffle with the Marines! That pretty much ended his chances of keeping the position.
The new one, by comparison, is insanely popular with the staff and mids. He'll show up and you think everyone is booing him for a second, then you realize they're cheering "Suuuuuuuuuuupe!" Tough sometimes -- can't run an Academy without being so -- but he cares about his students and they know it.
We arrived Tuesday evening and immediately hit our first snag: the rental car place was out of cars. After a brief panic, however, we learned that they DID have a Forerunner. We were all too glad to take it, and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise later on (more on that later).
Our first night in the area happened to be the night of the Naval Academy Women's Glee Club winter concert, so we got to hear some winter carols. Most were the standard, some with audience participation. But then there was something that will require a little explanation. See, Army/Navy is a week-long event at the academies, with people putting up banners and posters, sneaking onto the other academies to put up banners and posters... There's also this thing where normally plebes (freshmen) can be stopped in the hall by upperclassmen and staff and asked to recite basic information ("Who's the commandant of the Marine Corps?" "When was the Academy founded?" etc.) This week, the correct answer to any such question is always "Beat Army!" This cheer can be found invading many other areas of campus, including the occasional carol, as it turns out... Sing with me, now, "Deck the Halls":
o/~ Beat Army! Beat Army, beat Ar,
o/~ Me-beat-ar-me-beat, Army beat Ar!
o/~ Mee! Beat Army, beat Army beat,
o/~ Ar-me-beat-ar-me, beat army beat!
o/~ Army, beat, Army, beat Army!
o/~ Beat-ar-me, beat-ar-me, beat! Ar! Me!
o/~ Beat Army! Beat Army, beat Ar,
o/~ Me-beat-ar-me-beat, Army beat Ar!
o/~ (Me!)
Mom and Dad happened to meet a nice Naval chaplain by the name of Luther Alexander at some interdenominational conference in 1999. Well, the year Andrew got into the Naval Academy, so did Captain Alexander, as head chaplain of the Yard. My parents have been keeping in touch with him and his wife Jay, so we got together Wednesday night and had dinner at an EXCELLENT family-run Italian place nearby (Bella Italia). And... well, not much to talk about there. Parents talked with Alexanders, and I listened and ate. But we rounded it out afterward with some gelato (Italian ice cream), which was delicious.
And although, sadly, I was not present for the unveiling, I am informed that this week they painted Tecumseh to look like Strong Bad.
But enough about all that! The real reason my parents and I forged our way eastward was, of course, to see Andrew march out with the American flag on national TV. And there was that little football game afterward, while we were there...
Drove north, checked into our hotel in Jersey, then the next morning drove just across the river into Philly. They were playing, as they often do, in the Eagles stadium (I forget the name... forgive me). It's become tradition that it be held on neutral ground, and although Philadelphia isn't the only host, it's the most common. They began by marching out the entire student body of the Naval Academy (those that could make it anyway; all ways were paid), followed by the student body of West Point. A few students were studying at the opposite academy for a semester -- this is pretty common, evidently -- and were traded back to their fellow cadets or midshipmen in an "exchange of prisoners". Then everyone got hunkered down in their seats...
...and bundled up. Those who were paying attention to the weather forecast for the northeast this weekend (or who just happen to live there) may know that it dropped to something like 28 Fahrenheit Saturday, not counting wind chill. Those who know me well may recall that I have lived my entire life, save five months in Japan, in areas of California that see snow about once every never. Add to all that the fact that we were seated three rows from the very top, with the wind directly in our face, and I don't think I'm exaggerating to say I have never been so cold in my life. Thankfully, I had an excellent down jacket courtesy of my brother in Illinois (who has adjusted to the cold weather and claims he doesn't need it anymore), so my torso was nice and warm... I just couldn't feel my legs, feet, fingers, or face. Glad to have 4-Wheel Drive, certainly...
The bathrooms were the only heated places in the stadium besides the sky boxes and the team seating, so a lot of people would retreat to one during slow moments to defrost. By the time the first quarter was over, though, we were fleeing there every ten minutes, so we decided enough was enough and hunted for some warmer seats. Other people had, thankfully, looked at the weather that day and decided they weren't that big fans of Army and/or Navy, so we found open seats here/there/everywhere. Settled on a group of three next to the stairs in a much more shielded-from-the-elements section, complete with big halogen lighting that improved the temperature slightly. An improvement, if not much of one.
While our viewers at home were watching commercials, we on the field were watching "spirit spots" on the big screens. Various groups on both sides grabbed video cams and recorded little skits with the message of "Go Navy! Beat Army!" or vice versa. One group even got "Suuuuuuupe" involved; bold of them to ask. And it seems Navy likes using stop-motion Lego men in their work.
The Navy also has this amusing cheer that the cheerleaders came up with during the victory over Air Force in October. They begin with:
We!
The midshipmen in the audience all echo:
(We!)
We believe!
(We believe!)
We believe that!
(We believe that!)
We believe that we will!
(We believe that we will!)
We believe that we will win!
At this point every midshipman starts jumping up and down in place chanting "We believe that we will win!" repeatedly. They're all in the same area, so you get to see this entire section of the stadium audience come alive. Probably also helped them keep warm. ^^;
Anyway, 34-6 Navy. Go team. We flew back Sunday after celebrating and slept for half a day.
The last superintendent of the Naval Academy was yanked about a year ago. That guy had a serious problem with his attitude, and was a horrible example on the midshipmen. Biggest example I heard about: After 9/11, he upped security by insisting that no one, but no one, be let on the Yard (academy grounds) without showing ID. Fair enough. Then one night he comes back to the Yard drunk and out of uniform, and in the dark the Marines at the gate could not have been expected to recognize him even without the standing order to challenge all entries. So what's this genius do? He gets into a scuffle with the Marines! That pretty much ended his chances of keeping the position.
The new one, by comparison, is insanely popular with the staff and mids. He'll show up and you think everyone is booing him for a second, then you realize they're cheering "Suuuuuuuuuuupe!" Tough sometimes -- can't run an Academy without being so -- but he cares about his students and they know it.
We arrived Tuesday evening and immediately hit our first snag: the rental car place was out of cars. After a brief panic, however, we learned that they DID have a Forerunner. We were all too glad to take it, and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise later on (more on that later).
Our first night in the area happened to be the night of the Naval Academy Women's Glee Club winter concert, so we got to hear some winter carols. Most were the standard, some with audience participation. But then there was something that will require a little explanation. See, Army/Navy is a week-long event at the academies, with people putting up banners and posters, sneaking onto the other academies to put up banners and posters... There's also this thing where normally plebes (freshmen) can be stopped in the hall by upperclassmen and staff and asked to recite basic information ("Who's the commandant of the Marine Corps?" "When was the Academy founded?" etc.) This week, the correct answer to any such question is always "Beat Army!" This cheer can be found invading many other areas of campus, including the occasional carol, as it turns out... Sing with me, now, "Deck the Halls":
o/~ Beat Army! Beat Army, beat Ar,
o/~ Me-beat-ar-me-beat, Army beat Ar!
o/~ Mee! Beat Army, beat Army beat,
o/~ Ar-me-beat-ar-me, beat army beat!
o/~ Army, beat, Army, beat Army!
o/~ Beat-ar-me, beat-ar-me, beat! Ar! Me!
o/~ Beat Army! Beat Army, beat Ar,
o/~ Me-beat-ar-me-beat, Army beat Ar!
o/~ (Me!)
Mom and Dad happened to meet a nice Naval chaplain by the name of Luther Alexander at some interdenominational conference in 1999. Well, the year Andrew got into the Naval Academy, so did Captain Alexander, as head chaplain of the Yard. My parents have been keeping in touch with him and his wife Jay, so we got together Wednesday night and had dinner at an EXCELLENT family-run Italian place nearby (Bella Italia). And... well, not much to talk about there. Parents talked with Alexanders, and I listened and ate. But we rounded it out afterward with some gelato (Italian ice cream), which was delicious.
And although, sadly, I was not present for the unveiling, I am informed that this week they painted Tecumseh to look like Strong Bad.
But enough about all that! The real reason my parents and I forged our way eastward was, of course, to see Andrew march out with the American flag on national TV. And there was that little football game afterward, while we were there...
Drove north, checked into our hotel in Jersey, then the next morning drove just across the river into Philly. They were playing, as they often do, in the Eagles stadium (I forget the name... forgive me). It's become tradition that it be held on neutral ground, and although Philadelphia isn't the only host, it's the most common. They began by marching out the entire student body of the Naval Academy (those that could make it anyway; all ways were paid), followed by the student body of West Point. A few students were studying at the opposite academy for a semester -- this is pretty common, evidently -- and were traded back to their fellow cadets or midshipmen in an "exchange of prisoners". Then everyone got hunkered down in their seats...
...and bundled up. Those who were paying attention to the weather forecast for the northeast this weekend (or who just happen to live there) may know that it dropped to something like 28 Fahrenheit Saturday, not counting wind chill. Those who know me well may recall that I have lived my entire life, save five months in Japan, in areas of California that see snow about once every never. Add to all that the fact that we were seated three rows from the very top, with the wind directly in our face, and I don't think I'm exaggerating to say I have never been so cold in my life. Thankfully, I had an excellent down jacket courtesy of my brother in Illinois (who has adjusted to the cold weather and claims he doesn't need it anymore), so my torso was nice and warm... I just couldn't feel my legs, feet, fingers, or face. Glad to have 4-Wheel Drive, certainly...
The bathrooms were the only heated places in the stadium besides the sky boxes and the team seating, so a lot of people would retreat to one during slow moments to defrost. By the time the first quarter was over, though, we were fleeing there every ten minutes, so we decided enough was enough and hunted for some warmer seats. Other people had, thankfully, looked at the weather that day and decided they weren't that big fans of Army and/or Navy, so we found open seats here/there/everywhere. Settled on a group of three next to the stairs in a much more shielded-from-the-elements section, complete with big halogen lighting that improved the temperature slightly. An improvement, if not much of one.
While our viewers at home were watching commercials, we on the field were watching "spirit spots" on the big screens. Various groups on both sides grabbed video cams and recorded little skits with the message of "Go Navy! Beat Army!" or vice versa. One group even got "Suuuuuuupe" involved; bold of them to ask. And it seems Navy likes using stop-motion Lego men in their work.
The Navy also has this amusing cheer that the cheerleaders came up with during the victory over Air Force in October. They begin with:
We!
The midshipmen in the audience all echo:
(We!)
We believe!
(We believe!)
We believe that!
(We believe that!)
We believe that we will!
(We believe that we will!)
We believe that we will win!
At this point every midshipman starts jumping up and down in place chanting "We believe that we will win!" repeatedly. They're all in the same area, so you get to see this entire section of the stadium audience come alive. Probably also helped them keep warm. ^^;
Anyway, 34-6 Navy. Go team. We flew back Sunday after celebrating and slept for half a day.
