These are the greatest rivalries sports has ever seen ? Ali-Frazier, Evert-Navratilova, Russell-Chamberlain, Bird-Magic. Yankees-Red Sox, Cowboys-Redskins.
But as great as they were, every single one of them pales in comparison to Army-Navy football, a rivalry that?s been played out for 106 years and a rivalry that is burned forever into the psyche of every cadet at West Point and every midshipman at the Naval Academy.
Just ask Carly Meyer, a member of the women?s basketball team at Navy. As a plebe, she wondered why her senior teammates worked themselves up for the Army game.
“My first year here, I didn?t understand what the big deal was,” she said.
Three years later (after five painful losses to Army), the light turned on.
“Now I get it,” she said.
But what is “it”? And what makes the football rivalry, which started with an Army victory in 1890, so intense, so filled with passion that a pair of 1-10 teams would pack Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., with 78,672 fans, as happened four years ago?
For Naval Academy graduates Bill Natter (1964) and his brother Bob (1967), this rich rivalry helps to underscore a point about Navy pride.
“I work with a guy who went to West Point,” said Bob Natter, a retired admiral with 41 years under his belt. “We have a standing bet for every game. He?s lost a hell of a lot of money over the years ? 50 bucks a game, and boy, that feels so good.”
“The rivalry is special because there is such a tremendous respect for the other institution,” added Bill Natter. “These players realize that it?s just healthy competition, and after graduation they are going to be on the same team protecting our nation.”
Still, Bob Natter wants to make it clear Navy never takes a backseat to Army.
“We have the highest graduation rate ? higher than West Point and Air Force,” he added. “I know that those other schools ? Stanford, Boston College, Notre Dame ? are very high [academically], but not as high as the Naval Academy.”
Army senior defensive end Cameron Craig knows that many of the players suiting up for Saturday?s showdown ? both Cadets and Middies ? have Iraq in their futures, and that alone draws a lot of attention to the game.
“This rivalry has a far broader appeal because a lot of people either know people in the military or have served in the military,” he said.
Navy senior linebacker Rob Caldwell said he thinks about those serving on the front lines every day and knows that this game will carry a lot of importance to those soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“The players who go to Army and Navy want to be a part of something bigger in life than football,” he said.
Added Natter: “Fans like the game because it?s real undergrads playing football, not football players doing undergrad work on the side.”
The pressure to defeat Army is something that Navy linebacker Tyler Tidwell knows all too well.
He and his fellow seniors have never lost to Army. Navy has won the last four meetings by a combined score of 176-54.
Still, Tidwell said records and past games mean nothing when the Midshipmen and Black Knights collide. Army will look to tie the overall series. Navy holds a 50-49-7 lead in the series.
“It?s the best rivalry in the country,” he said. “At a service academy you represent so much more than just a university or state. You represent a branch of the armed services.
“When we play with a Navy jersey on, we represent everyone in the fleet and Marine Corps, and that is something special to us. We know there are people deployed around the world who are tuning in to watch our game.”
THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING
A worldwide TV and radio audience and 70,000-plus screaming fans in attendance, it has become the must-see event. In years past history unfolded in the clash.
In fact, instant replay made its debut in the 1962 game. That game featured President John F. Kennedy, who had just recently negotiated the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis, performing the coin toss.
It also featured Roger “The Dodger” Staubach, the Dallas Cowboy Hall of Famer, tossing two touchdowns and scrambling for another as Navy posted a 34-14 upset over Army.
More than a game, it is what former Washington Post sports writer John Feinsten called “The Civil War” in his book that bares that title, and details the rare 1996 season in which both teams earned a bowl bid.
While this year Navy is headed toward a bowl trip, and Army has fallen on hard times, it still remains the game that both teams circle on their schedule. It?s the must-win of the season.
“The coaches talk about it from day one,” said one former Midshipman. “It?s that important.”
No matter the result of the game, the Midshipmen will, for the fourth consecutive year, retain possession of the Commander-in-Chief?s Trophy, awarded annually to the winner of the season series between Army, Navy and Air Force. Navy earned this right by defeating Air Force, which subsequently beat Army.
“We haven?t done anything yet,” Navy coach Paul Johnson said. “We are in a position to win it, but we haven?t accomplished that yet. Retaining it is not the goal. Winning the thing is the goal.”
MORE THAN JUST FOOTBALL
Football represents the centerpiece of the competition between Army and Navy. However, that doesn?t mean football is the sole measuring stick to gauge a successful year.
Every team that Army and Navy fields participates in the rivalry.
For any midshipman a great source of pride is their ability to display an N-Star on his or her letter sweater. The N-Star is given to any Navy student-athlete who qualifies for a varsity letter and defeats Army in a designated “star game.”
Last year, Navy posted a 14-8 record against Army in star games while going 18-14 against the Black Knights overall.
“It?s a surreal experience to be a part of an Army-Navy game,” said Navy junior Brigitte Fox, who, as a member of the women?s soccer team, led the Midshipmen to a 4-0 victory Oct. 6 at Army.
While both Army and Navy have an equally difficult time recruiting athletes because of high academic requirements, lack of athletic scholarships and military obligation after graduation, the Midshipmen have been more successful in the overall competition of sporting events.
Navy leads Army, 853-648-38, including a 190-96-5 advantage (139-60-5 in star games) in the last 10 years. Navy has also posted a winning record against Army in 33 of the last 36 years while winning the last 10 N-Star series. The Midshipmen?s biggest advantage comes on the wrestling mat, where they lead the series, 40-5-5. Army?s largest advantage comes in women?s volleyball, where it has beaten Navy 29 out of 38 meetings.
“There is an institutional commitment to beat Army,” Navy Athletic Director Chet Gladchuck said. “This is the most significant rivalry in sports. The academy takes the rivalry very seriously. Whether it?s football, basketball, rifle or golf, you want to win that game.
“There is a lot of pride at stake to win the N-Star competition. But at the end of the day you join hands in solidarity because there is a greater purpose for all of the athletes and that is serving the country.
“In order to do that effectively, you have to be unified.”
After Saturday?s football classic all the seniors from both schools will become one.
The next time they meet, it likely will be on a real battlefield where they will be teammates fighting for freedom in a far-away land.
Examiner intern Matthew McCarron contributed to this story.
