Every time I turned around, I saw something new I’ll never forget, starting with walking up to the Carl Vinson. I knew aircraft carriers are large, but standing on the deck had my jaw on the ground for the entire trip.

But the thing that really stunned me was the way the players, the coaches and the sailors looked and acted.

The last couple of months, men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo and his team talked about the game as more than just a game. I didn’t believe them for some reason, but after the trip, I know they were truthful.

Seeing Izzo and the players talk to the sailors and around the ship, you could tell they weren’t entirely focused on the game. And that goes for North Carolina too. They talked about the sailors as though they were above them, just as the sailors looked at the players in awe.

It might have been the official kickoff of the 2011-12 NCAA basketball season, but it was more like an exhibition. Between the setting and the way the teams acted, it didn’t seem like the game mattered in the least.

The light-hearted mood between Izzo and UNC head coach Roy Williams on Thursday made it clear basketball wasn’t the focus of Friday. And aside from Izzo’s furious conversations with the referees during the game, nothing was too serious — even talking with Izzo after the game, he wasn’t at all upset.

Before the game, walking around the crowded flight deck and talking to sailors and MSU alumni you saw they weren’t too concerned with who would win the game in a couple of hours, just that they could be in attendance for the historic event.

And honestly, even though there was a basketball game, aside from a couple of dunks by Adreian Payne and John Henson, I don’t remember the game, everything else was too spectacular. As soon as President Barack Obama showed up, you knew it was more than a basketball game. Shaking his hand, and I’ve got a story to tell for the rest of my life.

But I had that anyway, because of where the game was.

I’ll remember looking in between the stands and seeing the ocean and looking up and seeing the beautiful orange and red sky dotted with grey clouds. I’ll remember looking off the back of the carrier and seeing lit up downtown San Diego. I’ll remember two national-championship winning coaches talk about how this was the greatest thing they’ve ever done.

I still have a lot of life to live and attending the game might not be the greatest thing I ever do. But every time I think about the memories, I’ll get the same chills I had all week.

Pat Evans is a State News sports writer. He can be reached at evanspa7@msu.edu.