MeanGreen61

Don't break your arm pattin' yourself on the back One game doesn't prove a thing and K-State isn't that highly rated this year. Time will tell.

N. Texas date close to set Glenn Guilbeau La. Gannett News Service BATON ROUGE - LSU, North Texas, Louisiana and Louisiana-Monroe officials are close to an agreement on a new date for the postponed LSU-North Texas game from Sept. 3 that will change two other games. But it was not done yet as of Saturday night. LSU wants to host North Texas on Oct. 29, which is an open date for the Tigers but no one else. North Texas is currently scheduled to host ULM on Oct. 29, but the idea is to move that game to Nov. 19. Only ULM and UL are currently scheduled to play on Nov. 19 in Monroe, but those two schools have been asked to move that game to Nov. 26. ULM and UL do not have games scheduled on Nov. 26. "We thought we had it finished, but we're still waiting on final approval," LSU Assistant Athletic Director Herb Vincent said Saturday. LSU had to change the Sept. 3 game because the state emergency officials late Monday night designated the LSU campus as the chief relief center for victims of Hurricane Katrina, which roared through New Orleans on Monday. LSU's Carl Maddox Field House has been turned into a shelter, and the Pete Maravich Assembly Center has become a field hospital with a triage unit and temporary morgue. On Saturday, the football team's indoor facility also became a shelter. LSU is now planning on opening the season on Saturday, Sept. 10, against No. 18 Arizona State at 7:45 p.m. on ESPN. "The schedule changes are not finalized, but I think they're very close," UL interim Athletic Director David Walker said Saturday from the UL-Texas game in Austin, Texas. "More than likely, it's going to happen with our game with ULM being moved." The move will cost UL, though. School will be out during the days leading up to Nov. 26 with Thanksgiving two days before the proposed new date for UL and ULM. "We'll have to incur considerable costs to hold a game during an off week - per diems, staff, the cafeteria," said Walker, who did not have an estimate of the cost yet. North Texas and LSU may help offset some of the costs these changes will bring for ULM and UL. "North Texas has asked us what the additional cost will be," Walker said. North Texas will receive a guarantee from LSU in the neighborhood of $400,000 to play at LSU, but that could also rise. "LSU may have to participate financially in the game changes," Vincent said. "If that's what we have to do, that's what we have to do. These changes are being considered because LSU had to change the game in the first place." ULM, which lost 27-23 to I-AA Northwestern State Thursday night, has a problem with moving its Oct. 29 game at North Texas because it is already open on Oct. 22. The proposed schedule change would mean the Indians would have back-to-back open weeks before hosting Florida International on Nov. 5. "Three weeks off is a concern," ULM sports information director Judy Wilson said Saturday.

Scenario planned for LSU North Texas players help with relief effort 09:34 AM CDT on Sunday, September 4, 2005 By Brett Vito / Staff Writer North Texas and the Sun Belt Conference have examined just about every possible scenario to reschedule the Mean Green’s game against LSU only to arrive back at square one — a three-team switch that appears to be the only option to save the game, UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal said Saturday. UNT is currently working with two other Sun Belt teams on a plan that would include schedule changes for both Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette. UNT and LSU were forced to postpone Saturday’s season opener be-cause of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The plan includes the following changes: * UNT and LSU would reschedule their game for Oct. 29. * UNT would then move its game against ULM that is currently scheduled for Oct. 29 to Nov. 19, when the Mean Green is scheduled to have a bye. * ULM would then push back its game against Louisiana-Lafayette from Nov. 19 to Nov. 26. “After going through the process, contacting other schools and looking at their schedules, that appears to be the best scenario,” Villarreal said. “The only other scenario is for LSU to move a Southeastern Conference game to create another open date, but right now that is not on the table.” The problem with the scenario involving moves by Sun Belt teams is ULM would be left without a game between their homecoming game against Troy on Oct. 15 and a Nov. 5 home game against Florida Inter-national. ULM athletic director Bobby Staub said late Friday night that the switch would be problematic for the Indians because it would leave the team with back-to-back open weeks during the season. “We will be open to looking at different options and will go from there,” Staub said. UNT and LSU both have a financial interest in playing the game. UNT has a $500,000 guarantee to play the game, while LSU was expecting a capacity crowd of more than 90,000 fans at Tiger Stadium for its season opener against the Mean Green. While the move would allow UNT to get the game in, it would drop a tough non-conference game into the middle of the Mean Green’s Sun Belt Conference schedule and eliminate one of UNT’s open weekends. UNT has changed its schedule twice already. The Mean Green moved their game against Arkansas State to accommodate the Indians’ home-and-home series with Army and later shifted its schedule so their game against Troy on Oct. 4 could be broadcast on ESPN2. UNT is now scheduled to face ASU on Nov. 26. There is also a possibility the game will not be rescheduled. Villarreal said UNT would try to raise extra funds and trim its budget if the game is cancelled. UNT athletic department raises funds for relief Defensive tackle Isaac Thomas jumped in line to help the North Texas athletic department finish off a project to aid people in his home state of Louisiana on Saturday morning. UNT mobilized all of its student-athletes to help with a fundraiser to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina, which ripped through Louisiana this week. The project reached a milestone when the UNT football team helped stuff a 26-foot truck full of supplies the school’s athletic department had collected. Villarreal said that the athletic department raised a total of $22,000 in cash and supplies. The money and supplies will be donated to a variety of organizations that are assisting in the relief effort. A portion of the proceeds will be used to assist the Tulane football team that is staying in Dallas. “It’s a really good feeling to know that we are helping out,” Thomas said. “My family moved to the north part of the state before the hurricane. It could have been my family. I took it upon myself to help out more. I was out there two or three days in a row.” Villarreal credited the school’s coaches and student-athletes for making the fundraiser a success. “I am extremely excited,” Villarreal said. “We set a goal to raise $5,000. After the first day, we set it at $15,000. The generosity of students, faculty, staff and the citizens of Denton is phenomenal. The $22,000 won’t make a huge dent, but it will make a dent.” The supplies UNT student-athletes collected were shipped out Saturday. “I would like to thank my players and all of the student-athletes for participating in this very worthy cause,” UNT football coach Darrell Dickey said. “We have a great group of kids with great character and big hearts.” UNT to get a peak at MTSU UNT’s coaches and players were set to get a preview Saturday of Middle Tennessee, the Mean Green’s opponent in what will now be its season opener on Sept. 10. The Blue Raiders played at Alabama on Saturday night. “We are going to see if we can get a peak at it somewhere,” Dickey said. The Mean Green enter the season with a 25-game winning streak in Sun Belt Conference play, the second-longest conference winning streak in the nation. Boise State entered the season with a 26-game streak in the WAC. BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

Right now a new stadium is just 'pie in the sky' talk. We've got Fouts. They've put some lipstick on to make it look better, but it's still Fouts. We've also got a team that's won 4 straight conference championships & been in 4 bowl games. Staying on top in the conference and picking up some OC wins hopefully will put more BIS. Go to back the Mean Green, not to see particular teams.

How was the fan turnout ?

Mean Green Football Uses Teamwork To Aid Hurricane Relief Courtesy: University of North Texas Release: 09/03/2005 Courtesy: Stephen Howard The Mean Green stayed after practice Saturday morning to load supplies headed to the hurricane relief effort. Article & photo gallery from official site http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle...0&ATCLID=186668

Did see a post somewhere that Reliant was more difficult to get to because of increased traffic & traffic controls due to the influx of people from NO. Not familiar with Houston, but could it have affected game attendance ?

1. Local 2. State (state requests federal) 3. Federal Going a step further, the governor could have called up, mobilized and positioned assets beforehand in anticipation of local responders being over-whelmed quickly. The governor's response was horribly weak and granted the federal government did not step in quickly enough.

The NO mayor is screaming his head off and blaming others, but local officials miserably failed their citizens. First responders are LOCAL (fire, police, emergency services, etc). KNOWING there were 100,000 residents without transportations and KNOWING that Katrina was headed straight for NO, where was the evacuation/emergency plan ? Every (responsible) city has a worst case senario disaster response plan. I'm sure Rick can verify that for FW and Emmitt for Dallas. How can police, fire and emergency services respond properly when there is no leadership and no planning for direction ? The mayor and all his city hall cronies should be held accountable.

Just found out that Corpus Christi has been placed on standby. Many local government employees are on 24 hour call and are not to leave the city over Labor Day weekend. Convention Center, other area locations to be used? Who knows at this point.

Story from the Trojan board. Congrats for stepping up ! GoTroyTrojans.com to aid hurricane victims at first two Trojan home games Troy, Ala. -- GoTroyTrojans.com, an independent web site and on-line forum for fans and supporters of Troy University, is extending a helping hand to victims of Hurricane Katrina during the Trojans first two home football games. The site will have a tent set up in front of the Troy University Alumni House, located on the corners George Wallace Drive and Highland Avenue across from Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium, to accept donations of any kind. The tent will be in place from 1 p.m. until kickoff at this Saturday’s game against Cal Poly and the Sept. 10 game against UAB, according to Jeff Vreeland, the site’s owner and administrator. Kickoff for Saturday’s game against Cal Poly is set for 6 p.m., while Sept. 10’s game against the Blazers is set for a 7 p.m. kick. “People want to come together at this time to help those in need,” Vreeland said. “We are going to be collecting everything anyone wants to give for the hurricane victims. We are collecting food, money, clothes; anything and everything people want to give.” Vreeland said cash donations given will go to the Red Cross. T-shirts also will be on sale at the tent for $10 with 10 percent of the proceeds going to the Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

Here's an earlier thread with the link. http://www.gomeangreen.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23353

Wondering if we'll see mostly 3-4 this season?

Good luck, stay safe, our prayers are with you!

Thread from the Tigers board http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/message...c.asp?p=1104706

NT Daily article. Athletes collected over $8,000 in donations as they greeted students & faculty on campus. RV sets goal of $20,000. http://www.ntdaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART...2/4317f0c252186 NT shows its Mean Green Rian Johnson Staff Writer September 02, 2005 The postponement of NT’s season opener at LSU has the Mean Green working overtime. The Mean Green football team, along with all other NT student athletes and athletics staff, covered campus on Thursday in an effort to raise relief aid for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. “We have been in contact with the Salvation Army and the Red Cross about the things we can do to help,” NT coach Darrell Dickey said. “And they have guided us in those areas.” The athletes received over $8,000 in donations as they greeted students and staff on campus. Erika Bobo of the women’s basketball team said the athletes are just glad they can help. “The people in Louisiana are going through a lot, so we are just trying to do what we can to help out,” Bobo said. While thanking students and faculty at a pep rally on Thursday night, athletics director Rick Villarreal insisted on support from NT students, setting a goal of $20,000.

Football: UNT working hard to reschedule LSU Mean Green looking to move game to Oct. 29 09:05 AM CDT on Friday, September 2, 2005 By Brett Vito / Staff Writer North Texas and the Sun Belt Conference are examining a plan that would allow the Mean Green to take on LSU on Oct. 29, head coach Darrell Dickey said Thursday. UNT is currently scheduled to face conference rival Louisiana-Monroe that day. UNT is working with other teams in the Sun Belt to juggle their schedules to accommodate the Mean Green’s first non-conference game of the season. UNT and LSU were set to open their season on Saturday before the affects of Hurricane Katrina forced the game to be postponed. “We are awaiting official word because two other teams would have to move games, but the game is going to get rescheduled,” Dickey said. UNT has signed a $500,000 contract to play the game. LSU has an even larger financial interest in playing the contest that was expected to draw a capacity crowd of more than 90,000 to Tiger Stadium. Moving games to accommodate another conference team’s needs is not unprecedented in the Sun Belt. UNT moved its game against Arkansas State in March so the Indians could sign a contract to play Army in a home-and-home series. The Mean Green moved its game with ASU a second time to accommodate their national television game against Troy on Oct. 4. UNT will now face ASU on Nov. 26. The UNT athletic administration and the Sun Belt Conference have now turned to the rest of the league to make another few changes to help the Mean Green get their game against the Tigers in this season. Cobbs, Thomas on Doak watch list UNT running backs Patrick Cobbs and Jamario Thomas were both on the list of candidates for the Doak Walker Award that was released on Thursday. A total of 47 players were nominated by their schools for the award that goes to the nation’s top running back. Cobbs won the national rushing title in 2003 with an average of 152.7 yards a game before a knee injury cut his 2004 season short after just two games. Thomas took over for Cobbs and won UNT’s second straight national rushing title with an average of 180.1 yards a game. The SMU Athletic Forum board of directors will select the semifinalists on Nov. 17 before the Doak Walker Award national selection committee selects the finalists on Nov. 18. The national committee will then pick the winner on Nov. 28. The winner will be announced on Dec. 8 and will be honored Feb. 27 in Dallas. UNT getting short on line UNT is getting dangerously short on interior defensive linemen heading into its season opener against Middle Tennessee on Sept. 10. The Mean Green found out this week that sophomore T.J. Raymond did not meet NCAA eligibility requirements and will not play this season. To make matters worse, projected starter Sky Pruitt injured his shoulder on Wednesday and missed Thursday afternoon’s practice. “It’s probably a slight separation or a hairline fracture, but he will be ready for the Middle Tennessee game unless something further happens,” Dickey said. UNT lost all four of its starters on its defensive line after last season and has spent most of fall practice looking for a way to rebuild its defensive front. Pruitt is listed as UNT’s starting defensive tackle, while Raymond was the backup at nose tackle. Raymond had been impressive throughout fall practice and was expected to play a significant role. Isaac Thomas has also missed a significant amount of fall practice while working through issues related to playing in the heat. Thomas practiced on Thursday. “We have had a rotation of five on the defensive line in fall practice, and we will still have five when Sky comes back,” UNT defensive tackle Chris Miller said. “I am confident. We will be thin, but we will be OK.” UNT’s rotation will likely include several young players. Thomas, a redshirt freshman, sophomore Montey Stevenson and freshman Joseph Miller should all play significant roles this season. Stevenson played in every game last season and finished with 11 tackles. “I had a lot of experience last year,” Stevenson said. “This year I know what to expect. I learned what I needed to improve on last year. I am ready to go.” The performance of UNT’s young players has given Dickey confidence in the future of his defensive line, a unit that has been a strength of the Mean Green’s defense the last several years. “It hurt to lose T.J., but Sky will be able to play,” Dickey said. “We feel very good about the players we have there. In the past we have had one or two guys who did the majority of the playing and some guys who backed them up. This year it will be like a pitching staff. We will keep rolling them in there and keep them fresh.” Moore, Smith leave UNT Junior running back Kevin Moore and senior defensive back Ricardo Smith have left North Texas and will continue their college education at another school, Dickey said this week. Both players could return to the team at a later date. Moore and Smith were both projected as backups for the Mean Green. UNT returns the last two national rushing champions in Patrick Cobbs and Jamario Thomas who won the title in the 2003 and 2004 seasons, respectively. Moore was a key backup for Cobbs during the 2003 season and had compiled 408 career rushing yards. He was also among UNT’s top kickoff return specialists. He averaged a team-best 28.9 yards on 11 returns last season. Smith started his career as a backup running back before moving to safety during spring practice. Sun Belt offices move to Lafayette Sun Belt Conference Assistant Commissioner Chris Jackson said Thursday that the league would relocate its offices to Lafayette, La., from New Orleans by Monday morning. The conference’s offices, located in downtown New Orleans, were evacuated in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Jackson said Sun Belt officials know that some of the windows in the building where the league’s office is located were broken, but are unsure of the extent of the damage. The league’s offices are located in the upper floors of a building on Poydras Street. BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

Off the CUSA board. If so could it have ramifications beyond this season ? Tulane may not play football in 2005 Thursday, 5:30 p.m. By Benjamin Hochman Staff writer DALLAS - Tulane athletic director Rick Dickson said “it is a possibility” that Tulane won’t play football this year. With about 130 members of the Tulane football family evacuated to Dallas, school administrators are discussing contingency plans for the football team. Hurricane Katrina damaged some of Tulane’s campus and the Superdome, so Tulane football – and Tulane University – is without a home base. Dickson said there will be a decision “in the next three to four days” about where the team will play this year – and if the team will play this year. “We realize the steps we have to go through – first and foremost, we need to be able to determine if our university is going to be operating this semester,” Dickson said. “Right now, there is no way to determine that. I would anticipate that in the next 72 to 96 hours, they’ll have to make a decision on that. “The one thing we’re cautious about doing is presuming anything at this point - because of the uncertainty. We’re taking the position that all bets are off. Everything we thought was intact is not intact any longer. We have to rebuild every aspect, from scheduling to all that stuff.” Tulane’s football team originally evacuated to Jackson, Miss., on Sunday but the weather forced a power outage at its base at Jackson State University, and ultimately sent Tulane out of town. A bus ride brought Tulane to Dallas on late Tuesday night, where the Green Wave has practiced at Southern Methodist University. While the members of the Tulane family have dealt with the tragedies back home, they have also looked at football, said linebacker Antonio Mason, “as therapy.” But where would Tulane play? Dickson said Rice University and the University of Houston, both fellow Conference USA members, have offered their facilities to the Green Wave. So has the Independence Bowl in Shreveport. But Dickson will need to meet with Tulane president Scott Cowen to discuss whether Tulane will even have a fall semester, and if the university will relocate to another city. Cowen, Dickson said, stayed on campus during the hurricane, and planned to evacuate on Thursday. Cowen is expected to fly to Houston, where Dickson and C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky will meet with him today. “We will try to mirror what our university does,” Dickson said from the lobby of the DoubleTree Hotel, where the team is staying. “If our university sets up in Dallas or Houston, then we would integrate our student-athletes into that. “The basic premise – they’re students first, and we’re trying to get them back into the status of being students. Their first day of classes was supposed to be today. Getting them back, if we can do that, then we’ll figure out the rest, the athletic part.” Tulane’s opener at Southern Mississippi, originally scheduled for Sunday, was rescheduled for Nov. 26. The Golden Eagles, whose home of Hattiesburg, Miss., was also damaged by the hurricane, have evacuated to the University of Memphis. The next game scheduled for Tulane is Sept. against Mississippi State at the Superdome. “There’s a lot of unknown,” Dickson said. With the exception of women’s soccer, all of the other Tulane fall athletes have evacuated to their parents’ homes or homes of friends. The soccer team is participating in a tournament at Alabama-Birmingham, and the Wave expects to remain in Birmingham through next Wednesday. The team is then expected to fly to San Diego, for a tournament beginning Sept. 9. http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tpsports/inde..._09.html#075932

Mean Green Athletes Begin Hurricane Relief Effort Courtesy: University of North Texas Release: 09/01/2005 Courtesy: Stephen Howard Mean Green Athletes will be accepting donations all over campus during the next three days. Article with photo gallery http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle...0&ATCLID=186247

NO Bowl is scheduled for 12/20. Alamo Bowl - 12/28 Indy Bowl - 12/30 Houston Bowl - 12/31 Seems that any of the three current bowl locations could accommodate the NO Bowl. UL-Lafayette has also been mentioned as a possible location. PS: Know I'm treadin on PMG's territory here

Blurb from an article in today's Monroe News Star. ====== LSU and North Texas called off their season-opening game set for Saturday, which could affect ULM this season. Officials from all three schools explored postponing the North Texas-ULM game of Oct. 29 to Dec. 3, so LSU could play the Mean Green on Oct. 29 when the Tigers have their open date. ULM athletics director Bobby Staub said that he spoke briefly with officials from North Texas and LSU yesterday, but nothing definitive has been done. "We're too early," Staub said. "We're not at that place yet."

LSU student athletes pitching in. http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?...0&ATCLID=186174

North Texas Athletes To Help Hurricane Victims Courtesy: University of North Texas Release: 08/31/2005 DENTON (8/31/05) - The University of North Texas athletic department has announced that it has begun the organization of a relief effort for the victims affected by Hurricane Katrina. Over 350 Mean Green student-athletes as well as coaches and administrators have begun a collection of funds, clothing and personal items that will be distributed to the victims and their families through a collaborative effort with the Salvation Army of Denton. “This is an important cause that this department and our student-athletes feel very strongly about,” Athletic Director Rick Villarreal said. “We understand the magnitude of this tragedy and we have families within our staff and among our young people that have been directly affected by this horrendous event. We are just trying to do our part to help.” Donations will be accepted for the next three days beginning Thursday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on the concourse inside gate 4 on the west side of Fouts Field. Mean Green student-athletes and athletic department personnel will staff the donation center. Student-athletes will also be collecting items across campus. In addition to the donation center, the North Texas football team will sponsor a special event following its practice at Fouts Field on Saturday morning to aid in the collection effort. The team will hold an open practice for the public and have players available following practice to sign autographs and mingle with fans. The team asks that anyone attending the event please bring a donation item that will be added to the collection. “Since we were originally scheduled to be playing at LSU Saturday, we thought it would be appropriate to assist with the disaster relief effort by holding an open practice where our fans could come and help,” head football coach Darrell Dickey said. The North Texas athletic department has a close association with several people affected by this event. Fellow Sun Belt Conference school’s New Orleans and South Alabama have both suffered extensive losses and are continuing to evaluate the extent of the damage. The Mean Green football team was scheduled to open the 2005 season at LSU, but was forced to postpone the game when the scope of the tragedy became apparent. A portion of the donations will also be given to help Tulane University student-athletes who have been displaced by the storm and have currently taken shelter in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. For more information on this project please call the North Texas Athletic office at 940-565-2789

Post from the CUSA board. Behind the Scenes: Katrina aftermath hits LSU hard Bill Martin, LSU Sports Information Special to Rivals.com Editor's note: The following is a firsthand account from Bill Martin, a student assistant in the sports information office at LSU, of the devastation from Hurricane Katrina being felt in Baton Rouge and the horrors he witnessed on Tuesday night and into Wednesday. Little did I know what I would be doing following Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, but as I type right now, there won't be a more gratifying or more surreal experience than I went through tonight. Associated Press Flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina has been catastrophic throughout Louisiana. We went up to the office today and held a press conference regarding the postponement of the [North Texas] game and it was the right decision. As the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and Field House are being used as shelters, we decided as an office to do everything we could to help the situation. At first, we were just supposed to make copies of this disaster relief form for all of the people. The copiers will never print a document more important than that. It's weird. Nearly 12 hours ago we were running off copies of game notes for a football game that is now meaningless. We printed the copies and carried them over to the Field House at 6:30 p.m. I wouldn't leave the area for another eight hours. On the way back to the PMAC in a cart, it looked like the scene in the movie Outbreak. FEMA officials, U.S. Marshalls, National Guard, and of course the survivors. Black Hawks were carrying in victims who were stranded on roofs. Buses rolled in from New Orleans with other survivors. As Michael and I rode back to the PMAC, a lady fell out of her wheelchair and we scrambled to help her up. We met Coach [Les] Miles and Coach [Tommy] Moffitt in the PMAC to see all the survivors and it was the view of a hospital. Stretchers rolled in constantly, and for the first time in my life, I saw someone die right in front of me. A man rolled in from New Orleans and was badly injured on his head. Five minutes later he was dead. And that was the scene all night. What did we do? We started hauling in supplies, and thousands of boxes of supplies. The CDC from Atlanta arrived directing us what to do. One of the U.S. Marshalls was on hand so the supplies could not become loot. I asked him what his primary job was. He serves on the committee of counter terrorism, but once he saw of the disaster, he donated his forces to come help. He said the death toll could be nearing 10,000. It was sickening to hear that. After unloading supplies, I started putting together baby cribs and then IV poles. Several of our football players and Big Baby (Glen Davis) and Tasmin Mitchell helped us. At the same time, families and people strolled in. Mothers were giving birth in the locker rooms. The auxiliary gym "Dungeon" was being used as a morgue. I couldn't take myself down there to see it. I worked from 8 p.m., until 2:45 a.m. Before I left, three more buses rolled in and they were almost out of room. People were standing outside. The smells, the sights were hard to take. A man lying down on a cot asked me to come see him. He said, "I just need someone to talk to, to tell my story because I have nobody and nothing left." He turned out to be a retired military veteran. His story was what everybody was saying. He thought he survived the worst, woke up this morning and the levees broke. Within minutes water rushed into his house. He climbed to the attic, smashed his way through the roof and sat there for hours. He was completely sunburned and exhausted. Nearly 12 hours later a chopper rescued him and here he was. We finished the night hauling boxes of body bags and more were on the way. As we left, a man was strolled in on a stretcher and scarily enough he suffered gunshots. The paramedic said he was shot several times because a looter or a convict needed his boat and he wouldn't give it to him. Another man with him said it was "an uncivilized society no better than Iraq down there right now." A few minutes later, he was unconscious and later pronounced dead. I then left as they were strolling a 3-year old kid in on a stretcher. I couldn't take it anymore. That was the scene at the PMAC and it gives me a new perspective on things. For those of you who I haven't been able to get in touch with because of phone service, I pray you are safe. Send me an email to let me know. God bless. Rivals.com encourages donations to the American Red Cross. You can specify your donation go toward "2005 Hurricane Relief." To make donations, please click here. This was reprinted with the permission of Mr. Martin. The death toll estimate that he was given should be considered speculative at best.

Side comment. A tenants family from the NO area went to Houston to escape Katrina. They had to pay nearly $200.00 a day for a hotel room. They left Houston and arrived in Corpus Christi last night. If hotels are raising their prices.....pox on them