Attending this game was a birthday gift from my lovely bride. This video features two cheers from the cadets and the mids on the field during their march on. It also includes includes one of the finest, and sadly least utilized traditions in college sport, the singing of both alma maters.
And it was a historical day.
This was the first time the classic game had been played inside the Washington D.C. beltway. It was also only the second time that both the president and vice president attended. Navy extended their series-long win streak over Army to 10 games. The Middies chanted “Ten more years!”
Mike Lopresti, writing in USA Today’s special section on the game:
(H)ere come Army and Navy. In a restless sport of frequent doubt and tumultuous questions, they have more answers than anyone. They know what they want to do, they know why they’re there. And they know what’s ahead.
“Everybody on that field has chosen a very unique path in their young lives,” Army coach Rich Ellerson said last week at a news conference.
They will play Saturday with nothing on the line but pride and honor and a sense of achievement, and that will be quite enough. For these Cadets and Midshipmen, each and every day, that is enough.
[…]
It matters because how many other college football Saturday afternoons go untouched by money or excess or misplaced perspective?
It matters because, in an ego-driven sports world, the television screen is seldom so filled with men who understand selflessness.
Attending this game is a great experience. Go if you can.
