As so many have pointed out today, despite the rivalry, they all really do play on the same team...
From commenter TGOO at Boudicca's Voice:
Ah, the Navy-Army game. How sweet it is! I still remember my first one in December, 1958. Navy lost, which made our plebe year even worse than it already was. After the game, when Navy had sung “Navy Blue and Gold”, and Army had sung that weird tune they call their alma mater, all the plebes met in the center of the field. There was no animosity, no trash talk, no fights. We shook hands and swapped cuff links. For the remainder of my career I wore an army and a navy cuff link with my full dress uniform. On the rare occasions now when I wear a tux, I wear those same cuff links. We plebes were joined at the hip like brothers. Those were the days before physical hazing was forbidden, and both institutions applied unimaginable physical and mental stress to rid the classes of those who lacked the toughness and tenacity to survive. We each respected the other, and throughout my navy career, when I’d run into a West Point grad at a staff meeting, I always felt like I was meeting an unknown classmate. But still, it’ll be such a pleasure to watch the Navy team kick Army’s ass on Saturday.And after some gentle correction from Lex, I'm gonna try it again:
BEAT ARMY!!!!!!!
Better?
Update: Here's another great comment. This time from a Blackfive reader:
My son (and his classmates) had the unenviable distinction of being the first class at Annapolis to graduate with Navy never winning against Army during their four years. Oh, well.
But he had fun at Ft. Benning when going through jump school, and after he finished jump school, as he and a friend were in the parking lot by the Exchange, they saw one of their instructors who yelled, "Airborne" to them. They yelled back, "Beat Army", and were already dropping to the pushup position when they saw the instructor cock his index finger at the ground. After a few iterations of this, the instructor finally got in his car and drove off.
