It’s a tradition that stretches over 100 years: West Point and Annapolis duking it out in their annual football game. No, it’s not SEC powerhouse football. There are no Big Ten brutes in the trenches. You don’t watch these games for quarterback play. There hasn’t been one from the service academies playing football since probably Roger Staubach, though you’re bound to see some good schemes for running the ball.
This year, the game’s stakes were a bit higher due to Army’s upset win over Air Force in November, which meant this game could end with Black Knights taking home the Commander-in-Chief trophy, but was there a representative from the Biden administration in attendance? Luckily, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was there, but not Joe Biden. He’s never attended this game as president. He was too busy palling around with wealthy liberal donors.
Spending time with the cadets at the @ArmyNavyGame is one of the best parts of the job. pic.twitter.com/mzeIWNMQiQ
— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) December 9, 2023
Today, Army and Navy play for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy.
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 9, 2023
The game has been attended by sitting presidents Trump (3), Obama (1), W. Bush (3), Clinton (1), Ford (1), JFK (2), Coolidge (1), Wilson (1), Truman (7), and T. Roosevelt (2).
Biden has never attended the game as… pic.twitter.com/KVOH2SD4Rx
As Commander-in-Chief, attending this game has been a soft mandatory action item. The president doesn’t have to go to every Army-Navy game, but at least one should be on the to-do list. Was Biden afraid he was going to be booed? That doesn’t happen at these games. Is it because Biden and the military brass still have a contentious relationship? Maybe.
Army beat the Midshipmen 17-11 this year and took home the CIC trophy (WCVB):
The teams will be playing for the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy, which is awarded to the service academy with the best record in their head-to-head games.
With a victory on Saturday, Army would claim the CIC Trophy outright for the first time since 2020, having beaten then-No. 17 Air Force 23-3 on Nov. 4 despite coming in as an 18½-point underdog. It was the first loss of the season for the Falcons, who went on to lose the last four games of their season.
The Midshipmen lost 17-6 to Air Force on Oct. 21, so a Navy win on Saturday would create a three-way tie for the CIC Trophy. If so, 2022 champion Air Force would retain possession.
CNN had a decent breakdown of the game:
The Army Black Knights defeated the Navy Midshipmen 17-11 Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The win is Army’s second win in a row against Navy and sixth in the last eight contests.
The Black Knights looked dominant for most of the game, scoring the game’s first points with a four-yard touchdown pass from Bryson Daily to Tyson Riley early in the second quarter.
[…]
Trailing by two touchdowns, Navy’s offense suddenly came to life and drove the ball 59 yards, finding the end zone but missing its two-point conversion attempt to pull within eight.
After a failed onside kick, Navy quickly forced Army to punt the ball, giving the Midshipmen one last chance to find a touchdown and a two-point conversion to tie the game.
Navy drove the ball 72 yards, but the Black Knights came up with a crucial stop on the one-foot line, and the Midshipmen turned the ball over on downs with three seconds remaining.
Okay, maybe the final minutes of this game were more animated than most in recent years, but where was Joe? It’s one of the easiest public events he’ll ever have on his docket as president, or were his staff worried that cameras would catch him napping?
There’s always next year.