Sports Comment: Navy's dominance tarnishing once-storied rivalry with Army

Army needs to beat Navy.

For the good of the game, the good of the rivalry, the good of the country for gosh sakes!

Army-Navy football is one of the greatest traditions in American sports and it's been tarnished by the fact one team continues to beat the other. Navy has now won eight consecutive meetings with Army, an unprecedented streak in the 110-year history of the storied service academy series.

Previously, neither school had won more than five straight games against the other with Army and Navy both accomplishing that feat twice. It's hard to call any game a rivalry when one side consistently beats the other. Army-Navy remains a rivalry because of the history, tradition and pageantry, not because the competition on the field has been compelling.

Navy's football program has surpassed Army's on a number of different levels and the results continue to show up on the field. The Midshipmen have now outscored the Black Knights 291-74 during the current eight-year winning streak. That is an average victory margin of 36-9.

On the surface, this past Saturday's meeting was much closer. Army led at halftime for the first time since 2001, but Navy quickly erased a 3-0 deficit by scoring a touchdown on its opening possession of the second half. The Midshipmen would take on 10 more points to pull out a 17-3 victory before a sellout crowd of 69,541 at Lincoln Financial Field.

In years past, Navy won by gaudy scores such as 58-12, 34-6 and 42-13. This year's game was more of a defensive struggle, but in the final analysis the result was just as lopsided. Army could not move the football consistently enough to score a touchdown so the 17 points that Navy put up were more than enough.

"It kind of takes away from the rivalry when you beat a team 34-0 and 38-3," said Navy offensive captain Osei Asante, referring to the scores of the 2007 and 2008 games.

Naturally, no one wearing blue and gold would agree with the sentiment that Army needs to beat Navy. Athletic director Chet Gladchuk, head coach Ken Niumatalolo and everyone else associated with Navy football would like to their current run of dominance in the series continue.

Niumatalolo didn't bite when asked whether Navy's record winning streak in the series had detracted from the rivalry.

"This isn't just the biggest college football rivalry… This is the biggest rivalry in sports," Niumatalolo said. "When you have two institutions that are playing for the pure love of the game and what both of these institutions represent… If it wasn't for these guys that are playing at these schools and serving our country, we wouldn't even have football. Because of these young men we have the freedoms we do in this great country. I think Americans understand what both these teams represent."

That is certainly true, but in terms of pure football the Army-Navy rivalry loses a little bit more luster every year that one side continues to beat the other. Saturday's contest at least brought hope that Army is becoming more competitive with Navy. First-year head coach Rich Ellerson has changed the attitude within the program and taught the Black Knights how not to beat themselves. Now the challenge for Ellerson and staff is to upgrade the talent, to find players with the speed and athleticism to match up with the Midshipmen between the white lines.

Ellerson tried to stoke the rivalry flames a bit with some bold talk prior to the game. He directly issued a challenge to Niumatalolo during the annual Army-Navy press conference by saying his squad "was on the scent" and "coming after" the Midshipmen.

Ellerson may have crossed the line a bit when he got a little more pointed and personal in stating that Army would earn the respect of Navy this season.

"Win, lose or draw, Niumatalolo better say those guys (Army) were ready, those guys were well-coached. When I say I respect those guys (the Navy coaches), I care what they think. This sucker (Niumatalolo) is going to know he's going to get it all for 60 minutes. He better bring his lunch."

Army linebacker Justin Schaaf, a sophomore who was not even on the depth chart, called Navy "soft" and said Army players are "tougher" and "more focused." You can bet all those comments were posted in the Navy locker room last week. I happen to know that a poster created by Army that announced the sale of EagleBank Bowl tickets was taped to the front door of the Navy dressing room at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday.

Niumatalolo made it clear afterward that Navy coaches and players did not appreciate the rhetoric coming out of West Point, especially since the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy has now resided in Annapolis for seven straight years.

"Army talked about turning the corner and Coach Ellerson said they've got our scent… well we tried to change our tracks a bit and throw them off," Niumatalolo said. "We wanted to come out and do our talking with our pads."

Indeed, Navy's performance on the field during the past eight meetings with Army has spoken volumes. For the past few years, the Black Knights have spoken hopefully about having "closed the gap," but the reality remains that the Midshipmen are still head-and-shoulders above their arch rival.

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Army-Navy - 2009-12-17 21:46:15

If Navy wins the next ten games how will that hurt the rivalry or the country? Will fans stop coming? Will there be no TV? Will the players stop caring? This rivalry transcends normal athletic matches. The good exists because of what the teams represent. I don't see a greater good generated by minimal winning streaks. So personally, I don't have a problem with Navy winning the next twenty (or thirty) games.

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Neil Wallace - Williamsburg, VA - Karma: Neutral

Agree 100% - 2009-12-16 12:38:55

I couldn't agree with you more. I go to the game every year and the more Navy dominates, the more sportsmanship goes out the window. What I have seen and heard from Navy fans and midshipmen the last two or three years honestly makes me ashamed to be a Navy football fan. I hope Army comes back to be considered in the same league as Navy football so we can return to the gentlemen's rivalry that used to exist.

Pat O - , - Karma: Neutral

The Rivary Is More than the Score - 2009-12-16 01:31:24

Bill, your eyes are on the scoreboard and missing what makes Army-Navy a special rivalry. To see it, you need to take a step back and compare the Army-Navy and Air Force-Navy rivalries.

While Air Force games are almost always competitive, it's not the same rivalry because there's not the same purity in sportsmanship and respect that exists between Army and Navy. It's not just about longer histories. It's about how players, coaches, and fans talk before and after the game. Many Navy fans want Army to win every game of the season except Army-Navy because both schools share common respect and value for the game of football and the concept of team.

That mutual respect is at the core of what makes Army-Navy special, and it's what makes it the best rivalry in sports.

It's not about the score.

Gene Estes - , - Karma: Neutral

Army Doesn't Need to Win - 2009-12-15 18:47:14

Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill. Love your articles and columns, but I couldn't possibly disagree with you more on this one. A team that went 3-30 over three seasons just 7 short seasons ago, is now being told by its hometown paper that it's really time for Army to win to keep the rivalry going. Mule Manure. While Navy has dominated recently and gone 10-1 since 1999, miraculously the immediate preceding 13 years Army went 10-3 against Navy. So over the last 24 years Navy has a whopping 13-11 margin. Woop (pun intended) tee do. The fact is some of college football's greatest rivalries often have streaky series. Any plans to wish a win for Michigan or Flordia State because they have been dominated by OSU and Florida respectively the last 6 or 7 years. Same with USC-Notre Dame. And at different times Auburn-Alabama and UCLA-USC and others. Virtually all great rivalries have had streaks over the years that have gone both ways. In the end, rivalries are measured by the cumulative impact they bring to the fans -- the passion felt by the players, the alumni the fans and even tose with no affiliation to the school, the tradition, stars, the goofy plays, and yes, heartbreaking close ones. Ironically it was Navy that lost 5 in a row by a total of 10 points - not Army. Taking a less dispassionate view, I do get your point. 20 consecutive blowouts would not be good. But taking something close to home, Air Force v. Navy managed to survive as a pretty healthy rivalry, even after Air Force won 19 of 21 games against the Mids. The pendulum will undoubtedly swing,as it always does, but in the meantime let's remember the '92-'96 games, let's remember 3-30 streaks and please let's remember one winning season from 1983 thru 2002 -- and let's stop "hoping" Army wins for the health of the Army-Navy rivalry. It's survived 110 years and two World Wars -- surely it can survive a few more consecutive Navy victories. BEAT ARMY...AGAIN.

Bob Schmermund - Gambrills, MD - Karma: Neutral

Army needs to win - 2009-12-15 17:21:32

I want Army to win all of their first 10 or 11 football games next year and be ranked. Then when Navy defeats them, as they should always do, the victory will be so much sweeter.
Let's face it, ND ,for whom I will never ever cheer (even if they were playing the Russians) beat Navy 40+ times in a row, but I still watched every game I could.

Edward Wynne - Easley, sc - Karma: Neutral

Army needs (?) to beat Navy. Reall - 2009-12-14 15:49:50

If you look at the long history of this rivalry, Army led in overall wins from 1924 to 1980. 56 years of dominance.

At some points, Army led the overall wins to losses by a delta of 8. From 1984 to 1998 - sort of the Dark Ages or Wilderness of Navy Football - Army won 11 out of 15 games.

So, we sit at 54-49-7 now after having won 8 in a row. Do I feel a little sorry for Army? Maybe a little, but we have a long way to go before we are as dominant over Army as they were over us for most of the 20th century.

BEAT ARMY!

Thomas Smith - Bealeton, VA - Karma: Neutral