Some of our OG readers may remember the wildly popular…well, semi-popular… well, reoccurring column that Mike did (View from the Q) about our experiences at Chargers games.  This past weekend I had the distinct privilege of attending the Army/Navy football game (Navy won 17-3) and to honor the occasion I’d like to bring our “View from the” concept back with two small changes- 1) Lincoln Financial Field instead of our usual Qualcomm and 2) given the, ah, festive atmosphere of the weekend, there are still some large gaps of time that are a bit hazy, but the good news is that from what I can remember/piece together a good time was had by all. 

1) This was my first trip to Philadelphia, and with the exception of watching National Treasure I had almost no exposure to the city previously.  Now, after a whole 18 hours in the city, I feel qualified to give this assessment:  Philly is “Diet-Jersey”, not quite the real thing but close enough.  And I mean “Jersey Shore” Jersey, not Tony Soprano Jersey.  I mean drunken fights and slobbery-make-out-sessions-at-the-bar Jersey.  And while that assessment probably sounds negative I will say that the Shot Through the Heart sing-along did feel more authentic.   

2) Another positive from the weekend–I was introduced to someone who I name-dropped in last week’s column, Caleb Campbell.  You may remember him as the draft pick of the Lions out of West Point who was told by the Army that if he made the team he could stay with them and serve in the Detroit area as a recruiter, however when he made the team the Pentagon stepped in and changed the rules on him.  Campbell, the good soldier, didn’t protest but did get to keep his get-out-of-Iraq-free card and stayed stateside as a West Point football coach.  With training headquarters in Lake Placid, NY (relatively near West Point, NY) apparently Campbell is now possibly going to be on the US Olympic Bobsled team.  A weird turn of events to say the least.  (And one that I’m sure you’re going to hear about ad nauseum next February during the Olympics, so when that happens just remember- you heard it here first.)

3) By the way, Campbell looks like the quintessential strong safety.  Even though he’s been out of football for a little while now, he still looks like he’d love to absolutely crush a wide-receiver who dares to cross the middle.

4) The senior class at West Point were nervous to say the least.  Essentially they were “all-in” on the game against Navy- if they win, they not only beat Navy for the first time since 2001 but go to their first bowl game since 1993, if they lose, they will be the first class in West Point history to go 0-8 against the other academies. 

5) I’m going to try not to complain too much about the weather, despite the game taking place on the ice-world Hoth, but I am going to say this:  With all that these young men and women will do for us, why can’t we treat them better?  Why put this game in 30 degree weather, instead why not give them a little something to show our appreciation and move this game to Bermuda?  They probably trade Veteran’s Day for it.  

6) The tailgating before the game was more segregated than the South in the 1940s.  I’ve seen a lot of parking lot parties, and invariably almost every group has at least one opposition fan among them.  Not at this game.

7) One more tailgating note- as if the 20 people wearing “Go _____, Beat _____” pins, shirts, and jackets wasn’t enough, almost every tailgate party literally had flags flying (actual flags!) for their allegiances.  You’ll see Jennifer Aniston be godmother to Angelina’s twins before you see Army fans and Navy fans hanging out before this game

8) Before the crowd entered the stadium, before most people got out of bed on Saturday morning, the Cadets and Midshipmen were already at the stadium–allegedly getting there at 8am for the 2:30 kickoff.  I guess the hurry-up-and-wait routine is probably one they’re used to by now.

9) As the game was approaching you would have thought that Army was the one with the winning streak–they were jumping around, they had songs (“Navy was my safety school”), and they had a goat’s head (hopefully a paper mache one but you never can be sure with these cadets).

10) Meanwhile Navy was the picture of quiet confidence.  Navy was very subdued despite their 7-year-winning streak…until the pregame meeting that is.  After warm-ups but before the coin toss, a handful of Cadets and Midshipmen walked out to meet and salute each other at midfield. I, like most of the stadium, was looking at the Midshipmen from an angle and it wasn’t until post-salute when they turned to their left that I saw their backs.  Written on the back of the Navy Midshipmen – one letter each- was e-i-g-h-t-y-e-a-r-s.  One thing I will say about Navy- presumptiousness becomes them.

11) With all the firepower at their disposal the flyover was actually kinda disappointing, although I was actually hoping for a squadron of F22s so big that it would have made the Congressional Armed Services Committee blush.  But the barrage of skydivers (I think it was 12 but truth-be-told I lost count) was impressive. 

11) One more note about the skydivers–these people jumped out of a plane, fell thousands of feet, maneuvered around stadium billboards and hanging lines (from the skycam, field goal net, etc.) and landed on the field all within a few yards of each other and yet when any of them came in so fast that they stumbled upon landing, suddenly there were 69,000 gymnastics judges, all deducting points for the toe being on the line. You people are a bit hard to impress I must say…

12) If you watched last year’s game, or really any game from before 1930, you knew what you were going to get–few penalties, low scoring, almost no forward-passes- but Navy’s three completions on the day brought the final tally to: Case Keenum (of Houston), against East Carolina, 56 completions; Navy, as a team, for the entire season, 49 completions. 

13) One more note about the lack of penalties- a lot gets made about the Academies having few penalties and that that is a sign of discipline, which I guess it is.  But I would also like to point out that their offense essentially eliminates holding penalties because they don’t need to pass protect, and I would also humbly suggest that a big reason for the lack of penalties, particularly for Army, is that their offense is so inept that any penalty on 3^rd down is declined because they almost surely did not pick up the first down.  In fact their offense is so bad that it makes the Nebraska Cornhuskers look like the Harlem Globetrotters. 

14) Speaking of Army’s offense, Alejandro Villanueva is a receiver who is 6-10 with decent hands.  Navy’s secondary averages 6-ft tall.  They don’t have a single cornerback who is taller than 6-2.  Why in the world did it take Army 3 quarters to try and throw it to him!?!  I’m beginning to think I’ve figured out why we haven’t found Osama Bin Laden.

15) Ok, one more about Villanueva because I can’t get over this- he had 62 yards.  All in the 4^th quarter!  Army’s drives before they decided to throw it went 28, 11, 6, 8, 8, 8, -1, and 8 yards.  But what happened in the 4^th when they decided to throw?  Drives of 52 and 63 yards.  President Obama, as Commander in Chief and the nation’s First Fan, I’m counting on you to redeploy Villanueva back to West Point for a 5^th year and do this thing right!

16) I am continually impressed by Vegas oddsmakers.  They set this game at Navy -14 and sure enough Navy won by 14.  But doesn’t that make them so good it’s bad for them?  Doesn’t everyone that bet on the game get their money back?  There’s got to be some money in there for the bookies somewhere but Army fought just valiantly enough to not lose their fans’ money, I guess that’s all we can ask for, right?

17) This column is all about giving you the stories that you couldn’t see from home so here’s all you need to know about the atmosphere of this game: Army cadets were given signs, on one side in black it said “Go Army”, on the other side in yellow it said “Beat Navy.”  When those signs were up, there was nothing but yellow.  This game was not about supporting Army it was solely about defeating Navy. 

Alas, Army couldn’t do it this year.  So if you have time, (and a warm coat) and you make it to Philly next year for this game, watch closely when that handful of Navy cadets come out on the field to salute their Army brethren.  Almost definitely those Midshipmen will have n-i-n-e-y-e-a-r-s written on their backs; it’s a salute with a twinge of middle-finger.  Which after all really is what college football is all about.