Another thought about Hurricane Katrina

[LOTCB]

My wife brought home a Time magazine tonight, and the headline says "An American Tragedy" and Im sure by now most, if not all, of us would agree that is the case. My manger's brother lives in New Orleans, he lost everything, and you can see through my manager the emotion and the devastation that has taken place, its a true horror.

9/11 was also a American Tragedy that affected us here more personally, as I lost a childhood friend in 9/11 and Im sure most of you knew or knew of someone who suffered a tragic loss after 9/11.

Not really comparing which tragedy was worse (there is never a way to truly assess that), but the NFL IMO this past weekend made a very big mistake, please tell me why the New Orleans Saints should have been playing a preseason game this past weekend? Most players have residencies near or even in the cities they play in, Im sure a good amount of Saints coaches, players, and front office workers were VERY much affected.

Having said this, Im a little suprised there wasnt even talk this past weekend about cancelling sporting events across the country, which was done, and rightfully so, for an entire week after 9/11. Id be willing to bet college and pro sports are more equipped now to handle cancellations like this after what happened in 2001.

Am I way off base here thinking games for even just 3-5 days should have been cancelled. or even a week? Looking forward to your thoughts.

Edited September 8, 2005 by LOTCB

[NJDevs4978]

I think you're right when you say the Saints preseason game should have been canceled, there was no reason for them to fly halfway across the country to play in a game that nobody in America cares about (least of all New Orleans) where the starters are the second and third-string players.

But I think when it comes to this week, you gotta play the games. It's been four years, we can't stop playing to commemorate every anniversary of every event.

And in that vein, it's positively asinine what the NFL's done with this Giants-Saints game. How do you hold the game in NY and give them an extra home game? I don't care that you gotta sell 70,000 tickets, the proceeds are all going to charity anyway. Sell 40,000 tickets in some other location and kick in the difference, it's not even a drop in the NFL's bucket.

Too bad the Giants don't play a road game against the Jets this year, they could have ten home games

[RowdyFan42]

Am I way off base here thinking games for even just 3-5 days should have been cancelled. or even a week?

Possibly. I'm far from a New York City homer (upstate NY has always had a love/hate relationship with the city, and don't forget that I'm a Red Sox fan ), but I'd have to say that 9/11 was a much bigger blow to the nation. We're used to natural disasters here, so Katrina wasn't really a major shock to the system. Yes, one of the nation's biggest cities was all but obliterated, but we see hurricanes every year, so that offsets it a bit. Also, I doubt that New Orleans holds quite the dominant position in the nation's psyche that NYC does, even when you include Mardi Gras.

9/11, however, was no natural disaster. It was a planned, deliberate attack on one of the most prominent landmarks in what is arguably the most important city in the nation. It was an event the likes of which hadn't been seen since Pearl Harbor. In addition, while there's nothing you can do to stop a hurricane from striking, the argument can be made that the attacks on the WTC could have been stopped either in progress or before the planes ever took off.

That's why there wasn't much (if any) talk about cancelling games. Katrina, a naturally-occuring event, just didn't have the same effect on the nation that 9/11, an intentional occurence, did.

[PeteyNice]

There's a difference Clown. On 9/11 we were attacked and there was legit concern that having 50,000+ people gathered together made an inviting target for another attack.

[LOTCB]

But I think when it comes to this week, you gotta play the games.  It's been four years, we can't stop playing to commemorate every anniversary of every event.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh that I agree with you about 100 percent, no reason to cancel this week's games, I was thinking more on the lines of the weekend that past.

[LOTCB]

There's a difference Clown. On 9/11 we were attacked and there was legit concern that having 50,000+ people gathered together made an inviting target for another attack.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Very true. Again Im not trying to compare 9/11 vs Katrina and Rowdy broght up some very good points, and yes NYC is the most important city in the nation, but what if NYC was hit by a Category 5 hurricane that potentially killed 10,000+, would it then be warranted to cancel games because NYC is bigger and more important then New Orleans and NYC has more sports teams?

I guess Im just disappointed in a way it wasnt even considered, even if it was just for the Saints for example.

Edited September 8, 2005 by LOTCB

[RowdyFan42]

Very true.  Again Im not trying to compare 9/11 vs Katrina and Rowdy broght up some very good points, and yes NYC is the most important city in the nation, but what if NYC was hit by a Category 5 hurricane that potentially killed 10,000+, would it then be warranted to cancel games because NYC is bigger and more important then New Orleans and NYC has more sports teams?

I don't think they'd cancel games then, either, at least not across the entire nation. You might see some of the New York games cancelled if the teams happened to be home and they couldn't move the games to an alternate site, but road games would probably go on as scheduled.

Again, I think it goes back to what I was saying about a terrorist attack having a bigger psychological impact than a hurricane. At least you can see a hurricane coming and begin to brace yourself for the potential impact. You don't get that luxury with terrorism ("you" being the general populace; let's leave our thoughts on the government seeing it coming out of this ). After 9/11, the nation needed a few days to catch its breath. After Katrina, most of the nation outside of the affected areas didn't skip a beat as it was "just another hurricane" (albeit a major one).

It may also be worth noting that there aren't as many games to cancel in New Orleans. They only have two major league teams, and one of them isn't playing yet. I don't know about the colleges, but NO's AAA team, the Zephyrs, called off two games at the end of August due to the hurricane.

[LetsGoDevils]

 

I guess Im just disappointed in a way it wasnt even considered, even if it was just for the Saints for example.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm quite sure the League as well as the owner of the Saints discussed the playing of the preseason game.

Now recently:

"...The New Orleans Saints look forward to the start of the NFL regular season this Sunday and to having the Club be a source of pride and joy in these difficult days. As we move forward together, the Saints look forward to serving as a leader in the rebuilding and revitalization of our great community. Towards this effort, the Saints have established the "New Orleans Saints Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund". Further information for those individuals/companies interested in contributing will be announced shortly."--Tom Benson, New Orleans Saints Owner, Sept. 6, 2005.

[SueNJ97]

Apparently Fox's per-game show went down there and did a piece on the the damage (they also are doing one on the 9/11 anniversary). And they asked a cross-section of the survivors whether they even cared that the season was starting, and whether they thought it should start. And they got a resounding yes, they cared and yes, they thought it should start. Even in the shelters, there are TVs, and these folks are looking forward to seeing the football games and taking their minds off their immediate situation, if only for a few hours. It gives them a feeling of normalcy in a very unreal situation. Maybe we can say that sounds too much like the old 'opiate of the masses' argument. But if it brings some comfort to these people, having the season start on time won't get any argument from me.

[njdevils2003champs]

I went through Hurricane Alex back on the Outer Banks last year and I cant image what Katrina did to the people on the Gulf Coast. Alex was a Cat 2 storm and that was a 4 when it made landfull, almost 5!! Its a different monster then 9/11, this was a disaster courtesy of water and winds, then cowardly terrorist.