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notoriousjtb's post regarding the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina well reflected the thoughts of many sports fans across the country as of late. Though it is difficult to bring a sporting event to the level of importance such as the travesty in our Gulf States, it bears mentioning further though an article I read moments ago on Yahoo! Sports.
An entire city and culture could be lost: from the famous Bourbon Street and the festive Mardi Gras to the infamous Ninth Ward and its breeding ground for southern rap. Even more important than what is lost is who. Thousands feared dead in Lousiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. Millions more unable to return home. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin fears that the entire city, which sits below sea level, will be sumberged under water. This great fear can somewhat be alieviated by his western neighbors. Trapped inside sweltering heat and heavy dampness while surrounded by water, people in the Superdome could very well die from the conditions inside after staving off Katrina's powerful winds and rains. There is no longer the concern of when the Saints can return... they likely won't.
With a state in ruin and under siege from Katrina, Louisiana has found helping hands across the continent, even a publish report of some assistance from Venezuela in South America. However, what stands out to me for the moment is the assistance being offered from neighboring Texas. The city of Houston will open the Astrodome for many displaced residents in the Gulf area, including some 23, 000 people who suffered in the Louisiana Superdome. For the next two days, buses will attempt to sift through the flood waters and damaged roads just to leave southern Louisiana before driving some 350 miles to Houston.
Now known as the Reliant Astrodome, the "Eighth Wonder of the World" has not been occupied for professional sports since October 9, 1999 by the Astros before they moved into Minute Maid Park in 2000. Another former tenant, the NFL Oilers left Houston for Memphis and Nasville after the 1996 season. Why is this significant? The Texan icon has hosted two MLB All-Star games, world-renowned rodeos and ushered in the dome phenomenon in sports. Though it had constantly competed with the Superdome for the Super Bowl for nearly thirty years, it will now shelter New Orleans' displaced and for good reason.
It's called humanity.
This morning, the New York Daily News' front page caught my eye, and as usual, not in a good way. The caption read in large print "NO HOPE!". Alas, this is a poor way to capture attention because proven by Houston, it's far from true. To continue on notorious' point, sports has its way of healing people through tough times. It reaches where even the most personable music in the world cannot by reaching to thousands at once every game. Beyond what we experienced immediately after 9/11, beyond what we have learned in the country after the World Wars or though our own personal trials, it's been there before. As a society, it isn't that we take the games too seriously, it's how. Throwing beer cups at players or trying to get on camera by falling over the upper deck is not how to do it. Neither is screaming and ranting about how athletes make too much money. You take sports seriously through congregation. It may be a stretch to say this, but due to sports, there are insanely large mutipurpose facilities that whether filled to the brim or filled with echoes of ten fans, can bring a mass public together for a purpose. Nearly 100% of the time, the purpose is to cheer on the home team. Today, it is for the greater good of giving nearly thirty thousand people hope.
Say What?!?!: I didn't want to dwell so much on this, but what the hell is up with the looting down there? Are we this starved of a society that we have to steal from abandoned homes and businesses? Are we this sick and cruel? Even in some of the worst moments in our nation's history (and on a local perspective, cities) in the last decade+, the criminal element was not as evident as it is today. Even your local bank robber won't think of raiding Bank of America after a tornado touched down on Main Street... at least he'll show humanity. To call this a disgrace and appaling act of evil is to be nice.
An entire city and culture could be lost: from the famous Bourbon Street and the festive Mardi Gras to the infamous Ninth Ward and its breeding ground for southern rap. Even more important than what is lost is who. Thousands feared dead in Lousiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. Millions more unable to return home. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin fears that the entire city, which sits below sea level, will be sumberged under water. This great fear can somewhat be alieviated by his western neighbors. Trapped inside sweltering heat and heavy dampness while surrounded by water, people in the Superdome could very well die from the conditions inside after staving off Katrina's powerful winds and rains. There is no longer the concern of when the Saints can return... they likely won't.
With a state in ruin and under siege from Katrina, Louisiana has found helping hands across the continent, even a publish report of some assistance from Venezuela in South America. However, what stands out to me for the moment is the assistance being offered from neighboring Texas. The city of Houston will open the Astrodome for many displaced residents in the Gulf area, including some 23, 000 people who suffered in the Louisiana Superdome. For the next two days, buses will attempt to sift through the flood waters and damaged roads just to leave southern Louisiana before driving some 350 miles to Houston.
Now known as the Reliant Astrodome, the "Eighth Wonder of the World" has not been occupied for professional sports since October 9, 1999 by the Astros before they moved into Minute Maid Park in 2000. Another former tenant, the NFL Oilers left Houston for Memphis and Nasville after the 1996 season. Why is this significant? The Texan icon has hosted two MLB All-Star games, world-renowned rodeos and ushered in the dome phenomenon in sports. Though it had constantly competed with the Superdome for the Super Bowl for nearly thirty years, it will now shelter New Orleans' displaced and for good reason.
It's called humanity.
This morning, the New York Daily News' front page caught my eye, and as usual, not in a good way. The caption read in large print "NO HOPE!". Alas, this is a poor way to capture attention because proven by Houston, it's far from true. To continue on notorious' point, sports has its way of healing people through tough times. It reaches where even the most personable music in the world cannot by reaching to thousands at once every game. Beyond what we experienced immediately after 9/11, beyond what we have learned in the country after the World Wars or though our own personal trials, it's been there before. As a society, it isn't that we take the games too seriously, it's how. Throwing beer cups at players or trying to get on camera by falling over the upper deck is not how to do it. Neither is screaming and ranting about how athletes make too much money. You take sports seriously through congregation. It may be a stretch to say this, but due to sports, there are insanely large mutipurpose facilities that whether filled to the brim or filled with echoes of ten fans, can bring a mass public together for a purpose. Nearly 100% of the time, the purpose is to cheer on the home team. Today, it is for the greater good of giving nearly thirty thousand people hope.
Say What?!?!: I didn't want to dwell so much on this, but what the hell is up with the looting down there? Are we this starved of a society that we have to steal from abandoned homes and businesses? Are we this sick and cruel? Even in some of the worst moments in our nation's history (and on a local perspective, cities) in the last decade+, the criminal element was not as evident as it is today. Even your local bank robber won't think of raiding Bank of America after a tornado touched down on Main Street... at least he'll show humanity. To call this a disgrace and appaling act of evil is to be nice.
posted by Jason Clinkscales @ 5:00 PM
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