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What it Means, to Miss New Orleans
Published: 8/2/2007 11:07 AM
Last Modified: 8/2/2007 11:07 AM

The first trip my wife and I took together 23 years ago was to New Orleans.
We've been back a dozen or more times. We love the food, music and people.
I don't think there is more unique city in the country than New Orleans.
So, I was a little apprehensive going back to New Orleans this week for the Conference USA football media days.
Nearly two years after Hurricane Katrina wiped out New Orleans, the city is still struggling to get back. They say only about half of the pre-hurricane population has returned.
A hotel employee said business in the French Quarter is about one-third of what it was before the hurricane.
And, after a short tour north and east of the French Quarter, there are parts of this city that look like a nuclear holocaust happened.
Still, people cook, eat, play music and have fun down in the quarter like they've done for several centuries. It is still a fun place to go.
But there is a different feel to the city. There seems to be some sadness that New Orleans may never fully recover.
Perhaps. But that would be a shame if New Orleans never recovers to be one of the most unique and interesting cities in the world.
Yes, it is below sea level and another flood is not only possible but almost a certainty. And, yes, the murder rate is out of control - the 110th of the year happened near the French Quarter while we were there earlier in the week.
But here's hoping and praying that New Orleans can return to the city of fun and smiles someday soon.



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Klein's Korner

Tulsa World senior sports columnist John Klein is in his fourth decade of covering sports. He started his newspaper career at The Daily Ardmoreite in 1977 and moved to the Tulsa World in 1978. He served 10 years as sports editor for the Tulsa World before being named to his current position in 2005. He also spent five years as the Southwest Conference beat writer for the Houston Post. He has won many writing awards and is a former Oklahoma Sports Writer of the Year.

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