The Streak Must End Today!

December 1, 2001. That was the last time Army beat Navy in football. I was there. The game, like this year's, was in Philadelphia. The Nation was still coming to grips with the specter of war that had arrived on our doorstep only three months earlier. I flew down to meet up with some West Point classmates to watch the game. Army won 26-17 to take a 49-47-7 lead in the all-time series. None of us could have fathomed that twelve years later we'd be looking back at a dominate streak by Navy of eleven straight wins. It's the longest winning streak in the history of the series - placing Navy firmly in the the series lead at 58-49-7. The streak must end today.

I will be watching the game, as will many other West Point graduates, from Afghanistan. We will stay up late. For us, kickoff will actually be shortly after midnight on the following day. We'll gather in clusters in front of AFN broadcasts of the game. We'll perform "Rocket Cheers" and sing "On Brave Old Army Team." At the conclusion of the game, even though it will be around 0400, we'll proudly stand at attention and sing our Alma Mater. The winning team always sings their Alma Mater last. Army hasn't sung our Alma Mater last in eleven straight games wrought with futility and frustration. This year we are singing last. There is NO substitute for victory. The streak must end today.

For every "Heart in Gray" who has painfully endured the last eleven Army-Navy games, for every member of The Long Gray Line past and present, for everyone who has served our Nation"s Army in peacetime and war, THE STREAK MUST END TODAY! GO ARMY! BEAT NAVY!