Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Army, Navy Square Off on Football Field

Aired December 01, 2001 - 08:29   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: It is always guaranteed to be one of the biggest military rivals and the casualties are going to be limited to between 100 yards. We're talking about the Army-Navy game. President Bush takes a break today from the war to attend that big event, and he won't be alone. A lot of Americans cheering for their favorite.

CNNSI's Tom Rinaldi joins us live from Philadelphia with more and it is always great to see these teams get together, is it, Tom?

TOM RINALDI, CNN SPORTS ILLUSTRATED CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Martin.

You know, typically a game which matches a 2-8 team versus one which is 0-9 doesn't draw much national attention. But of course very little is typical about the Army-Navy game. The 102nd edition of what is called a classic. More than 66,000 fans will be packing a sold out Veterans Stadium to watch this particular Saturday's tilt between these two teams.

Among those fans, as you mentioned, President Bush. He'll be touching down around 10:40 at Air Force One here in Philadelphia and he'll be making his way over to the stadium where he will watch these two teams. But before the game begins, he'll take part in a pre-game coin toss, which is ceremonial.

Where will he sit during the game? He plans to spend the first half with a brigade of midshipmen, the second half with the Army's corps of cadets, showing some neutrality.

As for which way the president might be leaning, well, his press secretary, Ari Fleischer, tried to handle that political football.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is the president going to the Army-Navy game?

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I announced that this morning, that the president will be going to the Army-Navy game in Philadelphia tomorrow.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (OFF-MIKE)

FLEISCHER: Who is he rooting for? Oh, either one of the two teams. I don't recall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RINALDI: Well, both teams have struggled mightily this season. Navy has had even deeper struggles that are 1-19 over the last two seasons. Who did that one win come against? You guessed it, it was Army. And sometimes for Navy, beating Army means a 1-0 season, a perfect season. And this is a perfect chance for these players to enjoy a game when their missions will change very significantly six months from now.

In Philadelphia, I'm Tom Rinaldi -- head back to you, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Tom, before you go, any indication security had been tightened or is excessive because of what is going on in America?

RINALDI: Certainly. There are a phalanx of every sort of officer that you can imagine. We made our way over to the stadium here five hours prior to game time and there was already traffic snarled. There will be significant checks. The typical things you've seen at a lot of sporting venues, no bags permitted, etc. There's certainly a very strong security presence here.

SAVIDGE: And we know, obviously, it's going to be a good game no matter what happens. What goes on in the stands as far as the fans and those that support both the Army and the Navy?

RINALDI: People like to talk about the pomp and the pageantry of college football in other venues. There is no way that any other game matches this for the raw emotion of its ceremony, including fly-bys that go over the top of the stadium, the cadets, the midshipmen rushing out of the stands during touchdowns to do pushups in synchronicity with one another. It's virtually unmatched anywhere in the realm and the venue of sport. If you've never seen an Army-Navy game in person, it's really something to get the heart pumping.

SAVIDGE: I envy you, Tom. I wish I was going to be there. It will be a great game to watch.

Thanks very much for joining us from Philadelphia this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com