America’s Game Is American, Whether It Counts Or Not
Does it get any more American than Army versus Navy?
We take a deeper look into the game and the new look American Athletic Conference that houses these programs. Many across the country do not understand what this game not only means but, now that they are in the same conference, why this game doesn’t count in the standings. We will answer these questions and more in this piece.
As we start with the game we need to add some context to just how important this game is. As we have discussed, this marks the 125th meeting between these programs. This makes this rivalry the 8th longest played in all of college sports trailing Wisconsin and Minnesota by only 10 games played.
The 2024 game will kick off from Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland and both programs understand the meaning. This year’s edition is also the most successful these programs have ever been when facing each other. To further this point, Army enters the game with an 11-1 overall record while Navy enters at 8-3 in 2024. The 18 wins is the most combined wins between these programs of all time when they meet.
Why Not Count The Game?
The main speaking point when 4 Star Sports was on the media call before the AAC Championship between the Black Knights and Tulane, was the game yet we asked Tim Pernetti {AAC Commishioner} about the Army-Navy game and its future.
Pernetti would speak transparently and confidently when answering us by saying that “Army-Navy is an institution” as he detailed the importance of the game for the conference. Speaking on if, or when, this game will count in the standings, Prenetti stated “Army-Navy was moved to a protected date a long time ago, ironically by Army, Navy and my predecessor Mike Aresco when he was an executive at CBS sports. And I think the challenges that came across to make that happen were worth the result.”.
The commissioner would continue by speaking on the CFP and how this comes into play with this game as he told us “They’re playing an additional game while you have other college playoff teams that are going to have the benefit of a week off in between their championship game and maybe their first college football playoff game,” when speaking specifically on how this game was taken into account. If Army was to have made the bracket, the Black Knights would only have a week to prepare for what most likely would have been a road game. To Pernetti’s point, this is a disadvantage for the teams without question.
Pernetti spoke to the many fans across the conference and nation, including some members of 4 Star Sports, as he closed with us as he stated “Army-Navy’s different and if you haven’t been then you don’t understand,” followed by “But that’s something that it’s special. It’s not a conference game, we knew that coming in, but we intend to do whatever we can to help Army and Navy protect the integrity of that game.”
Uniforms Of Honor
With the game now at hand we wanted to take a look into one of the most unique portions of games recently. As most are aware, both programs will wear a certain helmet and uniform combination to pay honor to their armed services branch. Let’s learn about the uniforms in 2024.
Army
Army released their uniforms, which were created by Nike, on November 18th, will honor the legacy of the storied 101st Airborne Division. The world would be introduced to the Screaming Eagles roughly 80 years ago as they were intricate in their response to the Nazi offensive. The motto of the Eagles, Rendevous, and Destiny, has become synonymous with the division throughout history. These uniforms will feature many intricate details we want to detail.
The star patch on the jersey is “The Invasion Star” used on American aircraft and vehicles on the battlefield to make them easily recognizable. This star is also represented on the patch with seven gaps that honor the amount of roads at Bastogne. Two additional patches are featured on the jersey sleeves as the 101st Airborne patch dons the left side while the American flag that was worn on the jumpsuit of the paratroopers.
The helmet includes the parachute logo and “Screaming Eagles” on the front. Black Knight players will be randomly assigned one of four-suit card helmets – “clubs,” “diamonds.” “heart,” and “spades,” which will represent the manner that the 101st paratroopers used to identify their respective units. The names on the back will be in the form of the message sent to the Nazis with a look of Morse code messages. These uniforms will also feature a fog and snow look as they honor the 101st.
Navy
Navy will name their uniforms “the Jolly Rogers” for this game. These uniforms, created by Under Armour, will honor the Jolly Rogers, the most lethal and history-rich squad in all of Naval history, who will also have many details we want to look further into. This will be the first time Navy has honored Jolly Rogers since the 1962 season when “Captain America” Roger Staubach led the Midshipmen to a 34-14 win.
The uniform will start with the helmets as these will feature pieces of past and present Jolly Rogers aviator helmets. The tagline of Jolly Rigers is “Fear the Bones” and are “freedoms guardians in the sky.” these will be featured in numerous forms throughout this uniform combination. The tagline “Fear The Bones” will be featured on the back of the helmets.
The color scheme on the jersey will mirror the iconic design of the Jolly Rogers aircraft. The numerals will honor the aircraft side number on the fuselage and the trailing flap of the wings of the aircraft.
The stripes, which are angled, on the sleeves and helmets pay tribute to the nine aircraft the Jolly Rogers have flown. In addition, the gloves will feature skull-crossbones insignia, which is seen together when both gloves overlap each other. The pants will feature micro text that represents the six Jolly Rogers squads of VF-17, VF-5B, VF-61, VF-84, VF-103, and VFA-103.
This Game Has The Ultimate Meaning
This game matters to both programs and coaches as it should. Recently, Army has controlled this series as they have won six of the last seven games. Black Knights head coach, Jeff Monken, was featured on Sirius XM radio on ‘College Sports’ and made the following statements on this game. Monken would tell hosts Chris Childers and Rick Neuheisel “It doesn’t matter what the records are. It doesn’t matter where we play it. It’s a big game.” when discussing the importance of this game. Monken would go further by saying “It’s been a good year. But it’s not a great year at Army unless we beat them.”.
Monkens words resonate throughout both locker rooms and with any former Army or Naval veteran.
The American Way
At the end of the day, this game has earned the right to be a standalone game. These players, who show the ultimate loyalty with no form of NIL or portal movement, have more than earned the right to battle for the ultimate prize of an American.
