The football game scheduled for this Saturday, October 5th, between the United States Naval Academy and the United States Air Force Academy has been approved to be played at Navy-Marine Cops Memorial Stadium, despite the partial government shutdown that has cancelled most intercollegiate athletics for the nation’s five federally-funded service academies.
According to a press release by Navy, the DOD has approved the sold out game for this Saturday. Those we spoke to at Navy said that the coaches for both the men’s and the women’s swim program are “shut down.”
The release specifically reads that “there has been no indication if the other 24 athletic events scheduled from Thursday-Sunday will take place.”
The first meet on the chopping block was scheduled to be a home meet between Navy, Loyola-Maryland, and George Mason, though it seems now that this is highly unlikely, even if there was some last-minute reprieve.
As such, the Department of Defense has specifically and intentionally placed college football on a pedestal above all other college sports, which is probably what most of the country was thinking anyway.