It’s 9:15 in the morning, the temperature is pushing 30 degrees and the cadets and midshipmen are wailing on each other in the snow.
In conjunction with the actual Army vs. Navy football game on Saturday, the U Naval and Army ROTC played their annual game of flag football, a tradition that started 23 years ago.
The game attracted a group of friends, family members and bundled-up small children to the intramurals field by the U golf course to cheer on the players.
While last year the Naval ROTC won by at least two touchdowns, this year the Army was victorious, winning with a score of 14-6.
Even though the game can get a bit physical–and a bit cold–the players enjoy the camaraderie.
“It’s a friendly competition, but we’re very competitive. We’re brothers in arms, but it’s fun to compete,” said Kyle Frazer, a senior political science major from the Army ROTC. Frazer was captain of the Army team.
Quinn Overton, a junior political science major from the Army, said, “It’s awesome to play with the guys you’re going to serve with.”
Frazer said it is not unusual for them to play in the snow. Army ROTC junior sociology major Andrew Jenkins simply said after the game, “My feet are cold.”
The winner of the match is given a large, golden, bullet-shaped trophy, which some have named the “winner’s trophy” and others call the “magic bullet.” The winning team holds on to the trophy until the next game the following year.
After Navy’s loss, junior earth science major and Marine Sergeant Issac Goodrich said, “So for a whole year we have to live with it.” Goodrich was captain of the Navy team.
In the actual NCAA Army vs. Navy game, the winner is awarded the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy. This year, Navy defeated Army by a score of 26-14. This game, which has been a tradition for 107 years, has been labeled one of the most intense rivalries in college sports–except for, perhaps, the rivalry between Utah and BYU.
Lennie MahlerThe U Army and Naval ROTC squared off in their 23rd annual game of flag football at Ballif Field on Saturday morning in a salute to the Army-Navy football game taking place in Philadelphia. The Army ROTC emerged with a 14-6 victory over Navy.
Lennie MahlerDavid Anderson dives for a catch in the snow Saturday morning at Baliff Field.