FirefightnRick

I'll go out on a limb here and predict that DD and the team knew nothing of the meet and greet after saturday's practice. In fact, they probably didn't know about the relief truck loading thing until right up to practice. Don't ask why my prediction, it's just a guess. But a good guess. Rick

Louisiana currently has 9,000+ guardsmen of which 2,300(not tons) are currently deployed to Iraq. Of the 6,000 who remain, few specialize in helicopter transport that of which has been the most needed with rescue and evacuations. As 61 mentioned, here is the chain of command for those who protect the citizens of New Orleans(as well as other cities such as Fort Worth). 1. The Mayor. 2. The New Orleans director of Homeland Security (a political appointee of the Governor who reports to the Governor. 3. The Governor. 4. The Head of Homeland Security. 5. The President. What did each do? 1. The mayor with 5 days advance, waited until 2 days before he announced a mandatory evacuation (at the behest of the President). The he failed to provide transportation for those without transport even though he had hundreds of buses at his disposal. 2. The New Orleans director of Homeland Security failed to have any plan for a contingency that has been talked about for 50 years. Then he blames the Feds for not doing what he should have done. (So much for political appointees) 3. The Governor, despite a declaration of disaster by the President 2 DAYS BEFORE the storm hit, failed to take advantage of the offer of Federal troops and aid. Until 2 DAYS AFTER the storm hit. 4. The Director of Homeland Security positioned assets in the area to be ready when the Governor called for them. 5. The President, urged a mandatory evacuation, and even declared a disaster State of Emergency, freeing up millions of dollars of federal assistance, should the Governor decide to use it. Rick

As of right now, the Texas branch of the Urban Search and Rescue service, who was activated and sent in by FEMA, has been on the ground in New Orleans since Monday Sept 29th. The USAR teams are completely self sufficient. They travel with their own equipment, food and supplies and usually account for about 25 to 100 members and up. Due to their small numbers they are able to respond and mobilize quickly. In this instance, they were put on notice on friday Sept 26th and at ground zero of their target immediatly after winds died down to 55 mph on monday. But assembling and mobilizing a 7,000 to 25,000 man army takes time. I'm surprised they got in when they did on Thursday. When the REAL finger pointing starts up I'm interested in hearing from the LSU professor, can't remember his name, who is claiming he has warned N.O. officials for years that this could happen only to have it fall on deaf ears. So far I have only seen interviews of FEMA officials from Florida who have said they have presented numerous computer models over the years to LA officials on what could happen should a Category 5 hurricane's hit N.O. Rick

Talk about your near upsets yesterday? http://www.tribeathletics.com/story.php/3706/ Rick

Yes, but he said..."ever"? Rick

Twodogs, if we lose another person you can come with us. I believe we have 7 going right now, one dropped out last week but we filled it. I'll call you if an opening happens. Rick

No, we opened with a win over Tech in '88, 29-24. We were 1-AA. Rick

I'm more worried if we can beat FIU and FAU in their house more than if we can beat K State. Rick

Booger will always be tops in my book. He set in stone his legend during his time playing for the Mean Green Defense, that which we will not soon forget. There will be a place in the hall for him for sure. Rick

I get the green ones on or before Tuesday. The white ones are still having their names put on. Rick

Yes it's true. Texas gets their annual feel good blowout of the year out of the way beating ULL 60-3. That comes out to be about $1 Million per point I suppose for their athletic budget this year. Rick

If it had not been for a safety this game would have been 7 to 7 at halftime. Still, you gotta remember, this is MTSU, the kings of do-good and sexyness until they play the Mean Green...or SEMO The last time they played Alabama was in 2002. That year they were VERY sexy and nearly beat the tide losing a close one 39-34 in the season opener. The next week they lost to Tennessee 26-3 and followed that up with a good showing at Kentucky losing 44-22. NT beat them at their house later that year 30-20. Rick

Our facility is the key. Regardless of our unknown conference, because we have dominated it our attendance has vastly improved. Only way to increase at this current time is to gain some OOC wins. Regardless, we cannot afford to drop an egg right now in conference. Rick

The troops were notified, but that does nothing when they are not mobilized to the closest location. Louisiana Govt dropped the ball on this one. Rick

Little ol Northern Illinios has put up 10 points and is hanging within 10 points of No. 4 Michigan with under 3 minutes to go in the first half at the Big House. Rick

TCU not only beat OU, they took it to them something good on defense. The great Adrian Peterson ended with 22 carries for 63 yards. What an incredible turnaround for a defense, from worst to first it looks like. The fragile QB Ty Gunn was allowed to move around and take chances, running the option with shuttle passes, quick drops and using several different sets. OU had no answer all day. TCU didn't just show up to get it over with, trying to protect it's personell for just a check that's for sure. And it doesn't matter a damn from here on what TCU does the rest of the season in the Mountain West. They were not picked to do well in the first place, but they damn sure are the darlings of the Metroplex now. Come December regardless of their record Frog fans will not forget this win because they just pulled off what tU and Mack Brown has only dreamed of for years. It's on front page of ESPN online right now. Rick http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=252460201

At least I believe some of the designers when they said that they tried to get us a collegiate interlinked logo. Too bad no one would listen to them. Rick

Excuse me SMU but is that seat back there next to ya taken? Rick

and as I type, Gunn goes down with less than 2 minutes to go in the half. Crap! Rick

What an incredible first half for the frogs. OU has benched their starting QB and brought in Bomar, Peterson has 8 rushes for something crazy like 15 or so yards. TCU came out swinging for the homerun on offense, mixing it up getting positive yards and their Defense is hitting OU as hard as you could ask. Best defense I've seen TCU play in 6 years so far. This may be Tye Gunn's year he has always asked for. TCU's O line is protecting him, giving him a lot of time to find recievers downfield. Just an incredible effort so far. I love seeing the little guys stepping up and taking it to the big dogs. You gotta love it. Rick

Nothing a green marker can't fix. Rick

Every saturday scrimmage has started around 8 a.m. This one should be no different. Rick

We just got an email from our Deputy Chief of Operations that there are currently 384 evacuees in Fort Worth, more expected to come. Rick

We just got a call from one of our guys' wives. She said there is only one spot they can get to where they can get a cell phone line out so she only talks to him once per day. Said they are sleeping on the floors, eating MRE's. Said it's 100 times worse than what is seen on TV. The cop that took the direct hit in the head was down directly in front of where they were located. Yesterday they were assigned to help search the 9th Ward. Everyone everywhere is hostile towards any government assistance so their time spent in each place is always shorter than needed. He said he had no idea what he was getting into and is very worried. They have no idea when they are going to be evacuated to come home. When activated the Texas USAR teams are usually in the field for minimum of two weeks. Rick

Keep in touch when you can J. Rick