Every year since 1890, the Army Black Knights of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York do battle with the Navy Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. It is a game filled with all the best attributes exhibited by college footballl: team and school spirit, hard-fought football and comradeship and shared military experience at the end of each contest.
The Black Knights (called "Cadets" at USMA) and the Midshipmen each represent the two oldest sources of commissioned officers in their respective military service branches. For this, and many other reasons, the game has come to embody the essence of the interservice rivalry found within the US military.
The Army-Navy game also marks the end of the college football regular season and it's always the third and final game played in the service academies' Commander-in-Chief Trophy series, which also includes the Air Force Falcons of the United States Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado. Those fellows were once Army, and somewhat akin to wayward stepchildren, and are considered the junior members of the military service academy triumvirate.
There have been 117 meetings total between Army and Navy, with the Midshipmen sporting a 60-50-7 record against the Black Knights of the Hudson. Army won last year's contest, however, ending Navy's longest-in-the-rivalry 14-game winning streak (2002-2015). This year's game promises to be an intense affair between Cadet and Midshipman.
The game itself has been played in multiple locations over the decades, including in Pasadena, California (1983) and Chicago (1926). It's been most frequently contested in the Northeast region, though, and has most often seen play in Philadelphia, followed by New York and then the Baltimore-Washington area.
One of the reasons for the game's enduring appeal is that the players are playing solely for love of the game, with almost all of them expected to fulfill a several-years-long, post-graduation active duty service commitment. By the time that five-year hitch ends, most players are considered too old to be able to play football at the pro level.
But even at that, some players have indeed gone on to successful pro football careers, with Navy's Roger Staubach probably being the most famous of them all. He's a 1965 Naval Academy graduate and the last service academy player to win the Heisman Trophy as best college player of the year, After fulfilling his service commitment, Staubach went on to a Hall of Fame career as a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, winning two Super Bowls and being named MVP of Super Bowl VI.
The game is emotional for the team's "First Classmen," or seniors, as it will probably be the last competitive regular season football game they'll ever play. During wartime, and we're still sending troops to fight all over the world, the game takes on even greater importance, as some players will undoubtedly soon see combat, perhaps even dying as a result.
At the game's conclusion, no matter which side wins, the official fight songs of both schools are played and sung, with the winning team's fight song sung second. For military service academy graduates (called "ring knockers" or "trade school grads" by all us non-service-academy-commissioned officers ;-), noting that they "sang second" that day is a way of proudly saying that their team won.
As far as the service academy fight songs go, for the Navy, the stadium is filled with the sounds of "Anchors Aweigh," while Army fans' hearts thump at the stirring intro to "On Brave Old Army Team."
Another tradition at game's end is that the winning team stands alongside the losing team and faces the losing service academy's student body, which is seated in a single section of the stadium. The losing team, then accompanies the winning team, facing their student body. This is done as a show of mutual respect and solidarity among the two military service branches.
The rivalry between Army and Navy when it comes to their most-important game of the year is of course friendly, but also intense. Army cadets eat, sleep, live and breathe the phrase "Beat Navy!" The same holds true for Navy midshipmen, who have the opposite phrase "Beat Army!" ingrained within them. The game is a microcosm of the same friendly-yet-intense rivalry that often exists between the two service branches, as it does between all four military service branches.
There's even a tradition at the game of conducting a "prisoner exchange" between the two academies during the pre-game festivities. The "prisoners" are cadets and midshipmen who are spending the current semester studying at the sister academy: Army cadets at Annapolis, Navy midshipmen at West Point. After the "prisoners" are exchanged they'll have a brief respite in which to enjoy the game with their fellow cadets or midshipmen. Then it's back to the prisoner of war camp for them.
No matter the overall won-lost records of the teams (Navy 6-5; Army 8-3) -- and both are bowl-bound this year! -- the Army-Navy game determines, in many respects, whether each team had a successful season. Lose to the other service academy and it's a bit of a downer, even if your team is going on to a post-season bowl. Win, even if you haven't won any other game all year, and there's some sunshine in the sky above.
Army Cadets in all their glory:
Navy Midshipmen, likewise:
"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
The Black Knights (called "Cadets" at USMA) and the Midshipmen each represent the two oldest sources of commissioned officers in their respective military service branches. For this, and many other reasons, the game has come to embody the essence of the interservice rivalry found within the US military.
The Army-Navy game also marks the end of the college football regular season and it's always the third and final game played in the service academies' Commander-in-Chief Trophy series, which also includes the Air Force Falcons of the United States Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado. Those fellows were once Army, and somewhat akin to wayward stepchildren, and are considered the junior members of the military service academy triumvirate.
There have been 117 meetings total between Army and Navy, with the Midshipmen sporting a 60-50-7 record against the Black Knights of the Hudson. Army won last year's contest, however, ending Navy's longest-in-the-rivalry 14-game winning streak (2002-2015). This year's game promises to be an intense affair between Cadet and Midshipman.
The game itself has been played in multiple locations over the decades, including in Pasadena, California (1983) and Chicago (1926). It's been most frequently contested in the Northeast region, though, and has most often seen play in Philadelphia, followed by New York and then the Baltimore-Washington area.
One of the reasons for the game's enduring appeal is that the players are playing solely for love of the game, with almost all of them expected to fulfill a several-years-long, post-graduation active duty service commitment. By the time that five-year hitch ends, most players are considered too old to be able to play football at the pro level.
But even at that, some players have indeed gone on to successful pro football careers, with Navy's Roger Staubach probably being the most famous of them all. He's a 1965 Naval Academy graduate and the last service academy player to win the Heisman Trophy as best college player of the year, After fulfilling his service commitment, Staubach went on to a Hall of Fame career as a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, winning two Super Bowls and being named MVP of Super Bowl VI.
The game is emotional for the team's "First Classmen," or seniors, as it will probably be the last competitive regular season football game they'll ever play. During wartime, and we're still sending troops to fight all over the world, the game takes on even greater importance, as some players will undoubtedly soon see combat, perhaps even dying as a result.
At the game's conclusion, no matter which side wins, the official fight songs of both schools are played and sung, with the winning team's fight song sung second. For military service academy graduates (called "ring knockers" or "trade school grads" by all us non-service-academy-commissioned officers ;-), noting that they "sang second" that day is a way of proudly saying that their team won.
As far as the service academy fight songs go, for the Navy, the stadium is filled with the sounds of "Anchors Aweigh," while Army fans' hearts thump at the stirring intro to "On Brave Old Army Team."
Another tradition at game's end is that the winning team stands alongside the losing team and faces the losing service academy's student body, which is seated in a single section of the stadium. The losing team, then accompanies the winning team, facing their student body. This is done as a show of mutual respect and solidarity among the two military service branches.
The rivalry between Army and Navy when it comes to their most-important game of the year is of course friendly, but also intense. Army cadets eat, sleep, live and breathe the phrase "Beat Navy!" The same holds true for Navy midshipmen, who have the opposite phrase "Beat Army!" ingrained within them. The game is a microcosm of the same friendly-yet-intense rivalry that often exists between the two service branches, as it does between all four military service branches.
There's even a tradition at the game of conducting a "prisoner exchange" between the two academies during the pre-game festivities. The "prisoners" are cadets and midshipmen who are spending the current semester studying at the sister academy: Army cadets at Annapolis, Navy midshipmen at West Point. After the "prisoners" are exchanged they'll have a brief respite in which to enjoy the game with their fellow cadets or midshipmen. Then it's back to the prisoner of war camp for them.
No matter the overall won-lost records of the teams (Navy 6-5; Army 8-3) -- and both are bowl-bound this year! -- the Army-Navy game determines, in many respects, whether each team had a successful season. Lose to the other service academy and it's a bit of a downer, even if your team is going on to a post-season bowl. Win, even if you haven't won any other game all year, and there's some sunshine in the sky above.
Army Cadets in all their glory:
Navy Midshipmen, likewise:
"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
Last edited by:
big kahuna: Dec 9, 17 8:57
