Eat, Drink, and Beat Navy (12/08/05) --

Back in the mid-nineties when I first started to avidly follow college football, the first weekend in December was the absolute worst. Only the SEC championship was floating around back then to give you a decent game and beyond that, the meaningful college football season was over. The week before you had all of the traditionally powerful and nationally significant rivalry games to salivate over, but it all came to a crashing halt in December. The worst part about it for me was that the television threw me two very unsatisfying bones that masqueraded as decent football: The Bayou Classic and the Army/Navy game.

The Bayou Classic is still totally worthless and meaningless to me, and based upon its disappearance from TV, I’m not alone in this club. The Army/Navy game is a different animal, however. Back then I couldn’t look past the subpar football to see the true significance of the rivalry. When I did, however, I finally realized how great this game really is.

Of course, I might just be saying this because I was in attendance this past Saturday in the city of cheese steaks and Rocky Balboa.

With one of my friends being a fourth-year cadet at West Point, the opportunity to see the game in person was one that I could not pass up. All around Philadelphia throughout the weekend, there was a palpable buzz for the game. Officers from throughout the military were highly visible in the city and Philly was trumpeting the fact that it was again hosting this game. The students were a mixed bag, though. The cadets were inconspicuous in their street clothes, while the midshipmen went out of their way to flaunt their official dress as they strutted about town.

This made it all the easier to pull for Army. You have to respect the guys who have the cool uniform that gets worn once a year waiting in the hotel room, but still choose to roam the streets in their “Joe’s Crab Shack” t-shirts. Modesty, perhaps, could be an addition to the famous honor code.

When they entered the stadium, it was all business of course. We were fortunate enough to get there in time to see the USMA pre-game lineup on the field and to pick out my buddy Chase in front of his company. Anyone who says that seeing a Duke basketball game and hearing their crowd is the epitome of college sports, clearly has not seen a tight formation of cadets boom at the same time “Go Army. Sink Navy!” Spine-tingling stuff. I have never seen anything like it.

When you watch on television, the most striking thing is always the views of the two student sections. With both groups standing in one group, in official dress, it’s tough to imagine how impossibly hard it would be to sit in with either group.

Considering there is nobody taking tickets or monitoring who goes in and out, it’s about as hard as choosing a seat at a Little League game.

Our tickets for the game were in one of the two crossfire sections, the little strips of seats separating the two academies in the stands. But Chase walked us right into the heart of the cadets and we sat there for the duration of the game. He basically said that if you are around college age, nobody notices when the cadets bring their friends in. Few people get to experience the Army/Navy game, fewer still get to do so from the middle of the academy student section. And even fewer get to do it without having to get up at 5:30 every day for formation and class.

Obviously I didn’t know any of the official cheers or the names of the players on the Army team, but it was impossible not to get completely behind the men of West Point. But while the first half was a hotly contested affair, the superior Navy team ended up running away with the game. Like I said, the Army/Navy game is usually pretty bad football. Saturday was no exception. If you wanted a write-up of the game you’d go to a far more professional source, so allow me to give you a brief Paul Harvey “rest of the story” from the Army/Navy clash instead.

Before the game, the chants were plentiful and vociferous from both sides. They mainly consisted of knocking the “spirit videos” that the students had made and had played on the video boards, but also ventured to other areas as well. My favorite exchange was the one where the middies started chanting “Watch our bowl game.” I figured there was no way that the cadets would be able to properly counter that, but their “Watch our war” reply was far more than adequate. And in the rare cases that Navy did outdue Army with a video or chant, the requisite “Yeah, but you’re still gay” jeers from the cadets were an acceptable response.

As the game rolled on and Navy’s backup fullback was racking up his 192 yards rushing, the cadets were becoming demoralized. Everyone was still standing naturally, but the enthusiasm was gone. One cadet climbed onto another’s shoulders and began doing his best Robert E. Lee impression trying to rally the troops to maintain a front against Navy.

“Come on, this is Navy! We can’t give up now! Get in the game! Blah! Blah! Blah!”

But our friend John, a cadet as well, spoke for everyone when he simply commanded back “Shut the fuck up and watch game.” Part of being a cadet is above-average acumen in examining a situation for what it is and clearly John is the master.

When the game concluded, the respective teams gathered in front of their sections to sing their alma maters, with the opposing team standing at attention behind them. It certainly reinforced the point that while the two teams are intense adversaries, they are still ultimately the greatest of teammates. Even if the cadets still think the middies are gay.

Army/Navy. What an experience. Watching the game in future years will have a whole new significance for me, but don't get any ideas about me stooping to the Bayou Classic.

The Leonardite