Fan Fest

First off, I need to apologize for something dumb I said over at GoMids.com. When speaking with athletes, I guess it's important to note that what you say jokingly probably shouldn't be spread around a message board. All it can do is hurt the team and give fuel to the opposition, which is kind of a serious matter. So anyways, I said something dumb, feel really bad about it, and hope me fellow Navy fans don't think I'm a total asshole because of it. Remember, it's not nearly as dumb as what Mel Gibson said the other day...

Now that we've got the serious stuff taken care of, I'd like to talk a little about the Navy Fan Fest/Media day that was held today. While not laced with the pomp and excessive coverage that say, these guys, or those guys get, the event was quite enjoyable. Aside from a really swell inflatable obstacle course, there really wasn't much to do except chat with the players, which frankly was fine by me. Most of the guys were really quite personable, and of course everyone was excited for the new season. One of the first players I saw was big 6-4, 250 pound Andrew Tattersall. After nearly spraining my neck looking at him, we struck up a conversation about the team and my own blogging pursuits. This would continue to be a pattern for most of the day, except in the case of a few players, notably Reggie Campbell, whose own height is relatively the same as mine. One thing I did notice was the muscle mass of the players. Granted, I've only on occasion stood besides one or two of these guys before, but from my seats at NMCM I can usually pick out minute details pretty well. I guess Caldwell wasn't lying when he said the off-season started in the weight room after the P-Bowl win. Byron McCoy, a third string slotback, was absolutely jacked, and I had to keep myself from gawking at Trey Hines arms. Anyway, I basically stuck to the same lines which each guy, which went something like this:

• Damnit it's hot out here (Someone said 110 on the field)
• Have you started watching ECU film yet?
• You know that was an awsome pass/catch/run/kick/tackle/sack you made in the (insert losing team here) game.
• You know, your really good on NCAA 07

Things I learned?

• Tyree Barnes is a tall guy. Or maybe I'm just short guy
• Adam Ballard really didn't lose that much weight
• Brian Hamtpon has braces
• Zerb Singlton was actually a walk-on at Georgia Tech before transfering to Navy.
• Don't race 10 year old's in the inflatable obstacle course with your cell phone in your pocket

Special thanks to all the guys out there today, especially Joey Bullen, Matt Hall, Tyler Tidwell, and Jason Tomlinson for taking some extra time to chat with us.

You can read some "Big Media" coverage of Media Day at the following places:

Baltimore Sun Article

Washington Post Article

Washington Times article

The official PJ Presser is out as well, which you can read hyah. More coverage as the day continues...