On Brave Old Army Team: The Cheating Scandal that Rocked the Nation: West Point, 1951

by James E. Blackwell

During the depths of the Cold War in the early 1950s, the United States Military Academy at West Point stood tall as a bastion of national character, extolling the virtues of duty, honor, and country. Alongside those virtues, the Brave Old Army Team - one of college football's first powerhouses - embodied the commitment to developing our country's strongest leaders, both on and off the gridiron.
In a culture that teaches "there is no substitute for victory" (Douglas MacArthur), values and goals inevitably collide. In August 1951, big time football led to big time corruption when eighty-three cadets - most of whom were players on legendary coach Red Blaik's football team, including the coach's own son - were expelled from West Point for cheating.
On Brave Old Army Team explores how America's deep-rooted obsession with college football and desire to win at all costs became a way of life for many of Coach Blaik's - and his up-and-coming assistant Vince Lombardi's - cadet-athletes. West Point graduate and CNN military analyst James Blackwell compellingly explores how cheating to maintain academic proficiency for football players became accepted to sustain the academy's winning tradition, and how it caused one of our country's largest - and least talked about - cheating scandals.

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Bill Yancey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent history centered on athletics and its relationship to the curriculum at the USMA.