Maryland Gov. Wes Moore will be at the Army-Navy Game on Saturday at Northwest Field, and if he was down in the ranks, he’d be on the USMA side as a 16-year Army veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division.
Gov. Moore, or in this case Capt. Moore, is all in for his team, but he’s also ready for a great game.
“It’s gonna be a great game. This is the first time in quite a while where you have both teams who are really competitive and are playing really good football, but let’s be clear: Army is gonna win,” Moore laughed as he joined BMitch & Finlay for his weekly segment Friday. “This Army team is not only led by somebody who is a legit and should be a legit Heisman candidate, but is also, with the exception of Notre Dame, the best team the Navy has played all year. This is always a special game, a great rivalry and the greatest tradition in college sports. At the end of the game, each team goes to the other team's sideline and sings the alma mater, it's such a beautiful patriotic moment.”
Moore loves the crew in Annapolis 364 days a year as their Governor and military brother, ‘but just one day, it’s Go Army!’
“Honestly, for everybody, it really is one of the most special things to watch in all sports, when you watch the Midshipmen and Cadets line up for 60 minutes and do everything they can just to bruise and beat the other one,” Moore said, “and then as soon as the game is over, to watch all of them line up and sing the alma mater of the other team – it really is sportsmanship and patriotism at its best.”
And when the game ends, fans and military personnel will file out of Northwest Stadium…and speaking of loving Maryland, JP had to ask him about getting beer in grocery stores in Maryland, which will, for now, help those prepping to tailgate for Commanders games.
But as far as the next stadium locale, they also had to ask about the RFK bill likely passing through Congress – and that’s where we found out how Gov. Moore really feels about the possibility of the Commanders leaving his state.
“I don’t have a vote, and I wish I had that kind of power to either push something through or to block something, but this is something that's right now with the United States Senate,” Moore said. “I have been very clear from Jump Street that I really do believe that Maryland is the best site for the Commanders; I think we can put together the best vision, I think it is intolerable for anybody that right now what we have is essentially 200 acres of land that is used six days of the year for two hours and they have not focused on development and the build out around it, so I think that has to happen no matter what, and I think that the stadium can be a real anchor.”
But if they choose RFK?
“Whatever the decision is, I don’t mind competing, because we compete to win,” Moore said, “but the thing that I also know is that the Washington Commanders are a private entity, and no matter what the Commanders decide to do, we are going to make sure that Maryland is good, and that Maryland can do something and really reimagine that whole area and what that can be and what that can look like. So, the Senators I know are working around the clock on this issue; this is the final funding package that's going to be done before the end of the year, and there's a whole lot of priorities that we have in the state of Maryland. But again, I believe that Maryland is the best spot, and I also know that I'm not afraid of competition.”