Neither Army nor Navy will likely ever finish in the Top 25 again, much less earn a berth in one of the major bowl games, but the Army Navy game still manages to draw good numbers both in the stadium and at home watching on TV. As recently reported by GBK, the number of people who watched the game this year was the highest since 1999 at 6.3 million.
Of course, a large part of the reason that the game has so many viewers is that there are no other college games to watch that day, but it also reflects a degree of residual fascination with the contest and interest in the patriotic pageantry that's hard to match. I had a date for the game, who was thrilled to have the opportunity to go, and TV commentators regularly say its one game that should be on everyone's bucket list. As graduates, we sometimes forget the number of regular people out there who think the game is special regardless of the records.
When fans start talking about changes we need to make to the football program, the starting point for my agreement or disagreement is how it will effect the Army Navy game as it is played today. That rules out joining the same conference as Navy or dropping to FCS level unilaterally in my opinion. Losing 13 times in a row is painful, and I certainly hope that we can turn that around soon, but the game gives our players a chance to play on the big stage with 6 million fans watching, and it's something that we need to do everything we can to preserve.
Of course, a large part of the reason that the game has so many viewers is that there are no other college games to watch that day, but it also reflects a degree of residual fascination with the contest and interest in the patriotic pageantry that's hard to match. I had a date for the game, who was thrilled to have the opportunity to go, and TV commentators regularly say its one game that should be on everyone's bucket list. As graduates, we sometimes forget the number of regular people out there who think the game is special regardless of the records.
When fans start talking about changes we need to make to the football program, the starting point for my agreement or disagreement is how it will effect the Army Navy game as it is played today. That rules out joining the same conference as Navy or dropping to FCS level unilaterally in my opinion. Losing 13 times in a row is painful, and I certainly hope that we can turn that around soon, but the game gives our players a chance to play on the big stage with 6 million fans watching, and it's something that we need to do everything we can to preserve.
