Cortaca Jug 2022 Venue

CORTACA JUG 2022 VENUE CHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT RESULTS IN VARYING REACTIONS FROM COMMUNITY

BY AIDEN CHARDE, CONNOR GLUNT & TOMMY MUMAU

When the 61st annual Cortaca Jug game between Ithaca College and SUNY Cortland was held at MetLife Stadium in 2019, the game drew an audience of 45,161 — a Division III record. The game will be held at Yankee Stadium at 1 p.m. Nov. 12, 2022, and representatives from both institutions have set an ambitious goal to break the attendance record at the next game. This past year’s Cortaca Jug game took place Nov. 13. The Bombers lost to the Red Dragons 28–27. The game was the first Cortaca Jug to take place since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. While it did not break any records, 8,642 fans made the journey to the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex to watch the game unfold. The two schools participated in a joint press conference along with a representative from the New York Yankees on Sept. 21 when the 2022 game was announced. Susan Bassett, associate vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics, said Ithaca College, Cortland and Yankee Stadium are aiming for a sellout crowd. Mark Holtzman, vice president of nonbaseball sports events at Yankee Stadium and New Era Pinstripe Bowl, said in the press conference that the 2022 game is important, as it carries on an important sports tradition, as previously reported by The Ithacan. “In a little over 14 months, the young men for both [Ithaca College and Cortland] will be gracing the same field that [former Yankees players] have graced in the last 100 years,” Holtzman said. “This game will add to the rich history and tradition at Yankee Stadium, two New York schools playing in the world’s most famous stadium.” Bassett said the game has the potential to set and break records. “We think we could break the record we set in 2019 [at MetLife Stadium], but everything has to line up just right,” Bassett said. “This is the opportunity of a lifetime for our football program, our athletic department and the college in general.” Although the game will not be held until 2022, talks have been going on since well before the 2019 Cortaca Jug game said Mike Urtz, athletic director of Cortland. “[Bassett] approached me several years ago about the possibility of ever playing in Yankee Stadium,” Urtz said. “It kind of went to the backburner and didn’t come to fruition, obviously. And then the whole MetLife concept started to come into play.” Holtzman said that scheduling conflicts stopped the game from being held at the famed Yankee Stadium in 2019 because the venue has a limited number of football games that it is able to host per year. Since 2010, the stadium has hosted five regular season football games, according to the official Major League Baseball website. Besides hosting the Cortaca Jug game next year, the stadium has hosted other football rivalries in the past like Lafayette College and Lehigh University. This news drew mixed reactions from the Ithaca College community. Matt Price ’20 said he was surprised to see the game played in another big venue so soon after it was held at MetLife Stadium. “I thought they would do it in maybe five or 10 years’ time,” Price said. “But still, to have it at a venue like [Yankee Stadium], it’s absolutely phenomenal.” However, not everyone in the college community shares Price’s optimism about the venue decision. Senior Julia Machlin, a member of the Open the Books coalition, a group of college community members that is calling for increased financial transparency, said the announcement was surprising for different reasons. The coalition formed because of the Academic Program Prioritization (APP) process that was initiated by the college. The APP commenced a Phase One that included the ongoing cuts of 116 full-time equivalent faculty positions and 26 majors, departments and programs, as previously reported by The Ithacan. The APP process was accelerated because of the COVID-19 pandemic and was initially approved in February 2020 by

Ithaca College held a press conference Sept. 21 to announce that the 63rd Cortaca Jug will be held at Yankee Stadium. Ana Maniaci McGough/The Ithacan

Junior Ben Stola tackles a Cortland player Nov. 13 at the 62nd Cortaca Jug game. Eleanor Kay/The Ithacan