I have always equated Labor Day with a number of sports milestones. The start of the NFL and college football seasons are upcoming. 50% correct there, as the NFL starts on Thursday night. However, college football began BEFORE Labor Day with nearly every FCS & FBS team in action; a number of D-III teams joined in, too. Baseball's stretch run is in earnest--plus waiver transactions have been consummated and the number of players eligible to be in the dugout and play swell to as many as 40 on September 1. With the latter, it is sort of odd that players who may not make the 25 man playoff roster can become instrumental in a team making the playoffs via a catch, hit or stolen base--but that is an idiosyncrasy of baseball's rules. And of course, the US Open enters its final week at Flushing Meadow, the final of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments.
We in the Northeast, along with most of the continental U.S., can watch this cornucopia of sport unfold, whether by attending an event or sitting in the comfort of our dens, living rooms or sports bars. From Friday night's Red Sox-Yankees tilt and college games on Monday along with lots of tennis and baseball, fans appetite's will be satiated--from the events and the sheer tonnage of food devoured.
I can easily surmise that a majority of people in South Texas are not that interested in sports or even a Labor Day BBQ at this point. So, so many people have been displaced--well over 40,000--and the damage is way into the billions of dollars. Hundreds of thousands are without power. Roadways and neighborhoods remain under water--some areas may not see relief until 3-4 weeks after Hurricane Harvey came ashore along with its torrential rains. Lives, homes and businesses are forever lost or irreparably destroyed. While George H.W. Bush International Airport has reopened, getting around South Texas is nightmarish.
When we think of catastrophic hurricanes, Katrina and Andrew immediately come to mind. Plus we New Jerseyans remember all too well our bout with the Superstorm called Sandy. The day Hurricane Harvey invaded Texas with its ferocity was also one day after the 12th anniversary for Katrina making landfall; Andrew had a time overlap with these two storms. Sandy came to New Jersey late in October 2012.
What Katrina did to New Orleans was beyond devastating, if such was possible. The death toll was enormous; the damage to the psyche and the infrastructure of the Crescent City was nearly unfathomable. The pictures of the way the winds ripped apart the Superdome and created significant leaks to inundate those who hunkered down inside with nowhere else to go are forever etched in our minds.New Orleans still has staggering scars from the wrath of Katrina.
Andrew blew down so much of South Florida. Homestead was virtually wiped off the map, as Andrew"s Category 4 winds wreaked havoc over the marshland. Sandy disabled the biggest area in the Northeast--it stopped mass transit and left countless people in the dark. The image of the roller coaster at Seaside Heights now surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean is still very painful.
All different types of storms in their own, distinct ways. But Harvey stands out differently from the others because of the record amount of rainfall that ensued once it made land. New Orleans had massive flooding. Texas will have the reminders of Harvey's flooding long after the hurricane is a historical footnote.
Many images have come from the days the news focused exclusively on Harvey's aftermath. Door-to-door searches; Coast Guard helicopters placing all sorts of families and pets into baskets to be hoisted to safety. People, wet and shocked, wading through waist high water on streets which were and still are impassable and interstate highways flooded out in multiple locations. Trillions of gallons of water falling in a short span can so ravage a region.
Despite the renewed political infighting among New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Texas politicians relating to the denial of help for Sandy victims over the content of the relief bills, there has been a large outpouring of help to Texas. Different in some ways from Katrina in that foreign countries are not jumping aboard to offer assistance without hesitation, the nation and the nearby states have come to rescue and to start the recovery from Harvey. The Cajun Navy and its armada of small craft was invaluable in backing up overwhelmed first responders and the level of donations to charities to assist Texans in need after Harvey has been nearly miraculous.
J.J. Watt, star defensive lineman for the Houston Texans, has been a focal point for helping South Texans. Merely by starting a charitable endeavor by making his own donation to aid those who needed help, people everywhere have embraced his efforts and have contributed over $17 million in aid and now he has set a goal of $20 million. He and his fellow Texans, sequestered outside of Dallas when the storm arrived, have returned to the area to help. While football is certainly king in Texas, the generosity and thoughtfulness of a Wisconsin transplant has offered hope to some very downtrodden people.
As a direct result of Hurricane Harvey, MLB's Houston Astros were forced to play a series against the Texas Rangers in St. Petersburg, Florida, in the home of the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rangers would not agree to a swap of series dates, citing the problems it would create to its season ticket holders on two days notice and that the Rangers would then be forced to play a large number of road contests near the end of September. Houston won only 1 of the 3 games, with their collective minds elsewhere as they, among others living in South Texas, had felt the torment of the weather--and they could not get home to assist or to tend to personal belongings.
The Astros and MLB decided it was safe enough and prudent to have the series with the New York Mets be held where it was supposed to be played--at Houston's relatively unscathed Minute Maid Park. The Friday night game was postponed and a day-night doubleheader was played on Saturday. Houston won both tilts on Saturday and again on Sunday. (in an ironic twist from Game 1, the Mets' pitcher, Matt Harvey, took rather than gave the punishment--an omen?) One of the reasons to return home for this series was that the Astros would be on a continuous road trip--they have 9 upcoming road contests--so that they could have been away from home from August 25 to September 15. Management couched this decision to come back to Houston while the region was licking its wounds and picking up the pieces terms of baseball--they are in the business of trying to win the World Series.
That the Astros are serious contenders became more evident at the waiver trade deadline. First, the Astros swooped up outfielder Curtis Maybin, when Detroit's trade of Justin Upton to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim made the reliable Maybin expendable. Additionally, the Astros landed coveted pitcher Justin Verlander, the 34 year old ace of the Detroit Tigers staff, who has a 183-114 career record but no World Series rings. Verlander's waiving his no trade clause to head to Houston underscored his burning desire to win now--something not in the immediate future in Detroit. The trade helps Detroit as the Tigers start to rebuild, so while it may appear to be selfish on the part of Verlander to leave Detroit, he may have willingly helped the Tigers become viable more quickly.
While the crowds at Minute Maid Park were small and the Astros did the politically correct things to honor and respect those who helped others during the disaster, the homecoming was distinctly a business decision. Perhaps the Astros could have made use of the space inside the park to house those afflicted by Harvey and who could have stayed in the area instead of being airlifted to Dallas and north as the Texans did with NRG Stadium, but there was very little criticism. Besides, MLB and the MLBPA jointly donated $1 million towards Houston relief and the Astros' owner has pledged $4 million.
The NBA's Rockets showed their charitable side, with a $1 million donation from star guard James Harden and $10 million coming from billionaire owner Les Alexander. Jerry Jones held a 90 minute telethon in Dallas and raise $2 million. Individual NFL owners including the New York Jets have made $1 million donations.
A game between BYU and LSU set for NRG Stadium migrated to Baton Rouge. Rice University's football team traveled to Australia to be walloped by Stanford. Instead of going back to campus, they had been bivouacked in Fort Worth at the campus of Texas Christina University until September 1st. The Houston Cougars went to Austin, Texas where they were welcomed by their former head coach, Tom Herman,who is now the head coach of the University of Texas Longhorns.
College team have been wearing decals showing support for Houston. Baylor University hosted the season opener for Sam Houston State and Richmond, plus gave free admission and meals to Harvey evacuees for its own game versus Liberty; Baylor has also sent food and water to Houston. Southern Methodist, North Texas and other Texas schools have also provided necessities.
South Texas has a long road ahead in its recovery from this force of nature punishing the land and its inhabitants. Just like those affected by the pounding given by Katrina, Andrew and Sandy, Texans are resilient. They really have no choice.The property loss is projected to surpass the $160 billion that arose from Katrina. Many people did not have flood insurance.
Given the affection for their teams and, of course, the religion known as "Friday Night Lights," referring to high school football, sports may be a beneficial outlet for the residents of the storm-torn region. How can I not root a little bit more for J.J. Watt to sack a quarterback in lieu of what he has started? Will the Astros help to rekindle the South Texas area by heading to the World Series, as the New York Yankees buoyed the New York area after 9/11? Won't I be watching for the Rice Owls to win some games and for the University of Houston to have a nice season despite the adversity?
In the morality play that is part of mankind, Texas sports has the heart of the community--in both body and soul. #Houston Strong. #Houston Flood Relief Fund.
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