Your spirit spot could win you Army-Navy tickets. Above, an image from last year’s official Navy video, the final spirit-spot performance of Adm. Jon Greenert, right, as chief of naval operations. (Navy via YouTube)
A day before one of the biggest weekends on the service academy football calendar, take in a trio of tidbits about the biggest weekend:
1. Spirit spot contest. Need tickets for this year’s game? Have a decent video camera? You might be covered.
The game’s official spirit spot video contest launched late last month. You can submit your video to armynavyfootballgame@gmail.com; a Go Army and a Go Navy winner each will receive four tickets, four on-field passes and a parking pass for the Dec. 12 showdown in Philadelphia.
Not familiar with the genre? Click on some of our reviews from last year’s spots.
The services won’t release their official spirit videos until closer to kickoff, meaning Navy fans will have to wait until December to find out how new Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson plans to fill the shoes — or at least the funny hats — of former CNO Adm. Jon Greenert. Here’s a classic from 2013:
2. Weekend planning. Some tickets are still available through the game’s official site, though seating selection may be limited.
Already set for Saturday but free the night before? Tickets are on sale for the traditional Army-Navy boxing match, set for 9:30 p.m. at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Military Times was on the scene for last year’s event in Baltimore — check out the photo gallery here.
Get more details on events surrounding the game here.
3. Early swings. It’s not an official spirit spot, per se, but Navy senior Rylan Tuohy’s jaw-dropping “Naptown Funk” does make mention of beating Army. It also inspired a West Point grad to issue a fake press release from the Annapolis City Council that would’ve made Nov. 6 “Go Army Beat Navy Day,” among other less-than-likely proclamations from elected officials.
The release was pulled offline and the prankster’s PR Newswire account was suspended, according to The (Annapolis, Md.) Capital. Meanwhile, “Naptown Funk” has more than 750,000 views on YouTube.
