Going to West Point
Great news out of Stillwater yesterday. OSU athletic director Mike Holder said he’s trying to work a home-and-home series with both Army and Navy. Outstanding. I would love to go to a game at West Point and Annapolis. They say that Annapolis is one of the greatest towns in America, and the setting at West Point, ripe with history and atmosphere and sitting high above the Hudson River, is simply gorgeous.
My colleague up the turnpike, Dave Sittler of the Tulsa World, is covering the Tulsa at Army game on Nov. 17. And he wishes he wasn’t. Says he’d rather be at the OU-Texas Tech game in Lubbock. I think he’s nuts. Now, no one is a bigger fan of Lubbock than I am. I love Lubbock. But you get a chance to go to West Point, you take it.
Anyway, here’s my list of the 10 college football stadiums I haven’t seen but most want to:
1. Michie Stadium, Army
2. Navy-Marine Corps Stadium, Navy
3. Beaver Stadium, Penn State
4. Ohio State, Ohio State
5. Michigan Stadium, Michigan
6. Husky Stadium, Washington
7. Camp Randall Stadium, Wisconsin
8. Florida Field, Florida
9. Orange Bowl, Miami (not going to happen; Miami U. is baling out for Dolphins Stadium)
10. Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn
Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel.
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Comments
You’re right on target. In 1968, I attended the Army-Navy game at Franklin Field in Philadelphia; In 1985, I attended the Air Force-Navy game in Annapolis (I was seated between an Air Force General and an Air Force Colonel). The atmosphere in those two stadiums on those two Saturdays brought goose bumps. It’s something much bigger than a football game. If you have a chance to attend one of these games, take that chance, every chance you get.
Army’s Michie Stadium is a great place to attend a football game. The setting–overlooking the Hudson River–is gorgeous (although the peak of fall color was about a month ago). The ceremonies associated with the Army football team and the Corps of Cadets are impressive, and goose-bump making if you have ever served in the military. Try to visit “the Plain” a couple of hours before the game to watch the the Corps forming up.
Randall is right, and wrong. Michie Stadium is a great setting, indeed. But I was at West Point 2 weeks ago, and the leaves were only then starting to change. My son the cadet says they’re now in their resplendent fiery glory. Maybe Sittler will still see some red, orange and yellow on his drive through the Catskills. BTW — tell Sittler to get a life. Trips to Lubbock are a dime a dozen. West Point is a treat.
Beat Navy. Hooah!
Certain stadiums you hit any chance you get. When one of my best friends – a Longhorn fan – invited me to make the road trip to see UT play at Ohio State, I jumped on it. $450 for a ticket to see a game where I didn’t really care who won, just so I could see script Ohio at a big game in Ohio Stadium just once before I die. I was willing to shell out the money for a seat on the 4th row of the upper deck where the script Ohio would be facing us, and it was worth every penny. Went to see the band do it’s “skull session” in St.John Arena before the game, and it was total goosebumps. They play the whole pre-game, and even have the guy who’s gonna dot the “i” do the bow just as he’ll do it on the field later — and the crowd goes nuts. Their drum major is the only one I’ve ever seen who can toss a baton as high as the majorettes do and catch it. And just try to listen to “Across the Field” in this place and not have the hair raise up on the back of your head. Enduring image: after the game, the guy sitting next to me from Ohio State — a burly 300-pounds, I’d guess — with tears literally streaming down his face after the loss, singing Carmen Ohio. What a place.
Berry: Visit Husky Stadium next season, before it’s condemned. The setting is fantastic but the old lady is crumbling. You’ll need Dramamine to reach the press box and could suffer vertigo throughout the game. But what a view!
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What are the top 10 stadiums that you have been to?