An interesting development this week before Saturday's Army-Navy game:
The Naval Academy recovered the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy, awarded annually to the winner of the football competition among the three major service academies, last night when it was found in a storage room inside the school's dormitory approximately 48 hours after it was believed to have been stolen, said Chet Gladchuk, Navy's athletic director.
The trophy, which is 2 1/2 feet tall and weighs 170 pounds, was removed from the football team's locker room in Ricketts Hall, where it was moved Monday afternoon to motivate the team for its game against Army on Saturday in Philadelphia.
The trophy is normally kept in a locked glass case in the Rotunda area of Bancroft Hall, the school's dormitory. There, it is approximately 20 feet from the building's main office, where Midshipmen are on guard 24 hours a day, according to junior linebacker Tyler Tidwell, who lives at Bancroft Hall.
Monday night, Navy athletic officials discovered the theft along with a note that read: "Before we win the football game on Saturday, we thought we would take the trophy. By the time you read this, it will be halfway to West Point."
The obvious question: if middies are supposedly guarding it 24 hours a day, how did the cadets steal it? Was it an inside job? Or maybe the middies were trying to frame the cadets? What intrigue lies inside the Naval Academy? I'm sure Bill will get to the bottom of this...
