Ware the Human Interest Piece

I thought I’d do a little critiquing of college football writing a la Fire Joe Morgan…only less basebally and probably not as funny. I’m not saying there’s no place for human interest stories in sports, but they are often blown way the fuck out of proportion. Football, for example, does not heal a community after a shooting on campus. Nor does it repair a nearly destroyed city. This is a little old, but Pat Forde disagrees with me…sort of. Hit me Pat.

If you want to know why the Allstate BCS National Championship Game is important beyond football in this regrouping city, consider:

Tuesday morning might be the first time since August 2005 that the New Orleans Times-Picayune publishes a front page that doesn’t contain the words “Hurricane Katrina.”

I don’t habitually read the Times-Picayune, but this seems unlikely. But let us assume that every paper for the last two and a half years has mentioned the hurricane on the front page. Am I to believe that there will be no mention of it after the first incredibly huge sporting event since Katrina has taken place? Don’t lie to me Pat. Not you.

“It’s a very, very worthy diversion,” said David Meeks, city editor of the Times-Picayune.

I know nothing takes my mind off of the house and/or family members I lost in a natural disaster like a college football game.

There was some bullshit about sporting events reminding people that celebrations can happen again and the like. Then:

“It seems like nothing ever gets completely finished,” Meeks said. “When the Superdome reopened, it was a symbol that something finally got finished.”

Take heart New Orleanians, your house may still have no roof, but the Superdome is ready to go!

There are some truly sad descriptions of the still unrepaired areas in the city. Then:

“[New Orleanians] just want people to understand what they’re going through,” Meeks said. “The places where the game is being played and the hotels and restaurants are, they’re fine. It’s the neighborhoods where people live that the fight and the struggle continues.”

This is why the whole first part of the god damned story is in poor taste. If I’m a person living in these areas or hoping to move back I might, you know, resent that the stadium and tourist areas were rebuilt before my fucking house. Maybe seeing a bunch of middle class, upper middle class, and rich people visit my city doesn’t make me feel any better about my situation. Maybe I think you should have spent some money fixing my house before you tried to open up the city for tourists. Nah, I’d probably be pretty stoked that some out of towners were drinking on Bourbon Street and watching a football game. Maybe they could even share some insights on how to improve my situation.

The rest goes into some harrowing stories. There’s a little navel gazing, but nothing too egregious. Pat, why did you open the story like that? Jackass.