Memphis Newspaper/We Don't Need This

[lugus830]

Could this be a good thing for SMU? Pickup a few transfers possibly?

I assume that athletes at Tulane would want to go to a university of similar academic standing and environment.

I don't intend to appear selfish when it is such a terrible course of events has occurred at Tulane and I sincerely hope that the school will fully recover quickly, but I can't help but think that they may have a few players that could and might want to help us out.

[Stallion]

No this is not good. The Tulane, Southern Miss, Memphis Triad I really believe is the only thing tieing this thing together. I think after about 2-3 years of simply awful cross-divisional attendance the question may be asked whether a smaller more regional conference would be better-that would signal the end of SMU football with any kind of national presence. Tulane must survive.

[Corso]

Corso - I am not doubting your information, but where did you read/learn about "all of the devestation that has hit that (TU) campus...the repair and renovation bills are going to be astronomical"? ....

I have a nephew who is a student at Tulane (now studying at Vanderbilt), and I'm basing my comments on what he told me. He described massive flood damage (obviously). Thankfully, he was out of town when the storm hit, but he said he gets phone calls and e-mails all the time from friends and Tulane officials, and he said there is speculation that the renovation costs, coupled with the lost tuition, fees, etc., might crumble the entire financial structure of the school. He loves it down there (he was a freshman last year), so for his sake as well as the sake of all other Tulane students and staff, I'm one of the masses who is hoping for a full recovery for the school.

And lugus830 .... you're right, it's a very sensitive issue. Like you, none of us can "hope for transfers" if it means the end of a great school like Tulane. (How can they recruit? I know Coach Bennett saw the bigger picture and gave them copies of our recruiting files, but how can they sell a kid on Tulane if they don't know if they'll have a program -- or campus -- to which they can recuit a guy?) If they do leave, I would think we might have a shot at some of them. I know (true freshman) DE Sean Carney (of Dallas Jesuit) gave us very serious thought before he signed with Tulane. I'd bet there are others, but I don't know who they are. But again, even at our own expense, I hope the Tulane community -- and athletic department -- can regain some sense of normalcy and remain a viable, functioning institution.

[EastStang]

One option that I've seen discussed is that they take an athletic haiatus for several years and come back. Hopefully they won't go that route for two reasons: 1) the pointy headed administrators there might view that as the first step toward full fledged elimination. 2) They would be in essence giving themselves the death penalty which as we all know will take a long time to recover from and would probably lead to the elimination of the program. I hope they keep on keeping on. Lastly, CUSA needs them to continue in the program. If however, they did drop out temporarily, I would hope that CUSA could maybe rent a member like Army or Navy for three years until Tulane came back. If it was viewed as a temporary alliance to help Tulane, I think one of those schools might join. My preference is to do everything possible to keep Tulane going every year, but if they need to take a year or two off, then I'd prefer that to them dropping sports altogether, although it is a bad idea.

[RGV Pony]

might crumble the entire financial structure of the school

One would think that an institution of higher learning...a private, somewhat elite one at that...would be insured and double-insured out the wazzoo, right?

[EastStang]

One of the problems is that this is an insurance finger pointing nightmare for policyholders. Many insurers are saying, sorry, that's flood damage, we don't cover that. I know you're roof was blown off and we'll fix the roof, but the rest of the house that floated away, sorry no deal. And then there's the magnificent city and state which can't seem to get basic municipal functions restored. Add in the power companies that have to rewire everything, the telephone companies, cable companies, etc. and you might as well be starting a university in the Amazon. I wonder if a non-profit university could get business interruption insurance?

[Hoofbeat83]

I wonder if a non-profit university could get business interruption insurance?

yes, it can. whether or not tulane did, i do not know.

[DiamondM]

I thought from the start that Tulane, or at least its football program, disappearing was a realistic possibility -- not because they don't have insurance money to cover the physical damage, but because not having a thriving New Orleans to recruit both students and athletes to is extremely problematic.

That said, my brother in law, who works in the SID office for UTEP indicated that the athletic department at Tulane thinks the university will be up and running, at least to some degree, by next semester. They have swapped the locations of their women's basketball games so that the game scheduled for the week after Thanksgiving in NO is now going to be in El Paso, but the return game is expected to actually go forward at Tulane in the spring.

[Stallion]

Luckily Tulane recruits more in the DFW Metroplex than they do in New Orleans. Only partially kiddin' They got 5 recruits from the DFW Metroplex last year-10 from Texas and only 5 from Louisiana.

[that's great raplh]

tulane ain't going nowhere