As I write this week’s article, I have to admit I have a big smile on my face! Last night Navy beat Army in the annual huge college football rivalry with the score 31 to 13! I’m not a big football fan and don’t usually watch any football on TV, even when Navy is on. But, this game is different! In fact, I can really get worked up and get out of control with exuberance, exhausting really, as was the case yesterday afternoon! There is a lot to the game besides football. In person is the best as you get to see all the pregame activities with jets flying in formation over the stadium, helicopters come up from seemingly nowhere, parachute teams from both Army and Navy screaming down into the stadium and so much more. Then watching the Corp of Cadets and the Midshipmen march into the stadium, I couldn’t be prouder of our academies. And then, best of all for me, is after the game is over, the winning team goes over to the losing team’s side and pays respect to the losing team as the Corp of Cadets, in this case, sing their school alma mater and then they switch side and the losing team goes to the winning team side and pays their respect as Navy, in this case, sings theirs.  

Both teams had a great season with Army ranked 18th with a 11-1 season and Navy, while not ranked, had a 8-3 season. Combined, they had a 19-4 record, the most ever combined wins ever! Earlier this year, both Army and Navy beat the Air Force Academy which gives Navy the Commander-in-Chief trophy. An interesting note is that the Air Force has one more Commander-in-Chief trophies than either Navy or Army with 21 wins, to Navy’s 16 and Army’s 10. Now, Navy gets to cheer for Army in the Independence Bowl on Dec. 28 against Louisiana Tech in Shreveport, Louisiana. And Army gets to cheer on Navy at the Armed Forces Bowl against Oklahoma in Fort Worth, Texas on Dec. 27. The Oklahoma Sooners have a 6-6 record but they play a tough schedule. Oklahoma did play the University of Maine and won 59-14. Gives everyone in Maine a reason to root for Navy! One thing for sure, now that the A-N game is over, no matter how loud one side or the other shouted out Beat Navy or Beat Army, no matter all the rhetoric for one side or the other, we all come together as one military family and, as a friend of mine (Army) says… “one team, one fight.”

This is also the season that brings friends and family together to celebrate the holidays. I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Chanukah holiday! And to all, as we end this challenging year, I wish everyone a Happy Holiday and pray for peace in the new year!