LSU Game Update

[GAVol]

This is Arclight's thread, but I'm merging it with mine since they cover the same topic . . .

Rita damage won't affect Monday's game


By CARL DUBOIS
cdubois@theadvocate.com
Advocate sportswriter

 
Advocate staff photo by PAULA OUDER 
Winds from Hurricane Rita snapped fence posts surrounding a portion of the Charles McClendon LSU Football Practice Facility. 
Hurricane Rita bruised the LSU campus, but not enough to keep the Tigers from playing Tennessee at 6:30 p.m. Monday in Tiger Stadium, school officials said Saturday.
"I think we avoided any significant damage that would affect the game in any way," LSU Associate Athletic Director Herb Vincent said.

The outer edges of the hurricane, which made landfall early Saturday just east of Sabine Pass, Texas, toyed with LSU's athletics complex but didn't hit Tiger Stadium hard, LSU senior associate athletic director Dan Radakovich reported after an inspection.

Vincent said Rita knocked over portable toilets, stripped away a portion of the wooden fence surrounding the Charles McClendon LSU Football Practice Facility, crumpled an awning at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium, blew away panels from the Alex Box Stadium scoreboard and bent a foul pole.

The upgrade of the Tiger Stadium west-side upper deck took a hit, but not a significant one, Vincent said. Rita peeled off a temporary covering, where next season there will be glass for a club-level view of the Mississippi River bridge and game-day sunsets.

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"That will be easy to repair," Vincent said.

Wind screens fell down and fences sustained damage at the tennis courts, and some of the temporary tents to be used at west-side Tiger Stadium portals also must be repaired, Vincent said.

"We have downed branches, overturned signs, things like that," Vincent said. "There is a lot of cleanup to be done, quite a bit to be done before Monday night."

Electrical power isn't an issue, he said.

"The campus is pretty self-sufficient as far as power goes," Vincent said.

"We never lost power during Katrina. We don't anticipate any problems with that."

LSU officials plan to decide today which grass parking lots will be usable Monday.

"That's probably one of the biggest pieces of information we need to get out to the fans," Vincent said.

Lawn care

LSU's grounds maintenance crew covered the Tiger Stadium playing field before Rita's rains, and the tarpaulin will stay on the field until game day, Vincent said.

He said wind blew the cover off a portion of the field Saturday morning during a squall that soaked the area, but the crew quickly recovered the field.

"It's in as good a shape as it was before all this started," Vincent said.

The end zones will feature "LSU" painted in the relatively new "Geaux" font.

The usual eye-of-the-tiger logo returns as the centerpiece.

Staff concerns

LSU officials will meet today to discuss personnel issues for staffing the game. Vincent said Eddie Nunez, assistant athletic director for operations and project development, has been working on securing enough workers.

"We've been talking to groups to see who can come in and work, and who can't," Vincent said. "Eddie will give us a report.

"We'll use some of our sports teams if we need ticket takers or marshals."

Church groups staff concession stands, but some said they are unable to work Monday.

Vincent said LSU officials will meet today to discuss other logistical issues for game day.

Eye on the weather

Vincent said LSU officials are confident Rita won't affect the game, which was originally scheduled to be played Saturday night.

"We always keep an eye on the weather," Vincent said, "but there's nothing to indicate we can't play Monday night."

The National Weather Service forecast Saturday afternoon called for a high probability of thunderstorms today and tonight, then decreasing chances of rain Monday. There is a 50-percent chance of afternoon showers on game day, the forecast said, with a 30-percent chance of night-time thunderstorms.

High temperature Monday? Eighty-nine degrees. Low Monday night? Sixty-nine.

Ticket office

Fans can buy tickets -- or get replacements for lost season tickets -- from noon until 6 p.m. today and from 8 a.m. until halftime Monday at the ticket office in the LSU Athletic Administration Building.

The season-ticket holder of record must appear in person and present a valid I.D. before receiving replacement tickets, LSU officials said.

No reservations

LSU officials aren't apologizing for plans to allow the football team, as is its custom, to stay at The Cook Hotel and Conference Center on campus the night before the game.

Lodging has been a concern in Baton Rouge since Katrina hit the New Orleans area Aug. 29. A number of Tennessee fans plan not to come for the game because of a shortage of hotel rooms in the region.

The Vols are flying in to Baton Rouge on game day, opting not to displace relief workers and evacuees to have a place to stay Sunday night.

Vincent said any criticism of LSU for putting its players in the Lod Cook hotel would be unwarranted.

"It's a campus hotel, and we take very few rooms over there," Vincent said. "We use about half as many as you would usually take for a team. The players are all that stay there -- not the coaches, not an entire travel party.

"When a team goes on the road, you need a full-service hotel, with meals and other stuff, and the Lod Cook center has some of that but isn't a full-service hotel. It's not like we could move out and say, 'Tennessee, you take it.' It wouldn't meet their needs."

LSU's share of rooms there wouldn't begin to accommodate every Tennessee fan who wants to attend the game, Vincent said.

"We feel OK about having our normal game routine," he said. "We didn't remove any evacuees from the hotel. It's a campus hotel, an alumni hotel, with each room sponsored individually by alumni."

Thursday on Saturday

The Tigers held their usual "Thursday" practice Saturday, a sequel of sorts to the typical game-week workout. Practice was closed to the media.

Players and coaches were unavailable for comment following practice.

LSU will have its usual "Friday" walk-through today.

 

[Arclight]

TO: Fans, Friends, and Supporters of LSU Athletics

FROM: Skip Bertman, LSU Athletics Director

As yet another hurricane churns in the Gulf of Mexico, this time toward the shores of Texas and southwest Louisiana, we face the coming days with a wary eye and in prayerful anticipation.

It is because of the uncertainties presented by Hurricane Rita that we had conversations with officials from the Southeastern Conference and the University of Tennessee yesterday regarding our football game against the Volunteers on Saturday night.

After all of the facts, forecasts and concerns were laid out on the table, Commissioner Mike Slive -- as per SEC regulations -- had the responsibility of determining the fate of the game. His decision was to move the game to Monday night at 6:30 p.m. It will be televised live to a national audience on ESPN2.

The second part of this letter contains important information about parking, traffic and other issues that pertain to this game.

We must abide by the ruling of the SEC commissioner and we all now face some logistical challenges for playing a game on a weeknight. We know this creates considerable inconvenience for our fans, but we hope for your continued cooperation in yet another strange twist of fate in this most remarkable of times in South Louisiana.

Naturally our strong preference would have been to play during the weekend -- either Saturday or Sunday -- but safety for student-athletes, fans and everyone else involved in the football game was the overriding factor for the commissioner. I certainly respect that decision and I know it was not an easy decision to make.

As all of us in South Louisiana know, hurricanes are volatile and unpredictable. No one really knows the ultimate path of a hurricane until all is said and done, so advance decisions can only be made with the collection of available facts and the analysis of predictions.

No one wants to be playing this game on a Monday night, but considering the alternatives of playing the game in Knoxville, playing the game at a neutral site, or not playing the game at all, we will take this opportunity to introduce LSU Football -- Tiger Stadium Style -- to a nation of Monday night football viewers.

We've sold over 92,000 tickets for this game, and I hope Tiger Stadium will be full for this home opener. I realize there are plenty of obstacles presented by a weeknight game that will preclude some fans from attending. If you cannot use your ticket, please pass it along to someone who can. Tiger fans are resourceful fans, and I believe this will be a night to remember.

And the Tigers need your support. They have experienced things in the past month that some people will never see in a lifetime, but their spirits are high and their enthusiasm is contagious. They are excited about Monday Night in Tiger Stadium, and I hope you will be, too.

I'm betting that when the Golden Band from Tigerland salutes the four corners of the stadium before the game, we will all forget what day it is, and we'll be ready for a great college football game between the Tigers and Volunteers.

GAME DAY
This is the first Monday night game in the modern era of LSU football, so it is hard to know what to expect from a weekday game. Some of our normal procedures will change for this game because we have to be mindful of the local community, so I am hopeful our fans will be tolerant of these special circumstances.

We have been notified that classes will not be in session on Monday due to the anticipated after-effects of Hurricane Rita, including clean-up procedures, the possible arrival of special-needs evacuees to the Carl Maddox Field House and the potential use of other nearby facilities.

Because this game will be on a weekday, traffic flow into campus will be affected. Before the game, there will be no one-way in-bound traffic routes, and fans should be aware that normal weekday Baton Rouge rush hour traffic should be considered in their plans for coming to the campus.

After the game, one-way out-bound traffic will be very limited. Only Dalrymple Drive, Highland Road and St. Phillip Street will be available for one-way traffic departing campus after the game.

We anticipate that many of the personnel who normally patrol LSU football traffic may be called away for other post-Hurricane Rita duties, so traffic control may be affected. Fans should take this into consideration when making plans to come to campus. Please be assured that police officers will be on duty in intersections to help direct traffic.

Many of our ticket takers and game marshals have full-time jobs and may be unable to perform their regular duties, so a number of student-athletes on our sports teams are stepping in to help make this game possible.

The rain from Hurricane Rita will determine the availability of many of the grass parking lots on campus. LSU officials will determine the potential use of those lots on Sunday.

At this we know that a portion of parking Lot O, in front of the LSU Natatorium, will be unavailable because it is still being used for parking associated with the Special Needs Shelter at the Carl Maddox Field House. Overflow parking for Lot O will be in Lot W on Skip Bertman Drive.

Please remember that this year there is no free automobile parking in the lot across the street from the School of Veterinary Medicine on Skip Bertman Drive. We have designated that lot for motor home parking for the 2005 season in response to requests from fans who cannot find hotel lodging for games.

All motor home owners are reminded that LSU classes are in session beginning Tuesday morning, so we ask that all motor homes depart campus lots by 7 a.m. on Tuesday.

The LSU Athletic Ticket Office will be closed Saturday, but will be open beginning at noon on Sunday until 6 p.m. It will be open on Monday from 8 a.m. until halftime of the game. Remember, if you lost your tickets due to Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita, the ticket holder of record can present his or her ID at the ticket office to have their tickets replaced.

We welcome your comments, so write to us at LSUvision@etigers.net. Although we cannot promise a response to every e-mail we receive, please be assured that every letter will be read. Thank you for your continued support of Tiger Athletics
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