Some Alabama fans stayed home Saturday night to give at least 300 refugees from Hurricane Katrina a chance to see a Crimson Tide football game.

For the past several days Alabama fans have been dropping off their tickets to Saturday night's Middle Tennessee-Alabama game at a Red Cross shelter at the university's recreation center, which has been home to about 500 refugees.

"This will give them four or five hours to get their minds off what they've been doing and keep them from thinking about where their relatives are," said Pat Plott, a Red Cross volunteer at the shelter who helped organize the ticket drive.

Raydell Hayes, who works at The Court of Two Sisters Restaurant in the French Quarter in New Orleans, said he doesn't know when he and his family will be able to return home or when he will be able to return to work. Thanks to the free tickets, he was able to take his three stepsons and 11-year-old twin daughters to the game.

"This is monumental. It takes your mind away from what's going on," said Hayes, a New Orleans Saints' fan and former high school and college football player. He said the gift of the football tickets is made even more special because he knows how much Alabama fans love the Crimson Tide.

As the kickoff approached Saturday, some volunteers at the shelter were teaching the refugees, many fans of rival LSU, to say "Roll Tide," the official rallying cry of the Crimson Tide.

"I know all about 'Roll Tide,'" Hayes said. "When Alabama plays LSU, the fans come to the French Quarter and pretty much what you hear is 'Roll Tide.'"

After getting the tickets, most of the refugees walked the mile or so from the shelter on the outskirts of campus to Bryant-Denny Stadium. During the walk they got a good induction to Alabama football as they mingled with thousands of Crimson Tide fans in the carnival-like atmosphere that takes over the campus for games. More>>>

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posted by ADMIN @ Sunday, September 04, 2005