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Army-Navy is the greatest college football game of the year

A bonus Hemingway today. I’m out for several days. Off to a wedding in Annapolis, MD, tomorrow, then spending a day haunting the old Bethesda neighborhood, same as I did when covering Bengals games in Baltimore. My former Enquirer boss, Michael Perry, will be in the Hemingway chair Friday morning, expertly telling you all you need to know about The Crosstown Shootout. Meantime, Mark Motz-rhymes-with-boats is in today, chatting up the Army-Navy game.

“Writing is easy. All you have to do is sit down at the typewriter, cut open a vein, and bleed.”
- Red Smith

Good morning, Mobsters.

Your Pinch Hemingway – Mark D. Motz – reporting for TML duty. That’s Motz. Rhymes with boats. It does not sound like an applesauce brand. That’s how I know a telemarketer is calling. “Is Mr. Mott’s in?” “Nope, nobody here by that name.” Click.

In case you’re curious, I’m a West-sider trapped in an East-sider’s body. I’ve ridden the Anderson Ferry, but live in Anderson Township. Scarfed many a hot pretzel and bowl of chili during Monday Night Football at the late, lamented Corner Pub on Glenway, but also inflicted my karaoke Brandy more times than I care to count on indifferent audiences at the late, lamented Blarney Stone on Beechmont.

Played for some of the worst Knothole teams ever assembled at the height of the Big Red Machine era. Played human victory cigar for a city champion high school hoops team at St. X at the height of the Moose Campbell era for the Slammers at the Cincinnati Gardens. Got my first paid bylines on the The Lantern at Ohio State University at the end of the Earle Bruce era and the dawn of the Columbus version of the Lost Decade under John Cooper. Both of which occurred before the there was a THE stupidly affixed to the front of the school. I’m a recovering journalist who still backslides on occasion to write for Melanie Laughman’s outstanding Greater Cincinnati preps crew at the Enquirer.

Your average ink-stained wretch – especially on the sports desk - complains about everything, trusts nothing, despises pretension, loves the pressure of a tight deadline and will debate artificial turf and the Oxford comma with equal vigor. And sometimes actually believe in the side he’s debating.

Now then…

This weekend features two of my favorite annual sporting events. Tomorrow’s TML has an excellent guest on board to discuss the Crosstown Shootout. Stay tuned for that.

But today we look at Army-Navy football. TML-PH sez checkitout Saturday at 3 p.m. on CBS; you can give your clicker a workout in the first half while the Shootout is on over at ESPN.

Can’t love this game enough.

It’s old school. It’s tough. It’s traditional. It’s steeped in lore. It’s legitimate American hero stuff.

It’s a big enough deal that 10 sitting presidents have attended the game, starting with Teddy Roosevelt (1901 & 1905) and running through Donald Trump (three straight from 2018 to 2020, as well as an appearance as president elect in 2016). Harry S Truman has the record with seven games in his eight years occupying the Oval Office. Give ‘Em Hell, Harry. John Feinstein’s A Civil War is the definitive deep dive on the game. (Speaking of authors with newspaper backgrounds.)

It’s that rare sporting event not entirely about winning. It’s about the honor code. The rigorous academics. Actual student-athletes, not the quasi-amateurs populating the rosters of the schools vying for a spot in the national championship game.

Not that these programs haven’t produced titles. (Granted, it’s been a while.) Army and Navy were ranked 1-2, respectively, when they met two years in a row in 1944 and 1945. The second of those games was a Game of the Century pick. Army came in ranked #1 a third straight year in 1946, taking its third consecutive national championship. Remarkable when you consider the little skirmish that awaited most of those players upon graduation.

Army-Navy was the game that rededicated Municipal Grant Park Stadium as Solider Field in Chicago in 1926. The 21-21 tie allowed Navy to remain unbeaten and claim its lone national championship.

I root for Navy because my uncle/godfather went to Annapolis, class of 1972. I still have the little yellow megaphone he gave me with “Go Navy! Beat Army!” wrapped around a leaping ram. My mom had to confiscate it on more than one occasion when I was kid because I never stopped yelling.

Of course Cincinnati’s own Roger Staubach (Purcell) won the Heisman Trophy at Navy in 1963 and went on to NFL glory with the Dallas Cowboys, earning a bust in Canton in 1985.

Which happens to be right around the time Milford High School’s Napoleon McCallum was going into his senior year at Navy. All McCallum did was land in the college football Hall of Fame as a two-time All-American, ending his career as the Midshipmen’s all-time leading rusher - a title he held until 2015 – and the all-time NCAA leader in all-purpose yards. He was MVP of the 1986 Senior Bowl and played six years in the NFL.

Army was the last military academy to bring a national ranking into the game, coming in at #22 in 2018 (and winning 17-10 that year). Navy leads the all-time series, 62-53-7 and won the 2021 matchup 16-13.

Navy stands 4-7 (including a 20-10 road loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats Nov. 5 at Nippert Stadium) coming into play Saturday. Army enters at 5-6 with a chance to finish .500 and bowl eligible. Their common opponent – the Air Force Academy – beat them both, winning 13-7 at Army Nov. 5 and 13-10 at home against Navy Oct. 1.

If you need a local angle to pique your interest, the Navy roster features senior Nicholas Straw (Lebanon), a 6-foot-2, 230-pound starter at the raider position – kind of an outside linebacker/stand-up defensive end. The Midshipmen also have a number of other Tri-State players including sophomore linebacker Luke Thiemann (LaSalle), senior wide receiver Zachary Kuhlman (Roger Bacon), sophomore quarterback Zach Branam (LaSalle), sophomore defensive end Michael Whitehouse (St. Xavier) and senior tight end Christian Hutchinson (Mason).

Army defensive back Jaydan Mayes (Fairfield) has played in eight games as a freshman and recorded an interception with a 19-yard return against UMass Thanksgiving weekend. Sophomore Davis Wulf (Clinton Massie) has seen limited action on the O-line, while junior linebacker Camden O’Gara (Wyoming) has 2.5 tackles for loss so far this season.

Coming in on the heels of Pearl Harbor Day, Army-Navy reminds me we’re all on the same American team once the games end.

TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . Meantime, as band nerd with no musical talent, take a look at this for the Tune of the Day and have a great weekend.