Norwich football players recount ways they swiped Coast Guard during annual rivalry

By Anthony Lanza
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

For years a tradition has been upheld that before the annual football game between Norwich University and the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA), cadets from Norwich and midshipmen from USCGA attempt to outdo one another by performing elaborate pranks before the game takes place, according to Norwich officials.

Norwich and the USCGA have had a rivalry for a long time.

"It is two groups of people being able to play off each other with practical jokes, and Norwich just has a tendency to take it a little more seriously than the Coast Guard does," said Shane Kraus, 27, a senior, criminal justice major, from Des Moines, Wash. "It's not a matter of not liking each other; it's a rivalry and is supposed to be a fun thing."

"It was a lot of fun going onto the Coast Guard's property and taking things that they considered important to the academy," said Rafael Cruz, 19, a sophomore, criminal justice major, from Chelsea, Mass. "It was a real rush sneaking around and trying not to get caught."

Many students at Norwich think that the Coast Guard midshipmen are "slackers" and make it very easy to practically walk onto the academy grounds and take whatever Norwich cadets could get their hands on. Cruz said, "All we had to do to get onto campus was show a military identification card and we were in."

"There was a group of us that had driven up on Thursday night, and we were going after the academy's regimental commander," Kraus said. "We had some inside intelligence, and everything was arranged on both sides so no one would get in trouble, and acquire their midshipmen commander and give him back during the football game."

The items taken from the USCGA were of varied importance to the institution. The admiral's pennant, commissioning plaques, a four-foot replica of a coast guard cutter, various signs, and doormats from the academy were taken.

"They didn't even notice that the things were gone from campus, and if it's not nailed down, I think Norwich has had it at some time," said Ricky Merced, 19, a sophomore, criminal justice major, from Fort Drum, N.Y.

Every year, the night before the football game, Norwich has the freshman class stand guard around campus in order to keep an eye out for midshipmen from the USCGA.

"Due to the freshman patrols that are posted around campus, the Coast Guard has only been able to do things like putting stickers on the Captain Alden Partridge statue, but that's just about it," said Krause.

On one of the nights before the football game, two Coast Guard midshipmen were caught on campus while trying to appropriate Norwich property. The two USCGA students were held in the guard shack on campus and paraded onto the football field with their hands tied.

"I thought that it was awesome that two midshipmen were captured, because none of the Norwich cadets that went over to the academy had gotten caught," said Josh Van Hees, 19, computer information systems major, from Fort Dix, N.J. "It is funny to think that the only two guys that had the guts to come on campus to try and take something had gotten caught."

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