SDSU and Syracuse will tip-off from aircraft carrier deck

Morgan M. Hurley | Downtown Editor

(Editor’s Note: This game has been postponed due to the chance of rain. New game day/time is Sunday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m.)

For the second time in as many years, San Diego will host a national college basketball game on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, just days before the nation pays homage to its veterans.

Nearly 6,000 fans will flock to the USS Midway Museum on Friday, Nov. 9 to watch the San Diego State Aztecs take on worthy NCAA 1 opponent Syracuse Orange. The nearly sold out game is billed as “The Battle on Midway” in a salute to the historic naval campaign over the Pacific’s Midway Atoll during World War II.

The USS Midway (CV-41) was named after that crusade when it was first commissioned in August of 1945.  After nearly 50 years of war and peace time service, the Midway-class aircraft carrier (inspired by the Montana-class) was decommissioned in April of 1992 and has been a naval museum located Downtown at Navy Pier since 2004.

Though this feat will be the third game of the Aztec’s current schedule, this nationally televised game is considered the kick-off for the men’s 2012-2013 NCAA season.

Last year’s Carrier Classic took place on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson, an active nuclear-based aircraft carrier also homeported in San Diego. That game, between Michigan State and North Carolina, was held while the Vinson was docked at NAS North Island on Veterans’ Day 2011 and became a media frenzy when it attracted President Obama and the First Lady.

According to Scott McGaugh, founding marketing director of the USS Midway Museum, the Carrier Classic’s organizers wanted the Midway for that historic game. “We weren’t ready when they first approached us,” he said. “But we have our sea-legs now.”

Though the Midway has played host to over 2,000 public events per year since starting its life as a museum in 2004, this is the first-ever sporting event and McGaugh said the staff is “over the top” with excitement.

Though there had been rumors that Vice President Biden – a Syracuse-alum – may attend the game, there has been no contact from Secret Service so it is no longer expected.

Some may consider this just a basketball game, but to McGaugh, the museum’s staff and its sea of volunteers, this is a “huge, logistically complicated” endeavor.  He tips his hat to the value of the museum’s 500 volunteer docents. “They donated 185,000 hours last year, alone and more than one million hours since day one,” he said.

Despite the “thousands of man-hours” that will be required to get the ship ready, including clearing the flight deck of heavy equipment, installing the make-shift basketball court and stands, setting up all the satellite and broadcast media gear, managing crowd control and overall supervision of every aspect of the event, the museum will still be open until 1 p.m. on game day and back to its normal 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily operations the next; it is the way things work at this museum.

“Our philosophy since we opened is to not close the museum for a private event,” McGaugh said.

“Our first priority is the family from Boone, Iowa who came here to see the Midway, and everything else takes a back seat.”

McGaugh, a career journalist and public relations executive before joining the Midway museum preparations crew in 1996, says that he makes reference to “Boone, Iowa” daily during most decisions he and his staff make, because it equates to “classic middle America.”

That formula must be working, since Midway is but one of approximately six naval museums – out of 100 in the nation – that are making a profit.

“I’ve never done anything more important and fulfilling … than preserving this legacy,” he said.

McGaugh, who said he “never served a day in his life,” has written several books on the USS Midway.  He considers the museum a “community resource” and said hosting the basketball game is a great way to showcase the museum, but also San Diego State and the City of San Diego to a wide audience.

Should the region see rain on November 9, organizers have booked Viejas Arena as “Plan B,” and but that decision won’t be made the Tuesday prior to the game. Last year’s game was played under menacing cloud cover and just missed a heavy downpour by a couple of hours. Regardless of the weather, McGaugh hopes this game is the first of many.

“I see the USS Midway Museum as a community resource,” he said. “I hope this becomes an annual event and this becomes the ‘inaugural’ Veteran’s Day basketball game every year for the NCAA.”

The museum recommends ticketholders use public transportation, including MTS bus routes, the trolley and even Amtrak, since parking will be limited due to construction and gridlock along Harbor Drive.   Gates open at 2 p.m.  For those without tickets, the game will be produced by Fox Sports and carried on local Cox Channel 56 & 1056 (HD) and DirectTV 684 & 684-1 (HD).

For more information about the museum or the game, including a live webcam showing the court being built, visit midway.org or battleonthemidway.com.