Military Bowl

Very cool to watch football again in a historic stadium. Place literally shakes for big plays, which Maryland made plenty of. Has the true feeling of a classic football game and how football is meant to be played.

It was great to see Ralph go out in style at the Military Bowl. It was appropriate that the side of the stadium with the sunshine went to the Terps this year. My hats off to ECU fans who came out in droves, and wish we had more heart from the local Maryland faithful. I guess that is why the program felt it had to do the changes it did.

good to be able to see recognition of US military commitment... will likely gain in popularity over time... generally easy to attend...

Game was good albeit a blow-out for Maryland. The Armory "Tailgate Party" was a damn joke. Probably 10,000 there and NO FOOD. Oh yes and if you wanted a drink, you had to wait in line for 20-30 minutes. UNSAT Finally did fight to get an eggroll. ONE eggroll for a 30 minute wait. Are you kidding???. Post Party. Anticlimatic. No one there. Most were probalbly so pissed off from the Tailgate Party that they weren't going to get gyped twice. Northrup should fire whoever set up the huge moneymaker at the Tailgate Party. I AM RETIREED MILITARY AND I HAVE GREAT ALLEGIANCE TO THE GAME. THE PRE AND POST PARTY WERE A MAJOR RIPP OFF AND WILL DISCOURAGE ME FROM ATTENDING NEXT YEAR...NO MATTER WHO PLAYS.

The football game was great. The seats were in a great spot and had a good view of the whole stadium. RFK is not one of those nice new stadiums we are all used to. Its rough, small, and cold but such a big part of Redskins and DC history. I would highly recommend taking Metro in for the game. The traffic is always heavy and there is a lot of convenience in jumping on Metro to get out of the city. My only negative experience for this game was the pregame tailgate party. It was a complete mess. Not nearly enough food for everyone and that food you do get is cold or undercooked. the advertised $2 beer is only in one area of the building and the rest of the beer stands are 4, 6, or $8 a drink. The place was too crowded and terribly organized. I would have loved to have gotten my money back for that portion of the event as would the 3 others I went with. Still, I would love to go to another Terps bowl game someday and if the same tickets came up again I would buy them in a heartbeat.

cold event, parking a bit expensive, easy to get too, great game, easy to see field from any seat

The military bowl was a blow out and rfk is falling apart. The concessions are funny and the restrooms are vile and probably both are spreading disease. But the bowl is a great place to watch a football game and ECU's last ranked defense allowed lots of spectacular offense.

Great game but also a great tribute in many ways to the men and women of our military. Thanks to Northrop Grumman for sponsoring.

The event, a football GAME between 2 good schools was well done. But to be degraded, shouted at by foul mouthed Maryland youths was unacceptable. The drunk and out of control 20 year old Maryland fan in front of us was awful, and he was with his parents. I have a degree from Maryland and a son at ECU. Give me the ECU fans any day. They stand up for their team but I have yet to encounter the display of poor sportsmanship I encountered at this game. The Maryland crowd was down right crass each time I encountered them with my ECU gear displayed. It's no wonder they got this bowl 10 miles from campus-its lucky the rest of the country didn't have to put up with them.

We paid $20 apiece to attend the pre-game tailgate party. When we arrived, an hour and a half before kickoff, there was NO FOOD LEFT! The stadium is old and decrepit, and not worthy of such an event. There were limited food options, and the bathrooms were disgusting. The scoreboard was usually wrong. It could not keep up with the down information in a timely manner.

It was a great day! I have a Neice that is in ECU and a Nephew at MD so it was a great day for me no matter what!! I think the parking lot attendants could have been a bit better but overall everything was good.

Good football game. Would help if they let you know what side of the stadium you are seated on when you purchase the tickets.

The event was fun. But there were very few concession stands open and the only vendors in the stands were selling beer. There were several fights in my section between opposing drunk fans and there was no security to be seen until the last fight when people went tumbling down the concrete stairs.

Game was nice and atmosphere good. However, the ticket we received for 4 hot chocolates and a program was NOT honored. Very disappointing.

I can not begin to tell you how much of a waste of money the tailgate party was, There was way too many people. You had to wait in line for 30 minutes for a meatball. It was absolute ROBBERY!!! They should refund EVERYONE!!!

Facilities were sub par. Not enough vendors (other than beer). Probably not a venue for a bowl game.

The Tailgate was oversold. Getting a hotdog was like standing in a bread line during the Great Depression. The stadium is dirty. The food was too expensive. While this was billed as the Military Bowl, there was little Military presents . overall, disappointing. Being in Washington was great

Game was fine except...the tiny scoreboard always had wrong down and yards and the crew with the chains seldom kept up with play. The tiny screen was smaller than some home tv systems. The worst part was the tailgate party; we paid 40 dollars and got 2 meatballs,, insane unorganized "lines" (if you could tell what was a line and what wasn't), they ran out of food and the 2 dollar beer could, if you were in the wrong line, cost 4 dollars or more. Pitiful event. Seats were fine; viewing the game was no problem (which is good as the scoreboard and yard markers were wrong or behind). If I were MD and invited to this event in the future I would decline. I might add that the "Wounded Warrior" chairty supposedly supported by the game is a terrible one--the name is misleading as little money goes to actual wounded vets. It might go to Gleen Beck or administrative costs. Who knows (check out reviews on this charity it you do not beleive me). Would never attend again. Go Maryland--get a better bowl next year (which of course you actually deserved this year but...)

Great event for D.C. Historic RFK is a fantastic building to host a football game.

Stadium was rockin', easy access to seats/food. Only negative was the wait at the bathrooms.

I think the stadium was slightly lacking. Even on the 4th level the seats were great but the speaker system is crap up there, everything is too loud out in the walkways but you can't understand a word the announcers say once you get to your seats. It was a military bowl and at some point some veterans came on the field and we could see that everyone in the lower levels were standing but we couldn't hear what they were saying. It was a televised game so they moved everyone from the upper levels to the lower which is great but I just wished when they did that they asked what side you were rooting for, we just sat wherever we wanted after that though.

We loved that Air Force was playing on the east coast. Disappointed that schools won't allow fans a way to easily purchase tickets through them. We loved sitting with 22,000 Air Force fans. We appreciate Northrup Grumman sponsoring the bowl so that our tickets supported the USO. My husband loved the military exhibition in front of RFK!

The military ceremonies were great. Especially, the Enlistment swearing-in with the AF Chief of Staff, but all the commercials regarding "3-Star" & "5-Star" supporters, as well as the extra "media time-outs" were a drag!

Fantastic game with a fantastic finish. Although the 2-pt conversation to win or lose can be questioned on AF's part, I loved the call. Great job to the Military Bowl to get such well matched teams!

Amazing experience! Great teams. Employees at the stadium were awesome!

Great game, excellent venue for a military team to be in a post season bowl game.

I would recommend this game since over the years the teams have been evenly matched. Out of the 4 years of coming to this bowl, this was the best game. The teams played to their strenghts and kept the fans in their seats until the last 52 seconds. What a great match-up.

Bought tickets to the game and the official tailgate. Game was great - official tail gate sucked! Not as advertised... Advertised 2 free beers per person - none - had to pay to drink - lines for food were outrageously long...food was just mini samples - I would never ever pay for the tailgate - ended up leaving the tailgate after about 30 mins and met some friends and had our own tailgate.

The weather was excellent and a UMD TERPS victory was like the cherry on top. My only bad experience and I mentioned this to Facebook page of The Military Bowl (and was deleted-how rude), the TD Bank atms only 1 out of 4 in the stadium worked. There was a long line and I waited nearly 30-35 mins to withdraw cash. Lesson learned, bring cash ahead of time b/c most vendors here only take cash but some did take credit card transaction. I paid for the nosebleeds seats and I can say it was ok.

Awesome event, made better by a win by my Terps. It was good to be back in "Old RFK" for a football game. Decent weather for a December day and great fans on either side.

Great game! The stadium is very old and the parking was pricey.

Going into the game, I really didn't know what to expect. I picked up tickets from the Will Call area which had a lot people working there and things went rather quickly. Getting into the game was also rather easy. A simple pat down and look into a coat and we were on our way. The concession stands seem to have plenty of people working and were quite busy. It seemed the further up in the stadium less kiosks were open. When we purchased the tickets it came with a voucher for 4 hot chocolates and a game program. But, the people I talked to had no clue to as to where the voucher should be redeemed. Which was a little annoying. After getting food we found our seats. The seats were decent for the price. The crowd noise made the game the PA system was muffled and difficult to understand. Overall, I had a good time and my friends who came with seemed to enjoy themselves as well.

Bowl game was great. Great Terps win! But the old stadium must be retired for footbal. It's old and in poor shape.

Plenty of room to tailgate - bowl games are always fun.

Event had a "throw together" feel. Although the game was eventually a blowout, the venue was not fitting and game should've been held at another location. Maybe Nationals stadium or M&T Bank Field. No reason to use RFK for anything.

Everything about the football game on the field, per se, was fine. When one got out into the surrounding corridors (and I must qualify that...yes, we know our stadium is old, but we are still very proud of it and its heritage...) three things were not "up to snuff": 1) the TOILET PAPER ran out at half time in the ladies' room that my wife went to, and there was no SUPPORT STAFF around to re-stock (that she could see), 2) the FOOD SERVICE, by and large was just OK...everyone I saw seemed to be trying hard to do a decent job, but the stadium CONDIMENT STATIONS in the concourse that usually support a stand selling half-smokes at this kind of event had NO CONDIMENTS (mustard, catsup)...at least someone had put out napkins. We didn't let these things spoil the thrill of being part of the Terps' victory....but you DID ask for a review....AND small things DO count in the overall picture. Thanks, Pete

The game was fine. The entertainment was fine. Negatives: Seats in RFK had not been cleaned. Bird dung was disgusting. Negative: peeling paint at RFK was unattractive. Stadium had a sense of general neglect. Negative: limited concessions on upper levels. Long lines. Missed half a quarter just standing in line for food. Negative: could rarely hear the band due to where they were seated. (We hear them better at Byrd stadium)

RFK is no place to have a bowl game. Old and rusty. $20 to park was ridiculous. The fact that only a few bathrooms and food services were open was idiotic. I'm glad that I didn't attend the $20 indoor tailgate. I was told by friends that the food was horrible and they ran out. The venue should be M&T.

Of my 9 bowl games, this was by far the worst. Where should I start? The family ticket package sold thru Ticketmaster including vouchers for concessions and a program that were not honored at the game? The inability to buy any game merchandise at the game because "they" got there "late" (according to guest services)? The fact that many of the concession stands, few as they were, ran out of stuff before halftime? Watching hunks of RFK stairs crumble off right by our seats? And to top it off, a totally mismatched game between a good ACC team (Maryland) and a mediocre Conference USA one. If my alma mater hadn't been in a bowl game since 1992, I might consider going. Other than that, I would never even consider this game again, nor recommend it to anyone.

The sound system was the worst, could not understand any thing the announcers were saying.

It was a great experience to go to a bowl game with the family!

As a Maryland fan I was happy with the outcome. However, the experience was not pleasant as we had to deal with ECU drunken fans who taunted MD fans that we were sitting near throughout the game. Alcohol should not be sold at college events. We needed help from security...police and did not get it. We had to move to a higher location because of rude ECU fans.

It was great to have a big fottball game at RFK. All was fine except 1. The ticket taking at the main entrance was disorganizied and slow. Makes DC look bad. But probably saves money. 2. The lack of food service was appalling. Very bush league and loses money--lots of people in my line gave up waiting even tho they wanted to pay $5 for a hot dog they could get at a street vendor for $1.

Nice way for MD football players to send Coach Friedgen out. The UMD athletic administration is nuts and classless in how they handled his firing. Might be the last UMD football game I go to for quite a while.

Very exciting and fun atmosphere for a great game.

The game and the location of the seats were perfect. The bad was that the armrest between the seat was broken off the wall. Spent most of the game trying not to slide into my seat mate. This is the third year in a row attending this event and will go again next year.

RFK Stadium is a below average facility. Terrible venue for football. Terrible venue for a Bowl Game. The Armory Tailgate Party was awfull We waited in line 1 hr, for food before finally leaving empty handed. This part of the package was very poorly organized and I feel like I was totally ripped-off. I found visiting Washington DC to be a great experience, but the bowl was dissappointing. The stadium facility was poor (even our seat was broken) and the pre-game event to be a rip-off.

The football was disappointingly mediocre even given the lopsided Maryland win, which only served to emphasize the wrongheaded decision by their new AD to sack the coach. Was underwhelmed by the support shown our military at the so-called Military Bowl, which was modest at best despite the mass enlistment, USCG drill team, the flyover, the veteran MOH winners and the presence of the Joint Service Color Guard. Compared to that at the next day's Bell Textron Armed Forces Bowl in Dallas, the Military Bowl was not even close. Here's an example: why would you showcase a soldier who has never deployed as representative of the millions of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coasties who have served and are now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan? Why could you not have invited Staff Sergeant Sal Giunta, the only living Medal of Honor recipient from this decade of conflict or highlighted one of the many wounded warriors recovering at Walter Reed and Bethesda? Next year you should set aside a couple of hundred VIP seats for wounded warriors and their families. Here's another: where were the equipment displays? You'd have thought the sponsor from the defense industry might have displayed some of its wares to the public at a gathering this large (tanks, trucks, helicopters, planes, boats etc.) but there was nothing except a tent in the end zone emblazoned with the company logo. Guest services at RFK also need more attention before next year's game: ladies rooms in particular were pretty disgusting from the outset and quickly ran out of what little toilet paper there was to be had.

The program was run well at RFK for the Military Bowl. Entry and exit was smooth; food services were fine, and bathrooms were clean. We used the DC Metro to get back and forth from the Maryland suburbs. The Maryland Terps performed well against the hapless East Carolina Pirates.

This is the second bowl game I have attended in 3 years at RFK. As for fan base and game play this was the most enjoyable. My only two negative would be 1.) We were in section 503 row 1, at half time I noticed a lady slip at the end of the stairway (I just thought she had missed the step) but when we got up to leave the game - the first step, the cement had started to crumble away. Maybe Historic RFK is not the best place for safety reasons - maybe talk to Dan about using FEDEX field. 2.) I also wanted a game program and never could find anyone selling them - this was a big disappointment!