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The stands were filled, the national anthem was sung, the players were introduced... and then this kind of thing started to happen:
After frantic attempts to dry the court failed, and nearly an hour of waiting proved to be pointless, the 2012 Carrier Classic was called on account of dew.
The good news is that Marquette vs Ohio State wasn't the only aircraft carrier game that ended up officially being recorded as a no contest: Georgetown and Florida was called off at halftime for the exact same reason. But when you combine these two facts with the Syracuse-San Diego State aircraft carrier game being postponed from tonight until Sunday afternoon, it's safe to say that we might never see an aircraft carrier game again.
While the important thing is that the right decision was made to not play this game and risk injury to any player, there are questions that linger. Namely: why wasn't the game moved to a back up location at The Citadel after the condensation issue was discovered on Wednesday? Why wasn't promotion organizer Mike Whalen in town on Thursday night to make a decision about moving the game to The Citadel? Why did a Marquette official have to spend 40 minutes on the phone with the Big East office on Friday afternoon explaining that Marquette would not play in the game if the condensation returned? How awesome is it that the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Michael Hunt found out all of this information?
In any case, the team is already back on campus to prepare for Sunday's home opener and Maui Invitational game against Colgate that's now officially the season opener as well. Hopefully the Maui Invitational decorations on the court prove to be safer than the water in South Carolina.