YOLO - Phrase or Verb?

Happy New Year!

As Mojo and I discussed how we wanted this post to go, we came to the conclusion the annual LB Army-Navy post is like a New Year’s post to us.  Which I guess is our way of saying, enjoy this one cause we may not write again for a year.  

Any-hooch, I don’t do much of the social media, nor do I understand it on some level.  One concept I do get, however, is the whole “YOLO” concept. It’s always been something we’ve lived by, and I think it got enhanced as our kiddos got a little older.  Like the “holy s**t” moment you get when you realize ARG and C aren't little kids anymore and you better hustle up and appreciate these days while you can.  

It can be a challenge to put this concept into practice.  I think social media plays a part in this as well. If your YOLO choices don’t fit into the acceptable social standards, then it can be difficult to follow through on what you want to do to make your life happy.  At the most extreme, you may even face ostracization from friends or family. How to overcome this is a blog unto itself, one that probably won’t get written until Mojo and I can have more regular phone contact, so like 2 years from now.  The very short and serious version? Extreme comfort and acceptance of yourself, your values, and your priorities in life. The longer, sillier version? The following stories of Army-Navy fun. ** Tales told through memories enhanced highlighted impeded by alcohol consumption. 100% accuracy not guaranteed. If someone who was there remembers it differently... well, that might not be true, either.

Except for that whole Navy winning streak

2014.  Fah and Unnamed Friend (UF here to for, out of respect for his privacy) decide to join Mojo and I in Baltimore for the game (side note - we always offer the tickets to our close friends back in MI before opening it up to others).  Whenever it’s in Baltimore, we stay with a friend of ours who lives right in the middle of the city. The whole weekend was a blast, other than the part where N**y cheated and won. Some of the lowlights highlights of that weekend:

1. Me explaining East Coast geography to Fah and UF on the drive from BWI to the city.  It started with about 5 minutes of them silent in the car, then one of them saying, “where the f**k are we exactly?  Where do you live? How far is this and that?” They then started group texting opinions of my driving from the back seat when we were having trouble getting to Mojo at the train station in Baltimore.  A**holes.

2. Later that night, one of us literally disappeared while at dinner.  We were sitting there, our food comes, and all of the sudden someone was gone.  This may or may not have followed us killing an entire 5th of rum while making Dark and Stormys.

Close enough

3. And, still unconfirmed, is how the air mattress Fah and UF were sharing got wet Friday night into Saturday morning.  We are about 70% sure it was a spilled water bottle. If you haven’t figured it out by now, the four of us hadn’t seen each other in awhile, so that Friday was quite a reunion.  Pretty sure if we all put our memories together, we could piece together the whole night. But that’s not for certain.

4. Our friend we stay with is a woman, who happened to have a boyfriend at the time.  He wanted to come stay with her for the weekend. Her direct quote to him, “I can’t, I have four guys staying with me this weekend.”  She managed to explain with the relationship in tact (temporarily - they've since broken up).

5. This exchange also happened Friday night.  Quick background… Fah and his wife have been very successful in their careers.  Setting the scene, about 4-ish rounds into the evening (LB editing note - as I'm editing this on the 2nd read, I'm fairly certain this was after the dark and stormys. I have no idea what actual round at the bar this was. I'm 90% sure it was while waiting to be seated for dinner):

Not pictured - Fah tackling the guy

Me - (Places order at the bar)

Fah - I got this one

Me - Dude, you’ve literally bought the first 3 rounds, let me get this one.

Fah - No, no, I got it.  You picked us up and brought us here.

Me - (confused) - Uh, it was on the way, and I’m pretty sure you and UF bought plane tickets.

Fah - No, for real, it’s my turn to buy.

Me - Bro, I can...

Fah (cuts me off, in very stern voice) - Dude, I flew all the way here to enjoy this weekend with you guys.  If I want to buy every f**king round, then I’m going to do it.

Me (backing off) - Got it.  Thanks man.

6. Saturday, after the game.  Our friend was working on her doctorate at the time and was doing research on her dissertation (very hungover from those dark and stormys, mind you) while we were at the game.  We get home, and someone asked her what she was studying. She goes on to try and explain it. After seeing completely blank stares, she shuts her laptop and goes, “F**k it, it doesn’t matter.  Let’s get a beer.” Clearly, we were not using church language that weekend.

Whatever we did, we're sorry

7. This list of highlights is getting long, so I’ll sum up.  We spent Saturday night walking to where the Star Spangled Banner was written, grabbing a quick bite, collapsing (no “spilled water bottles” that night), then having brunch together.  Mojo’s train was a bit later, so he grabbed a quick run.  

We stayed with our friend again in 2016 when Army ended the losing streak and Mojo saw her for lunch when he was passing through last year when visiting the States from Belgium.  Maybe this happens if the guys didn’t decide to drop parenting duties (with the blessings of the best group of wives ever… all four of us had multiple kids 4 and under at the time) and come out for the game.  I would argue their presence fostered the Mojo/new Baltimore friendship. And, despite the loss, that Army-Navy weekend is probably my 2nd favorite of the 14 I’ve been to so far.

** LB Note - it is not a coincidence that we drop a tribute to the wives in this post every year. We really couldn't do this without their unconditional love, support, and most importantly, INFINITE patience. Being able to live the YOLO life and keep this traditions is important to us and them. Mojo will expand on that in a moment. Having people who support your drunken reunions positive life choices is essential to living this way.

That brings me to this year.  I sent the usual “who wants a ticket” feelers out there to Michigan, not expecting a bite.  Lo and behold, my hero responds, “dude, I think I can go. Let me get permission from the wife.”  Days later, two word text, “I’M IN!!!” Two days after that, his flight is booked. And today, I pick him up from the airport and get to introduce him to my life here in Philly.

My hero's #1 request.  Done.

I love it when I get the chance to show friends from Detroit my life here in Philly.  Army-Navy has done that for me twice before - Baltimore above, and Mojo meeting my boy who goes every year now.  It’s truly a blessing when this happens. Everyone back in the D asks if we are ever moving back to Michigan, and the answer is no.  I think introducing them to our Philly life does more to explain why than words really could. Living here was one of those more difficult YOLO decisions.  Army-Navy, and those who make the decision to come out for it, make the decision easier and remind us why we did it. Can’t wait to see you, my hero, I LOVE YOU!!!

On to Mojo…

YO YO YO YOLO…  I too, like the YOLO concept because we can fill our TO DO list faster than we complete it, so rather than try to obtain great breadth sometimes you have to obtain depth. 

It's a soft J, pronounced like a Y

I think everyone should have an annual tradition with one or more friends; one that really makes you schedule your life around it to make it.  Do you have one? How many years in a row have you moved things to make it happen? Army Navy is that depth for me. For example, here are the games I have attended: 1987, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 06,07,08,09,10,11,12,13,14,15,16!!  18 Games and 2 wins :) I am not there for the win, I am there for the experience.  (LB Note - clearly, its been a good thing the experience is that awesome).

To add to the list of highlights:

WAKE UP!!!

1. The 2016 game in Baltimore. Getting woke up at the crack of dawn (like 9 am or something) because my friend was parked outside having driven up from Ft. Eustis. VA and my phone was dead.  LB just said, “Wake up, the General is trying to get a hold of you, he’s been outside for a while calling your phone”. The General had contacted my wife who contacted LB who woke me up.  It was a team effort!

2. The night before the game we went to a class of 2002 get together at a local watering hole.  It’s been rumored that West Point grads like to tell stories about their time at the academy :) so our friend that we were staying with, a civilian having no association with the academy asked me for things to say to make her speak like we do.  I told her to say things like, “I was in G4 Go Guppies”, “You might have been in my Buckner Platoon” or “I think we had Dirt class together”. These are all things that only make sense to graduates. By the end of the night, more than once someone said, ‘I think I remember you from a class or something”.  That’s just fun no matter who you are; or maybe only if you are a grad :). (LB Note - I vaguely remember this being at Pickles Pub. See what I mean by if you get enough of us together, we can piece together the story?)

Back to YOLO.  I think it is important to distinguish it from its ugly step brother: FOMO.  One is about living and one is about anxiety; don’t cross the streams. If you have two things on a ‘TO DO’ list and decide on one, do you think about the other while doing the one? If you do, you should stop it.  Once you make a decision to go for an experience, be in the moment and truly be grateful for the chance to even have a list of things to do and the means to do it. We will never have enough time for everything so it's good to prioritize.   This does not rule out spontaneity, that is when YOLO is best experienced. 

It must be followed by action, not talk.  YOLO is something to do; not something to say.  

I understand life has its ups and downs, and YOLO can, at times, seem like a cute phrase that doesn’t apply all the time, but it does.  I remember when Barabra Bush passed she had a quote attributed to her that went something like, "I never heard anyone say they wish they had spent more time at the office, answered more emails.  What people miss is time spent with a loved one, more time hugging a child." She is, and will always be, right. We sacrifice the most joyous things to be a part of something that takes our time and energy, we do it with the hope to improve something; to make better our lives or our children's lives, but the balance between the two is the art of living.  When you can put down the work and take some of that time back for you and others; do it. When you feel you can’t put down the work; then you really need to do it. There will be times when you can’t drop what you are doing right at that moment and ‘go live’, but do you make up for it later or just say ‘next time I’ll choose to put work down’ and if you do say that, did you listen to yourself?  Always listen, always go easy on yourself. You would tell a friend to do it, so practice and preach it. As the saying goes, ‘You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough’.

Philly 2020!

So the next time someone says, “Who wants tickets to Army-Navy, think about it and think about seeing one of the greatest rivalries in sports.  It certainly will be the greatest respect you see between two rivals, that I promise. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself. Or you can read this article that popped up on Facebook today.  There is a game every year, not everyone lives it, and it is far less than those who say they want to live it.  YOLO...so BEAT NAVY NOW!

LB Prediction - Army started out like gangbusters, then fell flat due to injury.  Lately they’ve looked a lot better, save that debacle to a good Hawaii team. Navy looked like the Navy of old until a beatdown from Notre Dame.  They ended with a brutal schedule in maybe the most underrated conference in college football. For real, that conference is easily better than the ACC, probably better than the Big 12, and quite possibly better than the Pac 12.  That’s why we need an 8 team playoff. (I like Memphis vs. Penn State in their bowl matchup. A lot).

Anyway, Army often kept this game close in the midst of that now long forgotten N**y w*n st***k that shall never be discussed again. They are no longer intimidated by Navy. A win here would make Army wash away the disappointment of what could have been a 10 win season.  Navy had its eyes on a New Year’s Six game and is reeling a bit. I think Navy is worn down from a tough finish to their schedule. Navy is better, but the intangibles say Army.

And then there's the little game the bus stop Dads sometimes play, to guess the lines of games. Gotta say, we are pretty good at it. The guesses were as follows: Navy by 10, Navy by 8, Navy by 7.5 The opening line? Navy by 4.5. For you old school LBers, you know when the line seems too easy, it probably is. As soon as we heard that, we all loved Army. And of course, so do I. How about some bonus football for my boy's visit to Philly?

Final Score - Army 23, Navy 20 (OT).

MOJO Prediction - Army doesn’t have the offense it needs to put up lots of points. They are going to set up a defense that will keep this game low scoring and go for ball control.  They will get out to an early lead, but Navy has good talent and hungry players. Watch out for the QB; if we don’t contain him on the ground they will convert a high number of 3rd downs and it could get away from us. But it won’t.  Navy seniors have NOT beat Army; and they won’t. Army will control the game near the end to hang on 14-10.

From all of us here in the LB world, including Mojo and myself, our families and friends near and far, we wish all of you the happiest of holidays and an incredible 2020.  May you ever be finding your YOLO.  Fleetwood Mac will see us out.  GO ARMY, BEAT NAVY!!!  Hasta.