The two historic programs met 22 times at the original Yankee Stadium – the previous home of the New York Yankees – with the Irish holding a 14-5-3 record in games played from 1925-29, 1931-46, and 1969 (the 100^th anniversary of college football).  Overall, the two schools have played 49 times, with Notre Dame leading the matchup 37-8-4.

“The Yankees are proud to host two of the nation’s premier college football programs, and excited to bring college football to Yankee Stadium” said Yankees Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner.  “We look forward to carrying the great tradition of the Notre Dame-Army game from the original Stadium into our new home.”

The Notre Dame-Army rivalry came of age in the mid-1940s, highlighted by four straight seasons from 1943-46, in which both Notre Dame and Army entered their Yankee Stadium matchup ranked fifth or higher in that week’s Associated Press poll.  The Irish came into the 1943 game ranked No. 1, and then Army brought the higher ranking into the contest in 1944, ’45 and ’46.  In 1946, No. 1-ranked Army and No. 2-ranked Notre Dame squared off in the “Game of the Century” that ended in a scoreless tie and was made legendary by John Lujack’s game-saving tackle of Cadet running back Doc Blanchard.

“Any student of Notre Dame football history knows the meaning of the Notre Dame-Army rivalry and, in particular, the history of that rivalry at Yankee Stadium,” said Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick. “It’s fitting that a Notre Dame-Army game will be the first football event in this fabulous facility – and it’s also fitting that the 50^th meeting in this great rivalry will take place in a venue with such great tradition for both programs.”

“We could not be more excited about bringing ‘big-time’ college football back to Yankee Stadium,” said Army Director of Athletics Kevin Anderson. “I’d like to thank the Steinbrenner family and the entire New York Yankees organization for giving us the opportunity to play the first college football game at the new Yankee Stadium. I think it’s very fitting that one of the most historically significant rivalries in the history of college football, ushers the sport back to Yankee Stadium. At one time, the Army-Notre Dame game at Yankee Stadium was one of the most anticipated matchups in every college football season. We think this event will create the same type of excitement in college football circles.”

In the 1940s alone, while playing at the original Yankee Stadium, Notre Dame claimed consensus national titles in 1943, ’46, ’47 and ’49 – while Army won back-to-back national titles in 1944 and ’45.  In that same decade of the 1940s, Notre Dame produced three Heisman Trophy winners in Angelo Bertelli (1943), Lujack (1947) and Leon Hart (1949), while Army fielded two in Blanchard (1945) and Glenn Davis (1946).

The original Yankee Stadium also played host to the 1928 matchup which resulted in a 12-6 Irish victory.  The game was scoreless at halftime, when Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne gave his now-famous “win one for the Gipper” speech in the locker room.

Notre Dame holds an all-time mark of 15-6-3 in Yankee Stadium games, also facing off against North Carolina in 1949 (a 42-6 Irish victory) and Syracuse in 1963 (a 14-7 Orange win).  Army played 38 times at the original Yankee Stadium, compiling a combined mark of 14-19-5 against Notre Dame, Illinois (1930, ‘47), Michigan (1945, ‘50), Navy (1930-31), Stanford (1928, ‘48), Syracuse (1960, ‘64), Air Force (1959), Columbia (1936), Oklahoma (1961), Pittsburgh (1962), Princeton (1942) and Southern California (1951).

The 2010 Notre Dame-Army matchup will be the first college football game at the home of the Yankees since Grambling hosted Central State in the Whitney M. Young Urban Classic on September 12, 1987, at the original Yankee Stadium.  The Stadium also hosted college football games for Fordham and NYU from 1923-48.  As one of the world’s most prestigious addresses, the original Yankee Stadium was also the home for scores of other sports, entertainment and cultural events, including boxing, professional football, soccer, political assemblies, three Papal masses, religious conventions, concerts, NYU commencement and the circus.

The Yankees will have an announcement in the future regarding ticket availability for the general public. Notre Dame expects to make tickets available to its contributing alumni and fans through its alumni lottery as it does with all other football games.  Army will receive an allotment of tickets as the visiting team.

Y.A. Tittle was a two-time NFL MVP

Just finished re-reading “Y.A.TITTLE: I PASS” for about the fourteenth time, so I thought it would be appropriate to discuss  this great quarterback’s career.

Tittle, who held many NFL passing record when he retired in 1964, only to see them shattered by later signal-callers who were allowed much more freedom to do their jobs. is less known to current fans of Big Blue than Scott Brunner.

That’s a damn shame.

I don’t know why the history of professional football gets treated so shabbily by today’s media and fans, but perhaps it’s because the football fan has less room in his brain to grasp the perspective of history in his sport.

Tittle was a trend-setter, an innovator, and a gunslinger in an era when many teams played the single-wing.

His favorite tight end of all-time?  None other than former Jets coach Joe Walton, who was one hell of a good tight end, and you can look it up.

Tittle was one of the first QBs to work out of the shotgun formation, and though he never won a championship, was the leader of some of the best Giants teams ever assembled.

He should be remembered for more than just this photo.

Make sure to visit http://www.yatittle.net/, the official site of the legendary quarterback.

Thomas Jones' Days As a Jet Numbered?

Running back Thomas Jones had a great 2008 running the ball for the New York Jets.  But if the rumblings are true, the former Arizona Cardinal will be adding ex-Jet to his resume as well.

From Justin Terranova at the NY Post:

But it should be the Jets, not Jones, trying to take advantage of his 1,312-yard season. Gang Green should deal their disgruntled running back right now while his stock is high. New York Jets

Some have suggested that the only reason Jones has returned to the Jets training camp is because the team has promised to trade him later in the summer.

It’s simple, really.  Sell high, build with the kids.  The Jets have never really embraced this concept properly (selecting Ken O’Brien instead of Dan Marino comes to mind), and with the new thoroughbred in the fold, it’s a move that makes total sense.

Brandon Jacobs (photo by P. Borriello)

On today’s (Friday, 7pm EST) “Live From Mickey Mantle’s”, I will talk with former All-Pro punter for the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles Sean Landeta. We’ll preview Sunday’s upcoming NFC Divisional playoff at Giants Stadium between the two division rivals. John Delcos will also be on board, talking about the NY Jeets coaching search, the Brett Favre question and the next move for Gang Green.

You can listen live here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Gotham-Sports-Media/2009/01/10/NY-Giants-Playoff-Preview

As always, the call-in number is 347-324-3989

The defense is suspect. It can’t stop the run and if J.P. Losman were any kind of passer they would have lost.

The Jets still can control their own destiny, but the road isn’t easy. They should beat the Seahawks, but then again, they should have beaten the Raiders and Niners on the West Coast, too. If I’m a Jets fan, I’m more than a bit nervous.

The Giants? Well, I didn’t think they’d beat Dallas because the Cowboys were the desperate team.

Last night showed how much the Giants miss Brandon Jacobs. Replacing 1,000-yard power rushers is not easy. The Giants’ problem last night was they didn’t do well on first down. There were too many second-and-eights, which turned into third-and-longs.

Back-to-back losses should be good for the Giants. They still control their own destiny, and beating Carolina Sunday should be enough to give them homefield in the playoffs.

I have a feeling about Dallas tonight. They are the desperate team; the one that can’t afford to lose. Home? National TV? I think they’ll play well tonight. The Giants will miss Brandon Jacobs. They’ll miss him more than Plaxico Burress.

If you’re watching tonight and want to chime in, go right ahead.

The Jets control their own fate. And, that’s both ways. Time to wake up.

Well, not so fast. They imploded against Denver and San Francisco, and now face a must-win game Sunday in the Meadowlands against Buffalo. At one time the Bills were atop the AFC East, but they’ve been in a free fall. There’s still talent there, but the Jets have to take control early and set the tempo. What they did against San Francisco was let a losing team hang around and think it had a chance to win. Soon enough, the Niners wrestled the game away from them.

When the Jets were hot it showed on first down when they set themselves up in short-yardage situations. However, they’ve converted four-of-22 third down conversions in their last two games and that stems from being stuffed on first down.

The Jets can’t afford to lose this one. If they do, they might not make the playoffs.

Teams that point fingers don’t usually win, but the Cowboys are still very talented. It’s not a stretch for me to think they can’t beat the Giants Sunday night. They are home, it’s a national TV game, and the Giants will be without Brandon Jacobs and Plaxico Burress.

The Cowboys are the desperate team, and teams with their talent usually find a way to win under these conditions. This is a team that should’ve beaten Pittsburgh last Sunday and is better than their record. I think they’ll find a way to get by the Giants.

The game I want to want to watch is Steelers-Cowboys. Will channel surf that one with the Jets-Niners. The Giants-Eagles are up next, and New York can win its division with a victory today or Cowboys loss.

It’s going to be nasty in the Meadowlands today, and that plays to the Giants’ favor. They can run and have a stifling defense. They’ll overcome not having Plaxico Burress. Eli Manning won’t let them lose.

Not sold on the Jets today. I think the Niners will be able to score.

Feel free to chime in throughout the day.