We showed our stripes when Navy visited IU
Well, the Hoosiers wound up losing again. That’s the fourth IU game in a row that I’ve attended and they’ve lost. Like most of those other games, this game should have been winnable. If only Indiana could have made a stop or two. But they really didn’t. It was kind of like they were shocked that they were facing Navy’s triple option. But the coaches had said that they had been preparing for the triple option since Spring practices.
Maybe they had taken something out of Tom Crean’s coaching playbook about preparing for an opponent when you know exactly what they’re going to do.
It was extremely frustrating to watch.
But even though the end result wasn’t what we’d hoped, Aiden and I still had a great time at our first college football game. One look at this face should tell you how excited Aiden was about this game…
My grandpa was in the Navy. So was Aiden’s grandpa. So it was pretty cool that we got to go to a game where they were playing Navy. It was also pretty cool that they were dedicating the prow from the USS Indiana while we were there.
We didn’t tailgate anywhere, but we made sure to walk around campus and check out the atmosphere, including a trip to the Assembly Hall. Aiden decided he wanted to spend some birthday money on a new IU shirt. I agree that it was a sound financial investment. The Cream and Crimson looks good on the boy.
I warned Aiden early on that I probably wasn’t going to be sitting down very much during the game. I don’t know if he really knew what I meant. And he took a while to get into cheering with the crowd, but by the end of the game, he was into it hardcore.
That being said, Aiden got into the Chomp at the end of the game.
Probably the highlight of the evening happened during the third quarter. A frustrated Aiden was telling me what the defense should’ve been doing to defend against Navy’s offense. A grandma who was sitting next to us (I know she was a grandma because she had her grandkids sitting with her) looked at him and said, “You need to be out there on the field! You could probably do them some good. You should be playing for them!”
“Well,” I replied, “He hopes so. He’d like to do just that. You should come back and look for him on the field in about six years.”
She smiled. “I will!”
Six or seven years from now, we’ll be looking for her when Aiden plays his first game for Indiana. Who knows? Maybe that game would be against Navy. I know. That’s highly unlikely. But it would be cool.
By the end of the game, both of us had lost our voices. That’s a sign of an exciting game. And a loud crowd. It sounds like we’re not the only ones who might have lost their voices.
Kevin Wilson on crowd for Navy game: “That energy, in the fourth quarter last week, was as good since I’ve been here.” #iufb
— ZachOsterman (@ZachOsterman) September 9, 2013
Of course, being the Band Geek that I am, I can’t talk about a football game without making mention of the band.
We had a great time at Memorial Stadium. Would’ve had an even greater time if the Hoosiers had managed to come back at the end. The Hoosiers didn’t give up. And neither did the majority of the fans. Most of the crowd stuck it out to the end of the game. That did my heart some good. The Hoosiers offense was so fun to watch.
I’m glad we were able to share this memory at Memorial Stadium together. I imagine we’ll be returning to Bloomington for another football game sometime in the near future.
In the meantime, we’ll be listening to Don Fisher give play-by-play on the radio and celebrating each Hoosier touchdown.
Go! IU!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
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