• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 7 hours ago

President Donald Trump believes that with a stroke of the pen -- via an executive order -- he can control the TV and game scheduling of a college football game in mid-December -- specifically the annual Army-Navy game.

Why? Because that’s what tough guys want -- on and off the field.

The U.S. already honors soldiers for their service on other days of the year, including the major holidays: Memorial Day (the last Monday in May), Veterans Day (November 11), Armed Forces Day (The third Saturday in May).

But there are also lesser days:
--Purple Heart Day (August 7) – honoring those wounded or killed in action
--POW/MIA Recognition Day (3rd Friday in September) – honoring prisoners of war and those missing
--Gold Star Mother’s & Family’s Day (last Sunday in September) – honoring families of the fallen
--Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day (March 29)

Trump seemingly wants to honor the strength, courage, and other intangibles of those hard-working men.... on the gridiron.

The trouble is, there are other hard-working athletes who want to show their strength as well -- on the field. They are looking to display their athletic and team-building skills.

For example, on December 13, 2025, three major games aired on broadcast networks -- the "Cricket Celebration Bowl" and "Bucked Up LA Bowl," both on ABC and the Army-Navy game on CBS.

In addition, there were nine other college football games played on that day, end-of-the-season Division II and Division III semifinal and quarterfinal games.

Trump wants to end any TV coverage -- regional, local or national -- of those games within a four-hour period. That will surely mess up the NCAA's end-of-the-season scheduling scheme.

Now let’s go back to the obvious: We don’t know what -- if any -- legal jurisdiction Trump has to do this.

Of course, that never gives him pause. There is always more legal action, lawsuits, counter legal maneuvers to keep the issue going -- mostly failing.

And even if that doesn’t work, there are continued side benefits: Shifting attention elsewhere from major issues that aren’t popular.

And if this doesn’t work either, Major League Baseball pre-season starts in less than 30 days. Play ball!