We left to go visit Grant and to watch Luke in one of his final series before graduating. Jason was sick so he got the back seat and I drove with this cute co-pilot. He was so helpful :)
We are really loving the past few years of following and learning about hockey. It is so much fun to watch! We caught both the Friday and Saturday night games against Army West Point.
pregame Reid getting himself another puck from Luke.
pregame Grant
I spy with my little eye my favorite cadet playing on his phone pregame.
Loved the Army unis.
Our cadet is the kid in camo on the front row above the W. It was fun seeing him do all of the AF cheer stuff from across the rink.
"Live in fame or go down in flame, HEY! Nothing can stop the US Air Force!"
I still think that is the most horrible line in any fight song.
I dare you to find another one.
I appreciated our seats probably more this trip as it was all the parents of the cadet athletes. Being a cadet alone is huge but also being a D1 athlete on top of it is very impressive. We were able to even visit with Nate Horn's parents #24 with whom we have talked several times with at events.
Post-game with Nate and Luke.
The Commander in Chief's trophy resides in COS!
(at least for a few more weeks)
Great history.
Jason had me take this one - after an intermission, the only person restretching the Old Man himself. He IS 25...
Nate gave Reid his "broken" stick - Reid was elated.
The pen pal was outdone by his teammate.
Genuinely great young men.
Air Force was up 3-0 entering the third period. They got two stupid penalties and Army ended up scoring 3 goals in the last period. All tied up so they go to the 5:00 OT.
Luke freaking scores with just a few seconds left! This picture is a few seconds after the goal - woo hoo! Needless to say, the crowd went crazy. He was player of the game, and ultimately the division's Defenseman of the Week (previously of the Month in October).
Grant chose to be a part of the Fox Sports NFL Pregame hosted at USAFA on Sunday. His squadron made it to the TZO about three minutes before the rest of the cadets and therefore were front and center. He was also the only neon sign so it was very easy to spot him on the show.
Super fun to see Grant smack in the middle celebrating a "bedlam" equivalent win.
AF had a jersey premier of their Doolittle Raiders jersey. Lots was made about them and the info is listed below. They were a little meh to be honest but I love the thought and honor exemplified in them. Notice who the model is...
Proud to know him. He graduates in four weeks so this will be the end of the Luke stuff.
We saw on a 2027 social media site "AF Football scored 3 points against Army. AF Hockey scored 4 goals in BOTH games. Go watch the better team" and we laughed - there is animosity among the two teams, at least from the hockey end.
annnnd, off to the comfy furniture and blankets and sleeping under the covers.
We stayed in a VRBO but didn't do the food prep thing. Breakfast at Kneaders. SO good and only like $5 or $6/pp. As a doolie still, Grant has to be in formal dress blues anywhere we went off base. He LOVED that. :) It was also Veterans day so he was treated to a free burger at lunch and got a "Thank you" at dinner from a professor at the Academy/Class of 1988 grad.
We counted his face obviously visible 11 times!
Based on the photos, I think it is safe to assume he had a great time and made some wonderful memories. Plus, he was able to openly hang out with upperclassmen!
This guy is an upperclassman Jedi who is also on the baseball team. He really enjoys him but they cannot usually hang out until after Recognition so this was fun.
They were supposed to be eating food on tv!
I think this was inside the Osprey that landed on the TZO but I never heard.
Michael Strahan
Terry Bradshaw
This Dallas Cowboys fan was glad to snag a photo with Jimmy Johnson but he said Jimmy wasn't quite as chipper as all of the other guys. You can tell :)
Kudos to FOX for the incredible job not only honoring the entire military but for the superb coverage of the Academy, cadets and life there. It was so touching. I wish it would reply so I could encourage YOU to go watch it (we have it on DVR until Grant watches it when he comes home). There were a few tears from me at a few times.
Pretty incredible.
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