12/14/2004 - Football
Army-Navy Game Offers Unique Perspective

As a kid growing up in western Iowa, college football was my passion. Being within four hours of four major universities (Iowa State, Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota), I would get my fill catching a slew of games on the television on Saturday afternoons. That is what I grew up doing.

Being an avid Nebraska fan, I always thought that the greatest rivalry in college football was Oklahoma-Nebraska, period.

But after witnessing the 105th playing of the Army-Navy game, Nebraska-Oklahoma doesn't even come close to being the best rivalry, nor does any other college game for that matter. Especially after what has transpired in sports the last month, it places even more importance on what college athletics is, or should be, all about. Army-Navy is what it should be all about.

Consider what has happened, not only in college athletics, but sports in general, in the last month. Major League Baseball's steroid revelations, the Carmelo Anthony underground DVD, Terrell Owens' Monday Night Football flap, the brawls between the Pacers and Pistons and then the next day, the Gamecocks and Tigers and all the college football firings have all tainted athletics in some way.

If only Terrell Owens could have been around a day earlier at Lincoln Financial Field, to see how the game is supposed to be treated.

"The stuff happening in sports is a shame," said Navy All-America candidate, fullback Kyle Eckel. "Mistakes happen and hopefully we can learn from them. Maybe the Army-Navy game can serve as an example and get a fresh start on things and bring the sports world straight. There are a lot of kids watching these games and that's not sending a good message to them. It happens so much that kids are going to start thinking it's cool. Hopefully, people can watch this game and see something different."

For the last 105 years, Army and Navy, whose future players defend our country and are our future leaders, put it all on the line for bragging rights over their future brothers, in the purest form that Division I football can get. And for 60 minutes on the first Saturday in December, usually a cold, brisk day in Philadelphia, the players, coaches, fans, administrators, bands, etc*, lay it all on the line for a lifetime of bragging rights. There is no football future for 99 percent of these players, just a mandatory five-year military obligation and a chance to defend the country they love awaits them.

As an assistant sports information director at the Naval Academy, all I heard about for the previous two months was Army-Navy. All you hear about at Navy is "Beat Army". Even the weight plates in the Navy weight room say "Beat Army" on them. Earlier in the season, when Navy started 5-0, it figured it had its best chance to end 41 years of suffering to Notre Dame. A reporter asked Navy head coach Paul Johnson if Notre Dame was a rivalry. He answered wryly, "It doesn't say beat Notre Dame on our weight plates." Frankly, I got sick of it. I figured there is no way that it could live up to the hype.

After arriving at Lincoln Financial Field on Friday morning, and setting up the press box for the media, my boss, Scott Strasemeier, directed us to the CBS truck for a glimpse at the opening montage that the entire world would see before the game.

The video was two former players, one from Navy and one from Army, with glimpses of the "Yard of Annapolis" and the "Halls of West Point", talking back and forth about what the game meant. The video lasted a minute, perhaps two, but the visions will stay with me forever. The six people in the truck watching the video left with goose bumps and tears in their eyes. It showed footage from Iraq, players crying after their last Army-Navy game and memorials set up for fallen Americans. The final shot was the two former players, in their fatigues, saying "Go Navy, Beat Army," and "Go Army, Beat Navy".

It was announced earlier that week that President George W. Bush would be in attendance for the second time in four years. He was at the 2001 game, just three months after the 9/11 attacks. He realized then that he was needed at that game, and he realized that he needed to be at the 105th meeting, during Operation Enduring Freedom.

It was at that moment that I realized the magnitude of the rivalry.

The game is more than just a game, more so a patriotic spectacle. Before the game when the teams take the field, a squadron of Navy F14 fighter jets zoomed overheard, followed by seven clattering Army Apache helicopter gunships.

President Bush spoke to the teams before the game, telling them about character, class and leadership and how much the country needs these young men.

The President was given the honor of performing the coin toss, which a coin from Fallujah was used. When he switched sides to sit on at halftime and he walked across midfield, flash bulbs in the stands were going off like the Red Sox had just won the World Series.

"It was a great honor to have the President come to the game. He told us to think about the people overseas and the importance of what we are doing," said Eckel.

When asked who would win the game, the President responded, "The United States of America."

The game itself was a laugher. Navy jumped out to a 28-0 lead and never looked back in cruising to a 42-13 victory. Amazingly, in the nation's greatest rivalry, the win allowed the Midshipmen to tie the all-time series, 49-49-7. The series has been so close that Navy is outscoring its West Point brethren by a mere 194 points or just 1.85 points per game.

However, the game and the significance of it worldwide can be summed up in one picture that ran in Sunday's Annapolis Capital. Eckel, who bullied Army for a career-high 179 yards, is seen running away toward the endzone in front of nearly the entire Army defense. The shot is from the endzone. It is likely a picture seen in just about every Sunday newspaper across the country. However, what may be different from all the others is that the Army defenders are trying all they can to catch Eckel. As Navy football radio analyst Bob Socci wrote, "You don't give up. Not in Army-Navy, where win or lose, you don't quit on the play and you never quit on your brothers."

And that's what teammates are at Army and Navy -?brothers. The Naval Academy has had three former players die in combat the last year. Before the Navy team took the field, it passed the uniforms of their fallen brothers, Ron Winchester (Class of '01), Scott Zellem (Class of '90) and J.P. Blecksmith (Class of '03), touching the team in its own way. Members of this year's team knew Blecksmith well. It served as a reminder of what they are really doing at school.

"Football is just a diversion," said senior safety Josh Smith, a future Marine. "You know when you come here, you have a duty. I might be over there (overseas) and they could be talking about me in a couple of years."

"It's something you can't get away from," said Navy quarterback Aaron Polanco. "This year, three guys from this program gave their lives for what they believed in. Football is fun, but we have to go on to the real world. We know there's something bigger we're going to. I have no regrets, and I am thankful for everything that I have and the opportunities this experience will provide."

Army is struggling on the field, but both sides know the Cadets, coached by former San Diego Chargers' head man Bobby Ross, will be competitive again.

"They'll get better," said Polanco. "They'll get it turned around. We'll be enemies on the field, but when all is said and done, we're one. We are a brotherhood."

After the game, the two teams stand in front of each other's brigade, singing the alma mater. The losing team goes first, followed by the winning team. It is a fitting tribute for rivals that will one day be teammates.

Players from both sides fought back tears, knowing for 61 seniors on the playing field that this will be the last Army-Navy game they will compete in. That in six months, their duties will become much different than just trying to win a football game against their arch-rival.

Every year, the game arrives when America needs it most, when we need to be washed clean of the sins and wrongdoings that has plagued college football and sports in general. Urban Meyer, Ron Artest, Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds all have talked about commitment. They should have been in the stands, listened to the teams after the game and see the way the game should be played.

Maybe then, they would know what commitment really is.

It is hard to put into words the pride and emotions that I felt during the game, knowing these kids are playing for a greater good. It is why the Army-Navy game is an event every sports fan should see at least once. It truly is America's sporting event.

As President Bush said, "The United States of America," wins this game.