WEST POINT, N.Y. -- This is a season, more than most, that calls for perspective, a reality check on what matters.
An 0-9 record will do that. So will the drumbeat of war.
Army's seniors aren't going off to the National Football League, or even dreaming about it. A year from now, they may be dressed in desert fatigues instead of their black and gold football uniforms, studying field maps of Iraq rather than X's and O's.
It's not enough for them to practice every day, play on Saturdays and keep up with one of the most demanding academic programs in the country. They are training to be leaders in the Army, preparing to graduate as second lieutenants and begin their five-year military commitments at a dangerous time.
"Given the situation around the world, everyone knows this is our war," says Clarence Holmes, a 23-year-old senior defensive end from Decatur, Ga. "It's going to be fought mostly by us and our generation. We have to make sure we're prepared to do the job."
The thought is never far off. No one at Army uses it as an excuse for the losses this year -- the worst start at West Point since the 1973 team went 0-10 -- but the cadets can't help being affected by it.
"It's always on your mind, even when we take the field," Holmes says. "You wonder if the man across from you actually knows what you go through or understands that he's lining up across from somebody that's going to be protecting his way of life. You think about it, that they don't have that weight on their shoulders."
Army travels to Tulane on Saturday, then goes to Memphis before finishing up against Navy. The Black Knights are a young team, dominated by 50 sophomores, who often have made sophomore mistakes. There, too, some perspective is needed: The first semester of the sophomore year at West Point is the most difficult academically and the professors don't cut the football players any slack in the classroom.
Holmes was one of the 28 senior cadets who played their last home games this past Saturday at Michie Stadium. It was a gorgeous autumn day, the hills ablaze with yellow, orange and red foliage. A perfect day for photographs and memories that could not be spoiled even by a 49-30 loss to Air Force. The seniors exchanged knowing looks, recalled their first days together and thought about their uncertain future.
This team has felt the anxiety of possible war since Sept. 11 last year, when the smoke billowing from the World Trade Center, 50 miles to the south, could be seen through a clear sky from the top of the stadium.
"Everyone wanted to be doing something other than going to school and playing football," recalls coach Todd Berry. "Everyone that day came to grips to why they are here. They all knew, 'This is my mission.' Sometimes you wonder why you're tested so strongly. These young people have a higher mission. They can't ever look past that. They have to be cadets first."
None of the cadets has shown more leadership ability than Holmes, who is just the fourth player in Army football history -- and the first in more than 100 years -- to be elected as a team captain twice.
He is the son of a single mother who worked two jobs and raised six children. He got his first job at 14 when his stepfather died, and has been working ever since. His mother, Sharian Gardner, is his hero.
The 6-3, 270-pound Holmes chose West Point over some 10 other schools that offered scholarships because he was captivated by the history here and saw the possibility of doing more with his life than just playing football.
"I figured there was no better place to challenge me academically, to challenge my character, my morals and give me the best education in the country," he says.
A systems engineering major with strong math and computer skills, Holmes has signed up to be a field artilleryman. His 20-year-old brother, Joshua, who ran track in high school before enlisting in the Navy, is in Okinawa, Japan.
"They've already gotten fitted for their desert uniforms," Holmes says.
Holmes hasn't talked with his mother about what might be next in his military career. He knows she'll be proud to see him graduate from West Point and doesn't want to worry her about the future.
Nor do the players talk about it all the time.
"We're just trying to enjoy this last run together as brothers," he says. "Of course we feel invincible at our young ages. You just get up the courage to face yourself and your inner man and say, 'I may not be here a year from today.' A lot of things on the football field prepare us for that. It's all about the next person. Once you learn that it's not about you, it makes it easier to understand and accept the fact that you may not live. You accept mortality.
"Of course, it's tough. Who wants to deal with that? But it's what we've chosen to do here."
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Steve Wilstein is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at swilstein(at)ap.org
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