In a timely save, USAA picked up the Air Force college footballteam's travel tab from Colorado Springs, Colo., to Annapolis, Md.,for its sold-out contest with Navy last weekend.

On Wednesday, USAA, an insurance provider for military membersand their families, pledged $230,000 to get the team to Annapolis.The game was under threat due to the government shutdown.

“We were very excited to support this weekend's game between AirForce and Navy,” says USAA spokesman Matthew Walters. “Gamesbetween the academies have a long tradition, and we wanted toensure that tradition carried on. Sponsorship of academy athleticevents provides USAA with the opportunity to engage with ourmembers and support their shared passion.”

The Air Force Falcons' arrival at the field reads like the plotof a sports film: with federal employees furloughed due to thegovernment shutdown, the Air Force Academy AthleticCorp. first considered using its non-profit arm to pay for thetrip using capital from activities such as merchandise sales.

However, as Academy CEO Derm Coll learned, legally putting thatmoney towards the game would require a congressional rewrite of thelanguage in the nonprofit's charter—in the middle of a governmentcrisis and just days before the nationally televised gamewas scheduled to play out before a packed stadium. That is, if thegovernment approved the game at all.

Coll tells news sources he reached out to many of the team'ssponsors to ensure that the Falcons could travel if the game wason.

“I was expecting we'd get $50,000 or $100,000,” Coll told newssources.

Two days before Saturday, the Department of Defense still neededto approve both USAA's donation and give approval for the sportingevent itself.

Around noon on Oct. 3, the department sounded the whistle thatthe game could go on, since the Naval Academy Athletic Associationoperates on private, not federal, funds. Just hours later, as theAir Force athletes were boarding their charter plane, the USAAgrant received attorney approval.

Navy won 28-10 against the Air Force.

Though this story ended happily, it is still uncertain whetherthe remaining 24 military athletic events scheduled this seasonwill be held.