Just a minute ago ESPN reported (Insider) on some very interesting news that hasn’t yet hit the mainstream,
For some reason, this story has yet to be picked up on a widespread basis: Army athletic director Kevin Anderson told Sal Interdonato of the Middletown (N.Y.) Times Herald Record that a proposed 2013 game with Notre Dame is off the schedule — at the request of the Irish.
The article goes on to say that Notre Dame’s current list of regular rivalry games with USC, Navy, BC, Stanford, and Army would be untenable inside of a conference schedule. At the most the Irish would likely be able to play four out of conference games, so one of those would have to be cut if the Irish gave up on their independent status.
Now, of course, it could be the case that this is no more than smoke without fire, but the fact that the game they’re cancelling was to be held at Yankee Stadium says something to me. A game at Yankee Stadium between ND and Army, given the national fanbases of those programs, isn’t exactly a money sink. If ND decided to cancel it, they probably have a good reason. And maybe that reason is the constraints of a conference schedule and the additional money from revenue sharing.