West Point, NY is the home to the United States Military Academy, the school at which future Army leaders are trained. It is just 50 miles north of New York City in the Hudson Valley, but is not easily reached by transit, as you would expect for a working military installation. As well, you cannot just waltz on in; ID is required to pass through the gates and you need to have business there or be taking a tour to enter. When Army hosts an athletics event, however, anyone with US identification is allowed onto the campus. Since moving to NYC, I've wanted to see a game of some sort at West Point, but the schedules have not been in sync with mine until this year, when basketball and hockey had back-to-back games on Saturday.
There are three gates used to enter the campus: Washington on the west, Stoney Lonesome on the south, and Thayer to the east. The latter two are open to the public at all times, while Washington is usually only accessible to those with a DoD decal, but this restriction is lifted for athletic events. I wanted to avoid driving out of NYC on Saturday morning, so I made a family weekend out of it and stayed north of West Point. This allowed me to enter via the Washington Gate, from where I drove about 2 miles to the parking lot behind Michie Stadium (above), where the football team plays. I hope to see a game there sometime too. Update: I finally did that in 2021.
Both basketball and hockey play in venues that are part of the Holleder Center, named for Don Holleder, who was a star quarterback for Army in the 1950s and was killed in Vietnam in 1967. Just inside the main entrance is a display case that highlights his achievements, both on the field of play and the field of battle.
As I walked around the front of the building taking pictures, one of the traffic marshals pointed out the display below: It is somewhat hidden in an alcove and many walk right by as I did. This is a stone from the Pentagon's 'E' Wing that was destroyed on September 11, 2001.
The same gentleman also advised me to take a look at the Class of 1956 Walkway (this class boasted both Holleder and Norman Schwarzkopf as two of its graduates). The walkway is on the second floor of the Holleder Center and starts with a portion of the Berlin Wall (below).
Along the walkway is a display describing the history of the Cold War and the role of the U.S. Army in it.
By now, you might be getting the feeling that seeing a game at Army is not the same as other sports venues, and you would be right. Here, they honour those who have played and gone on to give their lives in service to the country, often naming awards after them. In some cases, those lives were lost in tragic accidents, but in most, the words "killed in action" appear. A somber way to get the day underway, but well worth the time to read the stories here.
Upstairs you will find a few more artifacts, such as the John S. Roosma Hall of Fame Window. Roosma, from the Class of 1926, was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1961 and this window was part of the Hall until it was moved here.
Along one hallway is a series of plaques naming the athletic captains for all teams for that school year. Really impressive as the history goes back over 100 years.
With the touring complete, it was time to enter Christl Arena for the basketball game. The arena is named for Edward Charles Christl Jr., a member of the Class of 1944 who was co-captain of the basketball team that season and who was killed in Austria just four days before V-E Day.
Tickets are $12 for general admission, and although there are over 5,000 seats, much of the upper rows were roped off as the crowd numbered a mere 723. The first eight rows have comfortable padded seats, while the next ten or so rows are plastic, with benches above that.
The court is quite compact, with no end zone seating to speak of. There are scoreboards on each end zone wall, with one of them showing the lineups, points and rebounds. Beneath the smaller scoreboard is a set of windows through which you can watch the game if you really must have the end zone view. Past accomplishments by both the men's and women's teams are also commemorated with banners here. Note the colourful flags belonging to the Patriot League schools, with five on either side.
One thing I liked was the yellow tubing in the ceiling that contrasts well with the black seats. In the background you can see more banners honouring past stars. Food is fairly basic, with hot dogs, pretzels, and popcorn the main offerings.
Overall, Christl Arena is a simple basketball court overshadowed by the building in which it resides. If you do attend a game here, make sure to get there early to see all that the Holleder Center has to offer.
The Game
The Fairfield Stags from the MAAC were the visitors in this non-conference game. With the score tied at 17 midway through the first half, Army went on a 15-0 run that allowed them to take a 38-27 lead into the half.
As is often the case in basketball, the team leading starts to miss, and the team trailing starts to make a few shots, and that is what happened here as Fairfield spent the early part of the second half chipping away at the lead. In one impressive sequence, Neftali Alvarez stole the ball thrice in 33 seconds as the Stags climbed back to tie things up at 49 with 6 minutes left. An 8-0 dash by Army was quickly followed by another Fairfield comeback, and when Alvarez completed a layup with 1:35 to go, the Stags were up 58-57. Unfortunately, that was the last make from the floor as both teams missed on their next possession and when Alvarez committed a silly foul, Army's Tommy Funk made both free throws to give the Black Knights the lead once again. After Alvarez missed a layup, Fairfield was forced to foul, but Jordan Fox missed the second. Up by 2 with 16 seconds left, Army then fouled Alvarez, who also missed one of his shots. Another foul and another miss by Fox made it 61-59, but again, Army fouled with 5 seconds left. With a chance to tie, Jonathan Kasibabu missed the first shot. He should have missed the second as well and hoped for an offensive rebound, but inexplicably sunk it and after yet another foul, Fox made both shots as Army held on to win 63-60.
An entertaining game until the last minute or so, when fouls and missed free throws dominated. Such is basketball these days, where the most exciting part of the game is also the slowest.
I'll recap Tate Rink and the hockey game in the next post.
Best,
Sean
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