Update: This is official now, according to Navy, ESPN, and CNN.
Navy vs. Air Force and Army vs. Boston College will go on as scheduled
Let them play! Let them play!
The service academy football games scheduled for Saturday will be played, according to a report from the Associated Press:
A senior defense official says U.S. military academy football teams will be on the field this weekend, despite the ongoing government shutdown.
The official said Wednesday the decision affects this weekend’s games only, and future games will be evaluated as events unfold in the coming days.
Navy and Air Force square off in Annapolis Saturday, and Army is scheduled to play at Boston College. The games were called into question due to the continuing shutdown of the federal government. The fact that the games were being played with non-appropriated funds -- funds from a source outside Congress -- allowed them to proceed as planned.
There is no word yet on the status of future games during the shutdown. Navy faces back-to-back road games against Duke and Toledo in coming weeks, while Army host Eastern Michigan next Saturday before traveling to Temple. Air Force, the only major service academy that is part of a conference, has a televised Thursday night Mountain West Conference game against San Diego State on Oct. 10. The Falcons then get more than two weeks off before a visit from Notre Dame.
Not all games involving service academies will go on as planned. A men’s soccer game between Manhattanville (Md.) College and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy scheduled for Wednesday was postponed, drawing one of the greatest press releases of all time from Manhattanville sports information director Steve Sheridan.
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