The Army’s top general and the Navy’s top admiral took their turns in front of the cameras for the traditional Army-Navy game spirit spots. One officer played it straight, the other wore a foam warship on his head. Judge for yourself:
Army
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42shRnCMPN4[/youtube]Pro: It’s safe to say Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno’s straightforward, heartfelt delivery is the best public-speaking performance given by a four-star general while flanked by a mule and a guy in a knight outfit so far this year.
Con: The general has comedy chops — maybe not a performance pedigree at the level of his predecessor, but comedy chops nonetheless. Playing it straight doesn’t show off his range.
Verdict: Our friends at Army Times’ Outside the Wire blog haven’t been impressed with the Army’s spirit-spot performance thus far. This outing likely won’t move the needle in that regard.
Navy
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Pro: The level of commitment by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jon Greenert and the Navy PR machine to the source material is impressive — they even released the video on “Hump Day.”
Con: None to speak of — for entertainment value, it’s tough to argue with a four-star admiral wearing a yellow foam ship on his head. And it’s a departure from last year’s video, which offered the more standard mascot-crowd motif.
Verdict: Impromptu caption contest: The man in the chair is Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (AW/NAC) Mike Stevens. He’s the top enlisted sailor in the Navy. What is going through his mind at the 13-second mark of this video …
(Navy via YouTube)
… and is there any chance he’s thinking, “I can’t believe CNO is wearing that hat. Again.”
Leave us your captions, and links to your favorite spirit spots, in the comments below. Watch some earlier videos featuring lower-ranking personnel here and here.
