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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.
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.
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