Navy’s annual football banquet has been a celebratory affair for most of the time I have been covering the program.
For 15 of the previous 16 years, the January event commemorated a winning season capped by a bowl berth. For 10 of those years, Navy was also celebrating a Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy championship after sweeping service academy rivals Army and Air Force.
Considering that recent history, I had no idea what to expect at this year’s Navy football banquet, which was held on Friday night at Alumni Hall. This was new and foreign territory with the Midshipmen coming off a disappointing 3-10 campaign.