Sports Med Blog

UNC vs Michigan State in Honor of US Veterans

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Published on Friday, 11 November 2011 14:25

Written by Anne Moss Rogers

Aboard the USS Carl Vinson on 11/11/11 this Veteran's Day, UNC will square off with Michigan State in basketball. That's right. On an aircraft carrier. It took three years of planning to pull this off and seating has been set for 7,000 people-- right on the flight deck. Two giant video boards and multiple hospitality tents will dot the deck. Price tag? Two million, paid by private donors and corporate sponsors. It spotlights a great cause. Obama is to attend so security will be high. I wouldn't want to try and leave from that game!

Everything on deck was hoisted 66 feet up to the flight deck by crane. That includes generators, TV equipment, water, lights, cables, forklifts, walk-in refrigerators. A logistics nightmare to bring this all together but apparently they did.  All this happened as Navy jets shushed by overhead. Six flights of scaffolding between the pier and the flight deck, will be how the spectators will get to the carrier. The venue, naked and open to the elements. Fortunately, the forecast doesn't call for rain. But basketball in the weather is not typical. Wind could play a role and either help or hurt either team.

The original idea came from Michigan State athletics director Mark Hollis. He has rallied for athletic events in unusual locations and he contacted UNC in 2008 to do this. It took a monumental joint effort between Morale Entertainment, a nonprofit that puts on events to entertain troops overseas, the Navy, UNC and Michigan State to make it happen.

"Whenever something went astray, whenever a question came up, what we looked at was thinking about those men and women who go overseas to protect the freedoms we sometimes take for granted every day and hope that we never do again," Hollis said. "And those that they’ve left behind, parents, wives, their children -- that’s why we’re here, that’s why the two schools are here, is for them."

"We would like it to be an annual deal," Whalen said. "Veterans Day, for me, has always been kind of an orphan holiday. You never know what to do. Some people get a day off, some watch politicians lay a wreath or whatever. We’re looking at this to be a little different, a celebration of service. . . . We’re looking to change the narrative, I guess, about what Veterans Day means."

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Source

Luke DeCock / McClatchy Newspapers