A lacrosse showdown against a regional rival, a baseball doubleheader at Camden Yards versus a historical nemesis and a spring football game — not a bad long weekend for Navy fans.
Navy’s Triple Option Weekend offers four games for $10 as the Midshipmen package their three biggest spring events. Athletic director Chet Gladchuk wants fans to sample several sports rather than pick one.
If the weekend card still isn’t cheap enough despite costing less than half the price of parking at Redskins games, active duty military personnel and youth teams wearing jerseys gain free admission to the lacrosse game on Saturday.
“Die-hard Navy fans will have their fill by Sunday,” Gladchuk said. “Because of all the hype of the Hopkins game we decided to move the football game to Friday evening. The opportunity to play at Camden Yards seems like a logical package for our fans to see everything. … Whether they go to all three events remains to be seen.”
The weekend’s centerpiece is the lacrosse game versus Johns Hopkins at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The nationally-televised game may threaten the NCAA single-game attendance record of 19,850 after drawing 18,694 for the matchup two years ago. Navy (9-2) is ranked fourth nationally while Hopkins (5-4) has slipped to an uncharacteristic No. 12.
“There’s not quite the electricity going into this game,” Gladchuk said, “but any time it’s Hopkins it’s a main event.”
It may not feel like a national showdown despite featuring teams with the best records over the past three years, but Navy fans are certainly eager for redemption. The Mids enter the game ranked higher than the Blue Jays for the first time since 1990. Maybe now Navy can end its 31-game losing streak to Hopkins, the nation’s longest run. Certainly, the Mids are bitter after losing four straight one-goal games to Hopkins.
A presentation of a Bronze Star highlights a halftime ceremony honoring military wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Those looking for a military rivalry can wander over to Bishop Stadium to see the second game of the Army-Navy baseball doubleheader. The two teams then play twice more on Sunday at Camden Yards. Navy (28-14-1) comes off its biggest scoring effort in 14 months after pounding Delaware State, 15-7, on Wednesday. Navy has already clinched the Star series against Army in overall sports competitions for the 10th straight year.
Navy has close ties with the Orioles, who annually host more than 1,000 Mids each August. The chance to play in a major league park before an expected 3,000 proved irresistible.
The Blue-White spring football game might have drawn 10,000 with good weather. The Mids come off two straight bowl victories that Gladchuk believes may lead to the school’s first season ticket sellout this fall. Navy’s 31,000-plus attendance last year was less than 3,000 short of capacity.
The spring game traditionally followed lacrosse, but the Mids moved it to create a more festive weekend with team reunions and potential recruits attending the games.
