Thing's I'm Looking Forward To: Marquette and Ohio State on an Aircraft Carrier (With Bonus Wisconsin Exhibition Thoughts)

I’m flip-flopping my originally announced schedule a bit, and saving my post on why I’m excited for Sam Dekker’s college debut tomorrow. Why? Because I watched Wisconsin’s exhibition game against UW-Oshkosh last night and would like to update my originally written thoughts to reflect actually seeing him in a game. So today’s post is primarily about why I’m excited for tomorrow night’s Marquette-Ohio State game on the deck of the USS Yorktown. But before I get to that, a few abbreviated thoughts on last night’s Wisconsin exhibition:


1) I broke down and spent $14.95 for a subscription to the Big Ten Network’s online package so that I could see this game (and a couple others) online, as that is the only way to see a few of this year’s Wisconsin games live. The verdict? It’s not terrible if you’re sitting alone and watching on your computer (aside from the persistent shameful feeling that you’re a loser watching a meaningless basketball game alone on your computer). But if you’re at all interested in hooking your computer up to your big screen TV and watching with other people, you’re not going to be happy. I’ve played games of Tecmo Bowl that were more graphically appealing than the blurry, pixilated mess that was on my TV last night.

2) The guy that stood out for me while watching last night was George Marshall, which is good, because George Marshall was the guy that I was hoping would stand out. I’m as upset as anyone about Josh Gasser going down for the year (Gasser tweeted a photo of himself watching the game online from his hospital bed last night–it was positively heart-breaking.), but at least Marshall and Traevon Jackson appear very ready to go.

3) More tomorrow on this topic, but Sam Dekker looked exactly like the coaches have been saying he has all pre-season: good, but with some freshman tendencies. I’ll gladly take that.

4) Evan Anderson took a three-point shot last night. Chew on that for a moment.
Actually, chew on that for awhile, because those are my minimal game thoughts. As promised, I’ll close with my reasons for excitement over tomorrow’s Marquette-Ohio State game:

Though it sort of embarrasses me to admit it, I think this whole trend of playing games on aircraft carriers is kind of cool. I was laying sick on my couch last year when North Carolina and Michigan State opened the season playing on the USS Carl Vinson, and it was a thoroughly awesome TV event. So it enthuses me even more to see Marquette taking on a fun-to-watch Ohio State game to start this year’s season. Making things particularly intriguing for me is the fact that I’ve actually visited the USS Yorktown a few times (I’m no military enthusiast, but when you’re growing up and your family refuses to vacation anywhere other than just outside of Charleston, South Carolina, you’re going to get to see every tourist attraction at some point).

Of course, my visits to the USS Yorktown have placed a whole bunch of logistical questions into my head. How do they cram a basketball court and a bunch of fans onto a deck that ultimately isn’t that huge? How uncomfortable is it for the players getting to the court, given that the USS Yorktown was built with a bunch of 5'7" sailors in mind, not a bunch of wide-shouldered 6'8" power forwards? What are they using for locker rooms, for that matter? And how in God’s name are they going to keep moisture from condensing on the court, given that Charleston is the most humid city I’ve been to in my entire life (though I’ll concede that this issue was on my mind during last year’s game in San Diego, and they somehow pulled it off just fine).

Thankfully, though, I’m not planning the event or attending, so I don’t have to fix any of those concerns. I just have to watch on TV as a game gets played in a beautiful setting.

Now’s normally the part when I’d bid you farewell for the day and tell you to enjoy the game tonight, but seeing as I’m a day ahead, why don’t you just watch It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia this evening. It won’t have the athleticism of a college basketball game, but you’ll probably laugh more.