Military Veterans Enjoy Vanderbilt Football Experience – Vanderbilt Commodores

Group from New York toured campus and athletic facilities prior to Commodores’ win over LSU
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Motorists driving down West End Ave. last Friday morning might have seen a group of more than 30 friends from out-of-town walking down the street, smiling, laughing and anticipating a weekend of fun.
Sounds like a familiar scene in NashVegas, but there were no bachelorettes in sight.
Instead, this group of visitors from the working-class Woodside neighborhood of Queens, New York, was a group of men, mostly in their 60s and 70s, who for more than three decades have traveled together to attend a different college football game each year. The tight-knit group includes firefighters, police officers, military veterans, and 9/11 first responders. Some are old friends going back to elementary school; others are part of the same Knights of Columbus group at church or the same electrical workers union. Many still live in New York; others have scattered across the country and look forward to reconnecting with lifelong friends each fall.
The annual trip was started by Jimmy Powers, a former New York City cop turned private detective known for throwing parties that brought old neighborhood friends together each summer. In 1992, he and three friends decided to attend a football game together at Arizona State. Each year since (minus two lost to COVID), the group has expanded in number, with trips to games at places like Wisconsin, Colorado, Miami (Fla.), Duke, Notre Dame, and Alabama. Powers died of Parkinson’s disease in 2021; now the trip is held in honor of him and other members who have passed away.
After a visit to Clemson last year, the guys decided that this season, they wanted to pick a game in a thriving city where there was more to do than just attend the game. Coming to Nashville for the Vanderbilt-LSU game was an easy choice.
Most of the group arrived on Thursday, checking out the scene on Broadway. On Friday morning, the men were treated to a tour of campus and the Frist Athletics Village, including stops at the Huber Center, SEC Network control room, FirstBank Stadium, and Memorial Gym. Along the way, they stopped at the statue of Cornelius Vanderbilt, learning about a fellow New Yorker whose gift made the university possible. Later they checked out the Country Music Hall of Fame and Johnny Cash Museum, took a bus tour of the city, and walked through campus.
Matthew Costello, a Navy veteran from the Vietnam era and retired athletic trainer, said the entire experience was one of the best ever.
“Everybody was thrilled,” he said. “We didn’t expect Nashville to be such a big and growing city with so many high rises. We enjoyed the great restaurants, and we thought the campus was very cool. At the game, we thought the stadium was a perfect size. It was a great game, and we were happy to see Vanderbilt win.”
But more important than the football, Costello said, was the connection with the people and place that have meant so much to him for more than 70 years. The participation of, and connection to, military veterans is especially important for many in the group. The Woodside ZIP Code lost more men in Vietnam than any other postal zone.
“For us to be able to come from all over the country to get together and talk about the old days and bond is very special,” he said. “It’s a kind of closeness that is hard to explain. You see these guys and it rekindles memories of childhood. We feel such pride for our neighborhood and the heroes that have come from Woodside – the Vietnam veterans, our friends who were killed in the war, the 9/11 first responders. We come from a neighborhood that stepped up when called upon.”
This year, they came to a city and university that stepped up, too, adding a memorable chapter to a cherished tradition.
“It was such a friendly atmosphere,” Costello said. “We enjoyed the whole experience in Nashville.”
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