Bill H.

I watched two football games this past week, games which perfectly reflected what happens with differing reactions to corona virus. Two teams, both military academies, both running the same "triple option” offense.

Army played Middle Tennessee and won 42-0. Yes, I realize it was Middle Tennessee, but the Army offense was like a well oiled machine. The triple option is actually fairly easy to stop unless it is executed with outstanding discipline and precision. Army did precisely that. It was delightful to watch.

Navy played Brigham Young University and lost 55-3. Yes, I realize it was BYU, but the game was not as close as the score would indicate. The Midshipmen wandered around on the football field like a herd of unguided sheep. It was easy to see why US Navy ships are staggering around in the Pacific Ocean colliding with cargo ships.

The Navy coach admitted that his team looked like a team that was not ready to play. The announcers were telling us that, due to the corona virus, the team had not been permitted to engage in contact drills or practice live tackling. They applauded the coach for "putting the safety of his players first.”

Well, his players would have been safer yet if he had not allowed them onto the field at all. Perhaps he should have done that. But that is America today. We no longer care about being effective, or doing the job. We care about safety. A military that practices that philosophy has soldiers that stay in their foxholes, and it loses wars.

We will applaud the coach that lost 55-3, because he "kept his players safe.”

I will tell you from my observation, that Army team did not look like a team obsessed with safety. It did not look like a team unwilling to practice because it was terrified of a virus. It did not look like a team that cared more about themselves than it did about the job with which they had been charged. It looked like a bunch young men with balls.

Dana Mathewson adds:

I'm glad to hear that Army upheld their tradition. Sorry to hear that Navy has forgotten theirs. I really wonder if those who are "teaching" them at Annapolis remember WW II, especially around the time of the Battle of Midway? Safety was not a consideration then.

I'm also reminded of the Army-Navy football game years ago, when the vaunted Roger Staubach was quarterback, and Navy got their heads handed to them by Army, led by a relative unknown quarterback named Rollie Stichweich (sp?) (pronounced "stitch-weigh"). The score was heavily in favor of Army, though I don't remember it. From then on, I always though Staubach was under-rated, and if I remember correctly, his NFL career with the Cowboys was less than stellar.

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