Shades of Blue in Annapolis

In a few days, Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium will be filled with family and friends watching the Class of 2009 receive their commissions. But today, the festivities are of a different sort. NCAA men’s Division I Lacrosse semi finals take place in a double header starting around noon. Although face-off is a few hours away, tailgate troops are mustering, an occupation in foreign shades of blue.

The distinctive periwinkle of Johns Hopkins anchors the best site, the stadium’s south side. From the look of their compound, they’ve been here a while. (Not surprising since they have the shortest commute.) Just off Rowe Boulevard a swarm of Prussian blue hoodies, armed with a large cooler, takes the hill by the courthouse. The delegation from Duke has arrived.

Closer to Route 50 is the pale (“God must be a Tarheel because the sky is . . .”) Carolina blue regiment, followed a Duke stray carrying yet another cooler.

Alas, the only glimpse of Navy blue appears on the trim on UVA’s uniform, as the hometown Mids were torpeded in Durham last week. I’m guessing there will probably be more than a few of them in the stands by game time, though. Lacrosse, even when Navy isn’t playing, enjoys great popularity here. So do tailgates.

(Note: UVA’s bastion on the north side is already rocking, but Wahoos are universally regarded as tailgating pros. so they might have arrived last night.)

But enough singing the blues ! This time next year, the NCAA Championship Series will take place Memorial Day weekend in Baltimore and it promises to be the best yet. For the first time, the Women's championship will be in town the same weekend, taking place at Johnny Unitas stadium in Towson. So enough of singing the blues. After next week, the countdown begins in earnest. If there’s one thing Marylanders do better than anyone, it’s lacrosse.