Finding Fish

When it comes up in conversation that Billy and I are Navy Football season ticket holders, it's always the same question: "Why Navy?" There are several answers.

1) It's close to our house and gives us a chance to spend time together. It takes us longer to get out of the parking lot than it does to drive home, and after a long day of tailgating and football, it's nice to get home quickly. I believe this is how it started.

2) The crowd is different. A lot of the people on the parking lot attended the Academy or have children who attend. People are kind and friendly and fun to talk to. When Pop passed away, we had to ask everyone to move their tables and chairs and tents (twice) so we could get off the lot, and instead of being mad, the people said, "Is everything all right?" When I told one man that we had a death in the family, he rushed to help me ask other people to move their things. As we were getting ready to pull out, a friend of his came up to offer me his condolences.

Yesterday, some guy sat directly next to my tent and smoked a cigar. I gave him an icy glare when the smoke blew directly in my face, but he just looked away and kept smoking. And kept spitting on the ground right next to our grill. This was not a Navy fan. This is not how Navy fans behave. Port-a-potties pushed over, leaking blue sludge everywhere? That was at the Maryland game (ask Vickie), not at Navy Marine Corps Stadium.

3) Before every game, the Brigade of Midshipmen march from campus to the stadium and into formation on the field. I know they hate it, but I still love watching it. And while I have extremely mixed feelings about what the military has been used to accomplish in the past, I respect what these kids have chosen to do. I have that respect for the players, as well, who will fulfill their service commitments after graduation and thus cannot go straight into the NFL. Navy Football gives me everything I love about collegiate athletics and leaves out the stuff I hate.

4) Navy football is fun to watch. They are tiny in comparison to the teams they play, so their defense is often outmatched. They get scored on quite a bit, but if a mid comes up with a big tackle, it feels extra exciting. (Who could ever forget this sack?) Their size also makes the triple option offense the most successful, and they run this really well, which means they score a lot, too. The games are never boring and are rarely blowouts, so even if Navy loses, I never feel let down by my fan experience.

5) Navy's football team is really good. Most of the time, we get to see a win (and from only this far off the field). This year, they're 8-3. This includes a 3 point loss to Ohio State, a 3 point loss to Temple, a single bad loss to Pitt, and wins over Notre Dame, Air Force, and Wake Forest. They're guaranteed to win the Commander in Chief's Trophy even if they lose to Army (which they haven't done since 2001), and they're going to their seventh straight bowl game. Their junior quarterback, Ricky Dobbs, has scored 22 touchdowns, and is now only one TD away from tying the single season record for a quarterback. He missed almost two entire games to injury and he still has two more regular season games to play!!

I don't know why even people in our own area don't know much about Navy Football. Why anyone would rather attend a Redskins game, or a Maryland Football game, I have no idea. But if you ever get a chance to attend a game, go! You won't be disappointed. If you find us, the boys might even let you eat one of my Old Bay Hamburgers, which earn rave reviews every time. : )

(Finding Fish is the memoir of Antwone Fisher, which was subsequently made into an equally excellent movie. Fisher, who survived a life in foster care that is almost impossible to imagine, "found" himself after enlisting in the Navy.)