Of all American sports, the doubleheader is easily the most common in baseball.
So what’s getting ready to happen in the future between Rutgers and Maryland is unique. Rutgers moved a football home game against Maryland to Yankee Stadium in 2017 (because there totally needs to be a bigger audience for that bad game), the school also put the wrestling team on the ticket as well. According to NJ.com, it’s being dubbed the “Big Ten Battle in the Bronx.”
The wrestling match will be the first in Yankee Stadium.
Rutgers AD Pat Hobbs expressed his excitement in a statement via NJ.com:
“Never before has a doubleheader such as this taken place at a venue so iconic,” Rutgers Athletics Director Pat Hobbs said in a statement. “We are thrilled to provide our fans this one-of-a-kind experience while enhancing the Big Ten brand in the world’s media capital. This is certain to be a very special day. We are thankful to the New York Yankees, the Big Ten Conference and the University of Maryland for helping to make it possible.”
Hobbs, who became the permanent athletic director on November 29, 2015, said that the school would honor an agreement made by the previous regime with the Yankees organization to move the 2017 home game with Maryland to Yankee Stadium.
Despite Rutgers football not being in a good place, their wrestling program is, and their coach, Scott Goodale is very ready, and glad what it will do for the sport, via NJ.com:
“We are absolutely honored to wrestle inside one of the greatest cathedrals in all of sport,” Goodale said. “I don’t think we ever envisioned this when we started here 10 years ago. This is significant not only for the Rutgers and Maryland programs, but for the sport of wrestling. We sincerely thank Pat Hobbs, the University of Maryland and the New York Yankees for making this wrestling milestone a reality.”
It’s not the sexiest matchup between the sexiest teams, but New York’s Big Ten school has a big event in its state, so that’s a win for them.
[NJ.com]
