The halftime cancellation of Florida’s season opener against Georgetown aboard the USS Bataan did not totally ruin the Navy-Marine Corps Classic, nor will it deter the City of Jacksonville and the Gators from trying to hold a similar game in the future.
Game and school officials called off the remainder of the game when condensation made the court unplayable after the first half. There was a 30-minute delay while dozens of staffers, coaches and players continuously wiped the floor, but they could not keep it dry.
The problem thwarted seven months of planning, though several people involved in the game felt it still was successful in providing unique entertainment for servicemen, both Friday night and in activities leading up to the game.
They also want to give it another shot.
“We’ll go back to the drawing board,” said Alan Verlander, the City of Jacksonville’s executive director of sports and entertainment. “This doesn’t mean the event’s gone.
“I don’t want people to lose sight of the fact that for the whole week … so many lives were changed. Soldiers’ lives were changed. That’s who we did it for.”
Verlander contacted UF in April, and the Gators eagerly committed to play even without an opponent in place at that time.
Mike Hill, one of the Florida administrators who helped orchestrate the game, described it afterward as a “spectacular exhibition game” and thought the moisture problem was preventable going forward.
“It’s still fresh and we’ll have to think it through, but you’d probably have to play it in the daytime to eliminate this issue,” he said.
The glitch was somewhat understandable given there had only been one game played on a ship prior to this season and there were no major setbacks. Also, when officials checked the court the night before Florida’s game, there was no condensation.
Earlier Friday, Ohio State and Marquette scrapped their evening game aboard the USS Yorktown in South Carolina. The floor was too slick during warmups, and the game never tipped off. The women’s teams from Ohio State and Notre Dame played in the afternoon with no trouble.
“There’s going to be some serious concerns right now,” Gators coach Billy Donovan said. “I think it was a great idea. So much of playing outside in these situations is the weather. If it was maybe a little bit warmer outside, maybe you don’t have this issue.”
Florida will be back in a controlled environment Sunday to play Alabama State at the O’Connell Center (3:30 p.m., Sun Sports).
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