The Patriot Post® · Army-Navy: More Than a Football Game
OK, it’s just a college football game — but I think there’s more to it than that.
I’m still basking in the glow of Saturday’s Army-Navy football game. For sure, some of that residual glow comes from my Navy team’s stirring come-from-behind victory.
But the Army-Navy game is a true American classic, and part of its afterglow is from the pride and joy about our great country that comes with every edition of that annual meeting of these two rivals. That shot in the arm was particularly welcome this year because the news of the day — and of this whole year — has been relentlessly bleak.
It’s often said that sports emulate life. Maybe in this case, life should emulate sports.
This year’s Army-Navy game was the 117th meeting of those two archrivals dating back to 1890. Their interservice rivalry now includes the U.S. Air Force Academy, with each team facing the other two annually, vying for the Commander-in-Chief Trophy. But the storied competition between Army and Navy remains one of the most-watched and revered games of every college football season.
The Army-Navy game is an unbridled patriotic feast. From its pre-game march-on of the entire West Point Corps of Cadets and the U.S. Naval Academy Brigade of Midshipman, to the Navy and Army flyovers, to the national anthem that seems to be sung by every one of the 82,000 fans in attendance, to the televised spirit ads through the game from ships at sea and military posts in far corners of the world, Army-Navy is a demonstration to America of the priceless gift of our Armed Forces.
The unabashed patriotism is infectious because it is 100% authentic. Every cadet and midshipman on the field and in the stands (as with their Air Force counterparts) has already started his or her journey of military service; nearly all will serve for years, and many will pursue full military careers.
It’s a life of commitment to country, of hard work, of inevitable long separations from home and family and at times of intimidating challenge and sometimes danger. As a sobering example, Saturday’s game honored the memory of U.S. Navy Commander Brian Bourgeois, a former Navy football player and commanding officer of SEAL Team 8 who died in a training accident just over one week ago.
The spirit of common commitment shows on the field of play. Interservice games are fiercely contested, with athleticism, passion, and determination on display on every play. It’s pure football, with no showboating, no end-zone dances, and no taunting of opponents.
Saturday’s game was a nail-biter, fought to the bitter end. And then — as always in this rivalry — when time expired and with the outcome assured, the players, midshipmen, cadets, and spectators listened together to both alma maters, in mutual respect and admiration of what they’d just watched.
Compare the Army-Navy coexisting fierce competition and mutual respect with the bitter take-no-prisoners relationship among our U.S. political factions.
We like to think that our elected officials are the best and the brightest our nation has to offer. We have every reason to expect them to act accordingly.
They don’t. Each side delights in disrespect for the other in words and actions. They pursue political victory with no compunctions about the methods and tactics employed to achieve it. They goad, belittle, harass, and undermine one another. They’re happy when their political opponents fail, even when that failure is bad for their country.
In today’s Congress, established legislative order is fine, as long as it doesn’t get in the way. Senate rules are expendable. Both sides are terrific at blaming, while shouldering no responsibility for their own mistakes.
Our elected representatives in the House and Senate are remarkably willing to abandon their own best judgment and promises to their constituents in favor of voting as directed by party leaders. Debate on proposed legislation goes nowhere because neither side is willing to compromise on anything. They pass legislation that is loved by some and hated by others.
Forgive me for romanticizing a football game and for comparing it to hardball politics. But on reflection, I’m not sure they’re very different.
Aren’t we Americans all on the same team? Are there not common principles, common ethics, common values that should rise above petty politics? Maybe those elected pols might learn something from a few bruised and battered football players, arm-in-arm in victory and defeat, bonded by mutual respect and common cause.
On Saturday, the back of each Army player’s football jersey carried the words “United We Stand.” Surely that sentiment should extend far beyond the football field.