On Veterans’ Day Weekend 2019, I found myself in a nondescript Chinese buffet in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That’s where my bus ticket back to New York City told me to wait. 

A love for football at Yankee Stadium sent me all the way to Tennessee on Veterans’ Day Weekend. Now I had to find a way back to the Academy. That cheap bus ticket looked like my only option.

A 15-passenger van with a few Asian men appeared. One of the men asked, “Are you here for the bus?”

“The one to New York?” I responded, “Yes.”

”Get in.”

“Where’s the bus?” I asked, confused. I’d envisioning an actual bus, not an anonymous white van.

The man gave me a flat stare. “This is the bus.”

Were they kidnapping me? I had no choice but to get in. I’d just have to take my chances. If I just stayed in front of the Chinese restaurant, I would stay in Tennessee and have a whole lot of marching tours awaiting me at West Point when I did eventually return.

And somehow, I ended up in New York City on Monday morning. I took the subway to my grandmother’s house in the Bronx and greeted her with, “Hi Grandma. Can I have something to drink?” 

I’d had no water for some 13 hours. 

I then departed for West Point.

All that trouble to see football at Yankee Stadium.

The Cathedral of Baseball?

You know how some people view the Rose Bowl as a mystical place where dreams come true? This is how I view Yankee Stadium. Most of my Army Football fandom owes itself to the mythical stories of Glenn Davis, Doc Blanchard, and winning one for the Gipper. Watching the broadcast of the 2010 Army-Notre Dame game at Yankee Stadium is still one of my core memories. Yankee Stadium is my heaven. My Junior year at the Academy, before the idea of an Army-Notre Dame Game at Yankee Stadium came to fruition, I went to severe lengths to see college football at Yankee Stadium. 

Veterans’ Day Weekend 2019 featured a game between Princeton and Dartmouth at Yankee Stadium to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first college football game. I knew I had to go. It was football at Yankee Stadium. As an 11-year-old, I’d dreamed of this, since I’d seen Army play Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium on TV back in 2010. There was just one issue. Army had a home game against UMass that day. No offense to UMass, but I would rather see two Ivy League teams play at Yankee Stadium than see Army play an overmatched squad at Michie.

Throughout that college football season, I hoped for a caveat that would allow me to go to Yankee Stadium for this one, singular game. One of my friends from company I-4 (Go I-Beams!), Adam Fuqua (‘22), joked about our endeavors in trying to escape having to watch that UMass game. We called it Operation Veterans Day. He wanted to watch Alabama-LSU in Tuscaloosa with his girlfriend, and I wanted to watch Princeton-Dartmouth at Yankee Stadium. I joked that my game was the real “Game of the Century” since both Princeton and Dartmouth stood undefeated at 8-0.

He found his way out via weekend pass after playing in the Sprint Football National Championship. I found mine through a Spirit Pass opening to support the Wrestling team… in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I knew nothing about college wrestling — and still know nothing about it — but I could masquerade this one time. The Wrestling Team had a meet in Chattanooga on November 10, the day after Princeton-Dartmouth. I therefore found a late-night flight to Nashville, followed by an early-morning Greyhound to Chattanooga, and these two together would get me there in time for the wrestling meet. For the trip back to New York, well… you already know what happened.

That 2019 game made my dream come true, but I had no idea that an even bigger dream would come true a few years later. And the best part was that I didn’t have to ride in a sketchy white van.

Army-Notre Dame in 2024

Not only did I get to see Army play Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium this past November, but the game actually served as a return to glory for this storied rivalry. Thought Doc Blanchard, Glenn Davis, and Johnny Lujack might not have been on the field that November night, Army-Notre Dame remained an important puzzle piece in the overall national title picture.

Army playing Notre Dame is a must-see event when it happens. That Saturday was only the fourth meeting between these teams in my 25 years of life. However, those previous meetings had been mere footnotes. In 2006, Army was 3-7 and playing a 9-1 Notre Dame squad that sat squarely in the national title race. In 2010 and 2016, neither Notre Dame or Army had been national contenders. Yet this past year’s game represented something greater— the culmination of Army’s return to national prominence.

We all know about “The Streak”, the 0-13 season and other lowlights in Army’s Dark Age. Head Football Coach Jeff Monken has brought Army back to relevance, but respect at the national level remains hard to come by. But this year, Army played Notre Dame in a game with Playoff implications for both schools, proving that Army is here to stay at the national level.

Nearly four years ago, as I eagerly awaited Term-End-Exam Week, I got a Twitter notification. “Report: Army to Play Notre Dame in 2024.” There was no set location, but “Yankee Stadium is the frontrunner to host the 52nd meeting between Army and Notre Dame.”

This was it. Princeton-Dartmouth had been the consolation, but Army-Notre Dame was The Prize. And in 2024, it was finally going to happen again. Army-Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium. Unlike in 2010, I would be an adult with my own money and the freedom to go. From that point, my imagination stirred. It would continue stirring for the three straight years.

I am arguably the biggest proponent for the service academies playing Notre Dame. I have been to every Notre Dame-Navy game since 2022. Part of my bucket list is to go to a Notre Dame-Navy game at every NFL stadium the storied rivalry travels to. However, those Notre Dame-Navy games were merely appetizers for the Army-Notre Dame Game.

I met then-Navy QB Xavier Arline in Ireland, and the event summarized my feelings. While waiting for my flight back to the states after watching Notre Dame beat Navy in Dublin, I heard a young kid in Navy gear say, “Mom, look! That’s Xavier Arline!” Sure enough, it was. I approached him and said, “I know this is probably the least likely place you would encounter a West Point grad, but I’ve always been a fan of your game. I wish we did cool stuff like play Notre Dame in Ireland.” I then asked for a selfie, and we talked for a minute before going our separate ways.

This was life as an Army fan for me. Navy always got to play Notre Dame, and we didn’t. Sure, we got to play Oklahoma, Michigan, and LSU, but none of those series had the history and aura of the Notre Dame series. Plus, those games were not in NFL stadiums. Army mostly played in NFL stadiums for Army-Navy. 

Neutral site games add to the fanfare of service academy football. They show that people still care about Army, Navy, and Air Force. In 2023, I went to Sam Houston’s second game as an FBS school ever — against Air Force — because it was at the Houston Texans’ stadium. These games advertise the relevance of the academies. 

Getting to the Game

A couple of years passed in my Army career before my Army-Notre Dame dream began to get real. I sat worried in a long-range battalion training calendar meeting as our Training Officer went over our unit’s exercise schedule. Each exercise seemed to avoid dates that I personally had marked off on my calendar. First, Notre Dame-Navy on October 26 got marked safe. Finally, most importantly, there I saw that we had no exercise planned for November 23rd, nor operations to begin moving our unit’s equipment to Europe that would interfere with that day. 

God was aligning the stars for my dream.

2024 flew by, and as the calendar hit November, there was talk of the unit having to work weekends to load our equipment for the upcoming European rotation. I got nervous. But the weekend of November 16th passed, and somehow, we escaped having to work the next weekend.

I planned for any number of eventualities as best I could. I got an 8 PM flight from El Paso to Phoenix, followed by a red-eye to JFK. With that, I would absolutely minimize the time I need off. I even had my outgoing commander sign my pass for Army-Notre Dame Weekend some five months in advance. This the favor I called in following weeks of excruciating work during his change-of-command inventory as his Executive Officer, arguably the toughest and most thankless job for any Army Lieutenant. I then told my new commander that a green Second Lieutenant would fill-in for me if the unit had to work Saturday. Amazingly, he let this arrangement stand.

Still, I would not rest easily until I got the final word that we would not have to work Army-Notre Dame Weekend. That word came, at last, at 1:17 PM on the Friday before the game. I breathed a literal sigh of relief. My commander confirmed that the company would not work this one crucial weekend. 

I’d cleared the biggest hurdle. Unlike my prior trip to Yankee Stadium, there would be no travel issues. Granted, El Paso having a small airport helped a lot.

Before the game, I went to Columbia to take in their game with Cornell as an appetizer. I came across a gentleman smoking a cigarette and asked him to take a picture of me with the Harlem River and the Henry Hudson Bridge in the background. After he took the picture we conversed and he introduced himself as Marco Kroes, a member of the Columbia Men’s Tennis staff. 

I mentioned that I was going to the West Point-Notre Dame game. Incredibly, he had never heard of Notre Dame, but he was very familiar with West Point. He told me that as a veteran of the Dutch Marines, he admired the perseverance, dedication, and team-first mentality West Pointers display. He uses this specific example to motivate his athletes!

After talking about West Point for a few, I told him he should go across the river for a game at West Point. Though not a football fan, the idea thrilled him. 

Moments like this show West Point’s importance to people, not just around the country but around the entire world. The ideals displayed by West Point cadets and graduates have become all too few in today’s society. But something as simple as a successful football team can put the Academy at society’s forefront, inspiring everyday people, sometimes even those from across the Atlantic.

14 years ago, novelty surrounded Army-Notre Dame. Sure, Army was 6-4. Folks still expected Notre Dame (5-5) to beat them easily. That game was perhaps a fun return to the old days, but no one took the rivalry seriously. 

Last November, Army-Notre Dame was “The Game”. Comparisons to the immortal 1946 “Game of the Century” echoed throughout the media coverage. We saw signs of the Golden Era present throughout the stadium. Several ticket scalpers roamed the Yankee Stadium entrances. Notoriously, West Point and Notre Dame leadership blamed scalpers partially for their decision to suspend the rivalry after the 1946 game.

Standing in the line to get into the game, I felt like I was about to watch one of those titanic clashes of yore. That line began curving around the stadium entrances as early as 4:30 PM, fully two-and-a-half hours before kickoff. I decided to find my place plenty early. 

The wait seemed almost unbearable, but I got to talk to a father and son who drove from Indiana to see the game. The father was an Army veteran wearing a 1st Cavalry Division hat. He drove with his adult son from Indiana, and they’d taken in the previous night’s Michigan State-Purdue game along the way. This was the type of bonding experience I wished I’d been able to share with my dad, but alas, that just wasn’t in the cards this time. 

At around 6:10 PM, I finally got into the stadium. Many fans were not as lucky and didn’t get in until well into or even after the first quarter. Once I got in, I went Christmas shopping. Bought overpriced souvenirs for everyone. Going to football games can be a double-edged sword because while football souvenirs make easy Christmas gifts, they’re not easy on the wallet. 

The Game

By kickoff, I realized I would not be devastated if Army lost. I’d already reached Eden just by being there. This was already everything I’d dreamed. Army Football once again sat at the epicenter of the college football universe, playing a nationally relevant game at Yankee Stadium.

Unfortunately, Notre Dame did not get the memo about promoting Army’s part in the game. The Corps of Cadets got no march on. In fact, even calling it The Corps is generous. West Point fielded at most a battalion of Cadets, all of whom had to buy their own tickets before being shoehorned into the left field bleachers. 

Sometimes you take what you can get.

Defense makes the STAND at the goal line 🫡

📺 NBC pic.twitter.com/Rd0kqZ5GD0

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) November 24, 2024

All that Notre Dame propaganda — and their disregard of the Corps of Cadets — showed a difficult truth. Army was playing at Yankee Stadium to lose a three-hour commercial for the better benefit of Notre Dame. It’s no coincidence that Notre Dame has never lost a Shamrock Series game. Army fans know this all too well. The Black Knights played the role of the Washington Generals to Notre Dame’s Harlem Globetrotters.

After kickoff, it seemed like the Army team from 2010 showed up. This time there was no early 3-0 lead to hang our hat on. Notre Dame ran through, around, and over Army. 

Aftermath

I don’t need to talk about the game’s overall result. People on this site and others dissected Army’s loss inside and out. That loss was disheartening but not unexpected. The biggest heartache came in not knowing when the next iteration of this rivalry will take place. Perhaps Army’s losses to Notre Dame sting a little more than Navy’s because of this unknown. Sure, Navy lost 43 years in a row, but there was always a next time. Who knows when Army will next receive a chance to end this dreaded six-decade-plus losing streak. 

Daily with the tough yards for six 💪💪

📺 NBC pic.twitter.com/6jjx2EVQ3e

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) November 24, 2024

I flew back to El Paso the next morning. Got to see my wife; prepared for work the next day. The experience now sat behind me, but the memories will last a lifetime. By Monday morning, I was back keeping Signal, Intelligence, and Sustainment Company afloat. 

I joke with my friends and family about taking “Like Nothing Ever Happened” trips. In 2023, I got a day of leave to attend the only Famous Toastery Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina. The following day, I was back at work at 0930, ready to make things happen. Missed decompression time has become the price I pay simply to experience these games.

All I’d ever wanted as an Army fan was to see the Black Knights play Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium. Experiences like this make being a college football fan special. Mythmaking gives college football its connection to the past. They become its lifeblood. On that November Saturday, I got to see all those same myths come to life in my own way. Army might not have beat Notre Dame, but the ghosts of the past, both for myself and for the Army Team generally, came together in the Bronx. Adult me saw the wonder that 11-year-old me dreamed about. 

College football made me wait 14 years to see Army-Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium. It was worth every day of the wait.

Go Army!!!