College Football Needs To Hurry Up And Wait
In the military, we have a phrase called, "hurry up and wait" which basically means there is always a massive rush to get things done by a certain time but nothing happens because other things have to fall into place first.
That's what we have right now in college football as it relates to Army and the boat school.
Don't get me wrong, the scenario discussed* above would be very cool. An undefeated Army facing off against an undefeated navy hasn't happened since we emerged from WWII in 1945. That's so long ago that based on Chaps' video series, 90% of the Chicago office couldn't even tell you when that was.
*One caveat would be that since we are in the same conference now, the above scenario would take place in the AAC championship game, not the regular season Army navy game which is the game that carries all the pageantry and history. However, it would still be cool.
Why does this matchup matter? Why are so many people collectively rooting for the service academies right now?
Because in the current landscape of college football, there is a level of disarray, uncertainty, and yuckiness about how the game is unfolding before our eyes. While I support NIL and the transfer portal, it's become a tool that is tearing at the very fabric that makes the college game better than anything else out there. In my opinion, we don't have a proper handle on any of it yet and as a result you're seeing a transactional game play out without culture.
Enter Army giving us a collective hope.
Coach Monken and Army created a culture that stares adversity in the face and says, "bring it." In doing so, they are preserving all that is great about college football and in the process showing everyone that you can win by fighting shoulder to shoulder with your brother in the trenches.
I can say with my whole chest I love each and every one of those young men who wears ARMY across their chest on Saturdays. I've been shouting it from the mountaintops that they are the real deal for as long as I've had a microphone and finally people are turning their heads to listen.
So why do we need to hurry up and wait?
We need to be patient because there is still so much season left and although I appreciate that people are talking about us, we still need to play the games. Trust me, I believe Army can win every game they play but that does not mean I think we should start getting guys' ring sizes just yet.
Luckily for us, we have Coach Monken and tremendous leadership in our locker room to keep our guys focused on going 1-0 each week. The attention and the accolades are nice but none of it matters if you don't win.
I'm not poo-pooing anything here - keep paying attention folks. Thank you for joining the conversation. It's been a fun ride thus far and Army is reminding everyone that there is still a lot to love about this game we all adore immensely.
Oh and I've had a lot of people crawling out of dark alleys looking for Army tickets - piece of advice, don't be this guy.
Beat UAB! Beat navy!