Go away Gustav

The headline in tomorrow's The Town Talk says it all:

WHAT A MESS

Hurricane Gustav took aim at south Louisiana, and then took aim at me. The nerve!

Fortunately, he missed. I'm pleased to report that there is very little damage in the McCormick household. Other than some limbs and minor flooding in the backyard, as well as the loss of my precious Louisiana Tech flag, we're OK on Hill Street. No water in the house. No loss of power. No major damage.

I can truly tell you I am very thankful to make it through this one. Now, go away Gustav. And keep your cousin Ike away, too!

Not everyone was so lucky. While Alexandria seems in good shape, much of Pineville remains without power. Avoyelles and LaSalle parishes also were hit very hard, and Gustav has been blamed for two deaths in the area. Hundreds of thousands of people in Central Louisiana still have no power, and some could be without it for a substantial period of time.

Elizabeth and I are very, very lucky that we received little damage. I joked on my Facebook that "Gustav lacked a lot of its Gusto." Seriously, the storm was massive, drenching Rapides Parish with nearly eight inches of rain -- although that's nearly half of the estimated 15 inches.

Now that Gustav is leaving -- yes, I said "Getonouttahere!" -- let's begin the Ike watch and hope he stays away from the Gulf of Mexico. I don't think I'm ready to go through this again!

Another update

It's about 2 a.m.



Had a chance to run home during a break in the storm about two hours ago and everything checked out fine at the house. Lots of water in the road and at the start of our driveway, as well as in the backyard. Lots of limbs down in the backyard, but the house is fine. No flooding, no limbs on the roof. Electricity was on. We seemed to be in good shape. That's a relief.



Elizabeth and I have about four more hours left on our 12-hour shift today. There are several people spending the night here at The Town Talk, but it seems as if the McCormicks are the only ones still on duty at the moment. Elizabeth is "feeding the Web site," as our boss likes to say, and I'm listening to the scanner in case anything major happens.



What an exciting life we lead!!!

FYI -- we're OK

Just to let everyone know, we're doing just fine. Elizabeth and I are in the middle of our 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift at The Town Talk offices, and right now I'm watching a buddy of mine play PS3. He's technically on duty right now, but is also spending the night and will work in the middle, when we are supposedly putting out a special section because of Hurricane Gustav.

We haven't had a chance to go home and check on any damage, although we've heard unconfirmed rumors that the Garden District was hit hard. More importantly, we are safe and sound. I'll let you guys know more information when it's available.

I'm proud to be a Bulldog!

In the famous words of Dave Nitz, "Ya gotta love it!"

Nitz, the legendary voice of the Bulldogs, has called Louisiana Tech football games for 34 years. He's been at the mic for many of Tech's biggest games ever. I don't know for sure where Saturday's game fits in historically, but man what a big win!

My Bulldogs, for the first time in school history, welcomed an SEC team into Ruston. And for the first time since knocking off SEC champion Alabama in 1999, Tech came away the victor.

There have been a few big games in Ruston over the years -- namely welcoming defending national champion Miami in 2003, as well as upsetting Oklahoma State the year before, and playing Tech's first ever WAC game against SMU in 2001. In recent years, all of Tech's biggest home games have taken place at Independence Stadium, about an hour west of campus.

But not this one. This game took place in Ruston. At Joe Aillet Stadium. On that beautiful new turf.

I can't harp too much on the crowd, which was a disappointing 25,000+. Hey, I wasn't there, so who am I to complain that others didn't show up? I certainly am sorry I missed out on one of the biggest wins in school history. And I'm saddened we couldn't get the first sellout in Aillet Stadium history.

But right now, all that matters is Louisiana Tech is 1-0, boasting a victory over an SEC school. And an SEC school that was supposed to be up-and-coming, after making a bowl game last season.

It wasn't the greatest debut for Taylor Bennett, who was sluggish early and often. Bennett, a transfer from Georgia Tech, did enough to get the win, helping the Bulldogs rally from a 14-3 deficit late in the first half and to a 22-14 win. That's the most surprising thing to me in the upset. Tech outscored Miss. State 19-0 over the final 33 minutes of the game. Pitched a shutout in the second half. Amazing.

Great job Bulldogs. I am so proud of you guys and happy to be a Tech alum right now. We all wanted to believe that Derek Dooley was doing things the right way and taking this program in the right direction. This is proof that our faith in the man isn't without merit.

Now all we need is an encore. Next up for the Bulldogs is a trip to nationally-ranked Kansas in two weeks. A win there really would serve notice to the nation that this group of Tech Bulldogs is here to play!