Thudgate Air Force vs Navy

[Christcorp]

Well folks, this is the biggest, baddest, meaning, mother football game in the valley. Our yearly rivalry. And while on the football field, we are mortal enemies, on the battle field, we are brothers and sisters. (This includes Tailgates). And the largest tailgate west of the Mississippi; "THUDGATE"; will be in full force this Saturday; October 2nd, 2010. Thudgate starts around 8:30am-9:00am. Anyone coming to the game is cordially invited.

We especially invite our Navy brothers and sisters. Don't feel shy. This is a great tailgate, and you are most definitely welcome. We might be enemies for a few hours after the tailgate, but the tailgate is a blast and we'd like you to join our air force family. Usually around 100-150 in attendance.

Open invitation to ALL. Air Force, Navy, and anyone else who will be at the game. If you'd like to bring something; e.g. chips, soda, water, beer, salad, pastry, or anything at all; that would be great. If you can't, that is perfectly fine also. Just bring yourself. And as usual, after "Thudgate" and prior to the game, we will make a "Toast to the Host" (Jeremiah Weed) or your drink of choice, in remembrance to those no longer with us, those serving today, and those willing to serve in the future. Please don't be shy. Come on out and support your academies. Here's a map of the area and where we'll be. "Can't miss the BIG flag that says "THUDGATE".
"GO AIR FORCE, SINK NAVY"

 

[eagle36]

see ya there at least for a while Mike!

 

[Christcorp]

Looking forward to seeing everyone at Thudgate. And all you Navy fans are definitely welcomed. 2 years ago, we had the entire Navy Boxing team as well as many navy fans and family members there. On the football field, we are mortal enemies, but at the tailgate and battle field, we are FAMILY. See you all there. Mike.....

 

[Christcorp]

Final Bump:

If anyone is heading to Colorado Springs, and looking for some good seafood, I understand that there's a really good place that will be "serving up Squid". The address is Stadium Blvd, USAFA, CO 80840. Prices are reasonable, and I understand that it leaves a Great Taste in your mouth. Hors d'œuvre and Appetizers will be served prior to the main course at a great bistro called "Thudgate". Great atmosphere, good people, and a lot of fun. Anyway, if anyone's interested, hope to see you there. mike....

 

[fencersmother]

hey, Now you all have a great time without me there! But remember to give the Air Force Fencing team some love as they battle it out in Amarillo, TX this weekend!

and, as always, GO STEELERS!

 

[flieger83]

It was fun!!

Hey all!

As was expected...THUDGATE was AWESOME!!!

I was able to get there today and re-connect with "CC" (Mike) and the team of incredibly dedicated volunteers that make this such a UNIQUE and wonderful time!

And folks, today was really special for ME. Turns out that one of the founding members of Thudgate (maybe the founder) is Mike Simler, son of the late General George Simler (yes, 4 stars).

Mike is my high school classmate and track teammate. I haven't seen him in...ahem...OVER 30 years but when "CC" told me, I looked around and it was OBVIOUS who he was...just a little older, like all of us are, but the same great guy!!! THAT WAS a GREAT moment!!!

And then...it was 1130 hours, time for the "WEED" to be brought out and a toast to be read! (Mike, if you have a copy of that, I'd LOVE to have it.)

There was a LARGE crowd of folks to partake in the toast...delivered by a former AF football star, now a Major and F-16 IP, and it brought tears to the eyes. Oh, did I mention the guest that was introduced?

General Steve Ritchie...the last AF Pilot ACE...5 in V-Nam.

And then it was "down the hatch" and on with the show!!!

And as you all know, the Falcons did it!!

Now...on to the rest of the season but ESPECIALLY: BEAT ARMY!

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83

 

[fencersmother]

That was the greatest game!!!! Woo Hoo! And I saw MY CADET on TV! Kid in front of him was interviewed buy I'd know that face anywhere! So, mom was thrilled as could be!

So great to hear about Thudgate and all the doings with that. Wish I could have been there. Did anyone take a picture!!!???

 

[Christcorp]

Just got back home to Wyoming. It was indeed a great day. Excellent thudgate; got to see a lot of people I haven't seen in a while. Got to meet some of the navy folks from the navy forum here who stopped by to say hi. As Steve said, we had a great toast with fond memories. And of course, the falcons won. Took my son out to dinner after the game. (And the 1 1/2 hour wait trying to get off base. 47,000+ attendance. Sellout and traffic jam). But it was indeed a great day.

Steve; go to the air force falcon football site at scout.com:
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=238&f=1553
Mike Simler is Thuddriverson . Ask him for the speech, he'll get it for you.

For anyone interested, next week is ANOTHER home game. Air Force vs Colorado State University. Thudgate will be in full force. Then we're off for 2 weeks of away games at San Diego State University and then Texas Christian University. But then we'll be back for Utah. Of course, after that game, we go to WestPoint where we MUST win. Then we bring back home the Commander in Chief Trophy. Yea, this was a pretty good day. mike.....

 

[Texasrocks]

they should move into top 25 with USC 18, Texas 21, Pennst 22 NCstate 23 all losing. They came closer to OU than texas did at that was on OU turf

 

[Christcorp]

Here is a link to our air force falcon football forum. This thread link is right to the "Thudgate" thread. It has lots of pictures from all 3 home games so far. It's also got 2 videos links. The first is the speech and Weed toast. (Steve, don't have a hard copy, but you can hear the speech pretty good). 2nd video is the pre-game, and Coach Calhoun speaking of our uniform change for the game. Anyway, thought you'd like to see them. FYI: Yes, I am in quite a few photos. But this is like "WHERE IS WALDO". You have to figure out which one is me. LOL!!!

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=238&f=1553&t=6317363