From the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram at http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/13255106.htm ...

Posted on Fri, Nov. 25, 2005

MEDIA INSIDER

N'awlins to return, but will Hornets?

By JAN HUBBARD

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

The story of how the New Orleans Times Picayune continued to publish in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is a riveting one. At first, the staff was going to stick it out in New Orleans. When it was obvious that reporters and editors would be over their heads - literally - they evacuated to nearby Houma, La.

A team of 12 reporters stayed in the city so that first-hand accounts could be authored. And the Times-Picayune never missed an edition, thanks in part to the Internet because it published online for three days.

The news was vital for regular readers, particularly those who had been evacuated and were living in shelters and couldn't wait to get the latest information from back home. And although there were issues of life and death and lost homes, the importance of sports became evident quickly.

One day, life in New Orleans would be at least close to normal. What was the future of the Saints? The Hornets? There were other issues - certainly the future of Tulane, not only the athletic department, but also the university as a whole.

But like corporations, it is the professional teams that can leave. And the passion engulfing that issue - particularly as it applies to the Saints, who came to New Orleans in 1966 - is profound.

So it was never a question of whether the Times-Picayune sports department would cover teams. It was how they would do it.

"We haven't backed off in any major kind of way," Doug Tatum, the sports editor, said by phone last week. "The paper has been great in saying: 'We're going to cover teams the way we've always covered them.' We're not sending as many people to Saints games as we did before. But we always have at least one."

The Saints, of course, have been tooled around terribly by the NFL, which required them to play a "home" game in New York against the Giants and will not have one time this year when they play back-to-back home games in a city where the players are living. So they travel every week - even to home games.

But while that causes competitive hardships, it's no better for the Saints beat writers. Brian Allee-Walsh lost his home in the hurricane, but has had little time to recover and has been living in a two-bedroom, one-bath apartment in San Antonio with Mike Triplett, the other beat writer, and covering the team while trying to rebuild his life.

The question, of course, is: Is it all in vain? Will the Saints ever be New Orleans' home team again? Saints owner Tom Benson has made some insensitive, although perhaps honest and realistic, comments about the Saints' future. To the civilized and uncivilized sports world, the following scenario makes perfect sense:

Next year, the Saints play the full season in San Antonio.

In 2007, they either stay in San Antonio or move to Los Angeles, the city of Angels, where "Saints" will be an appropriate nickname. (Actually, "Saints" works pretty well in San Antonio, too).

Tatum, however, is convinced that the Saints will return to New Orleans.

"Everything we're hearing from the NFL - and we'll know in January because they're going to release the Saints' schedule early - is that they're going to play in Louisiana in 2006," he said. "They say the Superdome is going to be ready in October, although it might not be until December. The Sugar Bowl may be the first game played there. But I think they'll play here in 2006. We'll see. It's so hard to predict how fast the city will recover."

If there is one certainty, it is that New Orleans will eventually lose the Hornets, who are infinitely less important because they've been in New Orleans only three years. Last season, they ranked 30th in the 30-team league in attendance. This year in Oklahoma City, they rank sixth in the league in season ticket sales.

New Orleans city officials have stated that the Hornets have a contract to play next season in New Orleans if the facility is operable, which it will be. But the opinion here is that it won't matter. The Hornets may have to go back to New Orleans for one year, then move to Oklahoma City in 2007-08. You can bet lawyers for the NBA and the Hornets have already dissected the lease and know exactly how to get out of it.

But it makes sense. Why would the Hornets want to go back to being 30th in attendance? The NBA is simply being smarter about the issue than the NFL and the Saints, although NBA commissioner David Stern did slip when he said before a game in Oklahoma City: "I can say without reservation that Oklahoma City is now at the top of the list," for the next team.

Let's see. Oklahoma City is at the top of the list - a list that apparently didn't exist before, except, perhaps, for Las Vegas. But which team is most likely to move while Oklahoma City is at the top of the list?

Regardless of the Hornets' future, the Times-Picayune continues its coverage. Reporters Jimmy Smith and John Reid cover the team and alternate months living in Oklahoma City to cover "home" games. Smith also lost his house in the hurricane.

"It's been tough because people are out of town and unable to see their families," Tatum said. "But I think everyone is dedicated to their job and to seeing the city rebuilt. It's coming back slowly, but it's coming back. I was named sports editor on Oct. 24 and I've been trying to hire a deputy. I took three people out to lunch this week, and took them to the [French] Quarter. We had great meals. The Quarter's doing fine. It's not 100 percent, but it's open.

"I'm an optimist. I think city is going to bounce back pretty quickly. But a big part of our story has been what's going to happen with the future of the Saints because it impacts the city. When you rebuild a city, sports is part of it."

And when you are the newspaper covering that city, making sure readers are informed about the future is part of the job. So is covering the team every day and every game, no matter the cost monetarily or the sacrifices required of writers. The Times-Picayune has been determined and responsible in its coverage, which is more than you can say for some of the teams and institutions that it is covering.