Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Under the Dome Point ✦ Counterpoint: Should Notre Dame Play All Three Military Academies Routinely? Not Enough Schedule Space Academies Fill A Need On Irish Schedule By Dan Murphy By Andrew Owens Notre Dame players and coaches make it clear Let's get one thing out of the way first. Notre that they have a ton of respect for Navy, Air Force Dame and Navy will play each other annually for a and Army every time they come up on the sched- long, long time. As Dan mentioned, Navy kept Notre ule. And that's the way it should be. That doesn't Dame running during World War II, and the annual mean they have to keep playing them in football. meeting is a small debt of gratitude. Besides, univerBy all means, keep the tradition alive with Navy. sity president emeritus Father Ted Hesburgh insisted They kept the Notre Dame campus afloat, no the Irish and Midshipmen play until Navy chooses pun intended, during World War II, and the Irish not to do so, and who's to argue with him? can keep paying that debt The more intriguing — forever. But with scheduland debatable — question ing constraints choking is whether the Irish should possibilities for future oproutinely play Army and Air ponents already, there's no Force. I think the current apneed to keep Army and Air proach is one Notre Dame Force in the regular rotation should continue to subscribe of visitors to Notre Dame to during its difficult schedStadium. Beyond the eight ule-making process. must-haves each year (five Since 2000, the Irish have ACC games, Navy, Stanford played Air Force six times and USC) it's safe to assume (2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, two more games will come 2011 and 2013) and Army against Big Ten opponents twice (2006 and 2010), which for the foreseeable future. means Notre Dame has That leaves two spots to fill played at least two military with fun, exciting new oppo- The Irish will continue to play Navy every academies (counting Navy) nents to keep things fresh. year, but what about Air Force and Army? more years than not since the photo by mike bennett/lighthouse imaging turn of the century. One of the beauties of remaining independent — besides the bucket loads While I think playing all three academies in one of money and television exposure — is getting to season is too much (remember the jokes of Notre mix things up on the schedule. With strength of Dame winning the Commander-in-Chief Trophy in schedule featuring more prominently in the future 2006 when it topped all three schools?), occasional playoff decisions, there are plenty of intriguing meetings with Air Force and Army are a great reopponents that would sign on for a matchup with minder of the respect between the academies and Notre Dame to try to boost their out-of-confer- Notre Dame. It also gives the Irish an easier game on ence résumés. There's no need for the Irish to feel the schedule in a more honorable way than agreeing beholden to all three academies, and there's only to play a Football Championship Subdivision or Midso much triple option one can watch in a year. American Conference opponent.