(NOTE: Updated below...)
I got the feeling that something was going on when the parking lot at Lincoln Financial Field I drove into was jammed full of RVs, tailgaters and variously decorated schoolbuses.
At least outside the stadium, it sure felt like a pretty important football game was about to happen.
Now I'm inside the press box, and while the place isn't close to full, I'd still put the crowd at around 20,000 or so. And most of them are Temple fans, which might be even more impressive.
There's a section or so full of Temple students almost exactly down below me, which is a little annoying because the way this place is built I can't tell just how many people there really are. Nonetheless, they seem pretty into it, even if they know their history.
There are two sections of Navy fans across the field, one of which includes the dress-whites-bedecked marching band. The press box here is enclosed, which is normally a good thing, but on this occasion it would be nice to hear "Anchors Aweigh" at full blast. The Navy folks are certainly familiar with this place.
Above all, you can at least get something of a sense that there's a Division I-A football game taking place in Philadelphia tonight. I know the organizers of this game wanted that as much as anything else, so let's start there and see what happens over the course of the rest of the night.
UPDATE: It's now almost halftime. The lower bowl is probably 3/4 full, mostly along the sidelines. Make it three and a half section of Navy fans, and pretty well the entire side of the field I'm on full of Temple fans. The crowd seems pretty lively on the whole.
The score, on the other hand, ain't so great. 21-10 Navy with a minute to go before the whistle, and the Midshipmen are at the Owls' 9-yard line.
