Good afternoon Navy fans!  It’s been a few days since we had a Notables post, so this one is chock full of news about uniforms, footballs, bowl games, and more.  Click on through to get the latest (since the last post) Navy sports news.

Mike has already shared the images of the new Army-Navy uniforms, but they need to be linked as often as possible.  The helmets look incredible, continuing an amazing run of special lids.  To echo what Mike said on twitter last night, I do not think there is a program in America who has so consistently and so flawlessly executed the alternate uniform trend.  These don’t quite reach the level of “OMG I WANT THESE FOR NORMAL UNIS” like the summer whites vs Ohio State or the past 2 Army-Navy specials from Nike did.  But there are perfect for this game and the Poinsettia Bowl.  Update: EVEN THE BALL HAS THE AWESOME SNAKE/N-STAR LOGO!!!

As always, Bill Wagner keeps on producing great content about Navy sports.  First, he wrote about the rarity that surrounds Baltimore getting two Army-Navy games so close together.  This will be my first chance to see an Army-Navy game at M&T, but I did attend Navy-Maryland there as well as some past lacrosse events.  I have to say, the Ravens put on a great show for whatever is going on there.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see them get it a few more times when the next cycle comes up for bidding.  Wagner followed it up with two pieces of the team captains.  First, a nice piece on Noah Copeland and his growth from resistant recruit to team captain.  Then a look at Parrish Gaines, who came directly to the team from high school and was starting by the end of his plebe season.

On the Saturday after Christmas, Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium will host the Military Bowl.  The match-up is a dream for the organizing committee, pitting Virginia Tech from the ACC against Cincinnati from The American.  VT has already sold out of their allotment and there are less than 700 tickets available on the bowl website as of this writing.  Even StubHub has less than 300 tickets and the cheapest actual seat (aka not the hill) are going for nearly $100 each.  As someone who attended the inaugural game between Navy and Wake Forest at RFK and then the UMD-Marshall tilt last year, I can vouch for how great the bowl experience is at NMCMS and what an upgrade the venue is for the event.  If you’re in the area and have the means, I highly recommend getting out to it every year you can.  If I can get out to it, I’ll be sure to drop a post on it.

It’s more Annapolis news, but Travel and Leisure named Annapolis the #14 college town in America.  As someone who has been entrenched in Annapolis since getting to USNA in the mid-90’s, I find it hard to disagree (even if town-gown relations could be improved).  But I’m sure we could have plenty of discussion on whether Rams head and Carrol’s Creek are the two places most worthy of the extra press.  For my money, I’ll take Galway Bay and The Boatyard Bar and Grill.

Quick Hits:

• Keenan Reynolds was named the NAAA athlete of the week for his 119 yard, three touchdown rushing performance against South Alabama on Friday.
• No link, but Navy is one of 21 teams in the country to play at least 10 bowl eligible teams in 2014.  Only Army and SJSU failed to make the 6-win hurdle (VMI is in FCS).  Interestingly, all but 2 of the teams who played such schedules failed to make a bowl themselves.
• Ken Niumatalolo can become the winningest coach in Navy history with a win over Army this weekend.
• Mike Unger of Baltimore Magazine has a nice piece about the Army Navy game returning to Baltimore.
• Junior RB Eric Wellmon was named the MVP of the Collegiate Sprint Football League and joined by 20 other Navy players on the all-CSFL team.  Wellmon rushed for 1,269 yards and 17 TD’s on the season.
• The men’s Indoor Track & Field team was selected as the pre-season favorites in the Patriot League.  The men followed it up with an impressive performance at the Navy Invitational, winning 4 track and 2 field events.  Senior Mark Vetere was named the Patriot League field athlete of the week after winning the pole vault.
• Navy squash rose to #10 in the rankings before falling 5-4 to Dartmouth over the weekend.  The Mids are off until after the New Year.
• Navy women’s basketball dropped both their matches on the west coast wing over the weekend.  First, they were held to 28% shooting by Portland State in a 56-50 loss.  The next day they let a 23 point lead against Oregon slip away before losing 72-64.  Navy’s Taylor Dunham was named the Patriot League rookie of the week for her performance in the games and in the win over Towson earlier in the week,
• Navy men’s basketball dropped a decision to The Citadel in Charleston over the weekend.  They host VMI at home tonight.
• Navy wrestling team captain Peyton Walsh placed 5th in the 165-pound class at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.