The Army-Navy game usually happens at a time when there are no other viewing options. The Commander-in-Chief wants to keep it that way.
Via the Washington Post, President Trump signed an executive order on Friday aimed at keeping the annual game between the two major U.S. military academies in an exclusive window.
“Nobody’s going to play football for four hours during that very special time of the year, in December,” Trump said. “It’s preserved forever for the Army-Navy game.”
The concern is that potential expansion of the College Football Playoff could horn in on the Army-Navy turf. Still, the executive order may not be enforceable.
“Of course, we’ll probably get sued at some point,” Trump said.
While we appreciate very much the commitment and achievements of those who have earned admission to the American service academies, it seems somewhat un-American to create artificial barriers to fair competition for viewers. You know, meritocracy.
Why protect the Army-Navy game from other football games that viewers might regard as more entertaining to watch? Why tells viewers, essentially, “If you want to watch football in this window, this is your only choice”?
Even if the executive order couldn’t withstand a legal challenge, someone would have to be willing to start that fight. Which would possibly mean bracing for Trump to finish it, whether by pulling one or more of the various discretionary levers of government that are available to him or by firing off a late-night, thank-you-for-your-attention-to-this-matter attack on social media.
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