Big Easy’s hard work
NEW ORLEANS – Tulane’s weight room is filled with gleaming, state-of-the-art equipment, and athletes come and go throughout the day. The equipment room has shelves upon shelves of pads, uniforms, shoes and helmets, some still in plastic bags. The practice fields are covered in turf.
It looks like the scene at any Division I-A school – except Tulane has been anything but typical since Hurricane Katrina hit last Aug. 29.
“Those are all good, normal, healthy signs and steps of progress for us,” said athletic director Rick Dickson, formerly of Washington State University. “I think we’ve gone through the worst of it. … Yeah, there are still steps that have to be made, significant steps. But the fact that we’ve stabilized and the steps are all going forward are positive steps for us.”
The New Orleans Saints’ return this season is the biggest sign the city’s sporting landscape is returning to normal. Most of the area’s other teams – including the NBA’s Hornets and the minor-league Zephyrs – are back, too, even if only on a limited basis.
Tulane, washed out of its campus for the fall semester last year by Katrina’s floodwaters, was the first to return: Last Dec. 18, the women’s basketball team played a game that was the city’s first college or professional sporting event since the hurricane.
“I don’t think we’d even be operating today if we hadn’t done that,” Dickson said, referring to the decision to bring the basketball teams back to New Orleans in December.
“We put ourselves out there at the time when just the fundamental issues of trying to resurrect lives – the university, the community, careers, families – was the priority,” he said. “There was an example out there showing the way of, at least in our little arena, how you get yourself back up and into the game.”
Tulane, like so many in New Orleans, had much to overcome.
The building that houses the athletic department had 5 feet of standing water for three weeks after Katrina, Dickson said, ruining everything on the first floor. The weight room, equipment room and academic services department all had to be replaced. Ditto the turf on the practice fields, which were flooded by debris- and bacteria-filled water.
Though the building and fields have been restored, Tulane’s athletic program is markedly different post-Katrina.
In December, Tulane announced it would suspend part of its athletic program, fielding only eight of its 16 teams this year.
“That was probably the most painful process I’ve ever participated in,” said Dickson, whose son was one of the 94 athletes affected.
Here’s the state of New Orleans’ other major sports teams:
New Orleans Saints
The Saints, who opened the preseason Saturday in Nashville, Tenn., will play all of their home games in the rebuilt Superdome. They already have sold a record 55,000 season tickets, and no single-game tickets are expected to be available.
When the Saints march into the Superdome on Sept. 25 for a Monday night game, residents say it will be a sign to the entire world that the city is on its way back.
Although work on the Superdome’s suites and the ballrooms won’t be complete until next season, most of the $185.4 million reconstruction project will be finished before Sept. 25.
The city also is counting on the Saints to restore hundreds of millions to the economy. A University of New Orleans study found the Saints had a $402 million economic impact in 2002.
New Orleans Hornets
The Hornets will be nomads for another season, playing six games in New Orleans – double the amount from last year – and 35 in Oklahoma City. But the team is expected to return home for good for the 2007-08 season.
The Hornets also are exploring the possibility of opening training camp in New Orleans.
The New Orleans Arena was not significantly damaged during Katrina, needing less than $10 million in repairs.
New Orleans Zephyrs
The Washington Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate was the first New Orleans team to announce its return, committing last Sept. 10.
Zephyr Field had $2 million in damage, mostly from wind and water, and was occupied by the military and National Guard for about six weeks. But the stadium was baseball ready when Tulane’s season started in early February, and all repairs were complete for the Zephyrs’ April 6 home opener.
The opener drew a crowd of 11,006, third largest in team history, and the Zephyrs are on pace to surpass last year’s attendance mark.
“There’s only so much talking about the hurricane and how things used to be,” Zephyrs general manager Mike Schline said. “At some point, you need to turn the corner, and sports can help you do that.”