Loss

A lot of people talk about how, while the rivalry between Army and Navy is intense, we really feel some sort of kinship for one another because we know the other one goes through just as hard a time as we do etc. etc. blah blah blah. I have never felt that way...at least, until this weekend. This weekend, I watched Army lose--and lose bad. A missed ten yard field goal, turn overs on the Army 1, 5 & 9 yard line along with numerous other unforced errors. I watched it all from a bar in Tucson with the West Point and Annapolis societies, mainly old men and their wives. Across the table from me was a Navy graduate from the class of '49.

As the game wore on, he smiled and laughed as we groaned and nearly cried and, at the end, when we sang our Alma Maters, ours, as the losers, went first followed by Navy, we stood at attention (minus one of the Navy football players who didn't have the professionalism to stand at attention for his own instead choosing to "conduct" the band...typical). As we left and the cameras showed raucous midshipmen smiling and laughing, the '49 grad patted me on the shoulder, pointed at the screen and said, "Don't worry, thanks to Davis and Blanchard, I don't know how that feels either."

So there it is. Kinship. Understanding and camaraderie with a Mid, albeit from the class of '49, shared over the mutual pain of watching a rival beat you.