Tomorrow, at 3 pm EST, on CBS, for those with television and on ESPNU radio for those listening abroad, a bunch of big guys will face off against a bunch of big guys on a lined battlefield for the 120th time. Is that what is happening or is the representation of who these men are and who they serve The Greatest Game in sports?
In the sports realm, tomorrow’s game will mean nothing. No national championship, no division title, no huge endorsements coming for the best player, no huge scholarships won. Monday, these men will go back to class, no richer, little more notoriety. Almost nothing. Then why it is The Greatest Game in sports? Tomorrow’s game is arguably The Greatest Game because of who the men are playing and the love-hate rivalry that will exist between the two teams players and the Armed Force they represent, forever. Tomorrow’s game is The Greatest Game because all the men on the field are willing to die, together or alone, for all the people watching the game. No other sport, no other game can approach this.
But it is more than that. Tomorrow’s game will evoke a myriad of emotions in 19 million men and women who have served this awesome Nation along with the Families that have supported them. It will bring back memories of a greater time when I served. Even as I write this, my mind wanders thinking of days with my brethren, locations we served, things we did, friends we lost. As a devout American, especially as one who served during the cold war, no greater sporting event has ever occurred than when the US Men’s hockey team beat the Ruskies in the 1980 Olympics, except this game.
Tomorrow’s game will evoke memes, jokes, puns, jabs and guffaws (sorry, I was a Batman comic fan) between current and former members of the Department of the Army and Navy (including their men’s department, the Marine Corps). And The Greatest Game will make us feel young again as if we were on the battlefield again. We will text our buddies endlessly GO ARMY BEAT NAVY or whatever the other team says. We will remember the days some stupid West Point 2LT tried to make us salute him in the field and we told him something inappropriate, as good NCOs often do. NCOs will mock the soon-to-be Officers as playing a silly game while we watch intently and pound our fists on the bar when the other team scores. The Air Force will complain from their high-rise dormitories that their team is better and should get such a billet on tv. The Coast Guard…well they will still be wearing shorts on the beach reminiscing about the David Hasselhof days. All this, rivalries inside of rivalries.
But, Saturday, at around 7 pm, these 19 million Veterans and 2.1 million actively serving Warriors will reunite around a common goal: defeat the enemy and protect the security of our Nation. No other game is like that. At the end of the Superbowl (can I even use that word here) the teams don’t hug it out for the honor of the NFL. The Commies and the Miracle on Ice boys didn’t have a drink in honor of the Olympics. No. After a few more late-night texts to the opposing service will begin the I love you bud and be safe sis calls again. Because the greatest opponent is still out there, the greatest enemy yet to be defeated, the greatest war yet to be fought. So, we come back together, brethren, for that reason; an incomparable brotherhood.
So, yes, at 3 pm tomorrow, will be The Greatest Game in sports played by representatives of the greatest men and women in our Nation, for the 120th time. And next year, for the 121st time, The Greatest Game will be played again. Because it is not about the date, the season or ultimately the score (GO ARMY BEAT NAVY) it is about a brother- and sisterhood that transcends 60 minutes of athletics. It is about the men and women who have and who will defend this Nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic. It is The Greatest Game in sports!
GO ARMY BEAT NAVY
—SGM DTB—
To me as a civilian, I love the pride, pomp and circumstance of this game. It always make me feel patriotic to watch all the young cadets in their uniforms etc.