You can always find a game on an aircraft carrier but now the U.S.S. Carl Vinson is on track to make sports history, as the first ever carrier to host an NCAA basketball game. The plan is for Michigan St. to play North Carolina on Veterans day.

"...Former UNC star Michael Jordan and former MSU star Earvin "Magic" Johnson are the honorary captains for the game. ..."

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/21/navy.carrier.ncaa.game/index.html?&hpt=hp_c2

"...And if the game goes off as planned and is successful, there are already talks about having more games, including a match-up between the Notre Dame and Ohio State women's basketball teams."

I love it.

Should be interesting. I may have heard wrong, but I think the Carolina-MSU game will be the opener for both teams. Couple that with the fact that the game is being played outdoors on an aircraft carrier, and it could be pretty ugly offensively.

Definitely love the idea though. Can't wait!

Cool idea. I'd watch.

I'm a little surprised they didn't choose to schedule the women's game first to kind of work out the kinks before the bigger match-up.

The Carl Vinson is where the Bin-Laden "funeral" took place. Got a few pics of the Ospreys delivering the package.

This game shouldn't count. Really an outdoor basketball game on the sea? Haha just imagine shooting the ball in 30 mph gusts

Classyposter58;811385 wrote:This game shouldn't count. Really an outdoor basketball game on the sea? Haha just imagine shooting the ball in 30 mph gusts

If there are 30mph winds they won't play outside. Instead, they would play in the hanger deck. In addition, they won't be at sea. They will be moored at the San Diego Naval Base.

Con_Alma;811440 wrote:If there are 30mph winds they won't play outside. Instead, they would play in the hanger deck. In addition, they won't be at sea. They will be moored at the San Diego Naval Base.

It's still pretty windy on the coast in San Diego so I'm not sure how that would work. The hangar bay is huge I would think that's a better idea for the game.

Yea it's gonna be windy on any coast. This is gonna be odd and I dont know how they'll make it work.

The challenge isn't the weather conditions. The challenge is getting the production crew, the people and the setup on an off the ship in a reasonable amount of time.

Con_Alma;812445 wrote:The challenge isn't the weather conditions. The challenge is getting the production crew, the people and the setup on an off the ship in a reasonable amount of time.

That shouldn't be an issue at all. They can on load and off load their airwings in a half day and that's way more stuff to bring onto the ship.

Ytowngirlinfla;812513 wrote:That shouldn't be an issue at all. They can on load and off load their airwings in a half day and that's way more stuff to bring onto the ship.

...but the military won't be the ones on-loading and offloading. This will be a new experience for those preparing for and producing this coverage.

Security and set up and take-down are the logistical challenges.

"...Another issue is security. An aircraft carrier is the Navy's most important asset. The game would attract about 7,000 fans. Getting them onto a secure Navy base and then on board a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier would take a significant security effort.

Part of that has been addressed by the promoters, who don't plan to sell tickets to the public. Instead, some tickets will go to UNC and MSU and a few to sponsors as well as some youth coaches who take part in an onshore clinic. The rest of the tickets will go to service members, veterans and their families.

Plus, Morale Entertainment spokesman Mike Whalen said each ticket will have the name of the ticket holder printed on the front to prevent scalping. If the name on the ticket doesn't match your ID, no game for you.

The Navy also needs the promoters and ESPN, which plans to bring a dozen or more cameras to cover the game, to know that at any moment the president could order the Carl Vinson to leave port for a mission. Which means the basketball courts, and bleachers would have to come off the ship just as 5,000-plus sailors and Marines would have to come aboard. Whalen said he has assured the Navy it would be prepared to break down both courts and all the seating very quickly if need be.

"We can be off the ship 24 to 36 hours," Whalen said. ..."

It might be cool, but I don't see the point. It seems like an extremely gimmicky idea for something that doesn't need it.

Con_Alma;812688 wrote:...but the military won't be the ones on-loading and offloading. This will be a new experience for those preparing for and producing this coverage.

Security and set up and take-down are the logistical challenges.

"...Another issue is security. An aircraft carrier is the Navy's most important asset. The game would attract about 7,000 fans. Getting them onto a secure Navy base and then on board a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier would take a significant security effort.

Part of that has been addressed by the promoters, who don't plan to sell tickets to the public. Instead, some tickets will go to UNC and MSU and a few to sponsors as well as some youth coaches who take part in an onshore clinic. The rest of the tickets will go to service members, veterans and their families.

Plus, Morale Entertainment spokesman Mike Whalen said each ticket will have the name of the ticket holder printed on the front to prevent scalping. If the name on the ticket doesn't match your ID, no game for you.

The Navy also needs the promoters and ESPN, which plans to bring a dozen or more cameras to cover the game, to know that at any moment the president could order the Carl Vinson to leave port for a mission. Which means the basketball courts, and bleachers would have to come off the ship just as 5,000-plus sailors and Marines would have to come aboard. Whalen said he has assured the Navy it would be prepared to break down both courts and all the seating very quickly if need be.

"We can be off the ship 24 to 36 hours," Whalen said. ..."

You don't think the Navy will be on loading and off loading you are completely wrong. I can guarantee they'll be working parties to help bring all the stuff onto the ship and help setting things up. I'm sure they'll be people from ESPN helping out and all but I can bet the crew will be helping out. It's how things in the Navy work.

Ytowngirlinfla;813019 wrote:You don't think the Navy will be on loading and off loading you are completely wrong. I can guarantee they'll be working parties to help bring all the stuff onto the ship and help setting things up. I'm sure they'll be people from ESPN helping out and all but I can bet the crew will be helping out. It's how things in the Navy work.

This is being discussed quite a bit on the forums; specifically the Naval Academy alumni forum. There are union issues involved. No one said the Navy wouldn't be "helping out". The event is being held on an actively commissions war ship. There better be more than helping out when it comes to this service branch.

The biggest challenges that are giving Morale Entertainment concern at this point is the logistics of their loading and unloading everything they will need and security. The time-frame thrown around is a little more than a 1/2 a day. This isn't my opinion it's just what I am passing on from reading it.