Notre Dame vs. Army, Not Syracuse, In Yankee Stadium. Stay Clear Of Doc Gross For A Few Days.

The Yankees have scheduled a news conference on Monday to make a "major announcement regarding college football at Yankee Stadium."  It's been long-rumored that college football would be returning to Yankee Stadium.  The former was home to many a great game, including six Syracuse games between 1923 and 1964.  The last three of those contests against Army and Notre Dame. 

Those three teams have been name-dropped recently as possible suitors for the new games.  Given that SU and Notre Dame have apparently already worked out a deal to play in the metropolitan area (though ND still doesn't show up on the official schedule), some have wondered if it would be the Orange lining up on one of the sidelines.  Throw in the fact that DOCTOR Daryl Gross would up and move the entire campus of Syracuse University to Manhattan if he could and it seems like all signs point to SU getting it done.

Alas...

Notre Dame and Army have reportedly agreed to play the first football game at the new Yankee Stadium next year.

The Times Herald-Record, citing unidentified Army sources, said Friday that the Fighting Irish will play their traditional game against the military academy at the new ballpark.

Tread lightly around DOC Gross' office today.  He's got an ill-temper and an itchy finger on the trap door button.  No one is safe.  Except maybe Marrone, who's thigh girth makes it impossible to fall through the trap doors, which were built before his hiring.

There is a shimmer of hope though:

The newspaper said Army will also play games there in the 2011, 2012 and 2013 seasons.

It doesn't say who they will play.  keeping in mind that Doug Marrone is on record as saying that "I would like to play Army every year," there is a very strong possibility that Syracuse could be in the mix for some of those games.  The SU sched is currently full for 2011 but there's room in 2012 and 2013.  There's also the possibility of SU getting out of a 2011 game...I would think the possibility of playing in front of a NYC and probably televised audience, would be more valuable to Gross than almost any of the games currently on the 2011 OOC sched, save for USC.

Guess we'll know more Monday.  Or maybe not.