The Pregame Meal : Army

Eat, drink, and be merry!

We at Bull Run are restarting our weekly pre-game meal series. The series has a long history going back to another Buffalo website “Eight Wins Is Enough”. When one of their writers came over to Bull Run he brought the series with him and it quickly became a community favorite.

I don’t know that I can do the series as well as he did, but I will endeavor to try.

The Meal:

First thing you have to do before you settle in to watch the Bulls take on the Black Knights is have a hearty meal. This game has went to overtime two of the last three meetings. The Bulls won both of those games.

So, to be sure you’re ready for a long game, and to honor Army, let’s start off with an MRE, one of the more popular ones out there is Chili & Macaroni.

Army has achieved a sense of Stability under Jeff Monken and nothing is as shelf stable as an MRE.

I was going to go with the Buffalo Chicken, but I know a surprising number of people who are Connoisseurs and they have nearly all told me that the Buffalo Chicken menu is one of the worst. Instead, they say, any MRE with Chili is pretty good.

Warning: There is a little language in this video

The Drink:

Nothing follows a good meal like a good drink and we have you covered with an American Mule.

Mules come in many varieties but the American The Mule is made with a base spirit, citrus and ginger ale or ginger beer.

The best American Mule requires that you chill a copper mug, fill it halfway with crushed ice. Then put in 7 OZ Ginger beer, 2 oz domestic vodka of choice, and 1 oz fresh lime juice Stir Ingredients and enjoy.

We went with the mule because it’s Army's mascot. Army used the animal heavily before mechanized transportation changed everything. The Navy uses a goat because one the ships of old Goats provided milk and, in a pinch, meat.

But the Air Force uses a Falcon... Do they use falcons for anything? I mean maybe the should use a chair, a button? Maybe a Pigeon, Army’s used Pigeons were used to deliver messages long before planes were a thing.

College Battle:

It's hard to compare the service academies to any other university. They are all excellent schools and the young men and women attending have a commitment afterwards. US News and World Reports ranks Army as the 19th best national liberal arts college.

City Battle:

You don't get a lot different than Buffalo New York and West Point. Army is located in an absolutely beautiful part of the state, but other than nature there is not a ton to do.

Buffalo has more and more things to do every day. You can spend a week in Buffalo and not really touch all the great things to do.

West point is a nice one day trip to make, as the leaves change color:

Three Things to Watch:

1) Can Tyree continue to make the right decisions and avoid the big mistakes?

His maturation process will be a huge part of success for UB this season.

2) Can the Bulls hit a field goal?

Last weeks final drive would have felt a lot different if UB was not 0/2 on field goals.

3) How discipline can the Bulls defense be?

Limiting the damage Army does is not complicated, but it’s very hard. Everyone on the defense needs to be on point, in their place, and filling their role. You can’t use Khalil Hodge to make every tackle against the triple option.