you can chloroform a mule, but you still have to move it

June 14, 2018 9:22 PM

The first recorded goat kidnapping was in 1953. The animal was the property of the United States Naval Academy, the perpetrators were from West Point, and a football tradition was born. This wasn't about ransom; it was psychological warfare in the name of Army football.
posted by sciatrix (5 comments total)

Stealing all 4 mules one year is a hell of a lot more impressive then just repeatedly taking a different small goat- but I’m slightly biased- my dad was Navy.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 10:52 PM on June 14, 2018 [1 favorite]

Army could suffer through bad seasons, but by 1953 they hadn't beaten Navy in three years. At West Point, where "Go Army, Beat Navy" is religion, morale was low indeed.

Shit. I didn't see an Army victory over Navy for the four years I was there. I was already a captain by the time I saw Army beat Navy. Two times in a row though!
posted by A Bad Catholic at 11:12 PM on June 14, 2018 [2 favorites]

This sort of thing is exactly why, as a young child in a Navy family in Annapolis, I didn't know that wars involved other countries. I thought my father and grandfather put on their uniforms, boarded their destroyers and went to battle with those bad Army people.
posted by mcduff at 5:25 AM on June 15, 2018 [10 favorites]

I'm a Naval Academy grad that works at West Point, so if any enterprising midshipmen have plans, look me up.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 3:27 PM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]

I love when the president has to order them to return a goat.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:17 PM on June 15, 2018 [1 favorite]