EV1-Net Houston Bowl

EV1-Net Houston Bowl Party at Jock's & Jill's - Navy vs Texas Tech

Twenty-nine noisy and eager Navy rooters showed up at Jock's & Jill's in Brookhaven on Wednesday, December 30, 2003, to watch the Navy -Texas Tech EV1-Net Houston Bowl football game. They were members of the Atlanta Chapter, Atlanta Parents Club and families, all Navy supporters with anticipation of an excellent showing and chance to break the tie against Texas teams for 2003. Navy had beaten Rice 38-6 and had lost a close game to TCU 17-3, after leading in the first half. None of us counted on the arm of Texas Tech quarterback and missile launcher B.J Symons. He threw over 50 passes, completing about 90% of them, in fact he was still flinging them with a minute to go, including a flea flicker, with Texas Tech leading 38-14. He threw for 497 yards in the game, a bowl and 2003 record, and too much for Navy to overcome. The lack of class eleven man flop in the end zone after their last touchdown didn’t speak well for the opponents and it cost them 30 yards in penalties on the next kickoff (15 for Unsportsmanlike Conduct and 15 for a personal foul).

On the other hand, 2,200 Midshipmen in the stands and a hard playing Navy team won praise even from the Texas Tech coach. He said that he had never seen a team play as hard as Navy did for 60 minutes. The coach also wasn’t pleased with the end zone display of unsportsmanship by his team.

Speaking of the fans in the stands, your Atlanta Chapter Board of Directors voted to donate 20 tickets to the game to the USNA Athletic Association at a cost of $570.00 to be used by Midshipmen and Navy personnel who traveled to Houston for the game. Several other Chapter members donated tickets at their own personal expense for the same purpose.

As you may know, Jock's & Jill's has alumni fan clubs that meet in our normal dining room for televised games. The Navy fans had to use the porch which was heated and had about 7 TV sets around the room, since Texas Tech is a member of the alumni fan club. There was one Red Raider fan in the dining room when the game started. By the second half 3 or 4 more had showed up, but I suspect they were University of Texas rooters who had come early for the next game on ESPN between Texas and Washington State.

In spite of the outcome, it was great fun to cheer for Navy, a team you can always be proud of on and off the field. It was also a pleasure to join forces with some of the Parents Club. Now that is a proud bunch! And we are proud too of what their young men and women are accomplishing in their education and in their service to our country.

Those in attendance were: Jared and Judy Ogden, (parents of Jared ’04 and Commodore of the Philo McGiffen), along with Johanna and John Christopher Ogden; Becky Szurovy (mother of Scott ’05 and #76), and Kristin Szurovy, and John Disosway AFA ’70; Greg and Catherine Schillo (parents of John ’06); Carol Sue and Jim Ravenel ’45; Bill Rentz ’55, Don Thompson ’59, Rick Rodgers ’67, Mitch Rowland ’71, Steve Frederick ’72, Sharon and Ken Thomas ’73, Ben McMillan ’74, Larry Turner ’74, Jim Agnew ’74, Ples Bruce ’77, Dave DeJarnette ’82, Helena and Mike Herger ’90, Chris Linnane ’92, Hal Perdew ’92, Jason Van Matre ’94 and Willie Smith ’97.