You Don’t Get It - An Air Force Football Alum on the CiC Race

I’m excited to be part of the Against All Enemies team and figured I would write my first article to let the AAE nation know where I stand. I think we can all agree Service Academy football is best when all three Academies are competitive on the national stage. We all like good football and we all like to watch good Service Academy football. It was nice to see Army football come alive over the last few years since they were so bad for so long. I actually remember retweeting @DrunkOldGrad when the account was pushing the “Make Army Football Great Again” hats. Those were classic. Not a fan of them now…. When we think of Service Academy football we naturally think of the great three-way competition for the Commander in Chief’s Trophy. I would be remiss not to mention that Air Force owns 20 of them, whereas Navy owns 15, and Army owns 8. Most Army and Navy fans shout, “Quit living in the 80’s and 90’s” when I bring this up, but keep in mind four of those twenty have been won this decade.

Now with all that said, let me tell you how I personally feel. I would be happy if Army and Navy lost every game and then tied each other in the Army-Navy game so neither could taste victory on the fields of friendly strife. I was recently told in a reply to one of my Tweets that I didn’t get it because I was happy that an up and coming Mountain West Conference team, San Jose State University beat Army. I would argue that I get it more than most of the Twitter warriors out there. I played football at Air Force and I know how it feels to win the CIC Trophy, I know how it feels to lose the CIC Trophy and I know how it feels to win the CIC Trophy back again. I think that if Air Force can’t win the CIC Trophy, I don’t want anyone to win it. I will be cheering loudly for Army this year to beat Navy so it will be a three-way tie and Navy remains at 15.

Now, “you don’t get it” guy did bring up an interesting question. Just because we graduated from a Service Academy, do we need to like the other Academies and cheer for them when we are not playing them? Do Michigan fans cheer for Ohio State when they are not playing them? Do Alabama fans cheer for Auburn when they are not playing them? Do they not get it? I actually live in Alabama and we are a big Auburn family, part of the proud 30% of the state. I once had a friend who is a BIG Bammer tell me that if Auburn was playing the Taliban, he would be pulling for the Taliban. All fun and games in the name of competition and rivalries. I know that the number one goal of each Academy is to win the Commander in Chief’s Trophy. This competition and rivalry is what makes our games so important to fans and grads alike. I like the “Brothers 364” concept and when we graduate we all join the same team in the defense of our great nation. Each branch of the military is a vital component in making up the most dominate military force known to mankind. This is all well and good, but that doesn’t mean I have to like or cheer on my sister academies just because I am a grad. What are your thoughts?

Go Air Force, Beat Army and Sink Navy!