Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk believes the football game against Notre Dame will happen.
The Midshipmen and Fighting Irish are slated to play August 29 in Ireland to get the college football season started, but the coronavirus pandemic is throwing everything into chaos. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
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Well, Gladchuck isn’t overly worried. He told ESPN, “We’re going to play it. We expect this to pass. We’re not naïve. We’re five months away from that game happening. There’s a lot that could happen in five months. If the economy and the United States are still shut down in five months, we all have significant issues, more so than a game in Dublin.”
ESPN also reported the game is currently sold out in Ireland.
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I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again for everybody out there. This game should absolutely happen in America if there is any risk at all because of coronavirus.
I love college football more than just about anybody else on the planet. It’s the truth, and I’m all for playing games in Ireland.
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What I’m not for is taking unnecessary risks during a pandemic. It would seem like Notre Dame and Navy hopping on planes to fly across the Atlantic for a football game is the definition of taking an unnecessary risk.
If we can play the game in America, then that’s exactly what we should do. Look, fans are going to still cheer just as hard if the game is played here.
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In fact, more people will probably go, which means the atmosphere will only be crazier. I see no point in flying to Ireland given the situation and stakes.
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We’ll see what happens, but this game should probably happen stateside.