Won 0, Lost 12 — that's how Army's football team has done thus far this season. If it falls victim to Navy on Saturday then Army will ring up a perfect 0-13 tally.

Bill Pennington in the New York Times of 4 Dec 2003 profiles sophomore Rob Davis in "For a Cadet Football Player, a Typical Day Is Rough Yet Rewarding". Life at the U.S. Military Academy makes a startling contrast to that of the scholarship athlete at a typical major-sports college: no special tutors, no jelly roll courses, no under-the-table payments, no performance-enhancing drugs. Just hard work in the classroom — philosophy, physics, calculus, economics, military science ... — and then more hard work on the field.

Plus good humor, plus pride. Winning isn't everything, especially if you don't do it the right way, fair, square, with honor. The day of the interview, Pennington notes, isn't just any old day for Davis:

It was also his 20th birthday, something no one at the academy or around the football team seemed to know.

"Sir," Davis said to a visitor, smiling. "There is nothing to be gained by letting that get out. Not in this setting."

Note that smile ...

TopicProfiles - TopicLiterature - TopicHumor - 2003-12-05

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