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Ray Stevens had that song, remember? Mild seasonal hit, featuring the frantic dub track “He’s everywhere! He’s everywhere!”
I think it was the glitter. Honest mistake on Stevens’ part.
For fun and a simple errand we visited Walmart and Toys R Us on Christmas Eve.
Neither was as bad as you would have thought. Neither had what we wanted.
We did see a planking Santa. And lots of glitter.
Lazlo Hollyfeld, the impossibly old undergrad living between the walls in Real Genius was 28 when he won 32.4 percent of the Frito-Lay “Enter-as-often-as-you-want” sweepstakes.
By the age of 30 Alexander the Great had built one of the largest empires the ancient world had ever known, ranging from the Ionian Sea to the Himalayas.
Rocky Balboa — in Rocky III! — was a washed up ex-champ fighting to regain his title at the age of 34.
I’m now older than all of them.
The rare — as in it has never happened before — Saturday edition of the Catching up post.
Why? You might have noticed if you’ve been around this week that I’ve been a little under the weather. Not to worry, I’ve dutifully hosed the router with Lysol. Also, these are photos I’ve been hanging onto since last weekend. So they need to be shared before they disappear like some bad Back to the Future plot device. Also, tomorrow, where the Catching up post would regularly go, is already done.
We drove into the capital after the Army-Navy game last weekend. I’ve only been once and The Yankee has never been. We could see the Monument from the stadium. We were 12 miles away. It would be a shame not to see a little bit more.
So here are those pictures. First, a panorama of the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial. This one might well be worth clicking to embiggen:
A side view of the Jefferson Memorial, which I did not get to see in my only other visit to D.C.:
Front of the Jefferson Memorial, as seen from the Potomac:
With the moon:
The Washington Monument, with the capitol building in the background:
The Lincoln Memorial. Also something I did not get to see in my first visit:
The great man:
One side of the new World War II Memorial. Each one of those columns represents a state and territory and the sacrifices made by the sons and daughters of that state. Alabama’s marker is over to the left in this picture:
The top of the Washington Monument, still closed after the recent earthquake, and the flag flying over the World War II Memorial:
Two pictures from this trip have also worked their way into the banners along the top and bottom of the blog, as well. As always, click refresh!
The Army Navy edition. We’ve spent the day traveling back home, and so here is as good a place as any to post a few pictures from our big day at the game.
First, here’s a panorama of the field during the march on by the cadets of West Point. Click to embiggen:
Teaching them young with the lightweight .50-caliber machine gun:
Marine One comes in for a landing with the president and vice president:
The traditional “exchanging of prisoners” in the pre-game. The cadets and midshipmen had spent the semester with their opposite academy as exchange students.
Navy’s Kriss Proctor, a prototypical option quarterback, scores the first of his two touchdowns of the day to give Navy their first lead. Proctor’s mother didn’t want him to go to the Naval Academy at first. Her father had spent 18 months as a German POW during World War II. He talked her into it, sat for a few years behind one of the best quarterbacks in modern Navy history and here is now:
Army quarterback TRENT STEELMAN (the Internet requires his name to be spelled this way options to Raymond Maples.
Maples is the first member of his family to go to college. His bio says he’s the first person from his high school to attend West Point.
Steelman’s dad lettered in football at Appalachian State University, his mother has run dozens of marathons and his sister lettered in soccer at Wofford College. Jocks. Also, one of his grandfathers served in the Air Force during World War II, he had an uncle in the Army during the first Gulf War. A great uncle was an interpreter at Nurenberg Trials during World War II in Germany. West Point offers incredibly rich bios.
My favorite player on this Navy team, diving into the end zone. Alexander Teich is a fullback, but he’s smaller than I am. He plays fullback the right way, though, and was a lot of fun to watch run. Football tough, the senior is hoping to join the Navy SEALS after graduation.
And now a few crowd shots:
“Nine dollars for a beer?” asked one happily annoyed fan. “Is there a discount for veterans?”
The vendor could only say “It ain’t me, blame Daniel Synder.”
Daniel Snyder, owner of the Redskins and this park and blamed for most everything else around Washington sports, can take the heat.
Malcolm Brown scores for Army, keeping the Cadets in the game:
And now, more fans:
Attending this game was a birthday gift from my lovely bride. This video features two cheers from the cadets and the mids on the field during their march on. It also includes includes one of the finest, and sadly least utilized traditions in college sport, the singing of both alma maters.
And it was a historical day.
This was the first time the classic game had been played inside the Washington D.C. beltway. It was also only the second time that both the president and vice president attended. Navy extended their series-long win streak over Army to 10 games. The Middies chanted “Ten more years!”
Mike Lopresti, writing in USA Today’s special section on the game:
(H)ere come Army and Navy. In a restless sport of frequent doubt and tumultuous questions, they have more answers than anyone. They know what they want to do, they know why they’re there. And they know what’s ahead.
“Everybody on that field has chosen a very unique path in their young lives,” Army coach Rich Ellerson said last week at a news conference.
They will play Saturday with nothing on the line but pride and honor and a sense of achievement, and that will be quite enough. For these Cadets and Midshipmen, each and every day, that is enough.
[…]
It matters because how many other college football Saturday afternoons go untouched by money or excess or misplaced perspective?
It matters because, in an ego-driven sports world, the television screen is seldom so filled with men who understand selflessness.
Attending this game is a great experience. Go if you can.
