01 December 2007: So how was my prediction?

Yeah.... Army blown out again by Navy. At one point in the game, one of the announcers summed it up well when he said, "this is a familiar scene - Navy all over Army." Paul Johnson, my old high school offensive line coach (I played running back), has done what no Navy coach has ever done before - 6 straight victories (none of them even close games) over Army. But let's look at something else he has done with Navy that is also unprecedented. He's won five straight Commander-in-Chief's Trophies by going undefeated against Army and Air Force for five straight years. Paul's teams are 11-1 versus service academies. Two straight Navy senior classes have graduated without ever experiencing the pain of a loss to either Air Force or Army. Navy's lead in the Army-Navy series is now the largest it's ever been at 52 wins, 49 losses, 7 ties. Back at Army we still revere former coach Jim Young as though he were a god for what he did with the Black Knights back in the late 80's. Admittedly, it was a remarkable turnaround but it pales in comparison to Paul Johnson. If we were to compare Paul with the all-time greats of service academy coaches he places on a par with Fisher DeBerry (USAFA) and almost on the same level as Earl "Red" Blaike, who coached Army to three national championships. And it's not just that he's winning against Army and Air Force, he's guiding Navy to winning seasons and bowl games. This will also be the fifth straight year Navy has had at least 8 wins and gone to a bowl game. Does Navy have better athletes? No. Paul Johnson is simply a better coach. I hope for Army's sake that a bigger school finally offers him a job. He's earned the right. He'll be a winner wherever he goes. I've said this before and I'll say it again - Army will never defeat a Paul Johnson coached Navy team.

Now let's break down my prediction for the game versus the actual score. I predicted Navy would win 49-14. Obviously, I didn't guess the final score correctly. However, let's look at how accurate my prediction of the blowout actually was. The actual final score was an embarassing Navy 38 Army 3. My prediction was that Navy would beat Army by a margin of 35 points (49-14=35). The actual margin of victory for Navy? 35 points (38-3=35). Some of you are going to argue the old "yeah, but if Army had scored on the opening drive, hadn't fumbled on the goal line, hadn't allowed that kick return..." Folks I watched the game too. Navy kicked Army's collective ass. Football isn't a game of what if's. It's a game of who laid the wood on game day. Navy took Army out behind the woodshed again. They were better prepared, better coached, and the better team all-around. If you don't agree with this then you are in complete denial.

How did I watch the game? I commandeered a TV in the Scorpion MWR. I refused to let any Joe change the channel. Even when they tried to argue that it was a blowout and that other games were on, I refused. In the service academies it is tradition that we watch the entire game from opening kick-off right down to the singing of the Alma Mater at the end - no matter what the score. This was Army-Navy. It only comes once a year. Like every other Army alumni, fan, et al, I'm already saying wait till next year! Go Army! Beat Navy!

I do know that Army certainly won the "spirit commercials." They normally do. My favorite was the "Got Goat" commercial. However, when they were doing the service to country segments where senior players would introduce themselves it seemed to me that every single Army senior was branching Air Defense Artillery. What's up with that? Normally, ADA was the branch that all the cadets who weren't academically ranked high enough for Infantry, Armor, or Aviation ended up selecting. I guess the Army senior football players were all literally gunning for the goat. That is, they were all gunning to be the class goat (lowest academically ranking cadet come graduation time).

Attention Duke University, Nebraska, Georgia Tech, Southern Methodist, Michigan, or any other major college football program in need of a coach - HIRE PAUL JOHNSON! You definitely will not regret your decision. For the sake of Army fans worldwide - PLEASE hire Paul Johnson! Pretty please with sugar on top!