The Army-Navy football game is must see for me each year.
You can keep the broken system that college football uses to determine a national champion. You can keep your setup where certain teams are denied a chance to play for a national title. You can take your millions upon millions of dollars that schools make off the backs of their football players and put it, well, you know where you can stick it.
Rivalries come in all shapes and forms. Yes, the Alabama-Auburn rivalry is heated and full of hate. The Georgia-Georgia Tech game is fun for me as I have friends on both sides of the issue and they really go after one another each fall when the game arrives.
However, there is nothing quite like Army playing Navy. It doesn’t matter what record the teams enter the game with, it’s going to be a battle from start to finish. You hear that said about a lot of games as coaches will throw out cliches about “records not mattering” and “anything can happen on any given Saturday.” That’s usually just “coaching talk,” but in this case it’s 100 percent true.
There is pride involved when you play for one of the service academies. They are representing literally thousands of former players who competed before them. They are representing the men and women stationed around the world who anxiously count down the days, months even, until kickoff. It seemed fitting that this year’s game was played in Washington, D.C., after a push from Daniel Snyder, who owns the pro football team. Even President Obama seemed to be caught up in all the emotion of the game as he made a guest appearance in the booth. While the President deserves credit for understanding the importance of the game, his knowledge of college football in general was somewhat lacking. I suppose he does have other things to worry about.
Neither Army or Navy was playing for a trip to a bowl game this year. Neither team would finish the season with a winning record. However, you wouldn’t have known it by watching the effort given on the field. Every yard was fought for by both teams. Each first down was a big deal. Each score was reason to celebrate. These are players who appreciate what college football means.
The game, as is usually the case, was close. Navy would prevail 27-21 but Army fought tooth and nail the entire way.
What happens after the game is what makes this rivalry stand alone in my opinion. As much as the players want to win the game, they realize they are all teammates for our country. Many of those who competed on the field Saturday will be facing a different type of opponent in the future. An opponent that doesn’t shake your hand or wish you well after the battle is over.
While I admire what these players are doing in terms of self-sacrifice, I really don’t understand it completely. It takes a strong person to take on the challenge each of them has. I’m thankful because I’m not sure I would be up to that challenge.
So, you can keep your talk of rematches for a mythical national title. You can keep a system of play that is not fair to many schools. For me, I’ll take Army vs. Navy anytime. It’s what college athletics should be about.
We’ve gotten too far away from it, however, and it’s a shame that is where we have ended up.
Chris Bridges is sports editor of the Barrow Journal. You can reach him at cbridges@barrowjournal.com.
