Could this be the year of the Cardinals? You know, the football team?

I am a fan of Arizona sports teams. In particular, I like the NBA Suns and NFL Cardinals. The Suns have had a lot of success over the years, although until last year, they had a long drought (desert analogy intentional). But the Cardinals, oh my. They have been one of the most consistently worst teams in NFL history. From their origins as the Chicago Cardinals to the St. Louis Cardinals to the Phoenix Cardinals and now Arizona Cardinals, they just have stunk it up. But this year, they brought on Kurt Warner. Their new coach, Dennis Green (former Vikings coach) was bringing a new attitude. Finally, the Cardinals could be making a run for it. So here they are at the beginning of the season 0-3. Another year down the drain.

For years Phoenix had been starved for NFL football. When they got the Cardinals, they were ecstatic, until they saw exactly what they were inheriting . . .a perennial loser. The irony is, had they waited a few more years, they could have gotten the relocating Houston Oilers or Los Angeles Rams. The Oilers became the Tennessee Titans and have done very well. The Rams of course moved to St. Louis and beat the Titans in the Super Bowl and have had a very successful time of it in St. Louis.

In their first two years in Phoenix, I was a season ticket holder. Very hard to get tickets at first. By the end of their first season, very easy. During their second year. . . very, very easy. In fact, one day I went to a game when they were playing the Redskins. Someone just simply handed me a ticket in the club box section, where you get free drinks and snacks and have people waiting on you. Needless to say, I didn't make any money reselling my end zone tickets that season.

Bush actually fires someone.

For those calling for FEMA Director Michael Brown's head, I was about ready to tell people, "Calm down people, Bush never fires anyone." Then, lo and behold, Bush "reassigns" Brown(ie). That was a very good move, I just never dreamed Bush would actually do it, despite all the pressure to do so.

Could Bush actually survive this whole mess? He could, and here's how. If the death toll in New Orleans is far lower than speculated, then that will actually take off a lot of pressure. The mayor of New Orleans has said that the death toll could be as high as 10,000. A total of 25,000 body bags have been ordered. But so far, in an initial sweep of the city, not many bodies have been found yet. I predict that they will find fewer than 500 bodies.

Now, I don't think this absolves Bush from the horrendous federal response to the disaster. There was still an immense amount of suffering. But, with people expecting thousands and thousands to be dead, the fact that the number may only be hundreds, there could be a feeling of "Oh, it wasn't that bad." An unfortunate response, I agree, but probably the reality of the situation. If the death toll is much lower than anticipated, thus averting the catastrophic label that's already been attached, then Bush will make it through, scarred, but will still make it through. In the meantime, the cycle of bad news is probably played out. Americans like happy endings, so now the news will shift to those "Oprah" and "Dr. Phil" moments that detail stories of courage and heroism. In addition, this weekend is the fourth anniversary of 9/11, which will take up a lot of the news. So, oddly enough, what started out as the worst natural disaster in history, may actually start disappearing from the news.

Hurricane Katrina

As with many others, I've been glued to the t.v. watching the coverage of the hurricane and it's aftermath. Have also been keeping up with the increasingly ugly finger pointing. My take on this? Okay, I'm a die-hard Republican and voted for Bush twice. But the bottom line is, the response to this crisis was absolutely pathetic. There is no excuse for the delay in getting help to those in New Orleans. That isn't supposed to happen in America, but it did. There is plenty of blame to go around. The mayor of New Orleans and Governor of Louisiana did plenty wrong. But at the federal level, it was a disaster of epic proportions. Bush blew it, plain and simple. He can say whatever he wants, but as President, people look to him. He should have been home from the ranch and been seen taking charge (and not talking about how sad it was that poor Trent Lott's house was destroyed). But he didn't. We should not have these images of people crowded into the Superdome with no food or water. Or dropped along a highway with nowhere to go. It wasn't racist. Bush didn't purposely ignore black people. But there was a seeming indifference to what was going on and a complete misreading of the situation. This will haunt the remainder of the Bush presidency.

What is really frustrating is seeing what all we accomplished in a very short time frame once help did finally arrive. In about 1 or 2 days, thousands were evacuated, fed, and given shelter. The levees were being repaired, water was being pumped out. In other words, we had the capability. But for some inexplicable reason, we didn't use it.

Elonda, oh Y(wca) did you leave us?

We had a going away reception for Elonda yesterday at IU South Bend. She had been here 15 years in various capacities. She was the last surviving member of the department I first worked for when I arrived 12 years ago. Unfortunately, she got caught in some recent budget cuts and her position was eliminated. However, Elonda is going to bigger and better things. She is off to the local YWCA, where she will be doing event planning. That truly is her strength and she was visibly excited about the new opportunity, while at the same expressing her appreciation of the wonderful years spent here. Things do work out, don't they?

I'm sure when first given the news she was being laid off, things looked bleak for her, but now she's standing tall and ready to enter a new chapter in her life with a renewed vigor. We all wish her well.