Monday reader: Pondering Memorial Day, plus motives behind CMU, EMU’s Motor City gambit

Editor's note: This 'Sunday' Reader is coming on Monday because it is a holiday weekend — moreover, a holiday weekend deep in the offseason. Not going to hustle just for hustling's sake.

Alpena — Like any good Michigander (yes, Michigander) this author has been spending much of the past weekend relaxing by the water, while more aptly for this publication taking stock of the offseason and summer coverage plans. 

But it’s important to not forget the point of this weekend: To remember those who died for this country. 

This isn’t about some less-than-tangible “they died for our freedom” sloganeering that often rings hollow. It’s not even really about some ethereal right or conceptions of liberty, or a debate on the justness of various conflicts that U.S. troops have died in. It’s about the individuals throughout our history that signed a contract to give everything — up to and including their lives — for this nation state. And many of them paid that ultimate price. It would be a disservice to ever forget them or their sacrifice on behalf of the American experiment.

It would also be a disservice to not make their sacrifice worth something, which requires all of us to look inward and consider our civic duty to shepherd the United States of America to a better future. It’s the quiet commitment to hear our neighbors when they talk, show up for our communities when they need us, and see past our petty differences to consider the good of the whole — be it a school district, a city, a county, a state and, yes, a country. 

That’s ultimately a small contribution to ask, especially against the backdrop of what this weekend is supposed to highlight. And I think we can all strive to do more. 

They deserve our remembrance, but they also deserve our industry and diligence in continually shaping America to really live up to its ideals. 

And thank you for indulging me, I'm just a humble sports journalist, but it’s just where my mind has been these past few days. Now, to November weeknight MACtion in Detroit. 

Digging into the reasons behind CMU, EMU playing in Detroit

Single game tickets went on sale this past week for the 2026 Motor City MACtion game, as it’s being dubbed, between Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan at Ford Field. 

The game, more specifically it being moved to Detroit for 2026 and 2027, has drawn some consternation from fans, most specifically CMU fans chagrinned at losing a game in Mt. Pleasant in 2027. 

And in fairness to that cohort of fans, this move does bite for them, specifically. Any Mt. Pleasant locals looking to attend that 2027 weeknight home game against EMU will now have to make a drive to Detroit. 

But from the standpoint of the Central Michigan admin, it’s probably tolerable to take that chagrin from the cohort of local fans in order to serve the group of fans and alumni around Southeast Michigan, a group whose numbers probably outweigh even local CMU fans. 

Per a 2025 CMU alumni map, there are 8,607 CMU alumni in Isabella County, where Mt. Pleasant is located. The three counties comprising Southeast Michigan — Wayne, Oakland and Macomb — have at least 13,675 alumni, respectively. 

• Oakland County: 25,514
• Wayne Country: 14,148
• Macomb County: 13,675

That’s more than 53,000 CMU alumni across those three counties who now get a game within a very reasonable driving distance for a midweek game in 2026 and 2027. 

And if even 20,000 people attend a game at Ford Field, that will comfortably outpace the crowds that the EMU-CMU matchup has gotten in recent years for midweek games. 

With tickets ranging from $20 for general admission to $120 for premium options, the math on covering the $425,000 per-game fee to use Ford Field comes into focus. If 20,000 fans pay, on average, $30 for a ticket, that’s a $600,000 gate. 

For EMU, the travel logic doesn’t apply quite as much, though the Eagles do have plenty of alumni around the Detroit area, too. 

Also, putting a weeknight November game in a dome could help boost attendance as potential attendees don't need to brave the elements.

In short, it’s a chance for both schools, but especially Central Michigan, to put a relatively attractive game — this is still a rivalry, remember — on a November weeknight in close range to its biggest collection of alumni. 

And this gets to the final point. By moving this game to Detroit and making it something of an event to get national eyeballs, the MAC readily put the Chippewas and Eagles in one of its midweek national TV MACtion slots, as the 2026 contest will be played on Wednesday, Nov. 4.

In essence, it meant the Eagles and Chippewas got to exert some sway over the scheduling of a conference game and try to create this unique offering.

It might not be the most popular move in the world, but the folks running the show in Mt. Pleasant and Ypsilanti have their reasons for doing this.