PHILADELPHIA
Given what members of the military are facing in Iraq, and what mission might soon await some of them, none of Army or Navy's football players could think of Saturday's 105th meeting of the service academies as anything but a game. This is not to say that they didn't take it seriously. They took it seriously, all right. They played the game with the kind of intensity only this uniquely pure rivalry can generate. They played in a game they would remember for the rest of their lives. But they also knew it wasn't life or death, not in the real sense, not as so many sports contests are made out to be.
"If you sign that piece of paper to play for Navy, you have to be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice," Aaron Polanco, Navy's senior quarterback, told The Sporting News earlier this year. Army players and other Navy players have said basically the same thing this season. The war has claimed the lives of former players in this game, and that brutal fact has been on the minds of this latest group to commit to the military.
"You don't know exactly what you're getting into, but it's a reality shock once you get into it," Polanco said after directing Navy to a 42-13 victory over Army on Saturday. "But no regrets, and I'm thankful for everything that I have. This year, three guys [who played for Navy] gave the ultimate sacrifice, gave their lives. Football is a great thing to do, and we have so much fun. But after our last game, we know there's something bigger we're going into."
Saturday was Navy's day at Army's expense for the fifth time in six years, the Mids' third straight lopsided victory in this series as West Point seeks to recover from as bleak a stretch as it has known in football. It was particularly Polanco's day against Army, for the first time, and it was something to enjoy. But as he spoke of it, he also recalled his fallen brothers: J.P. Blecksmith and Ron Winchester, who died in Iraq, and Scott Zellem, whose jet crashed in the Pacific.
Their Navy jerseys were placed on three chairs near midfield on the Mids' sideline Saturday. The remembrance put everything into perspective for Polanco, and others.
Polanco has had to wait the last two years behind Craig Candeto, who led the Mids to 34-6 and 58-12 victories over the Black Knights. Polanco, a 6-foot senior, had to be patient, and this season he has proven to be more than a capable successor to Candeto. But waiting was no sacrifice as Polanco saw it; it was enough to be part of the team. He has been patient for some time, having come out of high school in Texas with no scholarship offers to play major college football. He signed "that piece of paper" that took him to the Naval Academy, knowing that he was signing up for much more than football.
He has had an outstanding season. And when he finally got his opportunity Saturday against Army, he came through, throwing two touchdown passes and running for another. He directed his team with style.
Navy is headed to the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco Dec. 30 to play New Mexico, a reward for a 9-2 season, but the victory over Army is the one the Mids will always remember.
"No question," said Coach Paul Johnson, now three for three against the Cadets, "this is the game. This is the biggest game of the year for Navy, and it always will be."
What was at stake?
Pride.
In addition for Navy, having already beaten Air Force, it meant retaining the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy, the symbol of football success among the three service academies. And, to boot, the commander-in-chief himself was here to witness Navy's victory.
With sports facing one crisis after another -- players brawling with fans in the NBA, a steroid scandal in baseball -- Army-Navy should be a reminder of what games were meant to be about.
"It's a shame things happened the way they did," said senior back Kyle Eckel, who the last two seasons carried for 341 yards and three touchdowns against Army. "Hopefully, the Army-Navy game can serve as an example, maybe get a fresh start on things, and maybe get the sports world back with its head on straight."
What distinguishes this game is its sportsmanship.
There's beauty in winning, a bittersweet feeling in losing. An Army player wept. Yet there was a coming together at the end, under the lights at Lincoln Financial Field, in the late afternoon chill. The players of both teams stood together, and in a real sense they would be together from that moment on, and each side took a turn in singing its alma mater. Anyone looking down on this field of upturned faces, each sparkling bright with pure promise and a readiness to deal with the uncertainties of time, could not feel anything but pride in them, and a great concern, and the most fervent hope.
