10/7/2003 - Football
A Triumph of the Present, For the Past
Soon after the morning gray gave way to an afternoon glow, and after the Brigade of Midshipmen shed their Navy blue jackets to form a solid white corner of Fed-Ex Field, another -- more remarkable - transformation took place.
October suddenly became December.
And the atmosphere usually reserved for that final weekend of the Navy football season - when Mids confront their other Academy counterparts, those from West Point - burst upon the scene.
This was no intruder, mind you. But rather, a long-anticipated and most-welcomed arrival.
Roughly four thousand Midshipmen were in a state of frenzy, jumping up and down, celebrating in song as if at a World Cup soccer match, and channeling a steady flow of energy to their brethren on the field.
After six seasons without a win over the third and most successful component in the Commander-In-Chief's series, Navy was on the verge of victory over Air Force.
And all day long, helping to propel the Mids to their 28-25 win was the rest of the Brigade who share so much more with the Navy football players than a common address at Bancroft Hall.
"You have to come together," said linebacker Bobby McLarin when asked about the on-field impact of the Brigade. "It was neat just looking up and seeing all the white. It was the best college football atmosphere I've experienced, along with last year's Army game."
"We could feel the energy," echoed freshman linebacker David Mahoney.
Just as they'd done during Army-Navy games of the past in places like the Meadowlands and The Vet, the Mids actually lent life to the Landover stadium surrounded by parking lots and suburban strip malls.
In the end, the team that both inspired and fed off such energy came up with the best way to reward it.
Defeating a nationally-ranked opponent for the first time since 1985 and completing one of two legs required to capture a Commander-In-Chief's title, the Mids reached another milepost on their way back to respectability.
Even if the journey is just beginning.
"We earned some respect," McLarin says. "But we have to win a lot more games to earn the respect we're looking for. We're not settling for low expectations."
Nor should they.
Yet, as they try to raise the bar each week hereafter, the Mids - as always - will have plenty of company.
Sure, they play for themselves. But as Saturday reminded those of us who sometimes need to be reminded, they play for many more.
Like former offensive lineman, Hoot Stahl. A 25-year-old Lieutenant in the Marine Corps, he stopped by the radio booth at halftime to tell our listeners what little he could about his recent experience leading troops in Iraq.
Or like Lt. Ron Winchester, Stahls' former teammate. They got together over the summer at one of Saddam's palaces while both happened to be in the same dangerous neighborhood.
And like the others I saw still savoring victory hours after the final snap - recent grads enjoying a day away from Quantico, at the same place where they performed against the Falcons only two years earlier.
Saturday's win is property of the present. But it also belongs to a proud past of Navy football.
Of course, in any important college game, former players are likely to show up on the sidelines or in the stands.
When top-ranked teams are involved, many are on leave from the NFL. Just watch how often the television cameras or sideline reporters seek out former Canes or Noles this weekend when Miami meets Florida State. To their credit, those pros return to watch their successors try to uphold traditions of on-field excellence.
But as we know, there are so many dynamics which make Academy rivalries unique.
Among those is the reality of the football afterlife of a Midshipman, Falcon or Black Knight. When they come back, often they do so on liberty from setting the higher standards of service to their country.
And if they can't be there in the flesh, there's a presence in spirit. Imagine how those who once wore Blue and Gold must have felt to learn of a Navy victory.
Wherever and however the news traveled, they were connected to the Mids of today.
No doubt, Saturday's win was theirs too.
Just as it was the Brigade's.
And just as it was the players themselves - McLarin, Mahoney and the teammates who made it possible to change the calendar, from October to December. If only for a day.
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