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I need to get your football fix
on all things Army, Navy and Air

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Force. This is Yards and Stripes, Service Academy Football. Now Here are

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your hosts, Price Atkinson, Steve
Carney and Mike love All. We have

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left off on Yards and Stripes your
home for Service Academy Football, and it's

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your home for the Army Navy preview
special that we have in store. We

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have a loaded podcast for you all
this week as we get you ready for

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America's game on Saturday, Army and
Navy, presented by USAA. Saturday at

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three o'clock in Philadelphia. I'm Pryce
Atkinson, joined as always by my co

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host Steve Carney and Mike love All. We got a lot to do tonight

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today this morning, where whenever it
is you're listening to this episode because as

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we're gonna bring you our Army Navy
preview special as we're part of the College

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Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast network,
as I meant, and a loaded lineup

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guys. We've got Pete Medhurst,
the Navy play by play voice of the

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Midshipman. We've got sal Interdonado,
the founder editor of Blacknight Nation dot com.

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And then we're gonna wrap it up
with best selling author John Feinstein,

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author of a Civil War. You
won't want to miss all these interviews to

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get you ready from every single angle
that you can be ready for Saturday's game.

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And then we'll come back and wrap
it up with the Travis Mannion Foundation

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Honor Roll segment and our picks for
America's game on Saturday. Steve Michael,

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the exciteingeth Phillith the Air. Could
we be more ready for Saturday? I

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thinketh not. How are you guys
tonight? Fantastic? It's Army Navy Week

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and everybody knows what that means.
It's all about this game. The whole

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week is all about this game on
Saturday. Yeah, you know, this

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is a big week. And because
while we're a day late doing this,

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I mean that it's taken a We've
got so much stuff this week that it's

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taken us an extra day to make
sure that it's all crammed in there and

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making sure that you have the best
coverage of the Army Navy game, which

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we all love and I think we're
all excited for. Yeah, I mean,

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are my apologies, our apologies for
being a day late, But how

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is that's big. Yeah, we
are not a dollar short. I was

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going to say, because we have
got a loaded lineup. I mean,

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this is about as locked and loaded
as you get, Michael. I mean,

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we talked with South Inner Donado from
Navy, Steve and I we talked

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with Pete Medhursts a little bit earlier, and then obviously John Feinstein to wrap

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it up, a good friend,
somebody that will you know, be front

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and center his favorite game, you
know, of the calendar year. I

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mean, it's just it's loaded.
I mean, let's go ahead and get

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into it. I mean without further
ado, because we do have a lot

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to do. As five and six
Army four and seven Navy three o'clock Eastern

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Time, Saturday on CBS, Armies
given two and a half, down from

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four and a half. I guess
from where it started over under is thirty

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two and a half. The one
hundred and twenty third installment of this series,

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the ninetieth time in Philadelphia and the
fourteenth time for if You're scoring at

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home at Lincoln Financial Field, when
these two sides square off, presented by

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USAA, and the eighth most played
rivalry in the Football Subdivision, Navy leading

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the all time series sixty two to
fifty three and seven forty five, forty

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and four against Army in Philly and
eleven and two against the Black Knights at

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Lincoln Financial Field. Army. Let's
see, Navy has won eighteen of the

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last twenty three in including two of
the last three. So that's just kind

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of setting the stage, guys,
I mean the excitement we're I mean,

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we're we obviously you know we've got, you know, rooting interest on both

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sides. What do you think?
What are we doing? What are we

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talking about? What's what is the
key? What are we looking at?

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Is we go into it? Mike
on Saturday? Well, I think the

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biggest question Price and I talked about
this a little bit for our readers who

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like to read a little bit on
my last Word on College Football column is

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the Army run defense. Navies the
seventh rank rushing offense in the country.

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Armies defense ranks one hundred and fifteenth
out of one hundred and thirty one schools.

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Really, the question is can Armies
defense stop Navy's rushing attack. If

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they can, Army stands a good
chance to win this game. The other

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key is both these teams. When
we've talked about this extensively this season,

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both all three of us. Whichever
team can keep the second half momentum of

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the season going with low number of
penalties and note turnovers, the team that

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makes I know this is a blinding
flash of the obvious, but this game

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really is around centers around this.
Whichever team can make a fewest mistakes,

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we'll probably win this game. So
those are the two things I look at

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I'm focusing on when I when I
look at who's gonna come out of this

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game as a winner? Yeah,
for me, I look at it as

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this is a game that it doesn't
matter if both of these teams or one

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of these teams was twelve and O
and the other was oh and twelve.

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You know that this game is going
to come down to the fact that there's

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going to be a mistake that's going
to be made late in the second half,

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and which team is going to be
the one, as Mike said,

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that makes that crucial final mistake and
the other team is able to take advantage

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of it. Now, as we
stand here, both teams with five wins,

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and I really think that you know, or excuse me, one with

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five wins and the other with four
wins. I look at both of these

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teams, as you know, even
though you know Army's schedule, I think

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a little lighter. We've talked about
this a little bit with pe Medhurst that

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that Army's schedule maybe not quite as
strong as Navy's because they had the extra

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couple of they had the couple of
FC, they had two FCS games as

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opposed to Navy, who had just
won, and then of course the American

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Athletic Conference schedule as opposed to going
around with the Independence as Army did with

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UMass and the like. I really
do think that this is going to be

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a battle of the big uglies.
You know, you're going to see the

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offensive lines for both teams and the
defensive lines. Mike talked about, you

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know, the Navy rushing attack versus
Armies rushed defense. I honestly think that

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you can look the other way as
well and look at the front seven of

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Navy versus to hear Tyler and what
they're what they're going to have to do

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to try and wrap up Tyler,
especially after his three touchdown performance against UMass

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that momentum, even though it's been
a couple of weeks, I really do

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think that that's going to be a
big, big key here, especially later

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on in that game. Yeah,
and the margin for error is all it

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is whenever, however this game is
played, it's you know, mistakes are

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always going to be at the forefront
because margin for air being so thin.

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When you talk about amount of possessions
per team, you know, especially when

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you run the ball and you run
the clock, you don't have that many

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possessions, and so you can't afford
those giveaways, whether it be an interception,

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a fumble, you know, God
forbid, you know something that happens

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on special teams where you give it
immediately back to the other team. That's

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all I mean, I think we
all agree that's certainly always going to be

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the case in this year's installment.
You know, of strength verse strength is

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you know, something we'll get into
throughout this episode with our guests and everything.

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You know, maybe fourth in the
country and rush defense giving up just

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eighty five and a half yards per
game an army the number two rushing offense

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in the country at three hundred and
four point four yards per game. You

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know, the one thing I'm you
know that oftentimes can make a difference,

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and we'll see if it does.
Maybe it doesn't on Saturday. But as

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special teams, Army's got, in
my book, you know, an advantage

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there in special teams. They blocked
two punts this year, which is tied

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for thirteenth in the country. We
talk about mistakes, Armies only given an

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a lay thirteen times, which is
twentieth in the nation. But the special

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teams, you know, their kickoff
return and punt return defense have been very

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strong this year ninth in the country
and kickoff return defense and tenth and punt

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return defense, you know. Mentioning
the block kicks, I mean, I

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think this might be an edge where
Army has got a no punt intended maybe

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a leg up here on Navy.
Yeah, but I do think that some

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of those units are pretty good.
I do still as a guy who watches

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Army a lot us still do worry
about the kicking game. The couple of

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the two games this season, the
punt game kind of let them down.

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And then you know, the kicking
game has always with Army ever since Coach

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Munkin's been there, They've not had
a steady, reliable kicker. So you

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know, in that I think the
coverage is good. Um, Like you

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pointed out a lot of good,
a lot of good on the coverage areas.

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But if it comes down to a
you know, a last second drive

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where you need to or you need
a solid punt to pen Navy inside there

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fifteen, or you need a thirty
five forty forty five yard kick to win

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the game, Uh, my heart
rate would be more elevated, more and

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more elevated than normal. Um with
with with Army's kicking situation? All right,

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are you basically saying we should not
have any kind of blood pressure apparatus

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on your arm on Saturday at the
length? Like, certainly not if we're

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going to report it to the life
insurance company, for sure? Oh goodness?

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All right? Well, and and
remember that that Navy had that game

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against these Carolina where where Daniel Davies
came in and was able to come through

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in overtime, uh to beat to
beat the Pirates on the road. So

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I don't I don't think that you
could say that that Army's special teams is

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that much stronger. I do admit
that I do think that they do have

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the advantage, But I'd be curious
to see if this comes down to a

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kick late in the game and it's
Army versus Navy. I like Daniel Davis

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chance to make to make a kick
late to win a game. Yeah,

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but I think price to your point, the units, you know, the

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ones that produced the hidden yardage are
probably in the favor of Army, But

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the individual clutch performances, the guy's
actually kicking or punting when they have to,

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I don't know that Army has advantage
there. Yeah, all right,

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We're going to continue getting ready,
getting you ready, as you've invested your

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time today, tonight, this morning
again wherever you are with this episode of

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Yards and Stripes, our Army Navy
Preview Special, as we are part of

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the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast
network that you can find on Apple Podcasts,

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Spotify, wherever it is that you
listen to your podcasts. We've got

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Pete Medhurst coming up. We've got
Salt Inner Denado and John Feinstein as I

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mentioned, and then we'll come back
and give some picks along with our Travis

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Mannion Foundation Honor Roll segment. Also, we got a team going bowling,

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so we'll talk about that a little
bit later as we move through our Army

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Navy Preview Special. But before we
get to our first guest interview Pete Madhurst,

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who is the Playboy Playboys of the
Navy bench Shipman Steve and I caught

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up with him. I want my
good friend and our co host Mike love

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All to tell you, guys about
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Smarter. Thank you, Michael.
Make sure to check out our friends at

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tickets Smarter with all kinds of bowl
games coming up, but coming up next

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00:13:03,039 --> 00:13:07,519
right here on Yards and Stripes,
your Army Navy Preview special is underway,

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00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:11,559
and next is Pete Medhurst, the
playball play voice of the Navy Midshipman.

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We'll be right back. It's everything
you need to know about Service Academy football.

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Yards and Stripes continues here once again
our price, Steve and Mike all

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right getting going on this Army Navy
preview special. Here on Yards and Stripes,

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your home for Service Academy Football.
And now we are going to talk

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about Navy football getting going out of
the gate. And when it comes to

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five tool Broadcasters, Pete Medhurst the
voice of the play of the playball play,

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voice of the Midshipman. He is
the bar with his headshot in the

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dictionary right next to the term five
tool broadcasting that you can follow on Twitter

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at Pete Medhurst, also the morning
show host on at nine eighty am,

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the team out of DC. Pete, what's happened in my man? As

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you roll through the hills of West
Virginia. My friend ain't man? On

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00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:03,480
my way to Morgantown. Price Steve
gonna be with you guys, and always

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00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:07,159
good to talk Navy football. Yeah, Steve and I are gonna tag team

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this thing, and we're gonna talk
a lot about the Midshipman here in what

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a year it's been finishing on clearly
a high note a couple of weeks ago,

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as this team's gonna come into this
with what three weeks off, which

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is really unheard of for the midshipman
going into an Army Navy game. But

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before we start, Pete, you
know the emergence of sophomore fullback dab with

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Fulfuana in the offensive backfield. With
all due respect to some of the last

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few b backs Navies had, this
seems like the first legit fullback that Navy's

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had in the last several years.
Yeah, I mean, you know,

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I think what we had Mel Carruthers
obviously Noah Copeland before that. But I

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mean, you're again, you're you're
going back a couple of years trying to

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fulfill the most important position in the
Navy offense. And you know Dabo,

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in fact, Dabbo, Anton and
Logan all had some early adversity at that

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position, and Dabba has really overcome
it the most. He's gained huge strides.

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Kenny and I talked about this on
Monday, just talking about how much

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he had to proved at that spot
and how his emergence. I mean,

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it would take, it would take
a big game, but you know,

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he's two hundred one yards away from
a thousand yards and you know, when

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you go back and look at his
workload, it's been just a little more

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than a part time player. So
he's really really solidified one of the most

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important spots on that offense for the
football team, Pete, I'm curious the

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quarterback position. At the start of
the year, we all we all thought,

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you know, Tai Lamati, this
is gonna be just to shine that

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he was going to get that opportunity. He goes down to injury and you

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have to and you go to Xavier
Arline. I know that Arline's not you

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know, he's not new in this
offense. You know, this is a

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guy that has had his opportunities in
years past. But how have you seen

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him go, especially over the stretch
of the last couple of games. You

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know, yet that's that really tough
stretch with Cincinnati and then Notre Dame and

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UCFF, and how he is,
how he has grown as a quarterback and

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as a leader of that offense.
Yeah, I think it's I mean,

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look, if you look at the
two metrics between the two teams schedule wise,

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it's not even close. They's so
far away. Play much tougher schedule

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than Army has. And the fact
that you play great teams makes you better.

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Playing Cincinnati defense UF defense, not
defense, has made Xavier get better

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and he's really done a fantastic job
progressing each game and playing very well.

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The only pass he threw against Central
Florida. I mean he puts them right

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on the money. It hung Justice
Fidge and gave the TB a chance to

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go back and close on the ball. But otherwise, I mean he's in

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proved in that category as well.
More importantly, his command of the offense

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is there now, and I think
the coaching staff has a great deal of

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confidence in him going into this football
game with him running that offense right now.

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So we continue with Pete Medhurst,
the play by play voice of the

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Navy Midshipman. He's also talking about
five tool broadcasting also the play by play

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voice at rosecoff Raceway. And then
Pete, I thought it was so awesome

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man, when you made your debut
calling the Washington Nationals game. What was

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that two years ago? Or was
that last season twenty nineteen nineteen, you

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know, I mean we went down
there and stalked on the Brave, you

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know, and since then things have
changed drosterwise for both teams. But that's

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the look, I mean, that's
what we all aspired to when we get

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in this business. You want to
take it as high. Oh yeah,

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as he possibly can. Very blessed
to be a part of the Nationals Radio

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Network. And you know, I
mean there are a lot of people that

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could buy for that. There are
a lot of people that could do that

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job, right. I just happened
to be the lucky one that happened to

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be right there in town. Yeah, flag Ship and um, you know,

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it was just it was dream coming
true, man, to have baseball

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back in my town after now I'm
having it for so long. Yeah,

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we have the oils up the street, but it's not the same when you

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call Walton team. But the match
year with the Nationals, and I have

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complete faith that Mike Rizzo is eventually
gonna get it turned around again here in

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Walton. Well you, Joe Miller, Keith Mills, Scott wike Off,

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and then special commentary from John Feinstein. That's all gonna get underway on the

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Navy Radio Network at two o'clock,
followed by obviously the game that you'll bring

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to ears all over not just the
country, but the world. I'm asked

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you about that at the end.
Then you guys will have a thirty minute

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postgame show, but real quickly on
offense for Navy before we look on the

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defensive side of the ball. I
have a jasper you know he obviously he

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lost that offensive quarter natter job.
Ever so briefly last year he's quickly brought

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back. He's still the quarterback coach. How his thing's gone transitionally, know

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what happened last year, but how
has everything gone in terms of you know,

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play calling, giving up that spot
and just seamlessly you know, staying

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on the staff when in what was
I know, an awkward time last year.

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Well, I mean when you first
of all, you're talking about one

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of the most professional individuals at his
job as there is in the country.

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Yeah, and a lot of people
could have handled that situation differently. That

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coach believes in him handled it masterfully. I've been handled it masterfully, and

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everybody boots on and I watched what
goes on during the games because coaches Smooths

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is right next to us. I
see, but Ivan's got going on in

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every play. Kenny right now has
the final say on plays. But I

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mean, I've I've been is essentially
contributing just as much as if he were

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making the final decision. Could see
the communication going on. But more importantly,

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price you see the work that he
does with quarterbacks. And then I've

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tried to tell everybody when I explained
this to them, Ivan Jasper could be

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the quarterbacks coach for any football team
in the country. Nick Saban could hire

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him tomorrow and he would hit the
ground running and be great for the University

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of Alabama because I believe in him
that much of a football coach is football.

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I was tremendous and his ability,
more importantly, to communicate with kids

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and get that proved. The proof
is in the pudding. We have rarely

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never had a quarterback not ready to
go. The only thing that really hampered

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that the last couple of years has
been the pandemic. I mean the Xavier

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never had a spring practice, so
his freshman year they didn't even start till

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the first week of school and he
ends up starting the Army game at Westport

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at the end of that season with
the way things win. So Ivan's work

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speaks for itself. He doesn't need
me, He doesn't need Kenny or anybody

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to defend him. His professionalism and
his work ethic and his ability to make

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people better. The results look,
Kenny says all the time. In coaching,

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it's a result oriented business, and
the results drive in Jasper. There's

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a heck of a lot more double
us than there are ills throughout the course

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of his end Kendia Matololo's career,
and there's no doubt about that. Pete,

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I want one more question about the
offense because it seems like they're going

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to get a big boost with offensive
tackle Jamie Romo returning for this game.

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And I know that there are a
lot of people that that may not understand

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what he's had to do to get
back and ready for Army Navy this week.

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Can you kind of just take us
through as somebody that's around the team

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on a regular basis on what he
has dealt with and what he's had to

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do to get back. Well,
when you think about at most programs,

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if you get hurt early in the
season, you can pretty much red shirt

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and come back the next year if
you want that. They don't have that

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at Navy. So this is it
for Jamie Romo, this is this is

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your last shot to play a football
game is this week right now? And

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rehabbing and rehabbing and rehabbing some more
and trusting the doctors. Trusting the rehab

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process is so important. And he's
done that, He's battled, you know,

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to this point where he's he's gonna
be able to contribute this week if

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the opportunity presents itself, and you
know, I would have you know,

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people can listen in on our pregame
show. Scott Wikoff's go have a heck

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of a you know, conversation with
him and Jamie. Of course, his

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grandfather a long time trainer at the
Naval Academy, Red Romo. He's a

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legend at the Naval Academy, at
a legacy family at the Academy. But

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you're talking about a legacy human being
man, Because it would have been easy

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for him to say, you know
what, i gotta worry about graduating in

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May. I'm gonna, you know, just worry about getting my body right

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for that and doing the things I
gotta do both academically and then sure I'm

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still part of the team, but
I'm gonna go concentrate on those things.

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Good luck men the rest of the
way. That's not been his goal because

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ninety nine percent of the young people
that come to the gate on Iday,

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this is who they are. We
talk about how profecial they are. Prices

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worked with them. He knows he's
worked, He's interacted with these kids.

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These kids are different. Man.
We call them the best and brightest for

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a reason. It's because they have
a much higher calling when they come through

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the gate. Sure they get to
participate in Division one athletics, but the

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calling is even higher for them.
The reason why they all come through the

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gate and Jamie Romo Livings aren't many
of the student athletes at the United States

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Naval Academy who overcome the same adversity
to participate because that other hood means something

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to them. Yeah, all right, mad. It's no question that Navy's

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youth has been well documented. One
of the youngest teams in the country.

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You know, on defense, pretty
young at linebacker and in the secondary.

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But one guy at linebacker leading the
way is certainly not young, and that's

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John Marshall, who was named Walter
Camp National Defensive Player of the Week after

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what he did in the UCF game. I Mean, it seems like it's

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really been the latter half of the
season when he's come on. But there's

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no question I thought I'd seen it
all at linebacker for Navy over the last

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few years with Diego Forgo and what
he did with an incredible career. Now

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00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:38,799
it's John Marshall leading that defense giving
up just eighty five yards a game on

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the ground. Wow, what a
revelation he's been med Think about it.

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Price He was the top wide receiver
for Caleb Williams, who's now at USC.

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They were together at high school at
Gonzagat John was his number one wide.

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However, John caught a hail Mary
from Caleb Williams on Navy's home field

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to win the WCAC Championship game and
turns that shows you how good of an

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athlete he is. Though. It's
the guy that was a full fledged wide

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receiver in high school and he turns
out to be an amazing outside linebacker.

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And and look, I mean,
you call the position what you want,

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but striker is truly what he is. He strikes fear in the defense and

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he has been amazing. I can't
even tell you what it's been like to

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see a Navy player have four sacks
in a quarter, let alone a season

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is ridiculous. But what he has
done for this team. Ironically, his

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greatest skill probably is diminished in this
game because Army tackle thow it very much.

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And that's okay. I can assure
you Brian Newberry, the day defensive

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coordinator, will find a way to
utilize God Marshall in this football game coming

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up this week. Yeah, and
for those that may not know about Washington

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UH schools in in DC, Gonzaga
one of the top private schools in in

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the entire Mid Atlantic region. Let's
not just say it's not just in the

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in the in DC, but the
entire been Atlantic. But I want to

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I want to know he um once
you think the biggest key for that group

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in the front seven, with Marshall
spearheading the way against the here Tyler that

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00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:30,400
the Army quarterback is going to be
well, I mean clearly, one of

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the one of the unsung heres in
his team has been our noseguard, Donald

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00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:37,680
Bernieyard Junior. He's been ridiculous running
plays down sideline and sideline as a nose

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guard. His plays like Cromwell,
Jacob Musick and then as Price alluded to,

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those linebackers have all been terrific.
Remember they're having to replace you know,

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00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,519
a legend it maybe in Diego for
Go, and we got four dudes

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00:26:53,519 --> 00:26:57,480
that have stepped right in and done
that in the middle. UH this year

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through this group team which has been
a superb and you know that grew up

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up front, plus guys like Reid
and Barber coming off the bench as well.

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For Navy, they cultivated death as
well. It's been a lot of

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fun to watch. And as I
talked to coach tending a mantel Lola all

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the time. We've talked about this
several times through the years. You never

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really understand the job how good your
coaches are doing until you see their players

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in the game. And when you
see that defensive staff play, you can

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tell all the work they've been doing
Monday to Friday has been on point because

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that performance of that run defense this
year. Uh, let's let's face it,

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that's the key matchup in this game. Army's run game Nabi's run defense.

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Um, I mean, it's gonna
be a Humdinger man inside the shoe

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00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:56,119
box, inside the uc F octagon, however you want to you know,

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00:27:56,359 --> 00:27:59,079
however you want to do it,
we go Rick Flair, Harley Race and

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the field page. But that's what
this is coming up, man, This

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is prime time Steelcage Mono Amano coming
up this week between these two units.

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Nothing like a Starcade eighty three reference. Yes, capital let me expand on

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that. At Navy right now is
Sidney Watts our junior basketball player. On

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00:28:21,799 --> 00:28:27,920
the girl's side, her father he
is former Louisville quarterback and former wrestler Eric

383
00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:33,400
Watts, whose father is Cowboy Bill
Watts. Yes, and her godfather is

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00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:38,319
none other than my god Diamond Dallas
Page. They are supposed to be coming

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00:28:38,559 --> 00:28:42,240
to the Army Navy basketball double header
coming up in February. You talk about

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00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:45,880
a person that is so excited he
can't contain his excitement. I'm like,

387
00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:48,759
mean, Gene Okerlin, right now, give me a little time in Dallas

388
00:28:48,759 --> 00:28:52,680
Page, give me a little Eric
Watts. Let's talk about this big one

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00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:56,519
coming up between Army and Navy.
And you know ddp's gonna come through with

390
00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:00,480
flying colors promoting that game. And
so he's said he's he's certainly, he

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00:29:00,599 --> 00:29:03,960
certainly is the man. I do
want to ask you, Pete uh As.

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00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:08,039
We've talked a lot about this game
going forward. I've seen the rotation

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00:29:08,119 --> 00:29:15,960
for the next five years with Foxborough, with um MetLife, Philadelphia, Baltimore

394
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and the Game and Landover. Um
I'm curious how your whats your thought is

395
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:27,200
on maybe expanding beyond the East Coast
for some of these games, Like how

396
00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:32,920
great would it be to have Army
Navy at Soldier Field in Chicago, or

397
00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:37,079
in San Diego with a Navy presence
is so is so big, or up

398
00:29:37,079 --> 00:29:41,400
in Seattle where the Navy presence is
so big. You know, I'm curious

399
00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:45,319
to see what you would think about
maybe expanding the rotation, maybe not going

400
00:29:45,359 --> 00:29:48,839
to Philadelphias so much, but being
able to let the rest of the country

401
00:29:48,079 --> 00:29:53,319
get an opportunity to go as well. Ash Balks, it's the question of

402
00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:57,839
you know, we've had other cities
UH want to get in all the proceedings,

403
00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:00,680
but you know, the there are
so many things that go into this

404
00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:07,920
including you have to transport the brigadi
and the core. So that's eight over

405
00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:11,160
eight thousand people. You got to
figure out how to get to that city

406
00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:15,079
and house them, you know,
the day before the game. So that's

407
00:30:15,119 --> 00:30:19,000
all in your cost. And that's
why the city of Philadelphia has been an

408
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:23,799
amazing host in this game. And
you know, you look at clearly the

409
00:30:23,799 --> 00:30:29,319
connection with Navy and Bill Belichick one
of the reasons why Foxboro the Craft family

410
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:33,319
got in. Look, I mean, look, Landover is twenty minutes from

411
00:30:33,319 --> 00:30:37,240
my house, but I could just
assume must play that game somewhere else.

412
00:30:37,279 --> 00:30:41,440
Than f x Field. But you
know, Baltimore, the Ravens are an

413
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:47,240
amazing partner with Davy. We just
played Notre Dame there the Giants and the

414
00:30:47,599 --> 00:30:52,240
Meadowlands another outstanding partner for these two
teams. They've also been a great partner

415
00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:57,240
with Navy on the Notre Dame game. So we are spreading around a little

416
00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:00,279
bit. I do believe there is
tradition know to the city of Philadelphia.

417
00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:04,400
Um, they should host it more
often than than other people. But again,

418
00:31:04,559 --> 00:31:10,759
cash, cash speaks volume. You
know, cash ironically is such a

419
00:31:11,519 --> 00:31:17,480
h there's such a quiet thing in
terms of its uh you know, presidence,

420
00:31:17,799 --> 00:31:19,839
but it speaks volumes when you see
it. If I bring you a

421
00:31:19,839 --> 00:31:25,200
lot of cash, you're gonna pay
attention to me. Okay, so and

422
00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:29,839
and that's that's essentially what Army and
Navy have done. These cities have met

423
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:33,480
the requirements and short great Chicago,
San Diego. Of course, the one

424
00:31:33,519 --> 00:31:37,799
year was at the Rose Bowl,
nybe beat Army forty two three that year

425
00:31:37,839 --> 00:31:41,599
out there with Napoleon McCallum. But
I think if it goes west of the

426
00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:45,160
Mississippi, there's one guy, there's
one guy that can meet the price tag.

427
00:31:45,759 --> 00:31:51,160
That's Jerry Cone. So if it
stands up somewhere west of the Mississippi,

428
00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:55,680
that would be my prediction. If
it goes west of the Missipi,

429
00:31:55,759 --> 00:32:00,480
Mississippi, because that guy can write
the chet interrest. That's interesting, man,

430
00:32:00,759 --> 00:32:05,359
all right, before we let you
go mad for a five tool broadcaster

431
00:32:05,519 --> 00:32:09,359
like yourself, the elite of the
elite, for bringing this game in not

432
00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:13,599
just to men and women or you
know here at home around the country,

433
00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:17,079
but what is it like as a
broadcaster to bring this game into bases to

434
00:32:17,279 --> 00:32:22,839
service men, to service women around
the world at all hours of the day,

435
00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:27,359
night, morning, wherever it is, whenever it is for this game

436
00:32:27,359 --> 00:32:29,599
on Saturday? For you? What
is that? What is that like?

437
00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:32,920
What is that honor like? For
you know? You know me a little

438
00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:38,079
bit, and you know I am
a for broadcasting ju only thing I wanted

439
00:32:38,119 --> 00:32:42,799
to do since I was five.
Radio TV history means so much to me.

440
00:32:43,519 --> 00:32:46,680
Um. And even if an ESPN
or a Fox or somebody like that

441
00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:51,440
doesn't call me, before you know, I retire, I'm pooled with what

442
00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:58,000
I've done with my life. But
this game, when you think about the

443
00:32:58,039 --> 00:33:02,000
people who have called it, a
very small fraternity of people yeah, included

444
00:33:02,039 --> 00:33:07,720
in that fraternity. Now knowing what
this game means to all of the alumni

445
00:33:08,599 --> 00:33:15,799
worldwide that that tune in and to
be one of those people that gets to

446
00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:22,400
do that, I mean, it's
an awe inspiring feeling to me. It

447
00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:28,519
gave makes me very emotional talking about
it because I know what our kids go

448
00:33:28,599 --> 00:33:30,720
through. I know what the kids
in Army go through because my cousin Pat

449
00:33:30,799 --> 00:33:36,119
Campbell kicks for Army and I watched
him warming up before the game, and

450
00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:39,279
the President of the United States,
George Bush, I'm forty yards away from

451
00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:44,000
him watching him warm up before the
game. Here comes George Bush saying the

452
00:33:44,039 --> 00:33:45,920
match, Hey, do you might
if I kick one? And my custom

453
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:49,599
says, who am I to tell
the President? No? You know,

454
00:33:51,039 --> 00:33:52,799
crying out loud. Right, took
it right, And I watch I watched

455
00:33:52,799 --> 00:33:58,000
George Bush kick the ball off of
his teat I mean shaking hands. I

456
00:33:58,039 --> 00:34:01,680
shook hands with President Bush. I'm
shaking hands President Obama walking around the field

457
00:34:02,119 --> 00:34:06,079
at this game. I've been at
the White House as a result of Navy

458
00:34:06,119 --> 00:34:12,639
winning Expander Chiefs Trophy as well.
And as I tell people all the time,

459
00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,760
man, as a dude that was
raised by his grandparents that grew up

460
00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:21,760
in a trailer park. To be
able to go where I've gone with my

461
00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:28,519
life and my career. To be
a part of this amazing rivalry that is

462
00:34:28,519 --> 00:34:30,360
as good as it gets, is
his most It's as important as any we

463
00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:35,840
have. Um, you know,
get that from mill Uh. It's just

464
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:38,280
it's all inspiring, man, And
it's one of the reasons why I look

465
00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:42,079
forward to every season because I know, I mean, think about this,

466
00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:45,079
he, Joe and Keith, they're
all dude from an Aundo County, Man.

467
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:50,079
Yeah. And for us to be
able to broadcast Navy's games in the

468
00:34:50,159 --> 00:34:55,199
area that we all grew up lived
supported those communities still do. Um,

469
00:34:55,440 --> 00:35:00,920
it's just it's it's it's I mean, I can't even put it world accurately

470
00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:06,079
what it really means to me to
be able to do that, because the

471
00:35:06,119 --> 00:35:09,320
probably means to the people that play
in it and the people that attend both

472
00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:15,920
He's amazing, amazing academic Coute well
Man, Pete. It's it's amazing.

473
00:35:16,039 --> 00:35:19,719
It's an honor to have you for
a few minutes and to catch back up

474
00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:22,039
with you to talk some Navy football
man. Have a great call on Saturday

475
00:35:22,159 --> 00:35:25,719
and is always Holt. I will
certainly be tuned in listening as you guys

476
00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:30,760
get started with the pregame show two
o'clock on the Navy Radio Network, and

477
00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:34,239
then obviously the game, then thirty
minute postgame show. You Joe Miller,

478
00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:37,119
Keith Mill, Scott wike Off,
one of the best crews you can find

479
00:35:37,159 --> 00:35:39,920
out there. Appreciate everything, Beat
Bryce, Steve, Appreciate you guys.

480
00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:43,880
You guys have a great holiday.
Man all right, once again, that's

481
00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:47,400
Pete Medhurst, the play by play
voice of the Navy Midshipman and don't go

482
00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:52,239
anywhere Army fans. Coming up next, Suton or Donado, the founder editor

483
00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:54,960
of Black Night Nation dot com.
Mike love All and I are going to

484
00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:59,440
talk with him about the Black Knights
in this season and get you ready for

485
00:36:00,039 --> 00:36:05,199
Saturday's game, the one hundred and
twenty third installment of the Army Navy Game,

486
00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:07,559
the ninetieth played in Philadelphia. We'll
be right back here on Yards and

487
00:36:07,599 --> 00:36:13,760
Stripes. You're home for Service Academy
Football, the latest with Navy, Army

488
00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:20,280
and Air Force on Yards and Stripes
Service Academy Football. All right, welcome

489
00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:22,760
back into the Arts and Stripes,
your home for service Academy football Pryce Atkinson,

490
00:36:23,079 --> 00:36:27,280
joined by my co host Mike love
All for this interview is we're gonna

491
00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:31,199
talk Army football with the pre eminent
member of the media, a guy that

492
00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:38,800
is steep in Army knowledge and covers
the Black Knights as anybody around. That's

493
00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:44,960
sal Enter Donado, the founder,
editor, guy that runs Black Night Nation

494
00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:47,960
dot com. You can follow him
on Twitter sal Enter Donado again. His

495
00:36:49,079 --> 00:36:52,519
website is Black Night Nation dot com. Sal, how's it going, man,

496
00:36:52,559 --> 00:36:54,280
Thanks for a few minutes on a
busy week as we get ready for

497
00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:59,320
a game that I know we all
look forward to every season. Yeah,

498
00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:02,159
Price, get the praise and thanks
to appreciate being back. Good to be

499
00:37:02,199 --> 00:37:05,440
back here with you guys. Yeah, man, it's great too. Uh,

500
00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:07,400
it's great to see Black Night Nation
flourishing. I know you, I

501
00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:12,960
mean you literally cover everything when it
comes to you know, Army athletics,

502
00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:15,800
football, basketball, baseball, lacrosse. But we're gonna talk football here because

503
00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:20,199
that is the topic of the day. Um, and I know with you

504
00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:23,199
know, it's been kind of a
I guess a streaky season for the Black

505
00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:29,000
Nights really kind of gone in streets, but late momentum, what maybe played

506
00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:32,519
its best most complete game of the
season last time out in forty four to

507
00:37:32,639 --> 00:37:37,400
seven win over UMass. At least
going into this Army Navy game, there's

508
00:37:37,480 --> 00:37:43,039
momentum and you know, no college
you know, Bowl eligibility is on the

509
00:37:43,039 --> 00:37:45,920
table. It really doesn't matter at
this point, but Army's got to be

510
00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:51,000
feeling good going into the annual showdown
with their with their rival Navy. Yeah,

511
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:52,840
you're looking at those last two games
against U kind of the UMass,

512
00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:57,239
right, the offense kind of started
to play, it start to get together,

513
00:37:57,320 --> 00:38:00,320
and also, um they figured out
in half of that Yukon game,

514
00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:04,840
right, I mean they just that's
been a problem earlier in the year.

515
00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:08,400
They just struggled the finished games and
it took them, you know, game

516
00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:14,519
ten to figure out how they kind
of finish those those games against you know,

517
00:38:14,679 --> 00:38:17,119
some some really decent competitions. So
I think that you know, they're

518
00:38:17,159 --> 00:38:20,880
heading in with momentum. Yeah,
they had a bye week. Yeah,

519
00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:23,039
they're getting them. They get back
maybe some guys that were out against you,

520
00:38:23,159 --> 00:38:27,119
Mass or guys that were banged up
against you Mass. It looks like,

521
00:38:27,199 --> 00:38:30,480
you know, Aijah Marshall will return
and that's a big boost to their

522
00:38:30,519 --> 00:38:32,679
offense, and um, you know, I think they're heading in pretty good.

523
00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:37,119
And now we talked about on our
podcast, Um, this is their

524
00:38:37,119 --> 00:38:39,639
bowl game this year. You know, this is the bowl game for them

525
00:38:39,679 --> 00:38:44,760
this year, and this is the
way to send off a really dedicated,

526
00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:49,519
talented group of seniors off on the
right foot. So, so you mentioned

527
00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:52,360
some of the injuries and the guys
coming back. Um, you know,

528
00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:55,880
it's it really has been. I
know, when you play triple option football,

529
00:38:55,920 --> 00:39:00,800
you're you're you're simply the nature the
beast is You're just gonna guys banged

530
00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:04,199
up, especially in the trenches,
along the line of scrimmage and quarterbacks or

531
00:39:05,039 --> 00:39:09,159
notwithstanding it as well. Um,
slot back has really been a spot where

532
00:39:09,199 --> 00:39:14,880
they have been really I don't want
to say decimated, but gotten really thin

533
00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:17,320
at you know, Tyson Riley even
moving and taking a lot of I think

534
00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:21,159
maybe even the majority of his snaps. You know, it's slot back in

535
00:39:21,199 --> 00:39:23,559
that last game. What's the status
on on the slotbacks? You know,

536
00:39:23,559 --> 00:39:28,119
it's it's been a obviously a big
play position over the last couple of years

537
00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:31,719
for Jeff Munkin and the Black Knight's
offense. Yeah, you know, prices

538
00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:35,960
the position where all our podcasts a
lot saying you gotta get these guys in

539
00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:37,639
the ball more because they're such playmakers, right. And I know it's a

540
00:39:37,679 --> 00:39:42,639
triple option offense and you gotta feature
the fullback and the quarterback keeps a lot,

541
00:39:42,719 --> 00:39:45,679
but um, you know, Tyrolle
Robinson is arguably their their biggest game

542
00:39:46,079 --> 00:39:52,039
changer on offense, and he went
down with a knee injury against wake Forest

543
00:39:52,119 --> 00:39:54,880
and you know they haven't had him
back. Um you know, Isajah Marshall

544
00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:59,719
got an ankle injury, I believe
against Yukon, so they didn't have him.

545
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:02,559
It's the UMass and the Miles Stewart, who's kind of like the third

546
00:40:02,599 --> 00:40:07,239
fourth guy. Um he was had
his army is slaying on the sidelines against

547
00:40:07,079 --> 00:40:12,800
the UMSK a week or two ago. So um you know, So then

548
00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:17,960
what do you do? You're throwing
Tyson Riley and I talk. I'm gonna

549
00:40:19,039 --> 00:40:22,639
upload the video on our Black Guy
Nation YouTube channel, and he said that

550
00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:28,559
they the thought was to play Tyson
Riley a little bit at slot back this

551
00:40:28,639 --> 00:40:31,760
year, even prior to the U
MASS game. But the thing is,

552
00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:37,000
Tyson Riley has been banged up a
lot this season, hasn't really practiced too

553
00:40:37,119 --> 00:40:40,519
much. Um he's been He's also
been sick too, so it's he's missed

554
00:40:40,519 --> 00:40:44,760
some practice time. And he said
that Tyson Riley went into that U Mass

555
00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:49,320
game with three days of practice at
slot back and he played the majority of

556
00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:52,320
the snacks. So I think with
Tyson Riley a slop slotback, you get

557
00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:57,239
like more blocking, you know,
at slot back. Are they gonna give

558
00:40:57,239 --> 00:41:00,079
Tyson Riley the ball fifteen times as
a slot back? No. I think

559
00:41:00,119 --> 00:41:04,480
the idea there is to get an
extra fullback on the field, UM,

560
00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:07,480
an extra fullback for blocking the guy
that can block. Maybe you can get

561
00:41:07,519 --> 00:41:10,280
him out of the backfield too,
maybe on the pass when Nabe he's not

562
00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:15,440
really looking for it and you roll
with him. A John Marshall, Maurice

563
00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:21,800
Faland who's moved over for quarter from
quarterback this season to slot back. And

564
00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:24,280
Brahee Murphy's made some big plays.
We can't forget Brat. He's the senior.

565
00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:28,440
He's made some big plays for this
team. So they're okay. They're

566
00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:30,000
okay at slop back. As far
as going in. Would they love to

567
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:35,719
have Tyrell Robinson, of course,
but he suffered that season ending injury against

568
00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:39,599
UM Wake course, Hey, sal
Mike love All, I think Army's biggest

569
00:41:39,599 --> 00:41:45,880
concern is probably the rush defenseifte rush
defense in the nation of one hundred thirty

570
00:41:45,880 --> 00:41:49,760
one teams, Navy, of course, the seventh ranked rushing offense. What

571
00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:53,119
Army you gonna have to do to
stop Navy's rush offense in the game.

572
00:41:54,079 --> 00:41:58,000
Yeah, I think with the Army
defense, I mean, if you if

573
00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:00,320
you see if they've been playing well
the last five games or so, they've

574
00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:05,679
only given up like sixty points,
and they'll tell you the team their keys

575
00:42:05,719 --> 00:42:07,880
to winning is running the football and
stuff in the run. And I think

576
00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:13,079
that the defensive line we know in
these games. Guys, if you the

577
00:42:13,119 --> 00:42:16,039
trenches are gonna win this game,
right, I mean Army's defensive line.

578
00:42:16,039 --> 00:42:20,199
They're gonna rotate guys in and out. So those guys have to stay fresh.

579
00:42:20,280 --> 00:42:22,559
They have to play their gaps,
and they have to let the linebackers

580
00:42:22,559 --> 00:42:24,440
make plays. They have to let
Leo Loo make plays. They have to

581
00:42:24,440 --> 00:42:29,440
make they have to have Marquel brought
and come up from the safety position and

582
00:42:29,559 --> 00:42:32,280
make some plays, and that's gonna
be the key key to the game for

583
00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:35,559
them. They have to come up
with a turnover in this game, and

584
00:42:35,599 --> 00:42:37,760
they have to switch the field in
this game if they want to have success,

585
00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:42,440
because that's been the key for them
too much. Early in the season

586
00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:45,360
they were given away points in offense
or on special teams. They can't do

587
00:42:45,480 --> 00:42:49,719
that against Navy, and they have
to come up with their um. The

588
00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:52,079
defense has to come up with a
couple of plays in this game, whether

589
00:42:52,119 --> 00:42:53,840
it be attacked for a loss that
force is a pond, whether it be

590
00:42:53,960 --> 00:42:59,320
an more of a fumble, probably
a force fumble than an interception. But

591
00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:02,400
they have to they have to change
the game, so to speak. Yeah,

592
00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:07,480
so we'll switch sides on the offense. With the evolutionary divergence of the

593
00:43:07,519 --> 00:43:12,760
two playbooks from the Paul Johnson origin, Jeff Muky to be a little bit

594
00:43:12,760 --> 00:43:15,119
more comfortable with changing up some of
the plays. Two years ago we saw

595
00:43:15,719 --> 00:43:20,440
a heavy use of unbalanced line.
This year we've seen a couple of end

596
00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:22,880
of rounds. We've seen a couple
of slices. What do you think the

597
00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:25,599
Army offense has in store for some
of those wrinkles that you usually see in

598
00:43:25,639 --> 00:43:30,880
the Army Navy game. To throw
a defense who faces the flex going every

599
00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:34,639
week, to throw that defense off. But what do you think Jeff's gonna

600
00:43:34,840 --> 00:43:37,039
put into the game plan on offense
this week? Man, I wish I

601
00:43:37,079 --> 00:43:40,480
was in the meeting rooms, to
be honest, because you know, you

602
00:43:40,519 --> 00:43:44,159
look at it this. I think
that sometimes in this game, honestly,

603
00:43:44,199 --> 00:43:47,400
they got too conservative, They got
too bland a little bit. I mean,

604
00:43:47,639 --> 00:43:51,840
they should do a little bit more. And talking to Brent Davis yesterday,

605
00:43:52,039 --> 00:43:53,679
it's like, you want to go
against like, how do you build

606
00:43:53,679 --> 00:43:57,639
a game plan against, you know, Navy. You know, I'm sure

607
00:43:57,679 --> 00:44:00,840
you're practicing, you know, in
the spring, in preseason and during the

608
00:44:00,920 --> 00:44:04,360
year. I'm sure you're taking you
know, your your Repton know, he

609
00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:09,159
called the commander in chiefs periods and
he and he just of course he wasn't

610
00:44:09,199 --> 00:44:12,480
gonna give me away what they're gonna
do, of course, you know.

611
00:44:12,719 --> 00:44:15,840
But it's just like, I don't
know, I just I think you're gonna

612
00:44:15,880 --> 00:44:17,880
see a lot of tire Tyler in
this game. I think you're gonna see

613
00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:22,800
Tyre Tyler run how you know,
maybe different maybe on the outside, trying

614
00:44:22,800 --> 00:44:25,880
to get to the outside a little
bit more with Tyler. I think you're

615
00:44:25,920 --> 00:44:29,639
just gonna see that. I mean, I wish they throw the ball a

616
00:44:29,639 --> 00:44:32,559
little bit more. Isaiah Austin is
probably the most talented wide receiver they'd have

617
00:44:32,760 --> 00:44:36,559
the Jeff Monk and era. I
wish they give him at least three or

618
00:44:36,559 --> 00:44:38,480
four looks in this game. But
I think you have to mix it up,

619
00:44:38,519 --> 00:44:42,679
and I think you gotta, you
know, keep it on schedules,

620
00:44:42,679 --> 00:44:45,679
so to speak, enough to where
that play action pass is gonna help you.

621
00:44:45,679 --> 00:44:47,760
You know, I think they've hit
the tiden up the scene in the

622
00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:52,559
last two games. I've been calling
for that all year long. Josh Linien

623
00:44:52,639 --> 00:44:58,480
Filter is a really elite blocker and
also a good receiver, and I think

624
00:44:58,480 --> 00:45:01,239
that if they can mixed in a
passing game a little bit. I know,

625
00:45:01,519 --> 00:45:05,320
running the football's their deal, but
if they can get a couple of

626
00:45:05,400 --> 00:45:08,159
successful pass down the field, I
think that will help open up the running

627
00:45:08,199 --> 00:45:13,159
game just a little enough to maybe
win this game. All right. As

628
00:45:13,159 --> 00:45:17,719
we continue, A sout Inner Donado, the founder editor guy that everything Army

629
00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:22,159
Athletics at Black Night Nation dot com
again follow him on Twitter at Salt Inner

630
00:45:22,199 --> 00:45:25,800
Donado, and make sure to check
out their podcasts, a Black Knight Nation

631
00:45:25,880 --> 00:45:30,400
podcast And you know, talking about
ty here Tyler just just a second ago,

632
00:45:30,480 --> 00:45:34,760
Sal I know you when you go
back, you can always look,

633
00:45:35,320 --> 00:45:37,280
you know, things you would do
over again. Maybe hindsight a little bit,

634
00:45:37,320 --> 00:45:40,880
but any second guessing you think,
um, you know, going back

635
00:45:40,920 --> 00:45:44,719
to that Air Force game, if
Jeff Munkin had to do it over again,

636
00:45:45,320 --> 00:45:49,159
starting ty Here Tyler instead of Jamal
Jones in that game, and I

637
00:45:49,199 --> 00:45:51,960
mean, there's no reason to think. I mean, obviously they have three

638
00:45:52,039 --> 00:45:58,719
quarterbacks, all are capable what's his
name, ka Kay Ballard that I don't

639
00:45:58,760 --> 00:46:00,400
want to call him the third string, but maybe the guy that can throw

640
00:46:00,440 --> 00:46:04,920
it the best of them all.
Is there any reason to think we don't

641
00:46:05,039 --> 00:46:08,480
see Tiger Tyler the majority of the
game in this one on Saturday. Yeah,

642
00:46:08,559 --> 00:46:12,519
I think the way he's played the
last couple of games, I think

643
00:46:12,519 --> 00:46:15,480
it's Ti Tire's game. He's you
got all three seniors there, right,

644
00:46:15,760 --> 00:46:21,079
and you got all three guys that
have experience, but Tire. They really

645
00:46:21,119 --> 00:46:23,760
love Tire's toughness, and they really
love his leadership. And when he can

646
00:46:23,800 --> 00:46:28,840
break off some runs that he's broken
off. I think towards at the beginning

647
00:46:28,880 --> 00:46:32,079
of the year, there weren't those. Um he wasn't breaking off like really

648
00:46:32,199 --> 00:46:36,960
ten yards or more plays, and
that's important in this in this offense,

649
00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:39,960
to change the field, to move, move the ball, move the chains.

650
00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:43,960
And when you're when you're an option
quarterback, you need to pick up

651
00:46:44,039 --> 00:46:45,840
Sometimes you need to pick up your
offense when the fullbacks getting stuff, and

652
00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:50,400
sometimes you need to pick up those
ten to twenty yard runs. I think

653
00:46:50,440 --> 00:46:52,079
that he's been doing that in the
last couple of weeks, and I think

654
00:46:52,960 --> 00:46:57,719
the passing. The passing has come
along with Tiger enough where he can hit

655
00:46:57,800 --> 00:47:00,599
that Josh Lilliam felt the passages down
the scene of Astillion felt so um.

656
00:47:01,079 --> 00:47:05,079
I think they're gonna roll with him
now. If it gets into like a

657
00:47:05,199 --> 00:47:08,199
late two minute drill type situation at
the end of the first half or at

658
00:47:08,199 --> 00:47:10,559
the end of the game where they
need to throw the ball, then you

659
00:47:10,639 --> 00:47:15,199
might see Jamal Jones arcade ballard.
But I think the majority of the time

660
00:47:15,239 --> 00:47:19,840
you're gonna see Tyre Tyler in this
game. So bigger question about the Army

661
00:47:19,920 --> 00:47:23,480
Navy game in general. This is
the first time since two th eleven either

662
00:47:23,519 --> 00:47:27,280
team's going to go to a bowl
after the game. I think maybe the

663
00:47:27,400 --> 00:47:32,639
second time since two thousand and three. Talk to us about the increase and

664
00:47:32,760 --> 00:47:37,960
expectation of the Army Navy game.
These two teams usually fighting for a bowl

665
00:47:37,960 --> 00:47:40,800
game, sometimes both going to a
bowl. Just the increased expectations in this

666
00:47:40,880 --> 00:47:45,679
game since it moved off Throughoualry weekend
and became a spotlight game for the nation.

667
00:47:46,519 --> 00:47:51,239
Yeah. I was talking to Tyre
Tyler yesterday. He was saying that,

668
00:47:51,440 --> 00:47:54,440
you know, the preparation is the
same every week for them. I

669
00:47:54,480 --> 00:48:00,119
think he was telling me that the
tension of detail is the same every week.

670
00:48:00,199 --> 00:48:05,920
But just talking to Jabari More also
yesterday, I mean, there's just

671
00:48:05,960 --> 00:48:09,800
a round campus. There's on post
this is there's a buzz, right,

672
00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:13,960
of course there's a buzz. But
for these juniors. You got guys who

673
00:48:14,360 --> 00:48:17,280
the captains of this team, right, Mark Oil brought in the Connor Bishop.

674
00:48:17,480 --> 00:48:21,960
They're heavily involved in the corps.
Right, They're not just football players,

675
00:48:22,199 --> 00:48:25,239
they're heavily involved in the corps.
Brought in a regimental commander, one

676
00:48:25,280 --> 00:48:30,119
of the four on the core cadets. Connor Bishop is involved in a high

677
00:48:30,159 --> 00:48:35,519
officer position. So these are guys
that are respected not only on the field,

678
00:48:35,559 --> 00:48:37,639
but also you know, within their
peers. And I think that that's

679
00:48:37,719 --> 00:48:43,199
something that you know that makes the
game for them. They're playing obviously,

680
00:48:43,480 --> 00:48:46,079
you know in this game, right, these guys are playing for more than

681
00:48:46,119 --> 00:48:51,039
just their teammates. They're playing for
the guys that have played in this game

682
00:48:51,039 --> 00:48:53,760
before. They're playing for the guys
who are serving overseas. I think also

683
00:48:54,559 --> 00:48:59,000
more than ever this year, I
think that this team is playing for the

684
00:48:59,039 --> 00:49:02,760
Corps. And I think that that
means a lot for you know, the

685
00:49:02,800 --> 00:49:06,519
culture of the team. I think
it means a lot of these players.

686
00:49:06,880 --> 00:49:09,960
Um, you got nineteen seniors on
this team. You got guys who have

687
00:49:10,119 --> 00:49:14,760
been through these games before, guys
who have played in the game at might

688
00:49:14,840 --> 00:49:16,440
just state him where there's nobody in
the stands, and guys who have made

689
00:49:16,480 --> 00:49:22,280
it act like Bishop and Broughton and
an Andre Carter. You know. So

690
00:49:22,320 --> 00:49:25,679
I think that that's really important that
Yeah, it's it's it's a different game

691
00:49:25,920 --> 00:49:30,440
this game. I do you expect
more intensity because this is the last game

692
00:49:30,559 --> 00:49:34,880
for each team the season. This
is the seniors on both sides, no

693
00:49:34,920 --> 00:49:37,519
doubt, last game in their careers
for a lot of them, except maybe

694
00:49:37,559 --> 00:49:42,559
you know, a couple of guys
like an Andre Carter. Um, it's

695
00:49:42,559 --> 00:49:46,719
gonna be really I'm looking forward to
watching the start of this game and see

696
00:49:46,719 --> 00:49:52,719
if the intensities even jumped up a
notch or you know, geared up a

697
00:49:52,800 --> 00:49:57,079
notch and comes Saturday, and so
one last question for me, and it's

698
00:49:57,079 --> 00:50:00,679
a softball for you. Seventh year, seventh year of the Army Rivalry series.

699
00:50:00,760 --> 00:50:06,239
Uniform. What's your favorite uniform of
that seven year series? Think?

700
00:50:06,440 --> 00:50:08,239
Yeah, I think the type bound
Division one has always been my favorite.

701
00:50:08,280 --> 00:50:12,639
I mean maybe because just the game
was played in those elements. I think

702
00:50:12,679 --> 00:50:16,239
that's that's that was my favorite,
and it was I also coupled the uniform

703
00:50:16,280 --> 00:50:20,360
with the game, right, um, you know you had the uniforms are

704
00:50:20,440 --> 00:50:23,000
nice, but then following it up
with the game, and that game was

705
00:50:23,039 --> 00:50:27,679
just an incredible game that went down
to a last kick. And that's what

706
00:50:27,800 --> 00:50:30,039
the Rivalry is all about, right, that's you know, you know,

707
00:50:30,679 --> 00:50:34,960
getting into a fist fight in the
phone booth according to Jeff Mounkin. You

708
00:50:35,000 --> 00:50:37,599
know, this is what this the
game is about. And that's my that's

709
00:50:37,639 --> 00:50:40,280
my favorite one. This one,
this one for Army is pretty good with

710
00:50:40,320 --> 00:50:45,719
the first Armored Division and the meaning
behind it, with World War Two,

711
00:50:45,079 --> 00:50:49,360
the history of it. I think
Army puts a lot of time into an

712
00:50:49,400 --> 00:50:54,920
effort into their uniforms. And you
know, I'm when I love like getting

713
00:50:54,960 --> 00:51:00,679
out to the feeling pre game and
seeing them up close in their stadium atmosphere.

714
00:51:00,679 --> 00:51:04,000
You know, that's when I can
maybe give this one the first Armored

715
00:51:04,039 --> 00:51:07,559
division over the tenth Mountain. Tenth
Mountain. But we'll see what happens out

716
00:51:07,559 --> 00:51:10,639
of there, all right. So
so before we let you go, there's

717
00:51:10,679 --> 00:51:16,280
nobody that even follows Army recruiting like
you do. You know, where is

718
00:51:16,360 --> 00:51:20,599
this recruiting class? You know,
and we know that there is no national

719
00:51:20,639 --> 00:51:23,320
signing Day when it comes to the
academies, but where do things stand with

720
00:51:23,360 --> 00:51:28,280
this, you know, current recruiting
class for next season's team? You know

721
00:51:28,320 --> 00:51:30,800
the pulse of you know, the
verbal commitments they've gotten, you know,

722
00:51:30,880 --> 00:51:34,559
guys that they've been looking at,
and you know, how does how is

723
00:51:34,599 --> 00:51:39,760
this class shaping up? Yeah?
I really dove kind of deeper into it

724
00:51:39,840 --> 00:51:45,400
when seeing Okay, they have about
like six I think about sixty commits right

725
00:51:45,440 --> 00:51:47,239
now. We do a lot and
uh, you know how many of those

726
00:51:47,239 --> 00:51:52,840
commits are got offers from Air Force? How many got offers from Navy?

727
00:51:52,840 --> 00:51:55,320
And you're looking at probably a third
of those guys or guys who were also

728
00:51:55,480 --> 00:52:00,320
been recruited by academies. I think
it started off well for them. They

729
00:52:00,039 --> 00:52:04,440
got a defensive lineman by name of
Matt Jemma out of del Barton, New

730
00:52:04,519 --> 00:52:07,800
Jersey, and UM, he was
he's pretty um I think, a free

731
00:52:07,840 --> 00:52:12,239
star whatever, but he's very talented. He's gonna play in an All American

732
00:52:12,280 --> 00:52:17,039
game. And I think that his
enthusiasm for his commitment has helped for other

733
00:52:17,079 --> 00:52:21,079
guys. He's been a real he's
been a guy who's really gotten out there

734
00:52:21,360 --> 00:52:23,920
and tried to push that here,
here's where, here's a here's a good

735
00:52:23,920 --> 00:52:28,199
spot for here's what you can do
at army, and here's what we can

736
00:52:28,199 --> 00:52:30,360
do at Army. And they've built
a pretty solid class. They got kid

737
00:52:30,440 --> 00:52:36,199
by the name of Barret Gardener on
a PA who has multiple like UM power

738
00:52:36,320 --> 00:52:39,320
five offers. They've really done well
in Pennsylvania so far. I think what

739
00:52:39,480 --> 00:52:44,400
seven commits already, UM, you
know, Georgia, Florida, those and

740
00:52:44,480 --> 00:52:46,599
Texas, those are going to be
strong states for them. But if they

741
00:52:46,639 --> 00:52:52,400
can do well in like a UM, Pennsylvania is a pretty talented football state.

742
00:52:52,519 --> 00:52:54,440
If they could do well and and
those type of states. Then they're

743
00:52:54,440 --> 00:52:58,719
gonna have a pretty good recruiting class
and they have a couple other guys on

744
00:52:58,760 --> 00:53:01,760
board from Pennsylvania are could really make
a difference. And it's you know,

745
00:53:01,800 --> 00:53:06,440
they keep on building the guys real
quick. The thing that um is really

746
00:53:07,960 --> 00:53:14,840
different and this is this this transfer
portal, right and now the and like

747
00:53:15,119 --> 00:53:17,800
you know, now with the coaching
changes all over the places, now they're

748
00:53:17,800 --> 00:53:22,559
seeing players like this week with the
Buffalo Dean Sanders getting the Buffalo job.

749
00:53:22,599 --> 00:53:25,719
People, there's a lot of decommitting
going on. There's a lot of shifting.

750
00:53:25,840 --> 00:53:30,119
So Army got I'm sure Army coaches
this is a busy week for them

751
00:53:30,159 --> 00:53:32,480
on the field, but I'm sure
it's a busy week for them on the

752
00:53:32,599 --> 00:53:37,519
phones and on their cell phones,
you know, getting in contact with recruits,

753
00:53:37,840 --> 00:53:40,519
keeping their interests in Army and building
that class because this first signing day

754
00:53:40,519 --> 00:53:45,920
will be coming up and they want
to have a majority of their class um

755
00:53:45,039 --> 00:53:50,599
in tax for that and then add
a couple of guys in that February window

756
00:53:50,599 --> 00:53:52,960
too. So um, yeah,
they're dude, Yeah, yeah, it's

757
00:53:53,039 --> 00:53:58,079
kind of you think it's a kind
of a it's not. It's an average

758
00:53:58,119 --> 00:54:00,679
year for Army football, let's just
say five and six, but they've been

759
00:54:00,679 --> 00:54:05,360
able to help hold the interest and
get some pretty talented players so far.

760
00:54:06,119 --> 00:54:08,559
All right, So I tell everybody
about Black Night Nation dot com and what

761
00:54:08,639 --> 00:54:12,480
you got coming up the rest of
the week, and obviously your game coverage.

762
00:54:13,400 --> 00:54:15,840
Yeah, our game coverage, that's
what I take pride in. And

763
00:54:16,159 --> 00:54:21,320
when we're at games, I'm gonna
give our fans done, especially on social

764
00:54:21,320 --> 00:54:23,119
media, the best experience I can
get if you're not at the stadium.

765
00:54:23,159 --> 00:54:27,760
So I try to do some pregame
videos. I try to do some videos

766
00:54:27,800 --> 00:54:30,840
from the stands even during the game, just to give that perspective of what

767
00:54:30,920 --> 00:54:35,360
the game is like. We have
a seth Medlison who who we add this

768
00:54:35,440 --> 00:54:38,440
year as a writer who does our
game stories. I'll do the video coverage

769
00:54:38,480 --> 00:54:43,960
to get the postgame coverage. And
yeah, we have our photographers, our

770
00:54:44,000 --> 00:54:46,519
excellent We're gonna have two photographers at
this game, and so we're gonna have

771
00:54:46,559 --> 00:54:50,599
it covered. As far as photos
and videos, We're gonna have this game

772
00:54:50,639 --> 00:54:53,559
covered pretty well. Margaret Kite and
Lynn Fern have done a great job for

773
00:54:53,679 --> 00:54:59,920
us this year and our podcast right
now, looking at tomorrow, getting Unray

774
00:55:00,039 --> 00:55:04,199
Stitchway for our podcast and roll the
Stitchway, um, one of the more

775
00:55:04,280 --> 00:55:07,840
historic games in our Navy football history. Him and arribed the shot backs went

776
00:55:07,880 --> 00:55:10,079
out in the in the sixties,
in the early sixties. So, um,

777
00:55:10,400 --> 00:55:15,119
I'm gonna have all these Stitchway hopefully
on our podcast tomorrow to talk about

778
00:55:15,119 --> 00:55:19,920
the rivalry and talk about his experiences. We just had If you check out

779
00:55:19,960 --> 00:55:22,840
our YouTube channel at blacknet Nation,
we just had Play Daniels on. He

780
00:55:22,960 --> 00:55:27,079
was a guy who was a freshman
on the ninety six team and had some

781
00:55:27,199 --> 00:55:30,440
really great stories about the Army football
brotherhood and how it how that helped him

782
00:55:30,440 --> 00:55:35,119
in what he's doing right now.
He's a very successful in business. So

783
00:55:35,239 --> 00:55:37,280
um, yeah, it's been fun. If you check our archives out,

784
00:55:37,320 --> 00:55:40,559
man, there's so many good video
of the interviews that we've had with grads.

785
00:55:40,880 --> 00:55:46,559
I was trying to put put those
into a Army Navy Memories um kind

786
00:55:46,559 --> 00:55:52,039
of compilation. It's a little bit
of a project YouTube, but I'm gonna

787
00:55:52,079 --> 00:55:53,280
do my best, so if I
can get this out, I will.

788
00:55:53,599 --> 00:55:58,559
And uh yeah, we just really
enjoyed the season, just given our given

789
00:55:58,599 --> 00:56:02,119
the Army fans and people who fought
Service Academy football, some insight and some

790
00:56:02,559 --> 00:56:07,440
you know, the best possible experience. Like I said during game day that

791
00:56:07,480 --> 00:56:10,079
we can so sal We can't thank
you enough, buddy. Appreciate all the

792
00:56:10,079 --> 00:56:14,880
time today and for bringing Army football
to the forefront. As we get ready

793
00:56:14,880 --> 00:56:17,719
for Saturday, man, always appreciate
you. Thanks a lot, nice really

794
00:56:17,760 --> 00:56:22,320
trit make and I'll see you guys
on Saturday. All right, Appreciate Salt

795
00:56:22,360 --> 00:56:25,679
in Ordnado from Black Night Nation dot
com for joining us there to talk all

796
00:56:25,719 --> 00:56:30,719
things Army football. And when we
come back, we will have best selling

797
00:56:30,760 --> 00:56:32,920
author John Feinstein. He won't want
to miss this one, and he'll be

798
00:56:32,960 --> 00:56:37,360
doing Navy pregame coverage. Has been
a part of the Army Radio Network in

799
00:56:37,400 --> 00:56:40,840
the past, obviously, is a
columnist with the Washington Post and so many

800
00:56:40,840 --> 00:56:45,159
other things. Author of a Civil
War. You don't want to miss this

801
00:56:45,239 --> 00:56:49,880
conversation with John Feinstein, and it's
coming up next here on Yards and Stripes,

802
00:56:49,920 --> 00:56:54,360
your Army Navy preview special. It's
everything you need to know about Service

803
00:56:54,400 --> 00:57:00,840
Academy football. Yards and Stripes continues
here once again in our price Steve and

804
00:57:01,079 --> 00:57:05,800
Mike. All right, welcome back
into Yards and stripes. Bryce Atkinson joined

805
00:57:06,159 --> 00:57:09,440
Oh my man Steve Carney, producer
and co hosts Extraordinary, But we were

806
00:57:09,519 --> 00:57:16,039
joined by literary literary royalty John Feinstein, the award winning and best selling author

807
00:57:16,079 --> 00:57:21,480
of a Civil War. Everybody listening
to the podcast right now knows all about

808
00:57:21,519 --> 00:57:27,639
the Army Naval Army Navy rivalry that
John takes you inside. An incredible piece.

809
00:57:27,719 --> 00:57:30,480
John, John, is great to
catch up with you again. Thanks

810
00:57:30,519 --> 00:57:32,519
so much for the time today.
It's good to talk to you guys.

811
00:57:32,559 --> 00:57:36,880
Thanks for having all right John,
Let's you know, hop hop into it.

812
00:57:37,079 --> 00:57:38,159
Um. You know, I remember
I was reading I went back and

813
00:57:38,199 --> 00:57:42,480
read your column just the other day
because it was the last Army Navy game

814
00:57:42,519 --> 00:57:45,440
I've been to, which was in
the I think it was in the driving

815
00:57:45,480 --> 00:57:50,639
snow when the field goal ended up
just Shortbur you're twenty eighteen, Oh man.

816
00:57:50,679 --> 00:57:52,320
I was standing all right at the
back of that end zone with that

817
00:57:52,480 --> 00:57:59,679
ball landed short, and probably at
least two false starts by Navy on that

818
00:57:59,719 --> 00:58:02,719
I think three on the final drive
at two yeah, yeah, two of

819
00:58:02,760 --> 00:58:07,960
them probably cost him the game.
Is standing. I was on the Army

820
00:58:07,000 --> 00:58:13,960
sideline at that point and the snow
was still coming down like crazy, and

821
00:58:14,159 --> 00:58:16,280
when the ball was in the air, Bru Carrigan, who was then the

822
00:58:16,639 --> 00:58:20,880
Army's athletic director, was standing right
behind me and I heard him say,

823
00:58:21,000 --> 00:58:24,400
oh blank because he thought the kick
was good. And then as you mentioned,

824
00:58:24,440 --> 00:58:29,920
it just faded left at the last
possible moment. What I mean,

825
00:58:29,960 --> 00:58:32,480
I think it was before the game
when you wrote and we've talked about this

826
00:58:32,559 --> 00:58:37,079
before, but you know, quote
nothing in sports moves me like the Army

827
00:58:37,159 --> 00:58:38,840
Navy game, you know. And
then you mentioned how you know your wife

828
00:58:38,840 --> 00:58:43,400
will text you the end of the
last album Mater that sung, and you

829
00:58:43,400 --> 00:58:45,480
know she says, are you crying? And your answer is absolutely And I

830
00:58:45,519 --> 00:58:50,000
remember you saying to Medhurst one time
on the radio Navy Radio Network or I

831
00:58:50,039 --> 00:58:52,599
think it was it was it wasn't
met as Bob. So she don't ask

832
00:58:52,639 --> 00:58:54,360
me a question right away. As
soon as this ends, I'm going to

833
00:58:54,480 --> 00:59:00,760
take a moment. You know you've
been asking and new me well, And

834
00:59:00,800 --> 00:59:05,719
we had kind of an agreement that
once the last Alma Manit was over,

835
00:59:05,800 --> 00:59:08,519
the winning Alma manter was over,
he would talk for a minute or two

836
00:59:08,559 --> 00:59:12,679
to give me time to compose myself. I mean, I've been to so

837
00:59:12,719 --> 00:59:15,639
many of those games. I've known
so many of those kids and coaches.

838
00:59:15,199 --> 00:59:19,400
And you've been at Christ, you
worked at maybe you know what I'm talking

839
00:59:19,440 --> 00:59:23,639
about. There's nothing like I'd say
to people all the time, there is

840
00:59:23,760 --> 00:59:30,199
nothing like those few minutes right after
the Army Navy game and sports. And

841
00:59:30,679 --> 00:59:35,079
you know that people who think oh
Alabama Albourn's the best rivalry or Ohio State

842
00:59:35,119 --> 00:59:37,239
Michigan, they just don't get it. Yeah, And I say, go

843
00:59:37,400 --> 00:59:39,280
to the game once and then talk
to me about it. Is that What

844
00:59:39,400 --> 00:59:43,960
brings you to tears, you know
every single time is the conclusion knowing what

845
00:59:44,000 --> 00:59:46,840
those those those men, those soldiers, for lack of better, that's what

846
00:59:46,880 --> 00:59:50,440
they're going to be going off and
doing. The seniors they're going to be

847
00:59:50,480 --> 00:59:53,559
in harm's way that time next year. Well, and what you understand is

848
00:59:53,599 --> 00:59:58,880
as hard as they've played against each
other for the previous three hours, because

849
00:59:58,920 --> 01:00:02,920
there's no game play harder than the
Army Navy game. Um, when it's

850
01:00:02,920 --> 01:00:07,119
all said and done that it sounds
corny, but they're on the same team,

851
01:00:07,119 --> 01:00:10,079
and they're on the same team fighting
for something a heck of a lot

852
01:00:10,079 --> 01:00:15,079
more important than a football game.
And I've known football players from both schools

853
01:00:15,079 --> 01:00:21,039
who have died overseas. I've known
many who's employed overseas, and so it's

854
01:00:21,159 --> 01:00:25,079
it's not like the end of any
other athletic contest that that I that I've

855
01:00:25,079 --> 01:00:30,519
had the privilege of attending. Yeah, before I kicked to Steve, were

856
01:00:30,559 --> 01:00:32,960
more real quick because you tweeted,
John, you know, a flood of

857
01:00:34,000 --> 01:00:36,960
memories always come back, you know, during Army Navy week, you know,

858
01:00:37,000 --> 01:00:40,199
you've been embedded in both locker rooms
before the game, halftime, after

859
01:00:40,239 --> 01:00:45,079
the game. You obviously wrote A
Civil War one of the best sports books

860
01:00:45,079 --> 01:00:49,159
I think that's ever been done.
Um, but you tweeted about a ninety

861
01:00:49,159 --> 01:00:52,719
five story just you know the other
day involving Navy Captain Andrew Thompson in a

862
01:00:52,800 --> 01:00:57,280
security guard, which you know I
thought was just incredible. Can you can

863
01:00:57,280 --> 01:01:00,559
you share that one and put that
one into works on? Yeah, ninety

864
01:01:00,559 --> 01:01:04,400
five was the year that I wrote
and researched A Civil War Price, and

865
01:01:04,440 --> 01:01:09,480
I think I was embedded before people
used the term embedded with both teams throughout

866
01:01:09,519 --> 01:01:13,719
that season, and obviously got to
know the players very well, still close

867
01:01:13,760 --> 01:01:17,519
to many of them, including Andrew
Thompson. Who was Navy's defensive captain,

868
01:01:17,800 --> 01:01:24,719
and Army won the game. They
drove ninety nine yards and won the game

869
01:01:24,880 --> 01:01:30,079
fourteen thirteen. Save Bob Sutton's job. One of the best people I've known

870
01:01:30,079 --> 01:01:32,800
in sports. And when the game
was over, after the Alma maters had

871
01:01:32,800 --> 01:01:37,400
been played, Andrew came over to
me and he was in tears and he

872
01:01:37,440 --> 01:01:40,159
buried his head on my shoulder.
And Phil Hoffman, who I'm sure you

873
01:01:40,239 --> 01:01:45,599
know, the great name photographer,
took a picture of that moment with Andrew

874
01:01:45,639 --> 01:01:49,280
crying on my shoulder. And I
don't have many athlete photos in my office

875
01:01:49,800 --> 01:01:52,679
price but I've had that up in
my office for many, many years.

876
01:01:53,639 --> 01:02:00,119
And Garry Patterson, who back then
was Navy's defensive backs coach, came along

877
01:02:00,119 --> 01:02:01,800
and he kind of took Andrew by
one arm. I took him by the

878
01:02:01,800 --> 01:02:05,679
other arm, and we walked him
up the tunnels of the locker room.

879
01:02:05,719 --> 01:02:07,920
And we walked in and Charlie Weatherby, who as you know, was very

880
01:02:07,960 --> 01:02:13,239
devout, was on one knee and
he was about to lead the team in

881
01:02:13,280 --> 01:02:16,119
a postgame prayer, and we took
a knee. And I was wearing mutual

882
01:02:16,159 --> 01:02:20,880
colors because I'd been back and forth
between the two sidelines and locker rooms all

883
01:02:20,960 --> 01:02:23,480
day, and as I started to
kneel, the security guard came up to

884
01:02:23,559 --> 01:02:27,960
me and said, Hey, you
can't be in here and started to grab

885
01:02:28,079 --> 01:02:31,079
my arm, at which point Andrew, who was six two two fifteen and

886
01:02:31,119 --> 01:02:37,320
served in the Marines for twenty one
years, stood up and said to the

887
01:02:37,360 --> 01:02:40,719
guy, each with us, you
get out of here. And the security

888
01:02:40,760 --> 01:02:45,960
guard wanted no part of Andrew.
He backed right off and left the locker

889
01:02:46,039 --> 01:02:51,320
room. And Andrew and I still
joke about that one to this day.

890
01:02:52,440 --> 01:02:54,760
Yeah, I can certainly imagine that's
a's a it's a great story John,

891
01:02:54,920 --> 01:03:00,519
and about a great guy. Speaking
of a great guys, I actually want

892
01:03:00,519 --> 01:03:06,800
to get to this year's game a
little bit because I just find that there

893
01:03:06,800 --> 01:03:12,480
are so many storylines that have been
just incredible over the course of the year

894
01:03:12,519 --> 01:03:17,119
for both Army and for Maybe I
want to start with your thoughts on this

895
01:03:17,159 --> 01:03:22,679
game and if you thought that if
Nabe would be in this position after what

896
01:03:22,840 --> 01:03:27,039
happened at the beginning of the year, because I know that when they lost

897
01:03:27,039 --> 01:03:30,400
to Delaware, I went, oh, here we go again. Yeah,

898
01:03:30,480 --> 01:03:34,760
I think a lot of people did. And I had my annual summer lunch

899
01:03:34,880 --> 01:03:40,480
with Kenny Namato Bolo just before practice
started, and he was very optimistic about

900
01:03:42,000 --> 01:03:46,000
this year's team. He really thought
they were going to build on the two

901
01:03:46,079 --> 01:03:50,039
games at the end of last season. They rather Temple, they beat Army,

902
01:03:51,159 --> 01:03:54,320
and the Tay Lavatay was going to
step up and improve as a quarterback

903
01:03:54,440 --> 01:03:59,920
from his first year as a starter. And the Delaware game was just such

904
01:04:00,079 --> 01:04:04,199
a downer. First play, Kenny
went out of character. They won the

905
01:04:04,280 --> 01:04:08,119
toss and Kenny said, no,
let's receive. Let's get off to a

906
01:04:08,159 --> 01:04:11,400
good start, because usually they defer, as you know, right, yeah,

907
01:04:11,440 --> 01:04:15,760
And they received the kickoff and on
the first play they fumbled and it

908
01:04:15,880 --> 01:04:17,599
was a harbinger for the whole day
and in some ways for the season.

909
01:04:17,679 --> 01:04:21,360
And they fumbled. Delaware went in
and scored and maybe never got its offense,

910
01:04:21,400 --> 01:04:26,760
going lost fourteen seven, and that
was that was. You know,

911
01:04:26,960 --> 01:04:30,519
Delaware was a very good FCS team, they made the playoffs, but you

912
01:04:30,599 --> 01:04:34,119
schedule an FCS team at home to
get a win, and that was really

913
01:04:34,159 --> 01:04:39,039
a downer. And I think it
took a while for them to recover psycholot

914
01:04:39,519 --> 01:04:44,199
excuse me, psychologically from that loss. Um and then they did beat East

915
01:04:44,199 --> 01:04:46,960
Carolina on the road, a bowl
team in overtime. And then right after

916
01:04:47,000 --> 01:04:51,559
that what happens, Lavitai gets hurt
and Xavier ourline has come in and he's

917
01:04:51,599 --> 01:04:55,800
improved every week. But you know
as well as I do Price, he

918
01:04:55,800 --> 01:04:59,920
can't throw the football. When they
upset UCF a couple of weeks AG,

919
01:05:00,079 --> 01:05:03,559
which is a great win on the
road. Um, they they threw one

920
01:05:03,599 --> 01:05:09,760
pass and that's something they're gonna have
to figure out Saturday, is how to

921
01:05:09,800 --> 01:05:13,119
move the ball if Army stops their
run game, because Army is obviously gonna

922
01:05:13,199 --> 01:05:16,559
hear their defense for to stop the
run. Yeah. And the other the

923
01:05:16,559 --> 01:05:20,639
other thing that I wanted to know
about as a as a writer's perspective,

924
01:05:21,320 --> 01:05:27,000
Um, uh Andre Carter the second
on the on the Army sideline. You

925
01:05:27,039 --> 01:05:31,800
know, it's been a long time
since uh, any service academy has had

926
01:05:31,800 --> 01:05:36,599
a guy of that uh talent than
the natural talent. I mean, we're

927
01:05:36,599 --> 01:05:41,159
talking about a guy that's probably going
to be a first round pick in the

928
01:05:41,320 --> 01:05:45,800
NFL UH this year. How how
how interesting of a subject would that beat

929
01:05:45,880 --> 01:05:49,599
for? UH? For a piece, I'm sure that you're always looking for

930
01:05:49,760 --> 01:05:55,840
right for interesting perspectives for games.
Yeah. I remember when CJ. Mccollumn

931
01:05:56,360 --> 01:06:00,000
first showed up at Lehigh as a
basketball player, and Jeff Jones was the

932
01:06:00,039 --> 01:06:03,760
coach of American and he said to
me after that game, he said,

933
01:06:03,800 --> 01:06:10,840
that's not a Patriot League athlete.
And Carter is not an Army Navy type

934
01:06:10,840 --> 01:06:16,079
athlete because he's got NFL ability,
he's got an NFL size, he's huge,

935
01:06:16,239 --> 01:06:20,920
and he's fast and usually, you
know, one of the things about

936
01:06:20,920 --> 01:06:26,079
coaching an Army, Navy or Air
Force is that if you're recruiting a kid

937
01:06:26,119 --> 01:06:29,559
who has any NFL ambition at all
and you say, oh, by the

938
01:06:29,599 --> 01:06:32,239
way, there's a five year military
commitment when you graduate, they run screaming

939
01:06:32,280 --> 01:06:38,119
from the room. Now that's loosened
up in the last few years. If

940
01:06:38,159 --> 01:06:41,440
Carter is a first round draft pick, if he does make a team,

941
01:06:42,199 --> 01:06:45,480
he'll get a chance to play in
the NFL. But he's the exception and

942
01:06:45,519 --> 01:06:50,639
not the rule. And he is
certainly an exceptional talent. I you know,

943
01:06:50,719 --> 01:06:55,119
you see players I mentioned Andrew Thompson, but you see players every year

944
01:06:55,159 --> 01:07:00,719
in the Army Navy game who have
made themselves into terrific college football player because

945
01:07:00,719 --> 01:07:02,760
they compete so hard, and they're
smart and they figure out how to beat

946
01:07:02,800 --> 01:07:06,519
you. But you rarely see a
guide than an NFL Scout's going to get

947
01:07:06,559 --> 01:07:12,119
excited about, all right, as
we continue. A John Feinstein best selling

948
01:07:12,119 --> 01:07:15,960
author. You can follow him on
Twitter at Jay Feinstein Books. Also check

949
01:07:15,039 --> 01:07:23,199
him out online Feinstein books dot com. A Civil War clearly, you know,

950
01:07:23,360 --> 01:07:27,239
just a one of the best reads
that I've ever had when it comes

951
01:07:27,280 --> 01:07:30,679
to a sports book, John,
Um, you know you mentioned and also

952
01:07:30,719 --> 01:07:33,639
you're gonna be doing pregame with the
Navy Radio Network or kind of reunineteen again

953
01:07:33,639 --> 01:07:38,719
with Pete Medhurst, Joe Miller,
Scott Wykoff that that group, so people

954
01:07:38,719 --> 01:07:43,079
will be able to listen to you
on the Navy Radio Network pregame on Saturday.

955
01:07:43,679 --> 01:07:46,199
Um, you know, expectations for
Saturday because you you know, Navy

956
01:07:46,320 --> 01:07:49,280
struggled, you know, found a
little bit of late season Momentum, Army

957
01:07:49,360 --> 01:07:54,039
could attain what I guess would be
meaningless Bowl eligibility at this point with Bowl

958
01:07:54,079 --> 01:07:56,320
bits handed out. But you know, I think back to one of the

959
01:07:56,320 --> 01:07:59,440
weirdest sites I think I've ever seen, the twenty twenty COVID game that was

960
01:07:59,480 --> 01:08:02,320
played at Mikey Stadium, And you
mentioned Xavier Arline, who was a true

961
01:08:02,360 --> 01:08:08,519
freshman thrust in action, only the
fifth true starter freshman starter at quarterback for

962
01:08:08,679 --> 01:08:11,760
Navy in an Army Navy game runs
for one oh nine. I think his

963
01:08:11,880 --> 01:08:15,760
fifty two yard run early in the
third quarter was their longest play from scrimmage

964
01:08:15,800 --> 01:08:17,920
that year. And that was a
critical play because if Yeah scored, the

965
01:08:17,960 --> 01:08:20,680
game might have been different. With
three nothing at that point, he's going

966
01:08:20,760 --> 01:08:24,560
to get that crack again, John, And you mentioned having to throw the

967
01:08:24,560 --> 01:08:28,239
football. That's something he cannot do. I mean, he's a hybrid lacrosse

968
01:08:28,279 --> 01:08:31,239
football player. With him, you
know, at quarterback, what is Navy

969
01:08:31,319 --> 01:08:34,840
going to do? You know,
and especially with him getting another crack at

970
01:08:34,880 --> 01:08:38,800
this you know, that's something that
every player wants when you lose to your

971
01:08:38,840 --> 01:08:43,319
rivalry one time, much less twice. Yeah, there's no question about that.

972
01:08:43,399 --> 01:08:46,439
And and our line has improved week
to week. You know, he

973
01:08:46,479 --> 01:08:50,119
hadn't really played for a couple of
years until robats I got fired. He

974
01:08:50,239 --> 01:08:56,039
played early last year, but then
lavats I took over and was a starter

975
01:08:56,600 --> 01:08:59,600
for most of the last season.
In the first several games this season,

976
01:08:59,640 --> 01:09:04,000
and you could see he wasn't confident
making the pitch, and of course making

977
01:09:04,000 --> 01:09:09,319
the pitch is so critical in an
option offense, and so is making the

978
01:09:09,359 --> 01:09:12,920
decision you get to the football fullback, you keep, you pitch whatever,

979
01:09:13,960 --> 01:09:18,479
And his confidence doing all that has
grown from game to game. And even

980
01:09:18,560 --> 01:09:23,840
though he's not Gonne throw the football
downfield effectively, I think he can be

981
01:09:23,880 --> 01:09:28,920
effective in this game. And you
know what I've seen with Navy's gotten better.

982
01:09:28,960 --> 01:09:30,880
We talked about the start against Elaware. They've gotten better as a team.

983
01:09:30,920 --> 01:09:34,239
Their defense has been good all year
price yea, And that's why I

984
01:09:34,279 --> 01:09:38,800
think this is going to be another
seventeen thirteen type game like we had last

985
01:09:38,880 --> 01:09:44,479
year. It's very unusual nowadays since
Jeff Munkin got there for Army to be

986
01:09:44,520 --> 01:09:46,000
playing with no hope of going to
a ball game or not going to a

987
01:09:46,000 --> 01:09:49,279
ball game. Navy he's not going
to a ball game for the third straight

988
01:09:49,359 --> 01:09:54,159
year. And so what what's different
about this game than the last few years

989
01:09:54,279 --> 01:09:57,000
is for all the seniors, this
is it. Yeah, this is the

990
01:09:57,079 --> 01:10:01,279
end. Now our line is a
junior. But nevertheless, the emotions involved

991
01:10:01,680 --> 01:10:05,199
for the players. When I did
a Civil War, neither team went to

992
01:10:05,279 --> 01:10:10,319
a ball. That year, Army
finished five five and one. Navy after

993
01:10:10,359 --> 01:10:13,960
losing the Army finished five and six. And this is before you know,

994
01:10:14,039 --> 01:10:17,159
everybody with six wins went to a
ball. So all the players walking onto

995
01:10:17,159 --> 01:10:21,560
that field in ninety five as this
year, I knew this was it for

996
01:10:21,600 --> 01:10:26,760
football and it was a very emotional
thing for all of them because they've all

997
01:10:26,760 --> 01:10:30,800
played football their entire lives. So
it'll be a very emotional game on both

998
01:10:30,800 --> 01:10:36,000
sides. John, I'm curious.
We've talked a lot about the history of

999
01:10:36,199 --> 01:10:41,560
Army Navy. I want to talk
really quickly about the future of Army Navy.

1000
01:10:41,600 --> 01:10:45,960
I know there are reports out there
about the rotation of the game and

1001
01:10:45,560 --> 01:10:49,199
that Philadelphia is kind of upset that
the next time around that they've only got

1002
01:10:49,239 --> 01:10:54,840
one shot at the game. We've
talked a little bit about on this show

1003
01:10:54,880 --> 01:11:00,239
about maybe taking the game more often
on the road and taking it to unconventional

1004
01:11:00,920 --> 01:11:05,720
um sites, like how like having
Army Navy in San Diego because of the

1005
01:11:05,800 --> 01:11:12,720
Navy presence there, taking uh taking
it to maybe Charlotte because of the presence

1006
01:11:12,760 --> 01:11:16,880
of Army in uh In in North
Carolina. Uh. You know, is

1007
01:11:16,920 --> 01:11:20,800
that something that you think that this
that this. Uh, you know that

1008
01:11:20,920 --> 01:11:26,600
these two service academies can do going
forward, that maybe they take it on

1009
01:11:26,640 --> 01:11:30,920
the road and until they are the
road. Um, not to Charlotte or

1010
01:11:30,920 --> 01:11:34,720
San Diego in this next rotation,
but they're gonna play in Oxboro. They're

1011
01:11:34,760 --> 01:11:40,159
gonna play again in Washington and at
dump of a stadium. Uh, They're

1012
01:11:40,199 --> 01:11:44,560
gonna play in the Meadowlands. Uh. They're gonna play in Philadelphia once in

1013
01:11:44,560 --> 01:11:48,119
the next five years. And I'm
trying to remember the fifth location. Christ

1014
01:11:48,119 --> 01:11:51,319
you may know it, but I
happen to be a believer. Army Navy

1015
01:11:51,319 --> 01:11:56,880
should always be in Philadelphia. Uh. It's the right between the two schools.

1016
01:11:57,199 --> 01:12:01,640
Uh. Geographically, Uh, it's
it's where our country was founded.

1017
01:12:02,239 --> 01:12:08,199
Uh. The people in Philadelphia know
how to put on the Army Navy game.

1018
01:12:08,239 --> 01:12:12,600
It's a huge undertaking, not just
the game itself, but Army and

1019
01:12:12,680 --> 01:12:15,199
Navy want to go on the road. You know why you're gonna be both

1020
01:12:15,199 --> 01:12:20,000
gonna be stunned by this because they
can make more money. They bid up

1021
01:12:20,880 --> 01:12:27,119
the right to to to host the
game. UM. And I understand college

1022
01:12:27,119 --> 01:12:30,840
football's about money, even at the
Service account and these even in the IVY

1023
01:12:30,880 --> 01:12:35,439
League. But um, I'm a
great believer that Army Navy belongs in Philadelphia.

1024
01:12:36,560 --> 01:12:41,479
Everybody knows how to get there.
Uh, it's between the two schools

1025
01:12:41,640 --> 01:12:45,399
and geographically, and I'm very disappointed
that they're chasing the money this way,

1026
01:12:45,399 --> 01:12:48,640
though not at all surprised. All
right, John, before we let you

1027
01:12:48,680 --> 01:12:51,520
go, I just want to go
back to one more question to you,

1028
01:12:51,600 --> 01:12:56,840
and that your twenty eighteen column writing, only cadet can have some understanding of

1029
01:12:56,920 --> 01:13:00,039
what it's like to be a midshipman, and only a midshipman can understand what

1030
01:13:00,119 --> 01:13:02,079
it's like to be a cadet.
End quote that what you wrote. And

1031
01:13:02,079 --> 01:13:06,199
I'm brought back to Navy Captain Andrew
Thompson again because I can't remember. It's

1032
01:13:06,239 --> 01:13:10,560
been a while since I read a
Civil War and read so many between then

1033
01:13:10,720 --> 01:13:15,600
when I first read it. But
you know that ninety five contest Army co

1034
01:13:15,720 --> 01:13:19,640
Captain Jim Can Jim Candleloop, you
know, he leaves his team celebration and

1035
01:13:19,680 --> 01:13:26,199
he asked to go to the Navy
locker room or outside to meet Andrew Thompson,

1036
01:13:26,520 --> 01:13:29,479
you know, to express his thanks
for what he called a game well

1037
01:13:29,520 --> 01:13:31,039
played one for the ages. As
you mentioned, I think earlier, Navy

1038
01:13:31,079 --> 01:13:35,279
stopped three times inside the three that
ninety nine yard drive that produced the winning

1039
01:13:35,319 --> 01:13:40,279
score. Army wins fourteen to thirteen. In the midst of a difficult loss.

1040
01:13:40,319 --> 01:13:45,119
You know, Jim reaching out and
wanting to go across down the hallway

1041
01:13:45,199 --> 01:13:48,800
or across the hallway. That kind
of acting class of goodwill, to me,

1042
01:13:49,920 --> 01:13:55,960
embodies what this rivalry is all about. Yeah, and Jim and Andrew

1043
01:13:56,039 --> 01:14:01,000
are are perfect examples of the rivalry. Date the Army and Navy captains always

1044
01:14:01,079 --> 01:14:05,000
meet at the Army Navy luncheon the
week before the game get to know each

1045
01:14:05,000 --> 01:14:09,039
other. And what they realized when
they meet each other, as I said,

1046
01:14:09,479 --> 01:14:12,479
is wait a minute, he could
be me. I could be him

1047
01:14:13,079 --> 01:14:18,000
because it takes so much discipline and
toughness to survive at any of the academies.

1048
01:14:18,039 --> 01:14:20,760
And although they the Army and Navy
kids do, we sort the Air

1049
01:14:20,760 --> 01:14:26,560
Force as the country club academy because
they have carpeting on the on in the

1050
01:14:26,920 --> 01:14:31,600
dorm rooms there. Um but um, Andrew and Jim are still close friends

1051
01:14:31,640 --> 01:14:34,640
to this day. We had a
twenty fifth anniversary that was supposed to be

1052
01:14:34,680 --> 01:14:40,319
two years ago but got postponed because
of covid UM for both teams in New

1053
01:14:40,399 --> 01:14:45,880
York last year. Um. They
were both there, um and they were

1054
01:14:45,920 --> 01:14:49,159
at each other's weddings. Uh.
And in a funny story, UM,

1055
01:14:49,399 --> 01:14:54,479
Jim and and Derek Klein, who
was his best friend at Army came to

1056
01:14:54,720 --> 01:15:00,000
Andrew Andrew's graduation and Navy in May
of nineteen ninety six, and after the

1057
01:15:00,199 --> 01:15:04,560
ceremony, the Marines went to the
football locker room to put on their marine

1058
01:15:04,640 --> 01:15:10,279
uniforms since they were now members of
the Marines. And so Derek and Jim

1059
01:15:10,279 --> 01:15:12,880
and I went to the locker room
and there was a guard on the door,

1060
01:15:13,680 --> 01:15:16,880
and Jim said, we're here to
see Andrew Thompson. And the guard

1061
01:15:16,920 --> 01:15:19,520
looked at them and looked at Jim
and said, are you members of the

1062
01:15:19,520 --> 01:15:24,560
class of nineteen ninety six, And
Jim said, yes, we are because

1063
01:15:24,760 --> 01:15:28,920
he and Derek had just graduated from
West Point Wow. So it was we

1064
01:15:28,960 --> 01:15:31,520
all went in and saw Andrew and
and like I said, they've been buddies.

1065
01:15:32,359 --> 01:15:38,399
Andrew deployed while he was in the
Marines to rap lives in Fort Worth.

1066
01:15:38,439 --> 01:15:40,840
Now he actually came back to Navy
for a couple of years as the

1067
01:15:40,880 --> 01:15:45,439
Marine rep. You may have seen
him then christ Yep. But what I

1068
01:15:45,680 --> 01:15:49,760
said is I happened to do the
book in ninety five. I got lucky.

1069
01:15:49,800 --> 01:15:54,359
I met a group of terrific young
men. The game was great,

1070
01:15:54,720 --> 01:15:59,920
But I could do that book any
year because the young men are going to

1071
01:16:00,119 --> 01:16:02,720
be terrific young men. They're gonna
have stories to tell, They're gonna be

1072
01:16:02,760 --> 01:16:06,760
people you're gonna want to be friends
with for life. Uh, there's there's

1073
01:16:06,880 --> 01:16:12,600
That's why there there is nothing quite
like Army Navy and why I get so

1074
01:16:12,640 --> 01:16:15,479
emotional at the game every year.
And John, I think that's exactly why

1075
01:16:15,560 --> 01:16:20,560
our Civil War is a timeless classic. It will always be for for the

1076
01:16:20,600 --> 01:16:24,520
reason that you just described. And
you know, I know, raise a

1077
01:16:24,600 --> 01:16:26,920
fist, take a knee, and
that's out right now, makes it,

1078
01:16:27,239 --> 01:16:30,800
you know, a fantastic Christmas gift. You know, I'm certainly always partial

1079
01:16:30,840 --> 01:16:34,640
to your basketball books, being a
college basketball guy at heart, but a

1080
01:16:34,720 --> 01:16:40,119
Civil War, but raise a Fist, Taking knee the most recent best seller

1081
01:16:40,680 --> 01:16:44,479
that's received I think, what some
of the highest reviews you've ever had,

1082
01:16:44,560 --> 01:16:48,840
John, for one of your books. Yeah, and it was really gratifying

1083
01:16:49,359 --> 01:16:54,720
because obviously it's a controversial subject.
Yeah, uh as as you and I

1084
01:16:54,760 --> 01:16:59,159
sit here, I'm getting tweets from
people who say that, you know,

1085
01:16:59,800 --> 01:17:02,800
Colorado has made a mistake hiring Deon
Sanders. What's he ever done? Well?

1086
01:17:02,840 --> 01:17:05,680
I happen to know Deon Sanders because
he was with the Ravens or I

1087
01:17:05,760 --> 01:17:09,159
did my Ravens book, and he's
one of the brightest people I know.

1088
01:17:09,640 --> 01:17:14,600
Because he's a showmen, there are
a lot of white people who make assumptions

1089
01:17:14,640 --> 01:17:18,600
about him, and that's that's a
big problem we have in this country.

1090
01:17:19,000 --> 01:17:25,560
You know, white people who are
either intimidated by by black people or who

1091
01:17:25,600 --> 01:17:28,640
don't understand black people. I can't
understand what it's like to be a black

1092
01:17:28,680 --> 01:17:31,279
person because I'm not black, but
I can I can't empathize, but I

1093
01:17:31,279 --> 01:17:35,640
can certainly sympathize. And the book, like you said, got great reviews.

1094
01:17:35,680 --> 01:17:40,520
I think people understood. People who
reviewed it understood what I was trying

1095
01:17:40,600 --> 01:17:42,560
to do and what I was trying
to say, and I was trying to

1096
01:17:42,560 --> 01:17:46,079
bring awareness to a subject that pretty
much is an elephant in the room for

1097
01:17:46,119 --> 01:17:50,159
a lot of us. And it's
understandable because some of the numbers which I

1098
01:17:50,239 --> 01:17:55,279
have in the book, which are
out there are embarrassing, you know,

1099
01:17:55,439 --> 01:18:00,680
just flat out embarrassing and um and
that's I think that's why the book receive

1100
01:18:00,039 --> 01:18:06,560
good reviews at Jay Feinstein Books,
Feinstein books dot Com online everything you can

1101
01:18:06,600 --> 01:18:12,159
find about what John's working on literary
wise, and certainly you know the Washington

1102
01:18:12,159 --> 01:18:15,399
Posts, Golf Digest, in the
Navy football pregame show on Saturday. John

1103
01:18:15,439 --> 01:18:18,399
cannot thank you enough for your friendship
and your time. As always, John,

1104
01:18:18,439 --> 01:18:21,640
thank you so very much. Thank
you, Gryce. Good to talk

1105
01:18:21,680 --> 01:18:26,520
to you guys. Have a great
holiday. Once again, our thanks to

1106
01:18:26,600 --> 01:18:30,720
John Feinstein, the best selling author
and columnists with the Washington Post, for

1107
01:18:30,840 --> 01:18:33,159
joining us there. When we come
back, Mike, Steve and I we're

1108
01:18:33,159 --> 01:18:38,039
gonna put a bow on this thing. Give you some picks for Saturday's game

1109
01:18:38,359 --> 01:18:42,000
right here on Yards and Stripes,
your Army Navy Preview Special. In two

1110
01:18:42,000 --> 01:18:45,880
thousand and seven, Marine First Lieutenant
Travis Mannion was killed in Iraq after saving

1111
01:18:45,880 --> 01:18:49,039
his wooded teammates. Travis's legacy lives
on through the words he spoke before his

1112
01:18:49,119 --> 01:18:54,520
final deployment. If not me,
then who words that today fuel the spirit

1113
01:18:54,560 --> 01:18:58,680
of Travis Mannion Foundation, and through
TMF these words can live in you too,

1114
01:18:59,079 --> 01:19:01,880
show the world what you're made of, because character is invisible until it's

1115
01:19:01,960 --> 01:19:06,399
not. Find out how you can
strengthen the character of your community alongside empowered

1116
01:19:06,479 --> 01:19:11,560
veterans, families of the fallen,
and inspired civilians at Travismanian dot Org.

1117
01:19:15,640 --> 01:19:18,359
And before we wrap up this episode
of Yards and Stripes, in this Army

1118
01:19:18,399 --> 01:19:21,600
Navy preview, you know that we've
come to the time where we honor remember

1119
01:19:21,880 --> 01:19:27,079
a fallen hero who has given the
ultimate sacrifice. During our Travis Mainian Foundation

1120
01:19:27,159 --> 01:19:33,239
on a roll segment in this week, we're gonna remember Army first Lieutenant Ashley

1121
01:19:33,279 --> 01:19:38,000
Henderson Huff. She was a native
of Belle Meade, New Jersey, and

1122
01:19:38,079 --> 01:19:42,720
Lieutenant Ashley Huff gave the ultimate sacrifice
on September the nineteenth and two thousand and

1123
01:19:42,720 --> 01:19:47,279
six when an ied exploded near her
mounted patrol during combat operations in Mosul Iraq.

1124
01:19:47,960 --> 01:19:54,520
Huff was assigned to the five hundred
forty ninth Military Police Company in three

1125
01:19:54,640 --> 01:20:00,079
hundred and eighty fifth Military Police Battalion
based out of Fort Stewart, Georgia's and

1126
01:20:00,119 --> 01:20:03,039
her childhood and baton Rouge, Louisiana. Before moving on to New Jersey.

1127
01:20:03,239 --> 01:20:08,760
She attended the University of Georgia was
a member of the ROTC program, graduating

1128
01:20:08,760 --> 01:20:12,880
in two thousand and four as a
second lieutenant that later deployed to Iraq in

1129
01:20:12,920 --> 01:20:15,079
December two thousand and five. For
a service, she was award of the

1130
01:20:15,119 --> 01:20:20,680
National Defense Service Medal, Global War
on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on

1131
01:20:20,800 --> 01:20:26,199
Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and

1132
01:20:26,279 --> 01:20:30,199
Combat Action Badge. Her father,
Mark Henderson said, quote Ashley was a

1133
01:20:30,239 --> 01:20:32,880
happy person, a good leader.
She was very caring about her soldiers,

1134
01:20:32,960 --> 01:20:38,199
well respected by them and by her
commanding officers. She had a promising career

1135
01:20:38,239 --> 01:20:42,359
in the army, and whatever else
she chose. Quote. Lieutenant Huff survived

1136
01:20:42,399 --> 01:20:45,399
by her parents, Mark and Janet
Henderson, her husband, Brian Huff,

1137
01:20:45,399 --> 01:20:49,079
as well as her sister Abbey.
The Travismanian Foundation honored First Lieutenant Ashley Henderson

1138
01:20:49,159 --> 01:20:54,880
Uff through their Character Does Matter Program
on November the twenty nine, two eleven,

1139
01:20:55,600 --> 01:21:00,239
when her story was told to inspire
over fourteen hundred students at kemmy Rudy

1140
01:21:00,279 --> 01:21:03,239
Middle School in Plainsboro Township, New
Jersey. The students and took on a

1141
01:21:03,319 --> 01:21:09,720
challenge to follow the examples of their
fellow falling here. They're fallen heroes and

1142
01:21:09,880 --> 01:21:13,600
lived by Travis's motto, If not
me, then who? They honor their

1143
01:21:13,600 --> 01:21:17,520
fallen heroes through researching Ashley's life and
exceeded their goal of completing five hundred acts

1144
01:21:17,560 --> 01:21:21,239
of kindness in her honor. And
once again, we thank the Travis Mannion

1145
01:21:21,279 --> 01:21:26,720
Foundation for partnering with us on this
very and most important segment of the podcast

1146
01:21:26,760 --> 01:21:30,640
every single week because as we all
know, freedom isn't free and the heroes

1147
01:21:30,720 --> 01:21:34,720
like Ashley Henderson Huff who gave their
life to keep us safe and also to

1148
01:21:34,720 --> 01:21:40,680
protect our freedoms and we will they
will never be forgotten. Travis Mallion Foundations

1149
01:21:40,760 --> 01:21:44,960
Nine to eleven Heroes Run five K
race series unites communities across the country and

1150
01:21:45,000 --> 01:21:47,760
around the world to honor the sacrifices
of September eleventh and the war since.

1151
01:21:47,880 --> 01:21:53,079
Join your community this September and register
to run, walk or rock by visiting

1152
01:21:53,159 --> 01:22:00,560
nine eleven Heroes Run dot org.
The latest with Navy, Army and Air

1153
01:22:00,600 --> 01:22:08,239
Force on Yards and Stripes Service Academy
Football. All right, continuing along here

1154
01:22:08,239 --> 01:22:14,319
on our Army Navy preview special.
How about that we had fantastic interviews with

1155
01:22:14,399 --> 01:22:18,640
Pete South and then John Feinstein in
that final segment right there, just before

1156
01:22:18,640 --> 01:22:23,720
our Travis Meanion Foundation Honor Roll,
make sure you go to Travismanion dot org.

1157
01:22:24,199 --> 01:22:27,720
Do it now to get your tailgate
tickets for their tailgate starting at ten

1158
01:22:27,760 --> 01:22:32,000
am right across the street from lencol
Financial Field. Again Travismanion dot Org.

1159
01:22:32,079 --> 01:22:36,800
You can pick up your tickets right
there online to get involved in an outstanding

1160
01:22:36,800 --> 01:22:42,600
tailgate, one that I've been to
several years ago. And Travis Meanion Foundation

1161
01:22:42,760 --> 01:22:46,039
they do it right, So check
them out online as we are partner with

1162
01:22:46,119 --> 01:22:50,560
them all season long for our Travismanion
Foundation Roll. All right, before we

1163
01:22:50,640 --> 01:22:55,319
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1164
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1165
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All right, guys, before we
give some picks and get out of

1185
01:24:26,760 --> 01:24:31,399
here. On our Army Navy preview. Special congratulations to the Air Force Falcons

1186
01:24:31,439 --> 01:24:35,960
because they are going bowling the Lockey
Martin arm Forces Bowl nine and three.

1187
01:24:36,000 --> 01:24:41,720
Air Force going to do battle there
and Fort Worth against six and six Baylor.

1188
01:24:42,119 --> 01:24:45,439
That game gonna go down on December
the twenty second at seven thirty pm

1189
01:24:45,479 --> 01:24:51,039
Eastern Standard Time on ESPN. Baylor
has been installed as a six and a

1190
01:24:51,079 --> 01:24:56,680
half point favor favorite an over under
at forty nine and a half in a

1191
01:24:56,720 --> 01:25:00,880
bowl game where air Force is appearing
for the six time. The twentieth anniversary

1192
01:25:00,880 --> 01:25:05,359
of this Bowl game gonna be played
again on Thursday, December the twenty second

1193
01:25:05,399 --> 01:25:11,720
at TCUs Beautiful Amon G. Carter
Stadium. Baylor and air Force and matched

1194
01:25:11,840 --> 01:25:15,159
up three previous times, with the
Bears winning all three matchups, but they

1195
01:25:15,159 --> 01:25:21,640
haven't played since nineteen seventy seven.
Tickets are available at Goairforce Falcons dot com,

1196
01:25:21,880 --> 01:25:27,479
get your tickets here again at air
Force Falcons dot com and real quickly

1197
01:25:27,520 --> 01:25:31,560
staying on air Force Mike and Steve
brad Roberts no shocker here. Congratulations to

1198
01:25:31,640 --> 01:25:38,960
him the Mountain West Offensive Player of
the Year. If anybody voted any differently.

1199
01:25:39,079 --> 01:25:42,000
I don't know where their head was
in the sand on that. Because

1200
01:25:42,119 --> 01:25:46,960
Brad Roberts just absolutely outstanding. He's
gonna show up. I'm convinced on some

1201
01:25:47,039 --> 01:25:50,640
All American teams. I just know
it. I mean, he's what third

1202
01:25:50,720 --> 01:25:56,319
the nation in rushing is in the
regular season, fantastic year by the senior

1203
01:25:57,079 --> 01:26:00,359
from the Air Force Academy, and
in final before we give some picks.

1204
01:26:00,399 --> 01:26:03,760
I know Mike probably didn't like this
one, but man, I read about

1205
01:26:03,880 --> 01:26:11,319
I read the Naval Academy's official press
release. Michael that uh few midshipman went

1206
01:26:11,359 --> 01:26:15,399
on a secret mission the other day, dropping ping pong balls and leaflets during

1207
01:26:15,439 --> 01:26:21,920
noon formation at West Point via aerial
assault. That was met with some smiles

1208
01:26:21,920 --> 01:26:26,680
and maybe a little a few grumbles
there at West Point. I don't know

1209
01:26:26,680 --> 01:26:29,479
if you saw that. New Steve
is grinning, so I know he knows

1210
01:26:29,520 --> 01:26:32,239
all about it. But you know, it's every year that they're gonna prank

1211
01:26:32,279 --> 01:26:35,840
and do something. You know that
sucomes. The statue typically always has painted,

1212
01:26:35,880 --> 01:26:39,800
you know at the Academy in Annapolis. You know there's you know,

1213
01:26:39,880 --> 01:26:42,600
mascot stealing, there's all kinds of
stuff. But I thought that one was

1214
01:26:42,640 --> 01:26:45,319
pretty creative this week. Yeah,
I mean it's cute, you know,

1215
01:26:45,399 --> 01:26:49,119
Air Force playing with the with the
little bitty ping pong balls. But don't

1216
01:26:49,199 --> 01:26:56,680
forget that. But don't forget that
Army stole the Navy's superintendent's boat. So

1217
01:26:57,359 --> 01:26:59,399
you know, if you want to
play with the little ping frog about that

1218
01:26:59,560 --> 01:27:01,159
drop in the sky, that's cool. We'll just we'll just take the five

1219
01:27:01,199 --> 01:27:04,560
million dollar boat, the three Stars
boat. So yeah, it was cute,

1220
01:27:04,920 --> 01:27:12,039
good on, Good on Navy again
again Navy having to resort to forces

1221
01:27:12,079 --> 01:27:15,399
in the air to do their thing. I just we we talked about this

1222
01:27:15,439 --> 01:27:17,239
with a uniform. I don't know
why Navy can't just stick to the water.

1223
01:27:17,359 --> 01:27:20,039
Why why didn't you drive a boat
of the Hudson. I mean it's

1224
01:27:20,119 --> 01:27:23,359
right there, but you know whatever, it was cute, good on him.

1225
01:27:23,760 --> 01:27:27,359
Um, well, we fly because
we fly more than the Air Force

1226
01:27:27,479 --> 01:27:34,680
does. That's all yeah, Well
cute clever. You know that's a west

1227
01:27:34,720 --> 01:27:39,199
point grand that's a west pointer telling. Yeah, it was just cute Steve.

1228
01:27:39,479 --> 01:27:43,039
All right, well it's not gonna
get him Article fifteen. That's that's

1229
01:27:43,079 --> 01:27:47,199
for sure. Stealing a three stars
boat, all right, our our three

1230
01:27:47,239 --> 01:27:49,600
stars stole the boat. So I
don't, I don't. You gotta be

1231
01:27:49,760 --> 01:27:53,680
you gotta be a pretty big You
gotta be a pretty big guy to give

1232
01:27:53,720 --> 01:27:56,920
a three star article fifteen. Yeah, you gotta be a four star.

1233
01:27:59,640 --> 01:28:01,600
Oh goodness, all right, let's
get to some picks. But what else

1234
01:28:01,640 --> 01:28:04,000
do we have left to do?
I think we've done it all here on

1235
01:28:04,039 --> 01:28:09,840
this episode is if there's anything else
that we can't do, we're gonna We're

1236
01:28:09,840 --> 01:28:13,119
not even gonnattempt to try, but
we're gonna give some picks for a Saturday's

1237
01:28:13,159 --> 01:28:15,920
Army Navy game presented by USAA,
and I thought, Mike this one was

1238
01:28:15,960 --> 01:28:23,119
an interesting one because sixteen straight years
the under his come in on this game,

1239
01:28:23,359 --> 01:28:26,279
going two thousand and six. Starting
back then, the total for the

1240
01:28:26,359 --> 01:28:30,479
Army Navy game was set at forty
nine and Navy got a twenty six to

1241
01:28:30,760 --> 01:28:34,520
fourteen victory, cashing the under for
betters, and that game was the start

1242
01:28:34,560 --> 01:28:39,560
of an incredible streak. Is the
Army Navy game has gone under the betting

1243
01:28:39,600 --> 01:28:42,800
total in six straight years. As
I mentioned at the outset, the over

1244
01:28:42,880 --> 01:28:46,199
under thirty two and a half.
As of right now, an Armory Army

1245
01:28:46,239 --> 01:28:49,560
installed, or at least it's down
from four and a half now to a

1246
01:28:49,720 --> 01:28:55,279
two and a half point favorite in
the game. Who do you want me

1247
01:28:55,319 --> 01:28:59,000
is, Mike, Let's start with
you, I mean Royalty. Right here

1248
01:28:59,079 --> 01:29:00,399
is a west point grad. Which
way are you going in this one?

1249
01:29:02,319 --> 01:29:06,119
Well? You know, I just
I'm concerned with Armi's run defense. I

1250
01:29:06,119 --> 01:29:10,439
watched Coastal Carolina put up two sixty
three against Army. I watched Georgia State

1251
01:29:10,439 --> 01:29:13,159
put up two ninety nine. I
watched Wait Force put up two hundred twenty

1252
01:29:13,159 --> 01:29:16,680
one yards. I watched Air Force
in person bludgeon Army defense for two hundred

1253
01:29:16,680 --> 01:29:18,159
and twenty six, and then just
a couple of weeks ago, I watched

1254
01:29:18,199 --> 01:29:23,000
Yukon run for two fifty four.
I'm just, uh, you know that

1255
01:29:23,039 --> 01:29:28,239
the Army run defense concerns me in
my preview, as you know, it's

1256
01:29:28,279 --> 01:29:30,640
it's hard because I always want Army
to win, but when you have a

1257
01:29:30,720 --> 01:29:35,640
rushing attack against the defense hasn't really
shown it's able to stop a run centric

1258
01:29:36,039 --> 01:29:43,600
offense. I've got Navy twenty four, Army seventeen, which, for those

1259
01:29:43,680 --> 01:29:47,880
doing the math, hits the over. We'll see about that Army's defense is

1260
01:29:47,920 --> 01:29:51,119
not as good this year as they
have been for the for the entire time

1261
01:29:51,119 --> 01:29:56,920
they've been under coach Jeff Mounkin.
So I got twenty four seventeen Navy with

1262
01:29:57,119 --> 01:30:01,800
all hoping that I am wrong.
Wow, twenty four seventeen Navy. I

1263
01:30:01,840 --> 01:30:06,640
did not expect expect that one bit. Steven, Yeah, I think that

1264
01:30:06,760 --> 01:30:11,479
the big question on Navy's side is
going to be the front seven. As

1265
01:30:11,520 --> 01:30:15,560
I mentioned against to here Tyler,
Um, I'm not concerned so much about

1266
01:30:15,600 --> 01:30:20,239
Andrea Carter the second he's gonna get
his plays when when he makes them,

1267
01:30:20,319 --> 01:30:25,720
I'm sure he's gonna make a bunch
of them because he's obviously the most talented

1268
01:30:25,760 --> 01:30:30,840
team on either side of the field
for both teams, and so he's gonna

1269
01:30:30,880 --> 01:30:33,680
you're gonna show, You're gonna see
a lot about him. I certainly think

1270
01:30:34,199 --> 01:30:39,199
that you're gonna see a lot about
Jamie Romo, as as I mentioned with

1271
01:30:39,399 --> 01:30:44,560
Lapet Medhurst earlier on today, you
know that's gonna be a big boost for

1272
01:30:44,800 --> 01:30:48,520
Navy. Um. I actually think
that even with the over under at thirty

1273
01:30:48,560 --> 01:30:55,319
two, I think it's still it's
the under. And I have Navy seventeen

1274
01:30:55,520 --> 01:31:00,640
Army fourteen, so that's thirty one
and a three point game, and of

1275
01:31:00,640 --> 01:31:03,199
course it's gonna be a three point
there. Wow. Okay, so we've

1276
01:31:03,199 --> 01:31:09,880
got Navy and Navy. So Mike's
going Navy twenty four to seventeen. Steve

1277
01:31:10,039 --> 01:31:15,199
is going Navy seventeen to fourteen.
Wow, Huka, I guess I'm the

1278
01:31:15,439 --> 01:31:18,119
might be the dumb one. I'm
going with Army. I like Army in

1279
01:31:18,159 --> 01:31:24,560
this one, sixteen to ten in
a low scoring game, because you know,

1280
01:31:25,119 --> 01:31:29,960
I'm gonna play the trend of the
under number one number two I think

1281
01:31:30,000 --> 01:31:34,279
was Xavier Rline at quarterback for the
midshipman. The inability to throw the football

1282
01:31:35,119 --> 01:31:40,640
is going is going to be an
issue all day. And you know,

1283
01:31:40,680 --> 01:31:44,760
I know Army's given up yards,
you know, on the ground. I

1284
01:31:44,960 --> 01:31:48,800
just when you're that one dimensional and
you know what's coming, I just feel

1285
01:31:48,840 --> 01:31:53,520
like you're going to have a long
afternoon. So I will be the black

1286
01:31:53,600 --> 01:31:58,359
sheep in this one. I will
go Army sixteen to ten in Saturday's game,

1287
01:31:58,399 --> 01:32:00,640
which I did not expect to be
the only one. I will just

1288
01:32:00,680 --> 01:32:02,640
say this, Michael, I did
not think I would be the only one

1289
01:32:02,680 --> 01:32:09,359
picking Army. I thought Stephen could, but I thought you definitely would pick

1290
01:32:09,399 --> 01:32:12,800
the black nights, But I did
not expect to be the loan the lone

1291
01:32:12,800 --> 01:32:15,399
guy. I've lost enough money betting
that I always try to bet against what

1292
01:32:15,479 --> 01:32:21,239
I want that typically works out for
me. I like your logic because that's

1293
01:32:21,319 --> 01:32:27,279
exactly how I think about things when
I bet too. If you're you're gonna

1294
01:32:27,279 --> 01:32:29,600
be, if you're gonna have heartbreak
on the field, you'll at least want

1295
01:32:29,600 --> 01:32:33,760
to feel good in the wallet.
That's exactly right, all right, Michael

1296
01:32:33,840 --> 01:32:41,119
Steven. Awesome job as we loaded
you up, loaded up our listeners who

1297
01:32:40,880 --> 01:32:45,880
have again invested their time this week
on a lengthy Army Navy preview special here

1298
01:32:45,920 --> 01:32:48,760
on Yards and Stripes as we were
part of the College Gridar on Coast to

1299
01:32:48,800 --> 01:32:53,680
Coast podcast Network. Listen on Apple
Podcasts, Spotify, wherever it is you

1300
01:32:53,720 --> 01:32:58,079
get your podcast. You can listen
to us every single week along with a

1301
01:32:58,239 --> 01:33:02,880
myriad of shows that we have that
are all about college football, because we

1302
01:33:03,000 --> 01:33:06,800
have got a lot more to do
this season with bowl season right around the

1303
01:33:06,840 --> 01:33:12,359
corner. After the Army Navy game
on Saturday. We want to thank Pete

1304
01:33:12,359 --> 01:33:15,399
Medhurst once again, salth Inner Denado, and of course John Feinstein for joining

1305
01:33:15,439 --> 01:33:23,000
us this week Hope everybody's enjoyed it. Hope everybody enjoys America's game on Saturday,

1306
01:33:23,159 --> 01:33:26,800
as it sits in its rightful place. Is the only game being played

1307
01:33:26,800 --> 01:33:33,640
on Saturday is Army Navy Game one
hundred twenty third installment presented by USAA.

1308
01:33:33,880 --> 01:33:38,880
Mike Steve enjoyed it this week as
always. Can't wait to recap this one

1309
01:33:39,119 --> 01:33:45,399
next week as we see what all
went down in Philadelphia. Join us again

1310
01:33:45,479 --> 01:33:49,800
next time for Yards and Stripes Service
Academy Football. To get more on all

1311
01:33:49,880 --> 01:33:55,520
things Service Academy Football, like Yards
and Stripes on Facebook and follow them on

1312
01:33:55,560 --> 01:34:00,359
Twitter at yards and Stripes. And
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1313
01:34:00,439 --> 01:34:05,239
Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast feed on
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1314
01:34:05,399 --> 01:34:08,399
wherever you get your podcasts