The Carrier Classic "will not return to the USS Yorktown this fall after its unsuccessful debut in Charleston last year," according to Andrew Miller of the Charleston POST & COURIER. Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum Exec Dir Mac Burdette yesterday said that while the event was scheduled to return to Charleston on Nov. 8, the decision "has been made to cancel plans for the basketball doubleheader." Last year, condensation formed on the wooden playing surface constructed atop the flight deck of the aircraft carrier, "forcing the cancellation" of the scheduled Ohio State-Marquette game. Officials for Morale Entertainment, the company promoting the event, recently said that they had "solved the moisture problem and would bring the basketball games back to Charleston." But Burdette said that he and the Patriots Point Board of Trustees "decided not to take that risk." However, Burdette "didn’t rule out having a game on the Yorktown in the future if a major television network came on board and assumed most of the financial risk." Timing of the event was "one of the issues" for Burdette. Veteran’s Day weekend is the "only logical time" to hold the event, but "bumping up against college football and the NFL leaves little wiggle room." Burdette: "You’ve basically got to hold it on a Friday night. ... And if you get bad weather that night, as we found out, it's not going to happen" (Charleston POST & COURIER, 3/28).
