Monday, March 19, 2007

You Did Good Tigers


My beloved University Of Memphis Tigers went down to New Orleans and won their first two games in the big dance. Sweet Sixteen y'all!

I went to the games to show my love for the Tigers, but also to visit New Orleans again. This was my first time since Katrina. I have to say there seems to be a determined effort by the locals to get on with it. In the parking lot of the Superdome, local college kids were volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. They were building homes right there in the parking lot. A local cab driver I talked to seemed to have a tired resignation about him when I asked about the recovery. (Probably from all these damn tourist asking about the recovery.) But you could tell he was optomistic. Upbeat even, about the future of his wonderful city.

The French Quarter looked pretty much the same. But that's the thing, the French Quarter is just a part of New Orleans. I caught glimpses of some of the more devestated areas from the Interstate. Vast neighborhoods that no one can live in. You feel kind of helpless just looking at it. You ask yourself what you can do.

And there are some things you can do. You can be like those kids in the parking lot. Donate. Volunteer. Or you could go there. Go there and spend your money. Lord knows they could use it.

My overall assessment is this: The spirit of New Orleans has not gone away. The locals still have that great sense of humor. You see a lot of FEMA jokes on the t-shirts now. (FEMA - Find Every Mexican Available) Or a local favorite. (Drove my chevy to the levee but the levee was gone.)

So my Tigers went down to New Orleans and they did good. And the city itself, well it gets a little better everyday.

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