does anyone know who is considered "home" and who is considered "visitor" for this years Army/Navy Game ??? i don't want to be sitting on the "wrong" side or i'll never hear the end of it......
I didn't realize that home/visitor status was predetermined. In any case, what difference does it make? Don't they flip a coin at the beginning for possession?
Football isn't like baseball. There really is no meaning in being the "home team" unless you're actually playing
at home ... which they
never are. Historically, the game is always played on neutral territory. It's not an accident that the game is played in Philadelphia most of the time - a geographical halfway point between the two academies.
In baseball, you can score a "walk off" run
only if you're the home team. For the visitors to win, they must always manage to register a third out. It
matters who is visitor and who is home.
In football - other than some kind of intangible, psychological advantage obtained from the support of the crowd - home/visitor status has no significance.
Statistically, I think the visitor gets penalized more frequently because the noise of the crowd tends to produce more "offside" penalties. Oftentimes, the visiting quarterback has to resort to
visually call for the ball to be hiked (because of crowd noise) - which helps the defense
immensely.