ESPN Report-Tulane Moving to Dallas

[ThadFilms]

12-16 weeks before people are allowed back according to New Orleans Mayor.

Wow. That's the entire season.

[SmooBoy]

You are the one getting dramatic. I am simply curious about the logistics of the decision.

Maybe 'drama' was the wrong word. I am all for what is best for those kids. I just don't want this to turn into our limelight because we are helping out. Being gracious is a gift, not an excuse for publicity. Here's hoping the water recedes and that football can be a nice diversion from the atrocities in NO.

[RGV Pony]

I appreciate that, Plano Stang. No harm done. I too been accused on more than one occasion of having memos come across more harsh than I intended.

[hunters]

http://tulanegreenwave.collegesports.co ... 05aab.html

this link is now the site the school is using to provide info about tulane dealing with the situation. It answered a lot of my questions.

[MrMustang1965]

from today's SMU Daily Campus newspaper:

By Mark Norris, News Editor, [email protected]
August 31, 2005


Hurricane Katrina is forcing Tulane University’s football team to relocate to the SMU campus.

Earlier this afternoon, an agreement was worked out between the two schools’ athletic departments that will allow the Tulane Green Wave to utilize various facilities on the Hilltop.

Officials are currently working out a practice schedule that will allow the Mustangs to continue preparation for this Saturday’s game against Baylor while also letting Tulane players stay in shape for their season.

According to SMU’s Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Brad Sutton, the team will be bussed in from Jackson State University and were scheduled to arrive in Dallas around 5 a.m. Wednesday.

The team will possibly be staying at the DoubleTree Campbell Center or other hotels closer to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

SMU Athletic Director Jim Copeland said, “We know it will be very difficult for residents of New Orleans in the next couple of weeks. We are pleased to help out one of the members of our new conference with the use of our facilities until they are able to get back to their home.”

Members of the Tulane training staff, coaches and athletic department officials are traveling with the football team, according to Tulane Media Relations Director Donna Turner.

She said the players would only be utilizing practice facilities and would not be taking any classes while at SMU.

So far, Conference USA has only postponed Tulane’s opener against Southern Mississippi, which was scheduled for this Saturday. Tulane has a bye week scheduled for Sept. 10.

Turner said that no decisions have been made on the rest of the schedule.

Other Green Wave athletes will be staying at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The University of Memphis is hosting athletes from Southern Miss.

“Knowing our members, we are not surprised by the outpouring of support for Tulane and Southern Miss,” Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky said. “We are especially grateful to SMU, Memphis and UAB for sharing their resources.”

SMU Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Caswell said that he hopes SMU students will welcome the Tulane students with open arms.

“I know our students will be friendly and hospitable toward our guests. They have been through a lot, so don’t be afraid to give them a big hug.”

SMU will also run phone banks and try to provide any other services so Green Wave athletes can get in contact with family members.

SMU and Tulane play each other in the first Conference USA football game of the season on Sept. 24 at Ford Stadium.

[SoCal_Pony]

from today's SMU Daily Campus newspaper:

By Mark Norris, News Editor, [email protected]
August 31, 2005


She said the players would only be utilizing practice facilities and would not be taking any classes while at SMU.

Smart move by the Tulane AD, otherwise half their team would become academically ineligible.

[ThadFilms]

This thread began with...

apparently the Tulane board had a report that the Tulane football team would move from Jackson St. to SMU. Welcome if true Greenie!

I cannot believe that PonySnob or any of the other doomsdayers on this board have yet to quip...

"So at least we'll have one good football team on the Hilltop this season."



C'mon you defeatests where's the "SMU sucks rocks" spirit?!? I expected more (perhaps less) out of you guys!!!

[ThadFilms]

12-16 weeks before people are allowed back according to New Orleans Mayor.

Wow. That's the entire season.

I can't believe I posted that crap... "Wow. That's the entire season." ... and, well, now I can't sleep... Who cares about a freakin' football season when the whole city's gone?

Unbelievable what's happening... I must turn off the TV and get some rest.. just unreal.

[Go_UTA]

PlanoStang, UTA's Maverick Stadium can hold up to 15,000. I had the same thought as you. The lockers and other facilities are, of course, used by various UTA teams, but I'm sure a football team under these circumstances would be welcomed.

According to reports in The Shorthorn, UTA has also been in touch with the Lousiana universities and some others, although I don't know the level of contact except in the case of Alabama. Our president was on the phone with the president at Alabama.

[Go_UTA]

Tulane may just have to cancel its season.

For starters, how do you keep a team together? Do you suddenly enroll an entire football team at another university?

Also, university housing would unlikely be available. At UTA, the 4,400 capacity in on-campus housing is 99% full. I bet it is the same at SMU.

Maybe I am wrong, but I think the season is over for them.

[Stallion]

Tulane's athletes will get a waiver-geez some of you are a little dramatic.

[EastStang]

The NCAA has already said that it is waiving a number of rules for schools in the destruction zone of Katrina and those providing aid to those affected. SMU for example will not be tagged for providing benefits to athletes of another univeristy. Tulane football players will not have to attend classes if Tulane is closed. If they want to attend classes, I suspect that NCAA will if asked permit Tulane athletes to attend SMU, UNT, UTA, TCU, or any other school to make progress toward their degrees (assuming Tulane accepts those credits). I would hope that Tulane could play out their season somewhere. If not in Dallas, then in Louisiana or east Texas. Tyler comes to mind. Don't ask the Aggies though, they wouldn't allow the Green Wave to call the hallowed grass of Kyle Field, home for even one game.

[Dooby]

Call me a jerk, but if kids are not going to college classes, I don't see why they they should be playing college football. I would also say my position on this is bad for SMU, because it would mean the game would be cancelled (not forfeited) and SMU would not even get a chance at a win. As far as I am concerned, if you are not enrolled full-time, you shouldn't play. And that goes for Matt Lienhart's ballroom dancing class, too. I know it is a tragedy and all, but if the semester is cancelled, the school will exist in Football-name only. And the players playing for room and board only; not even an education.

Maybe that makes me a bad guy, but this makes little sense to me. I am not unsympathetic and I realize this is an unusual situation, but I just can't see how this makes them any thing other than semi-pro. I'd be all for them getting an extra year of eligibility, though. And again, that would probably be to SMU's disadvantange.

The other things such as airfare home and hotels and stuff are fine with me. Send the kids home to their families like the rest of the students.

I dunno. I am just talking out loud. Or typing. Or somesuch.

[abezontar]

what does happen to the elegibilty of these players, espeically when it comes to their scholarship and education? If they play this year but don't attend class will their scholarships extend an extra semester so that they can compete their degree? Will they be eligible for an extra semester?

[Stallion]

Dooby stakes out a position a little to the right of Atila the Hun.