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In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Tulane football team endured a long and grueling season filled with weekly trips to different stadiums, a semester living in a condemned dorm rooms, and the horror of knowing that players’ families lost much or all that they owned.

This book follows the Tulane University football team, New Orleans’ own college football team, through the 2005 season after Hurricane Katrina slammed into their home and sent the team packing for the entire fall. The book begins just a few hours before the hurricane makes shore as the football team loads chartered buses and pulls out of New Orleans. The Green Wave football team, along with some extra passengers, eventually end up in Dallas, TX, hosted by Southern Methodist University. It is there that Coach Chris Scelfo and his staff, along with the team, make the gut wrenching decision to proceed with the season.

The book delves into the lives of many of the young men on the team and their families. Once such person was Tulane linebacker Brandon Spincer. Tragically, Spincer, a young man from New Orleans, who wanted help rebuild New Orleans and work with disadvantaged kids was murdered during the fall of 2006.

The book also gave a glimpse into the plight in which so many New Orleanians suffered in the aftermath of Katrina. Even the Tulane coaching staffs were not immune to Katrina’s destruction. And, of course, the Tulane University campus was severely damaged.

The toll of living from a broken down dorm in another town, dealing with the loss of so much, and the stress of the entire situation turned an otherwise promising season into a disappointment. Indeed, it seemed as if the team was relieved that the season was over instead of preparing for a bowl game. Getting back to normalcy became the goal, but the goal was a very implausible one. The 2006 season also suffered from the events of 2005, and Tulane did not fair any better on the field. In the end, the University decided to part ways with Coach Scelfo.

Check your local bookstore, or your local Borders, for a copy of Fourth and New Orleans: How Tulane Football Survived the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by Benjamin Hochman and Coach Chris Scelfo.