No amount of swabbing could prevent cancellation of Ohio State-Marquette game tonight

The golden age of sporting events on aircraft carriers may sadly be at an end. Ohio State and Marquette were supposed to play a men’s college basketball game on the deck of the USS Yorktown tonight — that’s the carrier that’s docked in Charleston Harbor, and earlier this year played host to the South Atlantic League All-Star Game Home Run Derby.

But tonight’s game was cancelled due to condensation on the court, despite the effort of several people with mops. These servicemen and women thought this would be a day off, but they ended up swabbing the entire deck. Doesn’t seem fair.

[Ohio State guard Aaron] Craft could sense playing conditions were unsafe, though, when he watched a handful of Marquette players run through pregame drills Friday night on the USS Yorktown in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.

“I saw a couple Marquette players sliding from halfcourt to about the 3-point line without picking up their feet,” Craft said. “There were spurts where it would be alright, but then you’d catch another slippery spot.”

The preceding women’s game was played as scheduled, however — Notre Dame beating Ohio State 57-51.

Note: The Yorktown has been decommissioned for several years, just like the New York Jets.