Army vs. Navy 2014: 5 things you might not know about the rivalry

al.com ^ | Dec. 9, 2014 | Creg Stephenson

[PROCON]

Navy coach salary $1,700,000-Mascot=Midshipmen

Army coach salary $700,000-Mascot=Black Knights

I see a very racist disparity here; Paging Al Sharpton...

[FlipWilson]

Lafayette Lehigh did play the 150th game but it does not go back 150 years. For sometime they have payed twice per year. Having said that, it is an older rivalry than Army-Navy.

[Billthedrill]

...and the sad thing is that they GLOAT

My late Dad was a Colonel and a career Army man. His eldest, best, brilliant, incomparable son whose name modesty forbids me to mention chose to become a Naval officer. What the beer-fueled Army-Navy games were like at our place is fairly easy to imagine. But gloat? Never. Never once. I never, never stooped to reminding him that there really does need to be only one military service and the Navy has it all. Never did I mention that women swoon when a sailor walks by and shriek with horror at the sight of an Army goof muttering "hay foot, straw foot..." (OK, you gotta be REALLY old to remember that one but he told me about it). Gloat? Perish the thought!

I am, of course neutral in the matter. Go Middies!

[battlecry]

Not a dumb question at all. Army has a physical training school. Their PT test is called the Army Physical Fitness Test (AFPT) and they also have a weight control program (AWCP). That last one is what keeps their players at a disadvantage. They do not waive the specs for the football team (that I know of)

[nascarnation]

I can see how that impacts Army vs the rest of the NCAA.
But how do those regs compare with Navy? Or AF for that matter?

[ConorMacNessa]

We gloat? No, Army Bro - we simply express our delight at our annual victory over the vaunted Black Knights of the Hudson with unmitigated enthusiasm.

But on a serious note, this is truly the only game in the season that matters for either of our teams - Army-Navy IS the season.

I don't know about the Army, but in Navy's locker room there are team pictures of the teams from all of the years Navy won. You don't beat Army, you don't make the wall. I went to law school with a Navy football grad who started at defensive guard all three years he was eligible. Navy did not beat Army in those years - I believe it was '64-'66 - and he never made it onto the wall.

"Dia shábháil ar fad anseo!"

This is the Arabic character "nun" – the first letter of the word "Nazarene." I post it as my avatar in solidarity with people of all faiths suffering persecution at the hands of Islam. Many of them are members of the oldest of our Christian Communities, dating from the days of the Apostles. They endure cruel, merciless and unrelenting persecution. They are Orthodox and Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical, Coptic, Pentecostal, and Baptist. To the persecutors they, and we, are all "Nazarenes."

[PROCON]

Thanks for not gloating and say hi to your best brilliant brother for me :-)

I'm going with the fashionable color this year:

Go Black Knights!

[nascarnation]

I did a quick look at the rosters for both.
Doesn’t look much different.
Both Army and Navy have some 280, 290 pounders.
Army has one lineman over 300.

[bobby.223]

‘Mr. Inside’ and Mr. ‘Outside’, (Any FReeper oldsters remember those 2?!), all wrapped up in one awesome package right there!! Go ARMY!!!

[ladyjane]

Lehigh-Lafayette didn’t have their first game until 1884.

Harvard vs Yale was 1875.

[USNBandit]

Not the Gadsden Flag. It is from the first navy jack, which has the same snake and slogan on red and white stripes. It used to be flown by the oldest active ship in the Navy. In 2002 it was authorized for all Navy ships during the GWOT.

[longhorn too]

Go Navy!

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Many years ago, the Navy briefly had a second mascot, the “Woopoo”, a slang term for West Point. It looked like a big, white bag, which they described as “10 pounds of (feces) in a 5 pound bag”. Inside the bag, it was carried around by some poor Midshipman, whose legs stuck out the bottom.

Needless to say, the West Point cadets did not care for this, so when the Woopoo got too close, they would chase him away.

[holyscroller]

‘Scuse me Mr. Pro, but the Navy mascot is Bill the GOAT, a fine specimen who regularly gets kidnapped by a motley crew from up somewhere on the Hudson. Of course a certain Army mule has been known to turn up in Annapolis town and feast on some fine grazing near the Severn too. All is fair in war and the Army-Navy game.

[ViLaLuz]

That’s actually the Navy Jack for the Navy. The Gadsden flag is the yellow one with the coiled snake.

[wfu_deacons]

Navy athelics is funded by the Naval Academy Athletic Association and receives no federal tax dollars. Army and Air Force use tax dollars to fund their athletic to some extent.

[BlueNgold]

Not Gadsden, it’s the first navy jack.

[BlueNgold]

One of the reasons for Navy’s success is the broader competition to get into Annapolis. It remains a more desirable choice than the other service academies.

Last year we certified more than 17,000 applicants.
West Point certified only about 13,000.

That gives us an advantage of about a 30% larger recruiting pool.

Also, as with any program, success breeds success. Winning records and bowl games = more competitive recruiting. It’s also how we pay our coach that much.

Much respect to my friends in grey, but I’m hoping for lucky 13. At some point the streak will end, but I’m riding this train until the whistle runs out of steam.

Go Navy.

[PROCON]

I just love watching the game. What a tradition!

America's finest down on the field, playing their hearts out.

And in the stands, Cadets and Midshipmen, dressed in their best traditional academy uniforms, hooting and hollering for their beloved team.

And then the ceremony at the end of the game, despite who wins; where each team gathers together to honor the other's alma mater and to sing their respective academy songs.

To me, Sir, that's what it's all about.

But I still hope Army kicks Navy's butt :-)

[Comment Not Approved]

My son is a Naval Academy graduate, class of 2013, now serving on DDG 111, USS Spruance.

He goes to nuke school next and after that will be on a reactor team on an aircraft carrier.

I went to the Navy Army game in 08. Great experience.

GO NAVY!