I promise I will get through this entire preview without using this beaten to death cliche “the Army fights the more important battles away from the field.” or the equally shop-worn “what the Army does out there everyday in the world makes the games we love possible; they protect out freedom so we can enjoy college football.”

We get it. There’s no reason to keep making every national television appearance by Army a military recruiting infomercial. They won the “Armed Forces Bowl” isn’t that enough promotion already?

And get ready for that aircraft carrier Michigan State Spartans-North Carolina Tar Heels college basketball game. It’s going to be on Veterans Day, and it’ll take place aboard the same carrier that buried Osama bin Laden’s body at sea. Which means you’ll hear all those military cliches and more a million times over during the media broadcast of that game.

That said, this is a rather exciting time for the gridiron program at West Point.

By Paul M. Banks

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