Baltimore, Baby!
The first activity on Saturday, a morning brunch at the Carpenter’s — good friends of the groom’s parents — consisted of excellent food and great company.
From there, we boarded a bus that took us to the Naval-Marine Memorial Stadium to watch the Navy versus Air Force football game. The game started out slow and sloppy, with most of the impressive plays coming from running and due to poor defense — not a single throwing play showed any passing prowess, but rather poor defensive ability. Through the first three quarters, Air Force outplayed Navy, but the Midshipmen hung right with an Air Force squad that looked stronger for most of that game, never falling behind by more than 10. In the final quarter, the Navy squad turned up the heat and staged an impressive comeback, winning with a field goal with 5 seconds left.
However, a key question about the game surrounds why an apparent safety created by an excellent defensive stand by Air Force during the 3rd quarter was turned into a simple down near the goal line with possession retained by Navy. This change in of one play outcome may have very well changed the outcome of the game – but finding no information about that play in the reports of the game, I can’t say for sure what really happened there.
After the game, we got back on the bus, returned to our vehicle, bought a gift for the couple, and headed out for the next phase of the party, a dinner at the Tanner’s, more friends of the family. Once again the food was excellent – especially the meatballs – and the company was great. I caught up with some cousins and had a good time playing with the youngest generation of kids.
Finally, we returned to our hotel where I watched UCLA’s impressive come-from-behind victory over Cal — a game that showed two top-tier teams locked in an Epic battle that only one could win. Unlike in the Navy-Air Force game, both teams showed excellent passing, running, and defensive capabilities. The level of play exhibited in the game was leaps and bounds higher than in the game I watched earlier in the day. However, to be fair to Air Force and Navy, the Falcons and Midshipmen did have to put up with a soggy field and drizzle throughout the game, whereas the California teams had a dry field to play on.