Congratulations to the Naval Academy brigade

It was a sight sorely reminiscent of happier days, rank upon rank of Naval Academy midshipmen marching into Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Congratulations are in order to Vice Adm. Sean Buck, Gov. Larry Hogan and county and state health officials for finding a way to make this happen by limiting the risk of increasing the spread of the coronavirus.

The movement of midshipmen is severely restricted under the superintendent’s orders, their observance of mask and social distancing rules is precise and the percentages of midshipmen testing positive released from the academy show it is working.

As of Friday, the Naval Academy has reported no new positive test results among the brigade since Sept. 30, and varsity sports teams are being tested three times perweek.

The plan on evidence Friday made clear the academy leadership wants to keep it thatway.

Midshipmen were seated in the 18,000 seats in the lower bowl in a socially distanced manner. They remained masked during the entire game. All mids, support staff and stadium personnel had to go through symptoms and temperature checks to attend.

Concessions were limited to bottled drinks and box lunches. Restrooms are limited to 50% capacity with one-way traffic patterns; hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes were provided.

Therewere lots of good reasons to allow this relaxation of coronavirus restrictions beyond the simple fact that the academy has been able to keep the virus in check for a fewweeks. Younger people seem to have a lower risk of contracting serious cases of the virus, unless you add the factors of alcohol and close personal encounters seen on college campuses across the country this fall.

The recent opening of weekend town liberty was another welcome step that did not seem to increase the rate of cases among the brigade.

As we have previously reported, the mids are under tremendous pressure while locked downon campus. The respite offered by a march across Annapolis to the stadium and the prospect of a football game had to be a solid morale boost.

Starting quarterback Dalen Morris, fullbacksNelson Smith and Jamale Carothers, linebacker Terrell Adams and the rest of the team deserve the credit of playing well in their 31-29 victory over Temple.

But, as Buck correctly noticed after Navy’s shellacking at the hands of Air Force, a crowd of classmates lustily cheering in the stands makes an emotional difference to the athletes in the game.

Only one sour note was struck during this otherwise successful day.

We could not help but notice the small crowd of well-wishers lined up along the march route was about evenly divided among those who wore masks and those who did not. No fans were allowed in the stadium, and the parking lot was closed to prevent die-hard tailgaters.

Some of those who picked out spots to watch the spectacle along Taylor Avenue and other streets clearly showed they didn’t care about the time and care the academy has put into keeping the mids healthy and safe.

It was an incredible sign of disrespect for the sacrifices made by the midshipmen.

So for the midshipmen both on and off the field, congratulations on a job well done.

For the rest of you, wear a mask.