Recently in Hurricanes Category

Whenever I think of Hurricane Katrina and I certainly don't as much now as I once did, I keep ending up on one thing. If the levees hold, we're not talking about Katrina now. It was a substantial hurricane but Louisiana can handle that. There would be no horrific images, no politicization, no second guessing. New Orleans, Slidell, and Chalmette would have been on the same recovery pace as St Tammany and most of Mississippi. The damage would have been repaired in a few months and we would have be on to other things in no time. If only the levees had held ...

Another morning after a fantasy football auction. Feel as good about this team as I do my other one. Not very. Death on Two Legs - 2010 version:

QB Brett Favre - $7
RB Joseph Addai - $18
RB Jamaal Charles - $37 -- My transition player - Overpaid by a lot. No one knew anything about him until I tagged him - Could have gotten him for half this or even less
RB Cadillac Williams - $3
RB Donald Brown - $3
RB Tashard Choice - $1
WR Marques Colston - $22
WR Reggie Wayne - $26 - Franchise player
WR Chad Ochocinco - $9
WR Lee Evans - $3
WR Dexter McCluster - $2
TE Jason Witten - $14
TE Justin Keller - $1
PK Jeff Reed - $1
D/ST Dolphins - $1

I offer one from just outside my kitchen window this wet CrabAppleLane Sunday morning.

CrabAppleLane Althea - August 29, 2010

11 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. Miss Misery - Nazareth - Hair Of The Dog
2. San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair) - Scott McKenzie - AM Gold: The '60s Generation
3. Roundabout - Yes - Fragile
4. Star Spangled Banner - Dixie Chicks - Super Bowl XXXVII
5. Easy Lover - Phil Collins - Hits

Quote of the Day

President Obama had lunch at Parkway Bakery today. As usual for well-known folks in NOLA, he was just another customer. Voice on loudspeaker said, "Barack, pickup." He got a shrimp po-boy.

Fleurty Girl

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Across the states, the general first estimate of cost to insurers sits at $16 billion."

Ended up being in the neighborhood of $125 billion. -Rob

Hello, Facebook users. Sometimes, Facebook doesn’t publish the pictures or videos included with these entries. Please click on “ View Original Post ” below to see the entry in its entirety.

Last entry five years ago today.

It’s Monday morning. I should be getting ready for work but there's no work today. New Orleans is shut down. Hurricane Katrina roars ashore near the city at about 6AM. She reaches CrabAppleLane in all her power and ugliness at about 7AM. The power goes out here and the anxiety begins. If you're a fan of big weather and you have no stake in the outcome, this is the ultimate event. The winds howl for about 8 hours. Trees all around the house are lying down. A tree trunk or a limb snaps every few minutes. You hear a blast like a gunshot when it does and you worry for a few seconds hoping it doesn't come crashing through your window or roof. Speaking of the roof, a piece of flashing keeps tilting up and down as the wind hits it. If it doesn't hold up, wind will be able to get underneath the metal panels. It holds up. When the storm is over, we have no power, the yard is a mess, and the phones are down but we're safe.

Almost immediately after the storm passes, we hear chainsaws. People are out cutting up the fallen trees on Highway 1083. CrabAppleLane is right off of 1083. We can hear the chainsaws until it gets dark 3 or 4 hours later. I figure they've cleared the roadway. There is always a tree or two down on Highway 1083 after a big thunderstorm. Hurricane Katrina was more than that so I figured there were 20 or 30 down. 1083 is about 5 miles long from Highway 40 to Highway 21. Those guys aren't even trying to clear the roadway. They're just trying to clear a path so one vehicle can pass. There are hundreds of trees down. There are trees every 10 feet. One tree sometimes but clusters of trees most of the time. It is an enormous undertaking. They are not done but they surely did a lot. What those handful of guys got done with their chainsaws in such a short period of time is nothing short of amazing.

On the south shore, there is street flooding in the places where it traditionally floods in and around New Orleans after a heavy rain. That's expected. There is an elaborate drain and pump system in place in the greater New Orleans area but it can't keep up with torrential downpours. After the rain stops, it usually takes a couple of hours for the water in the street to go down.

As night falls, we're in the dark. We have no TV because we have no electricity. A generator would get here two days later. After a major disaster of any kind, the reporting is pretty haphazard and, usually, wildly exaggerated. Remember the early reports of the San Fransisco earthquake of 1989, the early reports in the first Gulf war, the earliest reporting from 911? Katrina reporting was like that, too. People are calling into WWL (The designated emergency broadcast station in the New Orleans area) and saying some of the most ridiculous things that they'd heard or claimed to have seen. One thing was consistently reported, though. The water is rising. It should have been receding.

The water is rising.

I offer the two photos below that I took at work some three weeks after the storm. The city was still shut down. You needed a special pass to get off of the interstate. Once you were off of the interstate, it was the wild west. You could go pretty much anywhere you wanted but everyone except me was armed to the teeth. No one else is supposed to be in the city but people ARE in the city. Some are just trying to protect their property but some are up to no good. Many businesses hired security. These are not the part-time rental "mall" cops. They are very serious and heavily armed. The photos show both the start and the finish of Hurricane Katrina. The clock stopped when the power went out. About two feet above where the clock is hanging, well, look at the next picture.

When time stood still

The rest of the wall

I'm facing the north cinder block wall. The big roll-up doors on the east and west side of the building were blown in by the winds. Hurricane-force winds got inside the building and blew the wall out. Somehow, the clock remained hanging.

Five years ago: All Katrina, All The Time

It's Sunday. Hurricane Katrina is headed our way. She's a Category 5 hurricane and she is enormous. She's due to come ashore near New Orleans tomorrow morning. Most of the residents and businesses there have evacuated or are in the process of evacuation. We've made the decision to stay home and ride it out. Mom is coming up from Kenner to stay with us. CrabAppleLane is about 15 miles north of Interstate 12 and evacuation is voluntary. The area south of I-12 is under a mandatory evacuation order. It's very calm here. We're about as ready as we can be. We've been through hurricanes before. We can fend for ourselves for a few days. We expect services to be restored before we run out of anything. They always are.

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. Prairie Wedding - Mark Knopfler - Sailing To Philadelphia
2. You've Got Another Thing Comin' - Judas Priest - Living After Midnight
3. Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress) - The Hollies - Rock Of The 70's
4. Not Fragile (Quad Mix) - Bachman-Turner Overdrive - The Anthology [Disc 2]
5. In My Time Of Dying - Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti [Disc 1]

Quote of the Day

The Saints might have plucked another exciting young running back from the ranks of the undrafted. Rookie Chris Ivory turned a swing pass into a tackle-breaking, zigzagging, 76-yard score in New Orleans' 36-21 preseason victory over the San Diego Chargers on Friday night.

NFL.com

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Two days after Katrina hit, 80% of New Orleans was flooded and some places were 15 feet under water. The storm supposedly caused 50 breaches in levees, built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers."

Hello, Facebook users. Sometimes, Facebook doesn’t publish the pictures or videos included with these entries. Please click on “ View Original Post ” below to see the entry in its entirety.

Originally posted five years ago.

Hurricane Katrina

It was a Saturday five years ago today. I had guys coming over for a fantasy football draft on Sunday and I had a few things I wanted to get done around the house. I'd had a late night Friday and got up for the last time around 9AM. I was drinking my coffee and making some rounds on the internet when I got a call. One of the fantasy football owners was going out of town and couldn't make it to the draft. He was evacuating. Really? I didn't think it was that serious. As I was considering what to do about that, I got another call. Another owner, same thing. I started calling the other owners to tell them we'd reschedule the draft after Katrina passed through. After I'd made all of my calls, I started watching the news.

I'll be the first to tell you that I hate the dire rhetoric that public officials and the media use during these times. I admit it's a tightrope and a horribly unfair task. Warn the public but don't induce panic. It's like a bit of a twist on the "Cry Wolf" fable. The crier doesn't get eaten by the wolf, though. The town does. Cry "Hurricane", everyone evacuates, no hurricane. Cry "Hurricane" again, everyone evacuates, still no hurricane. Cry "Hurricane" a third time, no one evacuates, killer hurricane. I tend to watch the local guys. They've usually been through it before and tend to exaggerate less. The statements coming out of the not-easily-shaken local public officials and the local media was quite alarming this time. It unsettled me.

"Just evacuate. Better safe than sorry". We all hear that a lot. Evacuations are very stressful and expensive. Traffic is bumper to bumper as far as the eye can see. Will you be able to get gas along the way? Will your car overheat? Can you even find a place to stay? What will you take with you? Bear in mind that whatever you leave behind may be lost forever. We decided to stay. Most didn't. It is an intensely personal and difficult decision. It turned out to be the right decision for us. Two of our windows leak in horizontal rain conditions. I've never been able to find the source of the leak but it only does it during those relatively rare conditions. During Katrina, two more windows leaked. We were able to manage the leaks because we were there. Had we not been home, we would have had mold. That would have meant a remediation team, gutting the house, an insurance fight, and major upheaval. We were lucky.

13 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:

1. I Will Find You - Clannad - The Last Of The Mohicans
2. Rockin' In The Free World - Neil Young - Freedom
3. I Want You To Want Me - Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick/In Color/Heaven Tonight (3 Pak)
4. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - The Andrews Sisters - 50th Anniversary Collection Volume One
5. Firefly Main Theme Song - Joss Whedon - Firefly

Quote of the Day

Someone once said that life is either looking forward or looking back. There’s never The Moment. In New Orleans, The Moments come with joyful ease if you open yourself up to them.

Paul Oswell, London Daily Mail

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "I have nothing new, or good, to report. Happy 4-year anniversary."

Hello, Facebook users. Sometimes, Facebook doesn’t publish the pictures or videos included with these entries. Please click on “ View Original Post ” below to see the entry in its entirety.

Five years ago today, I was concerned about my Florida friends who had endured several hurricanes the year before. Charley, Frances, and Ivan wreaked havoc all over that state in the summer of 2004. On this day five years ago, another one was headed her way: Hurricane Katrina. It's Friday. The Saints are hosting the Ravens in a preseason game in the SuperDome. That's what I'm thinking about. I'm also looking forward to our annual fantasy football draft that I'm hosting on Sunday at CrabAppleLane. Katrina is not a concern. She's headed to Florida, not Louisiana. Didn't think her weekend plans would interfere with mine at all.

14 days until football season ...

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Ferry Cross The Mersey - Gerry & The Pacemakers - AM Gold: The Mid-'60s
2. Dreamboat Annie (Reprise) - Heart - Dreamboat Annie
3. You're My Best Friend (1991 Remix) - Queen - A Night At The Opera
4. The Man's Too Strong - Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
5. You Make Loving Fun - Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Quote of the Day

With thousands feared drowned in what could be America’s deadliest natural disaster in a century, New Orleans’ leaders all but surrendered the streets to floodwaters and began turning out the lights on the ruined city — perhaps for months.

Associated Press, September 1, 2005

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "Nine and a half years ago, I fell cheesebox over toes for a small city in the Dirty South of the USA called New Orleans."

Hello, Facebook users. Sometimes, Facebook doesn’t publish the pictures or videos included with these entries. Please click on “ View Original Post ” below to see the entry in its entirety.

About today's QOTD: A federal court has ruled that the Army Corp of Engineers can be held responsible for the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (Referred to locally as the Mister Go) levee failures. For those unfamiliar with the Greater New Orleans area, there were other levee failures besides the Mister Go. I'm not sure if there are trials upcoming on those but I would have to think there are. What made Hurricane Katrina so devastating to New Orleans was the flooding due to the levee failures. If there had only been wind and rain damage, it was substantial but would have been a fairly quick recovery. The Mister Go system flooded Chalmette and the Ninth Ward. No one would be talking about all of the other failures that came afterward if the levees had held. For the record, I am thoroughly disgusted with the blame game, with injured parties aiming to get rich rather than being made whole, and with people seizing the easy political opportunity that presented itself in this tragedy. Basically, I'm disgusted with Katrina.

About tonight's Carolina-Miami game: These are two teams I've seen this year a few times. Both played the Saints recently. This should be the shortest game of the season. Both teams are all about ball control and they both run the ball about 75% of the time. The clock will hardly ever stop. Carolina is playing better now, they're at home, and they stop the run a little better. I give them a slight edge.

From the For What It's Worth Department: I find the competing health care commercials comical. According to them, they're not on the Republicans side or the Democrats side. They're on YOUR side. As Dick Shawn once said, "And I'm Queen o' the May".

5 song iTune shuffle:

1. Bird Of Prey 49 Uriah Heep The Best Of Uriah Heep
2. Treat Her Right 3:39 The Commitments The Commitments
3. Easy To Be Hard (Live At The Forum) 4:26 Three Dog Night Captured Live At The Forum (Reissue)
4. I Just Want To Make Love To You 4:21 Foghat Foghat
5. Into The Sun 11:24 Grand Funk Railroad Live Album

Quote of the Day

The ruling is also emotionally resonant for south Louisiana. Many in New Orleans have argued that the flooding in the aftermath of Katrina, which struck the region Aug. 29, 2005, was a manmade disaster caused by the Army Corps' failure to maintain the levee system protecting the city.

Associated Press via MSNBC.com

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Our first adventure and probably not our last."

The President is coming to New Orleans Thursday. When I worked in New Orleans, I dreaded the traffic snarl his motorcade produced. Now that I don't, I'd like him to take a full day and tour the city and hear from as many people as possible to get a full picture of the still ongoing recovery effort. A little selfish of me, I know. The situation in New Orleans is very complicated and a whirlwind half-day event doesn't do it justice. Fully restored and rebuilt homes in New Orleans are next to empty and blighted houses that have hardly been touched in the four years since Katrina passed through. He should be curious about why that is. I surely am. I wouldn't want an empty, blighted house in sight of my house. The President can be and should be a catalyst for getting the recovery moving again. City, State, and Federal agencies are still squabbling over just about everything. Money is a necessary component of the recovery but it's not the only one and I'm not even sure it's the highest on the list. Stay a little longer, Mr President.

Quote of the Day

Where we stand. From everything we've seen, the president is looking to get feedback from the population of the area on how things are going and where do we go from here.

Mike Rivault, University of New Orleans' chief marketing officer and the school's liaison with the White House

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "The Giants are #1 in the league in team defense.
The Giants are #2 in the league in team offense.
Eli Manning is the #2 rated passer in the league.
Steve Smith is the #1 WR by yardage in the league.
How much of this is a function of the schedule through 5 games?"

I know how frustrating it is to be without power for an extended period. We were without power here after Katrina for 12-½ days in August/September 2005. It's HOT in southeast Louisiana that time of year. Pretty hot in Houston this time of year, too. Calling the power companies periodically to get information is OK but don't expect them to have any or, at least, any that is current and useful. It's a massive undertaking and the crews, many from out of town, don't take their invaluable time to update customer information centers ... and only an idiot would want them filling out reports rather than replacing transformers/fuses/poles etc. Those crews are moving as quickly and safely as they can. They do a great job under difficult conditions. THEY ARE ROCK STARS. Hang in there, Houstonians.

Quote of the Day

I called them twice already this morning, and they couldn't tell us anything

Pat Loeber

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Pappas Bros. is committed to creating an environment unsurpassed by other steakhouses."

Have to try them if I'm ever in Houston again. -Rob

This is the last of Gustav and Ike from me for a while. I'm still disappointed in just about all aspects of the way hurricanes are covered. Don't care for the panic-inducing rhetoric from the media and public officials before the hurricanes or some of the incredibly bad and irresponsible editorializing after. And the politics, well, I have no words for someone trying to seize political advantage during a disaster and it doesn't matter to me what side of the aisle they sit on.

This from Houmatoday.com, which I think is the online version of the Houma Courier:

As parish flooded, emergency director was at LSU game

But not before picking up his wife ... at home in a mandatory evacuation area ... in an official rescue truck. Whether he engaged in any real criminal wrongdoing or not is of no consequence to his status as a public official. He's done.

This from Janine Godwin on September 15, 2008 in a piece called "Lessons Learned from Hurricane Ike":

This may sound glib, but it was a no-brainer when the warnings started popping up that Hurricane Ike was coming towards Houston. I listened, and paid attention from the beginning. I didn't wait until the last minute to top off my gas tank, I did it as soon as it looked like this storm could be coming this way. I think at the time it was in Cuba, which really isn't all that far away when you think about it. You never know what could happen in a couple hours time to change the course of a storm of this magnitude. In other words - never underestimate the power of Mother Nature - she is one fickle lady.

I was probably a little too snide about her remark the other day when I asked if she quit driving after she topped off her gas tank that long before landfall. In her words, "Yes. I had officed from home that week, so there was no reason to go out and wander the streets". Obviously, the ideal thing to do is to top off your gas tank, stock up your pantries, and office from home in the days leading up to hurricane, even though no one yet knows where it might land, but I don't think it's a particularly useful lesson because the vast, overwhelming majority of people can't do that for any number of reasons. The most common ones are that they're driving to work those days and when they get off and go to the gas station, the hardware store, or the grocery store after hours, the preparedness fanatics have already wiped out the supplies. The "last minute" keeps getting pushed forward and that's just trapping more people without gasoline, food, water, batteries, etc ... or, almost as bad, more expensive gasoline, food, water, batteries, etc. I'm not begrudging people who have the wherewithal to do what she did for Hurricane Ike. I wish we all had it. I think her own description of it sounding "glib" is right on the mark.

Hurricane Ike missed Austin and we're very happy about that.

About today's QOTD: Man, is that ever true.

Quote of the Day

When a hurricane like Ike knocks out electrical power for masses of people, they revert to two old-fashioned sources of immediate news.

Rumor and radio.

Rick Casey, Houston Chronicle

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "I just came back from a day of interviewing people who were either stuck in traffic on the Gulf Freeway at FM 519 or were at nearby gas stations. Most were trying to get to Galveston, while a few were coming back from the island."

I read this very thoughtful piece on what hurricanes do from Mark Potter of NBC yesterday. Below is one excerpt from it but it really is a great read and a good insight into what people go through and how their decisions are made.

But, more and more I mostly despise hurricanes for what they do to so many people at once. I often say that if you are not injured, and your loved ones are safe, the worst part of a hurricane is not the storm, itself, but the traumatic years of rebuilding afterward.

Amen. He gets it. And a thoughtful comment on that article from K Mary Hess:

Excellent perspective and thoughtfully written; now please let's work on some of the reasons people make the mistake of staying in the path of a storm. Many of the people who were rescued have said they had no funds to gas their cars and evacuate a second time (after Gustav) and so felt they had no "choice" but to remain in their homes. Is there a way to institute EMERGENCY GASOLINE PRICING along hurricane evacuation routes, to alleviate some of the monetary burden of those who MUST leave their homes? Is there a way to implement a ONE WEEK LODGING DISCOUNT that can be incurred by the evacuee showing their EVACUATION ZONE DRIVERS LICENSE with their current address? Is there a way that lodging places can be reimbursed for the discounts? Is there a way to find physicians and emergency and urgent care for those with compelling medical needs to present their driver's licenses from a mandatory evacuation area, and in turn receive FREE medical care until they are allowed to return to their homes? IS there a way?- there has to be, there can be, and should be, or we will continue to witness tragic choices made again and again.

There are no easy answers here folks. The wise a$$ question is "Why don't they move?". Well, some will ... but everyone within 100 miles of the gulf coast or the Atlantic coast is vulnerable to hurricanes. EVERYONE. There's important industry along those coasts. Oil and natural gas, aerospace, seafood, shipbuilding, and tourism are just a few of them. The port of New Orleans is one of the busiest and most important ports in the world. There will always be people living in these vulnerable areas.

I talked to someone I do business with in Katy, Texas yesterday. Katy is west of Houston. They sustained damage there but not as bad as Galveston and Houston. Talking to him brought back a flood of post-Katrina memories. They're up and running on generators, their staff is all accounted for but some are dealing with personal priorities, and they're operating at a fraction of their usual capacity. Lots of money going out, very little coming in. I know that pain.

Quote of the Day

Emergency management officials have an extremely difficult and often thankless job, because they have to order mass evacuations while the sun is still shining and the winds are still calm.

Mark Potter, NBC News Correspondent

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "I didn't wait until the last minute to top off my gas tank, I did it as soon as it looked like this storm could be coming this way. I think at the time it was in Cuba, which really isn't all that far away when you think about it."

Cuba? That was at least a week before Texas landfall. Stopped driving after topping off? -Rob

Giving True Blood a try mainly because of Alan Ball. Loved Six Feet Under and American Beauty. Been kind of bored with vampires for a while but they keep reappearing in books/film/tv. The first two episodes were OK and I love the music.

The Saints stunk it up yesterday in Washington. Thoroughly outplayed. Lots to get straightened out before they head to Denver.

Quote of the Day

We have no power. We have no gas. We have no communications. We're not sure when any of that will be up and running. Do not come back to Galveston. You cannot live here right now.

Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "The much-hyped premiere of HBO's newest show, True Blood failed to capture much of an audience Sunday night, with only 1.44 million viewers. HBO pinned a lot of hopes on the show, from Six Feet Under's Alan Ball, to bring back their big Sunday night ratings, which have plummeted since the loss of The Sopranos and Six Feet Under."

The CNN headline read:

Hurricane Ike is bearing down on Texas/Louisiana yesterday. There's a very popular gas station right next door to my workplace. We watch them change prices daily. Regular gasoline was $3.74 per gallon in the morning but went down to $3.55 after it was announced on the radio that consumers should call a 1-800 hotline if they suspect gouging. I suppose they could have gotten in a new shipment of much cheaper gasoline but my guess is they reconsidered what they were doing. It should be noted that gas stations are not the only businesses seizing opportunity under these conditions. Hotels/motels, grocery stores, drug stores, and hardware stores have also been known to do it.

I'm not wild about government intervention in the market unless supply has an overwhelming advantage over demand and, even then, only when the demand is for a necessity. I'm not sure government intervention in the market ever works, however, as the 1-800 hotline above illustrates, the threat of government intervention does.

Newsweek has a piece that touches on some of the concerns I cited in yesterday's post. They used the term "aggressive" to describe the rhetoric of the warnings issued, that included citizens facing "certain death", where I used the term panic-inducing. Citizens pay less attention to public officials when they think said officials are exaggerating. Unfortunately, in the case of hurricanes, no one, including the officials, knows if they're exaggerating or not until AFTER the event. Here's an idea. Show an actual image of the approaching storm. No radar graphs, no talking heads, and no overwrought headlines. Look at the image of Ike below taken from the International Space Station. More here if you like. The image below is worth at least a thousand words. It shows Ike for what he is and it does so without exaggerating or patronizing. Look at those two massive waves of water he's pushing. You live in a coastal area. Do you really want to hang around for that?

Quote of the Day

Daybreak today in Hurricane Ike's wake only revealed what Houston area power providers already knew -- the lights are out for roughly 5 million people, and getting the juice flowing again will be a painstaking process that could take weeks.

Lynn Cook and Kristen Hays, Houston Chronicle

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Let us know what the weather is like in your neighborhood."

Over 1300 comments to that query if you want to know what it's like in Houston today. -Rob

This from the National Weather Service this morning on Hurricane Ike:

Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single-family one- or two-story homes may face certain death.

I just don't think panic-inducing rhetoric like that is helpful. I don't think anyone is disputing that Ike is a serious storm. Just give the people the facts as you know them and update them regularly with any changes.

I have no words for today's QOTD.

Quote of the Day

In a disaster such as an earthquake or terrorist attack, nearly two-thirds of U.S. parents would disregard orders to evacuate and would rush to pick up their kids from school, according to a new survey.

Karen Matthews, Associated Press

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "It's amazing how quiet everything is already. The highways and roads are clean, the stores and restaurants are closed. Everyone is home and settled in for the storm."

Hurricane Ike begins to strengthen over Gulf
by NOLA.com
Tuesday September 09, 2008, 9:42 PM

Information from the National Weather Service

At 10 p.m., the center of Hurricane Ike was located near latitude 23.2 north, longitude 84.3 west, about 120 miles west of Havana, Cuba.

Ike is moving toward the west-northwest near 9 mph, and this general motion is expected to continue for the next day or two.

The above headline and first few lines are from the local newspaper website. It's 5:45AM as I type and that news is 8 hours old. As much as we'd like to say we live in a 24-hours-per-day-7-days-per-week news cycle world, do we really? This phenomenon is not restricted to local websites. I often go to bed at 11PM or so and wake up the next morning to many of the same headlines and stories at MSNBC.com that were there the night before. I thought CNN changed all of that.

Contrast the above to sports. When I was a kid, the box scores in the sports section from the baseball games on the west coast were always incomplete because the paper went to press at 8PM or 9PM local time and the games were still underway out there. Major improvement here. I can get scores, highlights, and post-game interviews of all of the late games now. ESPN did change all of that.

The thing I have trouble with here is that the games are over this morning (Giants 5 - Diamondbacks 4) and are really not that important. Hurricane Ike is still out there in the Gulf of Mexico, 8 hours further along in development and location, and news about him is important.

Quote of the Day

Matt Cassel gets to come in with one of the best teams. That's the way you make your debut in the NFL.

Phil Simms, CBS

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Brian questions Dan about the value of "free" in influencing behavior. Dan demonstrates that "free" is the Kryptonite that cripples our decision-making no matter how rational we think we are."

There were four AFC/NFC matchups yesterday. The NFC team was the visitor in all four and won three of the four, two of them against elite AFC teams Indy and San Diego. I think the two conferences are dead even now but the NFC is moving up.

Tom Brady's injury yesterday was ugly. I don't think it was a dirty hit. You play to the whistle. Brady still had the ball when he was hit. Everyone is reporting that he is gone for the season but the Pats haven't confirmed it. They're waiting for a scheduled MRI today to make an announcement. Whether the MRI confirms what everyone suspects or not, he is going to miss significant playing time. That changes everything for the Pats, for the AFC, and for the NFL.

Did you see former Tulane and current Bears RB Matt Forté last night against the Colts? That surprised no one in New Orleans or Baton Rouge. Last year, against Number One and eventual National Champion LSU, overmatched Tulane was kept in the game for 2-½ quarters by the running of Matt Forté. The Tigers defense, loaded with NFL prospects, couldn't get him down. He can play in the NFL.

The Saints-Bucs game yesterday was a lot of fun. It was a heart pounder that could have gone either way. It was expected. The teams and coaches know each other very well. Reggie Bush can be the difference maker against the "Tampa 2" defense that everyone is playing against the Saints. If the secondary is always going to play that deep, they need to get Bush in the secondary where he can do his thing.

The CrabAppleLane fantasy football teams both have a chance to win today. I think one game is in the bag. I don't see Ryan Grant outscoring Brandon Stokley tonight by 50 points. The other game will probably be closer. I have Jay Cutler, Darren McFadden, and the Vikes defense tonight and I need to make up 19 points. If I had played Chad Pennington instead of Cutler (That was my last minute move yesterday), I would have had 18 of those 19. Last minute moves are always bad.

Hurricane news: Some New Orleans residents are getting back just in time to leave. Evacuated for Gustav and might have to do the same for Ike. Talk about tiresome.

Quote of the Day

I know it is just the first week of the season, but that was a hell of a test for us. We've got a lot of things to clean up, but I'm proud of the effort. It's a good win. It's a real good win.

Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Talk about a bust, Jason Taylor had better moves on a show I am not admitting I watched this summer."