The Academy Insider Podcast - Your Guide to The Naval Academy Experience
The mission of Academy Insider is to guide, serve, and support Midshipmen, future Midshipmen, and their families. Through the perspective of a community of former graduates and Naval Academy insiders, this podcast will help you learn about life at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. Through our shared experiences, Academy Insider guides families through the anxiety and frustration caused by lack of understanding, misinformation, and confusion. This platform is designed to better relationships between midshipmen and their loved ones. This podcast is not affiliated with the United States Naval Academy, the United States Navy or Department of Defense. The thoughts and opinions are exclusively those of your host and his guests.
The Academy Insider Podcast - Your Guide to The Naval Academy Experience
#101 On the Yard (001) - Navy Football Game Day
Navy Football Saturdays in Annapolis
Get ready for an insider's look at Navy football game day! As a Naval Academy graduate, I'm excited to share the unique experience of Midshipmen on these special Saturdays in Annapolis.
Behind the Scenes of Navy Game Day
- The week-long build-up, including march-on practice
- Saturday morning routines and formations
- The march through downtown Annapolis
- Midshipmen during the game
- Post-game traditions and potential liberty
Tailgating Traditions and Parent Clubs
- Spotlight on New Jersey and South Pennsylvania Parents Clubs
- Company-specific tailgates and their significance
- Tips for interacting with your Midshipman during the game
Insider Tips for Visitors
- Best times to arrive for the full experience
- Where to watch the march-on
- Understanding the "hurry up and wait" culture
Whether you're a proud parent, curious local, or loyal alum, this episode offers valuable insights into the Naval Academy's football traditions. Join us as we explore how game day shapes the Midshipman experience and brings the entire Naval Academy community together!
The Vermeer Group is a residential real company matching military families with trusted real estate teams across the country. If you have any real estate questions at all, please text Grant at (650) 282-1964 or email grant@thevermeergroup.com
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The mission of Academy Insider is to guide, serve, and support Midshipmen, future Midshipmen, and their families.
Grant Vermeer your host is the person who started it all. He is the founder of Academy Insider and the host of The Academy Insider podcast. He was a recruited athlete which brought him to Annapolis where he was a four year member of the varsity basketball team. He was a cyber operations major and commissioned into the Cryptologic Warfare Community. He was stationed at Fort Meade and supported the Subsurface Direct Support mission.
He separated from the Navy in 2023 and now owns The Vermeer Group, a residential real estate company that matches service academy families with trusted real estate teams all across the country. Text (650) 282-1964 with any real estate questions.
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Hello and welcome to our first episode of the new On the Yard series here on the Academy Insider podcast, which is now brought to you and powered by the Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation. I'm so excited about this partnership and especially for this first episode today, which is going to be all about Navy game day. So for all the families out there that are wondering a little bit about yeah, hey, you have the football game, which is exciting, but what does that mean for the midshipmen? What do they do in the morning, what does their day look like, how does it impact and affect their life, what things are going on on the yard and what is the overall vibe and everything that's happening in Annapolis Well, this is the episode for you we're going to walk through, literally from the morning of, and even actually a couple of days previous, as you'll hear leading up to game day and what it means for the midshipmen. So I'm excited to jump into this episode. If you have any questions that arise as a result of something that I say in the episode, please reach out to me. I'd love to continue the conversation and answer any questions you have. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the episode. Thank you so much, let's get after it All right, hey everyone, you are stuck with me today. It is just going to be Grant and I'm so excited to walk you through a Navy football game day.
Speaker 1:The goal here today is just provide a little context and perspective into what's going on in the life of a midshipman, especially when it comes to Saturdays, during the fall in Annapolis, and especially for home games. And kind of where we'll start with this episode is that game day doesn't start on game day when it comes to the life of midshipmen, because why would only one event actually take up just the day it's supposed to take up, when there's a lot of preparation that you can have leading up to it? And, as we all know, one of the famous parts of a Navy football home game that every fan loves to watch, every parent loves to go see, is the march on, and so we're not just winging the march on. You know what I mean. It's not like hey, yeah, we'll just figure it out and go in there. We have march on practice, and that march on practice happens the week before, where they go over everything the format, how you're going to line up the cadence which you're going to march, everything that you're used to seeing with the tip of the cap and you know we call it about faces when they go and face the opposing crowd and then tip their hat again. All that stuff is practiced and that happens during practice or like March on practice earlier in the week, and so that's one of these things that usually midshipmen don't love because, again, it'll happen after the class day.
Speaker 1:So, if you can assume, probably on like a Wednesday or Thursday, maybe even earlier in the week I'm not exactly sure when it happened but the midshipman will have to go out to Warden Field, out like where you normally see PEP out in that area, but usually on the further end, like closer to the sailing building, and they have to do march on practice right, and that march on practice is not fun. They're going to be out there for a good hour and a half to two hours practicing the marching, understanding where they're going to be lined up, what formation, how the companies are going to be aligned, how that works in terms of the actual marching in and all the different aspects, and again, the company commanders and everyone who's going to be leading the each unit and formation is going to have additional practice that they have to go over because they're going to be the ones in charge of everything that's happening, and so you know what's really interesting about that as well, when you're paying attention to this and asking question, you know, to your midshipman is that this is the thing that can sometimes cause a little bit of friction in the brigade, because at the end of the day, like me, as a basketball player who was a varsity athlete getting ready for the start of my season and I had practice in the afternoon, I didn't have to go to March on practice because we had basketball practice. And it's one of these things where the majority of the brigade will be at march on practice, but those in season varsity athletes, a lot of times are not going to be at march on practice because they're practicing for their respective sport. And so we'll talk a little bit about how game day actually looks like for the different groups of midshipmen, between athletes, non-athletes, the actual football team, the cheer squad, et cetera. But that's one of those things where march on practice will happen for the majority of the brigade. A lot of midshipmen also will not. They will be excused from march on practice to go to their own practice, but that's what we have that practice is usually led by the brigade drill instructor, like the Marine Corps gunnery sergeant who's in charge of all brigade drill, and they're going to be the ones who are coordinating and executing that event.
Speaker 1:So it's a long way to say midshipmen have been practicing for what you're about to go watch on game day when they actually march onto the field and they're usually not excited or happy about it because it's a big, it's a big time suck out of their day Again. I mean, we're talking you go to class from now, which starts at 745, all the way until the end of the day, like 320, 330. And then you have to go to March on practice from like four to six, right, and then you go to dinner like that stinks, that's not fun, and especially when you're just practicing marching onto a field. So anyway, that's kind of the lead up to actual game day. But let's jump into like what game day would look that Saturday when a midshipman wakes up.
Speaker 1:Okay, and you know they're going to be a couple different experiences and I'll start with the first experience, which is kind of the highlight of the day, which is the football team. Right, the football team is going to have a very different experience from other midshipmen on game day. At the end of the day, they're preparing for their game and they're preparing to go out and win at a division one level and in many of cases the Navy football team has broken the top 25. Like this is a legitimate, very competitive division one football program. And not only that. Again, if you haven't listened to my last episode with the alumni association, I encourage you to go take a listen.
Speaker 1:But the football program is the primary revenue generator for the Naval Academy Athletics program. That funds all of the other varsity sports and club sports that exist in Annapolis. Right, the football team being good, the football team winning the football team generating revenue and garnering a following from the local Annapolis community. That funds everything that exists at the Naval Academy from a sports perspective. And so, again, everything that I'm going to talk about here. You just have to keep in perspective that they need to do everything in their power to go win football games, right, like that. That is a big piece of the experience.
Speaker 1:Now, again I would argue and this is a big thing, and if you haven't also listened to my previous episode about military sports with Eli Bremer, this is preparation for the entire mission of the Naval Academy as well. Going out and being a part of a Division I football team and understanding team dynamics, camaraderie and just the absolute grit and just toughness you have to display to win at the Division I football level is preparing them to go and be officers in the Navy and Marine Corps. Just straight up, right. And so again, saturday morning football game for the football team. Normally they're going to stay in a hotel the night before. They're not gonna sleep in Bancroft Hall, they're gonna go out into a hotel in Annapolis and get a good night's sleep outside there.
Speaker 1:I actually think this is critically important and this is a funny thing from my experiences in midshipmen is that if you look at the Navy basketball record the Navy basketball record from 2013 to 2017, we were a significantly better team on the road, which is unheard of in college basketball. It is unheard of because normally you have home court advantage. You want to play at home, unless you're the Naval Academy, because if we played at home the next day, we were sleeping in Bancroft Hall, we were going to class, we were doing all the things that suck and make you exhausted right when we played on the road. We got to go Like when we played at Boston University on a Wednesday dude, we were up to Boston on Tuesday evening so we could spend the night and sleep in a hotel on Tuesday night, and then Wednesday we had a walkthrough in the morning and then we played that night, but we didn't have to be in class, and it's just like that for us. Getting a night of sleep in a hotel like outside of Bancroft Hall instead of being in Bancroft Hall, was a huge advantage. A huge advantage for us, like, we finally slept good for the first time, like in our lives, right.
Speaker 1:And so, again, what's this going to look like for the football team? Is they're going to sleep in a hotel the night before they're going to go out into Annapolis? They're going to sleep in a hotel. They're going to wake up in the morning, they're going to have film, they're going to have walkthroughs, they're going to have practices because they need to prepare to go win right. And so they're getting a good night's sleep. They're waking up, they're having breakfast, they're doing film, they're doing walkthroughs, they're preparing for the game, but then at the end of the day again, this is what makes the Naval Academy unique. Guess what they're going to get into their summer whites. They're going to have inspections with the military representatives on their team. They're going to make sure what's going on behind the scenes in a lot of the football world, right, like they're getting prepared and they're getting ready to go and win football games. The majority of the brigade this is where things are going to be a little bit different, right, because if you're not on the football team, you're just a part of the majority of the brigade who is not an in-season varsity athlete and stuff that's going on.
Speaker 1:Again, when you wake up in the morning, you're likely going to participate in Saturday morning training. Usually the Saturday morning training start at about 7am, right, so you would expect that your, your plebe, is getting up. You know 615 630 to get, you know, dressed ready, get everything ready to go and participate in a Saturday morning training. Saturday morning trainings are really cool, usually more quote unquote fun evolutions. You may do ground fighting, you may go to the obstacle course, you may do I don't know. You know fun is a strong word because sometimes they can be a lot of like PT, physical training related type activities, but you'll have like a Saturday morning activity. They'll usually be in their type threes, which is that camouflage uniform that you see and they're going out and participating in a Saturday morning training. They come back, usually at breakfast in King's Court.
Speaker 1:If you've never heard of King's Court again, everyone hears of King Hall, right. Like King Hall is where we eat breakfast. That's true, but there's actually like a little subsection in King Hall that's called King's Court, and King's Court is kind of like a serve yourself breakfast. It's more of like buffet style. They have everything lined up. You can go. You can get eggs to order, right. Like you go ask for a couple of eggs, they have. You know fresh fruits, they have. You know bagels, toasts you know they usually have some kind of like pancake. Or you know French toast. You got sausage, bacon, like different kinds of proteins, et cetera. Like it's a pretty solid little continental breakfast that you get out of King's Court.
Speaker 1:I was a big King's Court guy Again when you played sports. Usually you played on Saturday, so when you were there, like there's no going on liberty, like I'm not going to someone's place on Saturday, like I'm staying in the hall, and so I go to stay in the hall and eat breakfast at King's Court. So I was a big King's Court guy. But anyway, majority of the braid, you're going to have Saturday morning training, you'll get breakfast in King's Court and then you're going to go to formation. Right, and this is kind of the next piece of what's happening in their life is that again you are going to go and have a formation inside of your company spaces. Normally sometimes it'll differ from company to company, but you'll get together a formation.
Speaker 1:They'll make sure everyone's present and accounted for. That's supposed to be there for the march on. Usually there will be some type of uniform inspection to make sure everyone's uniform looks sharp before you're getting ready to march out. Because again, this is a very public thing the Navy football games and especially the march on, because you all see pictures all over the place of what is going on on the march on the midshipmen walking up Main Street, all the different stuff getting ready to walk on the stadium it is very public street. All the different stuff getting ready to walk on the stadium. It is very public. So the uniforms need to look sharp, like that's just the reality of it.
Speaker 1:So again, you're normally going to have a formation earlier in the morning, then inspection and then you know you're going to go out and you're going to line up actually outside where you're going to go and actually we call it, use the term step off when you're actually going to leave, to start marching towards the Navy Marine Corps stadium. And this incorporates you know, this is a fun opportunity to talk a term that I, you know, know a lot about, which is hurry up and wait. This is something that's funny because, again, for this game so the Navy and VMI game is going to start at noon. A lot of times the game will start at three o'clock. It's just going to depend on TV schedule et cetera. But for a, you know, three or for a noon game, they're going to step off. They're actually going to start their march over at 1050.
Speaker 1:And if the step off actually happens at 1050, my guess is, like the brigade leadership is going to want them in place at like 1030 to make sure that everyone is there and they can fix anything if something's messed up. And if the brigade wants a final you know 1030 accountability check, well then each individual battalion is going to want to make sure their battalions in place by 1025 so they can make the report up for 1030. And in order for the battalion to actually get that report at 1025, the companies are going to, you know, say, hey, everyone, get out there at 1015. So that way we can fix anything that may be going on. And if the company needs to be there at 1015, then each individual squad's telling their people, hey, I want you there at 1005. So that way we can be there and be settled so for what's supposed to be a 1050 step off.
Speaker 1:You may have everyone out there like 10 o'clock to get ready and prepared for what's going on. And this is this idea of hurry up and wait, which is we're establishing our own, like individual, made up timelines to make sure that you're prepared for the one step up timeline. And it trickles down so far that usually, like people are rushing to get there at like 10 o'clock to be there for the squad and then they're just going to stay in there for 50 minutes before actually anything actually happens for the march off at 1050. And so that's a funny idea. Again, if you ever hear your midshipman use this term of like hurry up and wait, that's what it is like you rush, you scramble to get there and then it's like, oh All right, well, what now? Now we stand here and wait for 50 minutes before we actually take our step off and go towards Navy and Marine Corps Stadium and that's what's going to be happening. So they're going to be walking.
Speaker 1:You know, I did get confirmation from the Alumni Association that they'll be taking the route through Main Street again. So if you're someone who's not going to the football game, you don't have tickets, you don't want to go to the football game but you want to see the march on and or, like you know, see the midshipmen walk through the streets of Annapolis, you can line up on Main Street. They're going to take Main Street all the way up, you know, towards Navy and Marine Corps Stadium, which will be really cool. I saw the pictures from last year. They're pretty sweet because we never did that when I was a midshipman. We would walk out of gate eight, which is kind of on the other side of campus, and we would walk out gate eight through row boulevard over and you know, still a cool experience. But like when you see those pictures of all the midshipmen kind of like marching through main street, it's pretty sweet. It's got a stink for annapolis because they got to shut down the streets for like 40 minutes, but but overall I think it's like it's really cool. So, anyway, they're going to be walking up through main street. You'll be able to take a look and see everything that's going on. Again, if you're not going the game but you want to see the midshipmen, it could be a good opportunity to see that there.
Speaker 1:I use this term March a lot Like. This is going to be a March on all these things are happening on March, on. They will March, but not until they really get to the stadium. Until they get to the stadium, it's going to be more of what we call a gaggle, right, they're just going to be like walking, so like as they're walking up main street again a gaggle, right, they're just going to be like walking, so like as they're walking up main street again, I maybe, because it's so public and there's going to be a lot of cameras, they'll be taking pictures, but normally they're not like marching, like actually a cadence march. You heard the drum beat where the midshipmen are marching on beat. Uh, normally they're just kind of walking, as we call it a gaggle all the way up until they get close to the stadium. So, again, if you see him on main street, it's less of a March and more of a gaggle. So it's less. You know less formal Cause. Again, marching for a mile plus for 40 minutes in their in their dress uniforms and dress shoes is like, yeah, this is, it's not, it's not reasonable. So so, anyway, that's kind of where you'll get all the way going up.
Speaker 1:You know a big piece of my experience and I marched on a couple of times, as you'll hear, we'll kind of talk about some of the varsity athlete experiences and this whole thing after, but I marched on a couple of times and a big piece of the march on experience back when I was there from 2013 to 2017 was the Annapolis crowd and it got a little out of control. So I understand why things have changed completely. But, dude, it was so hilarious Whenever we were marching on again before we got to the march on, like when we were on Rove Boulevard and we were walking past all of the, you know where the tailgates were happening. People would be throwing candy at us. People would be throwing burgers at us. People would be getting like McGriddles tossed to them in the crowd. The Chipmen are like jumping all over the place like trying to catch these mcgriddles because the midshipmen again.
Speaker 1:At that point you know, hey look, you're always hungry. Right, you're midshipmen, you're working out all the time like you're always hungry, and so I just remember like march on being hilarious, but also like you would get upperclassmen or not upperclassmen. You get like grads who are part of your company at some point and they'd see you guys marching through and so they'd be like throwing candy at you and there'd be, like you know, getting pelted with stuff and finally, like a nap, like the city of annapolis, annapolis, pd, and like the naval academy were like all right, this has got to, it's got to stop. You know, a couple too many, you know dollar menu burgers from mcdonald's hitting, hitting midshipmen's white uniforms and mustard and ketchup splattering all over them, and that does not look good for the Naval Academy. So that kind of got put a pause.
Speaker 1:So again, if you are going to watch the midshipmen, this is my, you know, like official, official call to action here Fans and locals are no longer allowed to throw food at the midshipmen. No throwing food, please. No throwing food. Please still cheer and interact and unofficially there still may be a couple burger handoffs, okay, so it's not entirely a dead tradition, but, like when things get out of control, you got to put it in check, right. And so again, please do not throw food at the midshipman. Again, I ain't like, yeah, this is just Grant talking. If you want to hand someone a burger or something, look you rate what you skate. This is going to be a term of your life. You rate what you skate. You can make whatever decisions you want. You get in trouble for it, that's on you. But yeah, so anyway, that's always been a big thing, a big funny piece.
Speaker 1:Again, as you're watching Mitch Schimman especially, get closer to the stadium as they're walking past the tailgates, you may witness some people trying to like hand them burgers or toss them certain stuff Technically not allowed still may happen. So not entirely a dead tradition, but anyway, all right. So that should be happening again. If, if step off happens at about 10 50, that kind of like walk past a lot of the tailgates is really going to happen around 11 20 ish, 11, 25. And then they're going to get like lined up to go. They'll arrive at the stadium half an hour before the game time, at 1130 for this game, right, and so that march onto the field is going to really start like right at 1130 with about 30 minutes left on the clock.
Speaker 1:So if you're someone who wants to be indoors to watch the entirety of the march on, hear the announcer announce every single company commander, kind of provide the walkthrough of what's happening and the ceremonial aspects of the march on, then I'd encourage you to be in the stadium before the 30 minute mark before kickoff. Right, if you're there at 1130, maybe even 1120 to get in your seats, you're gonna be able to watch march on. If you're there a little bit after, you're gonna miss parts of it, but that's okay. Again, my recommendation you have all the fun in the world. You go tailgate, you do your thing, you're in the stadium by like 11.15, 11.20. So that way you can be prepared to watch the march on. Because, again, if you've never seen the march on, the march on is really cool, right, like that's something that you're going to want to experience, it's something you're going to want to see, it's something you're going to want to be a part of, because it might not be jets Usually, it's just sometimes you'll get like helicopters or other military planes, but you'll get some kind of flyover. That happens, again, a lot of jet squadrons in the Virginia DC area, so you usually get some jets. But, anyway, pretty cool stuff.
Speaker 1:Now a little insider tidbit, right For what's going on during the parade, because you may be watching the parade and be like, or the march on, and be like how the heck, like how the heck, do they know what's supposed to be happening? Are they yelling, like that's a loud voice for someone to understand, like to watch them all turn in unison, to watch them all take off their covers at the same time, like how is that happening? And so, if you actually look up, you know, like about the 50 yard line, 50 yard line, up in the highest rows of the bleachers, there are going to be two people, two people with like checkered flags that you're going to see, right, and those are the people who are kind of giving and executing all of the commands. And so you'll see them kind of wave their flags like three times horizontally, like to the side, and all of that is like to gather attention, right. And then you're going to see them lift the flags, like two hands above, which is like the preparatory command, right. And so, again, when they lift their hands up, you may see them, in shipment, go to grab their covers or start, you know, moving their right foot behind them to conduct a you know an about face which is that like 180 degree turn, and then when they bring the flags down and kind of snap them down, that is like the execution command, where they're either lift their covers up or they'll make the you know 180 degree turn. But if you just want to get like that insider knowledge of what's going on, that is all being directed by the people with the flags kind of in the top of the stands and so again, pretty cool aspect of what's going on, as soon as that march on is complete, they'll, you know, the mids will start running into the stands, the energy will start getting pumped up. It's pretty cool, right, and so that's one of those cool things. Again, a unique aspect for some of the like varsity athletes Again, if your son or daughter is a varsity athlete, the midshipman you love is a varsity athlete, sometimes they won't be a part of March On if they have recruits, and that was always an interesting piece for me and it's even I've gone back as a graduate a lot of times because they'll take a lot of the recruits to kind of like a tented area in the.
Speaker 1:It's actually like an indoor area. I forget the name of the like the building, you'll see it. It's usually on, you know, the side close to the superintendent's tent, like that, away from the grass, you know the grass hill. It's on the opposite end of that there's a little section where you know like the AD will sit and a lot of the you know all the stuff there and it's where they host recruits. They put on a little, you know just like a little finger foods buffet, kind of like club level seating for all the people who are interested in.
Speaker 1:You know they are being recruited to go play sports at the Naval Academy and so as a basketball player, there were times where you would go there. You know for the start of the game you're able to talk to the parents. You're kind of schmoozing the parents right and the whole thing, and so you know a lot of times you may have that happen. And then you know for the spirit team, the cheer team, they're there super early in the morning getting ready. They're walking around the tailgates, they're, you know, including like maybe like musical teams, drums et cetera, like they're all at the stadium super early walking around the tailgates, kind of providing spirits, doing routines, cheering, playing music et cetera.
Speaker 1:So you know that group of midshipmen are going to have a slightly different experience, but I hope that gave a little bit of a rundown into, like what to expect when it comes to the actual march on for the field, the game experience. Let's move on a little bit to the game experience, right? Like the midshipman game experience is interesting. You are going to have a drastic change depending on you know, like what you may hear from your midshipman, depending on how much they like football, because at the end of the day, every single midshipman is mandated to be at that game. Like it is not an option. Like the midshipmen are not there for fun I mean, some are but some like don't want to be there and they have to be there, right. So you get this like wild mix in the brigade of the level of investment and involvement from the stands Right, which is really funny because you're going to have certain people who are way more engaged than others. You're likely going to have we used to call it the pit, I don't know if it's called the pit anymore, but usually had the pit like right at the bottom.
Speaker 1:That was like all the wrestlers, the lacrosse players, love you guys to death. I mean this genuinely the general degenerates who are like going crazy, like I mean just like bouncing into each other. It's like a mosh pit. Everyone's like, the covers are flying around, their ribbons are getting ripped off, it's, it's a mess, but like they're into the game, like they love it. And then there are people like up higher in the stands who are like sitting up there, like trying to sneak and read a book or do homework, right Cause they're like I can't believe I'm wasting this time at a football game when I could be studying or doing something else. And so you're going to get that massive dichotomy between you know, the, the midshipmen of like who wants to be there, who doesn't want to be there. Everyone has to be there. You know you're encouraged to participate and be a part of the game, but you're going to see two wildly different aspects of it. A big piece of my experience, which I think is really funny, is and again, all of this is context-related you'll hear me talk a lot about the difference between company cultures. Right, company cultures make or break an experience in Annapolis or just add certain aspects that were unique.
Speaker 1:As a member of 26th Company, we did plebe summer with 25th company and 25th company. As a result of that. We kind of had a sibling relationship which we were tight with them. But we also had a big rivalry and 25th company is notorious. They are known as the bear sharks.
Speaker 1:If you have not heard of the bear shocks or heard of, like what makes the company the 25th company, the 25, 25th company, that's just like the reality of it and so you know, we, we have all those different aspects of different things and so it was our goal as 26th company, because 25th company, again, the bear sharks. They just like they have their thing. They literally would send one of their plebs to the game in a bear costume, a literal bear costume, and and that's just like a little, like a full on like they look like they're. You know their mascot is the like I mean, it looks like they're part of the Chicago bears or like you know cow, you know, like they have a full on like mascot bear level costume and that bear is usually holding a like a beanie bag shark, like an actual, like pillow shark, right and well, they're the bear sharks and normally they would walk around with like a plebe security detail. Because they knew 26 companies specifically, we were trying to steal that shark, like it was our sole goal to steal, to steal that darn shark. And you know, again it was funny because our detailers who at the time again the upperclassmen would be, I mean they literally would give us rewards if we, if we got the shark and we had like video or photographic evidence that we got the shark, and usually it was like it was good enough, rewards that people were willing to jeopardize potential, like conduct, action and getting in trouble in order to get that dang shark Right. And so I always thought it was hilarious because they would have a security detail and there would literally be like brawl may be a strong word, but they would be scuffles in, you know, in the stands or on the grass hill, like trying to get that darn shark, because we were trying to get carry on for so darn long or like whatever the case was, and sometimes again that thing got out of hand. So again, I'm sure you probably won't see it at that level, but hear me out here, team, hear me out. I again. Beauty of it is, I'm still attached to the Naval Academy.
Speaker 1:I heard that the bear shark is going to make an appearance at the game. Again, their goal is to stay hidden. You may have to try and find them, but the bear shark may just be there. So, again, if you see a giant bear costume holding a shark, at least you're going to know what it is now Like. That is the representative from the 25th company. They are dressing up as the bear shark. That's just what they've done. That is their tradition, and it always cracks me up.
Speaker 1:So, anyway, that's what you're going to get at that point. At the end of the game, you're going to have blue and gold. It's one of the coolest aspects. Again, I'd encourage you, at the end of the game, not to sprint out of the stadium, not leave early in the game, because at the end of the game they all get together, no matter win, loss, whatever the case is, and they're going to sing the Navy blue and gold. You're going to sing it, they're going to pound their chest, you know, yell, beat, army, massive cheers. It's, it's really cool. It's a really cool experience, and so I encourage you, you know, to take advantage of that and be a part of that whole experience. And so, anyway, love that. That kind of you know puts everything into perspective there, and you know, the last thing that I want to talk about are tailgates.
Speaker 1:Tailgates are a really cool aspect of this experience and I want to take a time to specifically call out two parents clubs in general who have done so much for midshipmen and midshipmen families. So every year the New Jersey Parents Club puts on a massive tailgate at every home game Mass, massive tailgate. They're feeding midshipmen burgers, dogs, ribs I mean just an endless amount of incredible food for midshipmen and midshipmen families. So if you happen to be there again, they're going to be on the side of the field. That's close to where the midshipmen are walking in, close to the Blue Angel statues outside of the stadium, but a little bit closer to the street. Go say hi, go like, go thank them for what they do. It is incredible and you know, right next to them and close to them is the South Pennsylvania parents club and they do an incredible job. They put on like a little dessert aspect for Mitchum as well, a dessert tailgate, which is incredible, right, and so I think that whole thing is awesome. Like I just want to give a general heartfelt shout out and thank you to those two parents club for what they do in their tailgate to sports midshipmen. So a ton of fun there, really great opportunity.
Speaker 1:I encourage you, if you were going to the game, get there early, like get there early and experience the tailgate aspect of it. You're going to see grads from just graduated all the way up to you know, the class of 60, 65 is going to be out there tailgating and being part of the whole experience. Go walk around, experience it. It's super fun. Again, it's not the SEC, it's not going to be the most insane thing you've ever seen, but there is a ton of spirit and camaraderie and things that are going on. It's super incredible. And they're actually going to be hosting my boy, my boy, john John Schofield, and the Sing Second podcast is going to be hosting a live podcast from the, you know from Annapolis as well. So if you have an opportunity to go check that kind of stuff out, go do it. It's always really cool and just really really great thing to be a part of, and so you know that's where we want to get to.
Speaker 1:Again, I just want to put all of this into perspective for us, and you know there are a couple of things that I want to finalize here about maximizing experience and kind of dispelling any thoughts or rumors you may hear and just kind of provides perspective. So let's jump into that. So piggybacking off the tailgating, especially before the game, is after the game, so you know which is cool Again, if you have the opportunity. Again, I'm not encouraging you to spend all the time in the world there, but if you have an opportunity it could be cool, because each company, usually like each midshipman company, will host a tailgate after the game as well.
Speaker 1:Companies usually have their own tailgates. They usually make burgers and dogs and drinks and again, this one's always funny I've talked about it before in certain things but usually these are paid for by what we call the quote unquote, wardroom dues. And you know, every semester the midshipmen have to pay wardroom dues to contribute to certain things like this, to pay for tailgates, to pay for outings to be involved in, you know, to be able to have fun events as a company, and so, again, that company will have a tailgate. So you may have an opportunity to meet some of the upperclassmen. You may have an opportunity to like see the company culture, see how many people go. Again, if a company is 120 ish people more or less, I mean you may get 15 to 20 who actually go to the tailgate.
Speaker 1:They're usually not like super attendant, because a lot again, a lot of times the midshipmen as soon as that, that as soon as blue, blue and gold is sung and they can leave, a lot of times they're gone Like they're trying to get out of there and take advantage of whatever liberty they have left over, again for a noon start, it'll be great because the game will be over by 3, 3.30, and they can actually go back and change and go on liberty and have dinner or go do something right, which is great. But a lot of times when the game starts at 3 and the game doesn't end until 6 or 6.30, they know they got to rush to take advantage of any liberty they have left on Saturday, right, and so you know, it's just one of those things. But again, if you have an opportunity to go to a tailgate after the game and before the game, I just think it's a huge like positive and benefit. Now some things that will be going on again. I we talked a little bit about balloon gold and how it works a lot of times and many of you may have heard that if the Naval Academy football team wins, that Brigade of Midshipmen will be granted what we call an overnight weekend. A quote unquote overnight. Again, you'll hear that as we talk about terminology, as you hear about overnight, you know, oh, I got, I have an overnight.
Speaker 1:I have overnights like that is in reference to an overnight liberty in which a you know Midshipman who's supposed to be back, like, let's say, a fourth class, a plebe, they have liberty that expires at 11.59 on Saturday evening. They have to be back in the hall by 11.59. If they have an overnight they would be able to stay out overnight. They don't have to go back to bankrupt hall. So they could go sleep at a sponsor family, they could sleep in a hotel with you, they could kind of go out and have a little bit more fun and like a normal life and be away from the yard and not have to sleep in Bancroft Hall and they don't have to be back until 6pm on Sunday, right, and so you know, usually in association with that is if the football team wins, usually like the superintendent or the commandant would grant an overnight for everyone's.
Speaker 1:That way you could go and do your thing, because the way overnight weekends work and I guess this is a little bit out of the football game experience, but I think this is really important to explain is we'll talk a little bit about overnights, which is every class at the start of semester is given a certain amount of weekends they're allowed to take as an overnight. And again, by the time you're a firstie, it's basically every weekend you can go on overnight, except for the weekends that you have duty which you are like standing watch over the weekend, but you have the majority of them. As a second class, you get about like 70 or 75% of weekends. As a third class, you start to only get like you know, I want to say it's like maybe five or like maybe somewhere between four to six. I'll have to take a look at at at mid regs and how many they've they've published, because I'm not sure off the top of my head right now. But you have weekends, right, and you know at the start of the semester you're only going to get a certain number of weekends and, in order to be strategic about your use of weekends, you normally wouldn't use an overnight Liberty on a home football game weekends, because you're banking on the fact that the football team is going to win and you're going to get an overnight granted to you for that weekend.
Speaker 1:There's a change of superintendent Again. This is not insider knowledge. I don't know for certain. I don't know that he's going to continue the tradition of giving an overnight on a win or that he's going to take it away like not granted overnight. All I'm saying is there's new leadership and you have to be Semper Gumby. I see someone post on like the parents page all the time, which I, which I love I think it's like the greatest thing in the world. He's like he gives a really good long explanation about something that's going on and then he ends it with also anything could change at a moment's notice, and like you have to be Semper Gumbi and such is the way of the military, right, and that's the reality of it. And so there's a new superintendent.
Speaker 1:I don't know if they win, if he's going to give it overnight. It's possible. They don't right, and so you just need to be prepared that winning a football game doesn't guarantee it's not written anywhere, it's not a written rule anywhere that when the football team wins, they get an overnight weekend Again. That's kind of in history and tradition. There's no guarantee that that could happen. But you know, those are things that are important to do, because normally, again, when I talk about maximizing the experience of a football game weekend. I usually do encourage families to come plan a trip to Annapolis during football weekends, especially when they're playing a bad team. You're playing a bad team, you got a better chance of winning, better chance of taking an overnight, getting to see your midshipman, taking them out to dinner, having them sleep in the hotel with you, and I think there's still a good opportunity at that. But again, I just don't want people to like feel like it's a right, right, like I don't want to feel that people like think it's like a written rule or a privilege that they get. You know, it's just it's a blessing when it happens, but it's not something that you should expect to happen. And and so those are the things that are that are going on. And so I just wanted to, you know, just address that again. Is it very possible that you know the soup does grant an overnight if they win? Yeah for sure. Is it also very possible that he says like no, please don't get a go on overnight? Like that's also totally possible. And so I just want you to be prepared for all of that In terms of interacting with your midshipman at the game, if you intend to go to the game and all this stuff.
Speaker 1:Again, it's not like the Bowie-Bacehawks game or it's not like plebe summer. You don't have to avoid them, you don't have to pretend. Again, they are supposed to be in the stands when the game is going on, like they are supposed to be in the in the. In the stands they're supposed to be cheering, so they they shouldn't be going to sit with you the entire game. But if you want to meet up, if you want to talk, if you want to go and get you know something from the concession stands and sit and eat with them for a little bit, it's going to be okay. Again, they may have someone come by and be like hey, let's go Time to get back in the stadium, but you shouldn't feel bad about going to talk to them. That's going to be totally okay. Again, they're going to need to spend the majority of the time in their seats. But again, I'd encourage, get an opportunity, find a spot to meet with them, talk with them, hang out and then, especially towards the end of the game, find a place to meet with them at the end of the game to start the remainder of the Liberty period before you know the end of everything.
Speaker 1:So I think that kind of concludes it for me here. You know, navy football games are awesome. They're they're super fun and I'm excited for all of you to hopefully get to experience one. If you're not able to make it out, totally understand. I hope this still just provides a little bit of insight and perspective into, like, what's going on in their world and what's happening on Navy game days, right, especially for the midshipmen, because you know it's a different experience. It's not like, again, it's not like normal college. They're not this ain't the SEC. Like, the midshipmen themselves are not tailgating, the midshipmen themselves are not going out and getting hammered and having fun and showing up to the game and it's like you know the whole thing like no, they're waking up, they have Saturday morning training, they're going to breakfast, they're getting ready, they're having uniform inspections, they're marching over to the game and they're putting on like a spectacle at the start of the game. And you know their day of fun doesn't really get a start until after the game ends, right, or again, if you're a football fan, during the game, if you're not a football game, after, or if you're not a football fan then after. But anyway, that kind of wraps it up Again.
Speaker 1:I'm super excited about this opportunity to host some more podcasts solo to talk a little bit more about like stuff that's happening on the yard, things that are happening in the life of midshipmen. If there are any mids that are listening and I'm getting anything wrong or things are a little bit different or changed because I am an old guy, please let me know. Again, what's beautiful is that I have the Alumni Association in my corner. They're helping me gather information, put things together, give me access and resource to make sure what I'm reporting is the good, legit gouge. But if I have something that's off a little bit, especially as it comes to like the context or sentiment about certain things and things have adjusted or changed over time, please let me know. Please reach out Like I'd love to. You know, make sure that I'm kind of relaying stuff accurately. Again, the whole goal is so you don't have to. You know, family members just understand and go through it. So, anyway, that'll wrap us up for today. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1:The next On the Yard episode that we're going to produce coming out is all about, you know, this idea of reform. Again, you've known your plebe as a plebe in plebe summer and you may be hearing from them about stuff that's going on in the academic year and stress of the academic year, and so we're going to talk a little bit about you know what the academic year actually looks like, how things are going in their life and what's happening on the yard during the academic year, so you can get a better sense and understanding of, kind of what life is like during the academic year. So super excited about that. If you have any questions knowing that that's the title, like that's gonna be the subject of the episode If you have any questions or things that you wanna know or hear about, then please send me a message.
Speaker 1:I'd love to incorporate it when I get ready to record it. Yeah, I appreciate it. Otherwise, thank you all so much. Go Navy, beat VMI, let's make it happen. I hope it's a good start to the year and I appreciate you all so much. Thank you and have a good day.
