Westy’s & Army vs NAVY
In American sports, few rivalries run deeper, prouder, or more intense than Army vs. Navy. What began as a single football game in 1890 has grown into a multi-sport, year-round contest -representing not just two teams, but two entire institutions built on leadership, discipline, and service to the nation.
The Army-Navy rivalry is unlike anything else in collegiate athletics. It is not just about touchdowns or goals, it is about pride, traditions, and respect. It is about the shared commitment of every cadet and midshipman to a life of sacrifice and purpose. And while football gets the national spotlight every December, the rivalry thrives in every arena - from lacrosse to swimming, wrestling to baseball, each matchup carries the same intensity: Army vs. Navy, brother vs. brother, sister vs. sister, warrior vs. warrior.
For the Wests and their immediate family, the Army-Navy rivalry is more than an historic tradition – it is a personal one. With eight West Point graduates and two current cadets in the family, the Black and Gold runs deep through generations. Army’s victories are family celebrations. The rivalry is not just something the Wests watch (although we all go to the big game every December) – it is something they live. Kids and cousins played against Navy as cadets, and Mark continues to live it every day as head coach of the Sprint football team.
From R-Day to Graduation, from the fields of friendly strife to the fields of battle, each member of the Wests and their immediate family has carried the spirit of Army with pride and purpose. The competition against Navy is a symbol of the excellence they have pursued and the bond they have shared.
The Army-Navy rivalry teaches lessons that go far beyond sports: honor, grit, and humility in victory, and dignity in defeat. These are the same values instilled in every cadet at West Point – values that the Wests have embraced for generations.
On a lighter note, the Army-Navy rivalry gives the alumni on both sides a chance to earn “bragging rights” for an entire year. For most alumni, they will tell you that Army and Navy are friends for 364 days out of the year. On one day in December, however, Army and Navy are worst enemies.
At West Point, cadets conduct spirit missions during Navy week to express their support for the Army team, and their disdain for the midshipmen, or squids as they are affectionately called. Spirit missions do not stop once a cadet graduates.
Mark and Holly pulled off a daring spirit mission with their two young kids while in graduate school in Lexington, KY. They had befriended a couple a few blocks down the street. The husband was an Annapolis graduate who played football as a midshipman. Two nights before the big game, Mark, Holly, and the kids snuck down to their house and planted two big stakes in the yard with a bed sheet in between that said, “GO ARMY, BEAT NAVY!”
As the husband pulled out of his driveway the next morning at 0530 to go to the airport to fly to Baltimore for the game, he saw the bed sheet. Since he was running late, he did not have time to pull it down himself. Instead, he called his wife and told her to take it down. However his young daughters unable to read thought it was cool to have a poster on the front lawn. So, she didn’t take it down. You can imagine his disgust when he pulled back into the driveway on Sunday to see that the sign was still up – and to rub salt into the wound, Army won the game!
As Army and Navy meet again and again, in sport after sport, the stakes remain high – not because of trophies or headlines, but because of what it all represents: the best of American service, and the proud legacy of families who have made West Point a cornerstone of their lives.
Whether it is on the football field in December, or on the wrestling mat in February, or the track in the spring, the Army-Navy rivalry endures. And for the West family, it is not just a rivalry, it is a legacy. We look forward to watching the rivalry games with you at Westy’s and hearing about your Army-Navy stories and spirit missions!
GO ARMY! BEAT NAVY!!
Holly and Mark West
Owners, Westy’s
