Friday, July 17, 2009

College Football Closer To Reality At New Stadium

Back in May, we ran a post about Notre Dame expressing interest in playing at Yankee Stadium. Today, that looks closer to being a reality.

According to the Times Herald-Record, Army and Notre Dame will play their 2010 game at the Stadium. The Black Knights will also reportedly play a game there in 2011, 2012, and 2013 against opponents yet to be determined.

I agree with ESPN's Graham Watson in thinking that having the annual Army-Navy game there would be great, but the locations for that game are already booked for years to come.

While I can appreciate the novelty and the nostalgia of hosting football at the new Stadium, I'm not sure it's the best idea in the world. The Yankees have invested billions of tax payer dollars in building a new baseball stadium. Why jeopardize the quality of the turf by subjecting it to a football game?

As Jay noted last week, multi-purpose ballparks are dying off. In recent years Veterans Stadium, Three Rivers Stadium, Riverfront Stadium, Candlestick Park and Qualcomm Park, all former two sport venues, have been replaced. The Metrodome will join them at season's end. Of the remaining dual sport MLB parks - Network Associates Coliseum and Landshark Stadium - are considered the worst venues in baseball. Why would the Yankees want to jump back to the multipsort mindset of 20 and 30 years ago?

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