walks with graff

Pelicans.com

Todd Graffagnini, the radio play-by-play announcer for the New Orleans Pelicans, is a walker. You can find Graff pounding the pavement somewhere around this great city almost every day. During this pause in games we've asked the New Orleans native to let fans tag along and learn about the routes he takes and some of the city's sports history.

Greetings again everyone. For the last seven weeks, we have traveled around the New Orleans area during our time of quarantine with the hope that all of you would try to get out there and get in a walk or a jog (or 18 holes of golf) and get some exercise. As Phase 1 is finally upon us, and slowly things are progressing forward as far as businesses opening and people getting out of their houses, it's time for one last time on the pavement, and I think we definitely saved the best for last.

Full disclosure, my idea for the final column hit me last Tuesday night. I was watching TV (shocker) when my wife tossed a big manila envelope on my chest announcing that I received a package. Well, I hadn't ordered anything online, so naturally I was confused. After opening it, much to my delight, it was my 2020 Allstate Sugar Bowl Crescent City Classic goodie bag complete with a T-shirt, medal, and official race number. Of course, the 10K (6.2 miles) race, a New Orleans staple since 1979, scheduled for April 11, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time in my life, I was going to participate in the festivities along with some of my colleagues. Obviously, that didn't happen. Then I figured, why not walk the exact route that hundreds of thousands have run or walked the last couple decades? It would be a perfect way to end this series and give a tribute to the race itself, which is such an important part of this community.

The route itself begins in front of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Poydras Street and heads straight toward the Mississippi River. Then take a left on Convention Center Boulevard and head toward Canal Street. When you reach Canal, then it's left for a couple of blocks to North Peters, then right, and into the French Quarter.

Eric Stuart is from New York, ran track at LSU, and never went back to New York. He has been the race director for the Crescent City Classic for eight years. Obviously, this spring has presented many challenges in the world of road racing, and in New Orleans that has been no exception. The unfortunate process of cancelling the race, which is always on the day before Easter, had been in motion a month before.

"The process was on March 15 we had the St. Patrick's Day Run, right before the St. Patrick's parade in Metairie. I had all intentions of running that, and things in New Orleans started shutting down with all the stuff that was supposed to go on there, and I did not think Cynthia Lee Sheng (Jefferson Parish President) was going to cancel the Metairie festivities, but she did," Stuart said. "So I had to scramble and cancel the St. Patrick's Day Classic, which brought me to the realization that I really should start thinking about this. Even though the Classic was a month out, I went to Homeland Security, I went to New Orleans EMS, I went to New Orleans Heath Services, and NOPD and started asking what my chances were of pulling off the Classic on the (April) 11, and they said I'd be very cautious about it.

"So we made the decision to go virtual. We said let's not play around with this thing. The whole deal was the Classic didn't stop for Katrina. It hasn't really stopped for anything in 42 years and we wanted to be able to give people who have been training since November ... from the 20-25 year Classic participant, October-November qualifier or the average walker, they were getting ready for the Classic and we thought we have at least got to give these people some kind of avenue to be able to go out there and do some sort of competition. We're the fourth biggest 10K in the United States, let's see if we can implement this thing for a large 10K. I can tell you it was an effort to be able to put it on."

Head down North Peters, merge onto Decatur and now the full spectrum of the Quarter dominates the route. Jax Brewery on your right, Jackson Square on your left, a little further Cafe Du Monde and the French Market on your right. The only positive about doing this now is the car traffic was very light to non-existent throughout the route and I was able to stay on the street pretty much the entire time. All the way down Decatur till you come to Esplanade Avenue and veer to the left. Now comes the longest, straightest part of the route, as you will walk the entire length of Esplanade till you cross Bayou St. John and take a left on Wisner.

Walking Esplanade and nearing the bayou got me to thinking about the original route of the Classic when it would finish in Audubon Park after the famous curve on Prytania. Stuart talked about that original route, which after the race was completed led to the almost as famous after party in the park.

'The route changed in 1996 to be exact. Here's the deal. Easter weekend is always Classic weekend, and we're one of the few road races in the United States to do that and it just so happened that the Audubon Zoo's biggest weekend now is Easter weekend. It wasn't back in '79 when this thing started. It became an economic thing. So when we bought the race in 2012 we approached Ron (Forman) and said would you be willing to let us go back in and we started naming prices per runner which were really outrageous to be able to get back on that route.

"It was absolutely incredible. The Fly was covered with people. That's when the race drew 30,000-35,000. There were 70,000 people on that Fly at one time, friends and family plus runners. I ran track at LSU and I graduated around the time the Classic was starting. We would come down and that Prytania route right before we moved into the park, it was iconic. I loved it. You could tell, you know, we're close, we're gonna get in that top 500 or whatever we were trying to do back then but that's why we can't go there. But I do love where the finish is now. It's universally accepted. We tweaked it twice now to get it to end where it does. I mean it's a really great route. Going through the French Quarter, going up Esplanade Avenue, it's absolutely beautiful. It's well-paved now, there's no potholes anymore. It's a very good course and that's why we get the elite field that we normally get to come in because they know they can run fast as hell."

Taking that left onto Wisner Boulevard with the New Orleans Museum of Art in view gives you that exact feeling as you know now you only have a little over a mile to go. Veering right onto City Park Avenue it's another half-mile till the right turn into the park on Anseman Avenue. Then over the bridge and to the left and around the loop. Homestretch time. Storyland will be on your left as you head to NOMA. The one final right turn at the train tracks and around Collins Diboll Circle to the front of the museum. Finished!! I have to say I was very pleased with my pace. My goal was to finish in the 14 minute to 14:15 minute per mile range and I ended up at 13:47 to compete the 10K in 1:25:29. I held my CCC medal with pride in front of NOMA.

To me, the best part of the route is that it combines my walking throughout the city (which I have been able to bring you along some) into one. I'm proud to say that at one point or another I have walked every inch of that route, other than one little stretch on Esplanade, just not all at one time. Now I have, and I really look forward to next year when I will definitely be a Classic participant again. This time, hopefully, with thousands with me on Easter 2021 weekend.

So that will do it for Walks with Graff. I just wanted to let everyone know I really enjoyed doing this and bringing everyone along for the ride so to speak. Continue to keep staying safe, taking care of each other and one day we will all be back at the Smoothie King Center or the Mercedes-Benz Superdome watching and cheering for our favorite teams. Thank you New Orleans!

walks-with-graff-the-crescent-city-classic

Walks with Graff: the Crescent City Classic

Todd Graffagnini, the radio play-by-play man for the New Orleans Pelicans, is a walker. You can find Graff pounding the pavement somewhere around this great city almost every day. During this pause in games we've asked the New Orleans native to let fans tag along and learn about the routes he takes and some of the city's sports history.

Hello again, fellow walkers. Time for another edition of Walks with Graff. Hope you are all continuing to stay safe as we inch closer to being able to get out of the house more and more. As we head into mid-May, it really has been a stretch of some of the best weather we've had around here in a while, and judging from the feedback from this column and the people I see out and about walking and jogging a lot of you are certainly taking advantage of it. This walk was certainly no exception as I headed out to Metairie and the BIG loop at LaSalle Park. It's a walk/jog that draws people from the area, and I know for a fact that many a Saints/Pelican employee has gotten their exercise in over lunch breaks around that loop. Located just off Airline Drive and Dickory, it's easy to get to as well.

This walk is pretty straightforward, unlike the other ones that have been featured here over the last six weeks. It's three laps (or however many you choose) around the park. One lap around the BIG loop (more on that later) is 1.75 miles, but if you want to keep it just to the park itself it's about a mile. Parking is very ample wherever you want to begin your lap. I like to park in the spaces nearest the train tracks in the southeast corner of the park itself. True to my usual form, I head counter-clockwise around, but again, that is up to you.

Heading west toward Dickory, the first part of the excursion takes you through the Oswald Dubea Arboreum and Nature Center. There are actually two trails that cut through the middle of the park if you want to veer off the main track. In this instance, we'll stay on the wide path. The many trees provide ample shade even though the day is pretty mild, but that shade will come in handy when the weather really heats up. As the curve approaches toward Dickory Avenue, the gorgeous baseball quadriplex will be on your right. The outfields were being watered this particular day but obviously nobody was or has been playing baseball out here for two months.

After that initial right turn around the baseball complex the direction will be east (today it was into a stiff breeze) and Airline Drive will be on the left and parallel to the loop. As the cars race by in both directions, the mind wanders as to how much this area has changed over the years. As you approach the big crossover with the Jefferson Performing Arts Center on your immediate right and The Shrine on Airline now in full view up ahead to the right.

The Shrine on Airline (formerly Zephyr Field) was completed in 1997 at a cost of $26 million. It has hosted numerous sporting events and was even a FEMA rescue facility post-Katrina, but baseball was why it was originally built and where the greatest moments in that building have originated from. The permanent home of the New Orleans Zephyrs (after moving from UNO's Maestri Field), then most recently the New Orleans Baby Cakes, it now is the home field of the New Orleans Gold major league rugby team. The loop will take you beyond the left field wall and "levee" and you can look into the stadium.

I'll get to my own personal Shrine on Airline story later on in the column but I wanted to get the thoughts of Tim Grubbs, who has been the radio play-by-play voice of the Zephyrs/Baby Cakes since 2002. Tim made the move to Wichita, Kan., when the team left after last season, but he's witnessed as many games in that ballpark as anyone. Some big names have also either called that ballpark home, or have made a visit with their particular teams. He recalls some of those players.

"It's crazy, but the list of opponents that have come through far outweighs the Zephyrs over the years as far as the best players I have seen. Guys like Yadier Molina, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Ryan Braun, Mark Prior, Alex Gordon, George Springer, Prince Fielder, Johan Santana, and Buster Posey just to name a few. In fact, Buster Posey and Kris Bryant both played their last minor league games at Zephyr Field. They both got called up after a game there, I always thought that was kind of neat, especially how in both of their careers they have gone on to do very well."

I also asked Tim what his most fond memory was of the ballpark. The answer is something locals might not have remembered.

"The best memory for me, the top of the list, is April 2006. It was the first game after Katrina. The Saints obviously had not played there (New Orleans) yet. The Hornets were still in Oklahoma City. That was the first professional sporting event played in the city. Back in September 2005 I was thinking we'd be a nomad team playing 144 games in 2006. It was pretty cool that Ron Maestri and those guys got the ballpark ready...and when we threw that first pitch out, there were 9,000 or so people there. We couldn't have completely sold it out because there was still scaffolding in the upper deck. That without a doubt is my favorite memory, because it was such a great day after such an odd offseason."

Coming up on another right turn now through another shady grove of trees, another familiar sight comes into the picture. Tom Benson Way, and the Oschner Sports Performance Center, the home of your New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans. Many thousands have come into the practice fields the last couple of summers to watch Saints training camp, a very popular location for the loyal and passionate fans of the team. We only hope that day comes again as soon as it is safe enough to do so.

One more turn to the right and we are headed back west to our starting point. Now the ballpark is on the right and the vastness of the parking spaces in full view. It was in these spaces where the greatest three days of college baseball in Louisiana took place from June 1-3, 2001. The Super Regional between Tulane and LSU was an event that transcended college baseball. It was a statewide showcase that, at the time, was the most watched sporting event in the state's history, and that parking lot was ground zero for three and a half days. Over 11,000 were inside the ballpark for each of the three games, but thousands more were outside in the parking lots watching on television or listening on the radio. That event was the crowning moment for the ballpark, never to be equaled, and it still makes me proud to this day to know I was part of it all.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this stroll down memory lane while getting in some good exercise. As always, stay safe, take care of each other, and we'll see you soon on the pavement.

walks-with-graff-lasalle-park

Walks with Graff: LaSalle Park

We established this point a little over a month ago when this column began.

I also love to play golf. Now what better way to spend a morning than to combine the two. Walking 18 holes is how golf is meant to be played. Now obviously it's not a feasible thing for everyone. If you are able though, give it a try. I think you'll find that it's a pretty rewarding experience. Just you, the course, the ball, and your thoughts. You might find yourself even playing better because it's easier to concentrate on the task at hand. Thankfully during the pandemic, golf courses for the most part have remained open in this area. So it's time to head out to your course of choice and tee it up.

For this walking round, I decided to head to Avondale and the home of the PGA Tour's Zurich Classic, TPC Louisiana. Hard to believe it, but the layout from legendary course architect Pete Dye is 16 years old, though it's never been in better shape. We'll get to some of the changes in a bit, but let's start the round.

The front nine is pretty straightforward. Playing from the blue tees brings its own challenges, but nothing where you would consider the course incredibly difficult. On the contrary, it is a very fair test of golf, despite it being a tour event host. The key of course is to keep the ball in the fairway and avoid the trouble that bounds the fairways, specifically tree lines. Playing with my buddy Jeffery Carreras (who rode a cart this day due to foot issues) we teed off at 9:20 a.m. without much wind and manageable temperatures for early May. As I headed down the first fairway with my push cart, I thought to myself how beautiful this place was, the true marriage of south Louisiana nature and sport.

Our host today is Luke Farabaugh, the general manager of TPC Louisiana. Unfortunately due to the health crisis, their showcase, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, scheduled for April 20-26, was cancelled. Tough news for a club and course that was prepared to unveil a new look for the professionals. He explained what the real pros were in store for and what us amateurs now get to enjoy on a daily basis.

"We closed for six months (for re-grassing) basically the day after the Tour event (in 2019), planned to re-open Nov. 1 and basically everything went as planned, close to budget, a little under budget The re-grassing process was essentially removing all the previous turf from fairways, around green complexes and the greens themselves, and then all the pot bunkers as well were also renovated. Old drains removed, new drains added, and new sand added.

"The greens went from MiniVerde to TifEagle greens, and the fairways went from TifSport to Celebration, a more aggressive turf grass, so there's a lot of positive performance as a result of that. The course is obviously in great shape and has been since we re-opened in November, so it is a little disappointing that we weren't able to host the Tour event this year. The weather was supportive as well, it would have been an amazing Zurich Classic for us."

Back to the round, if you can call it that at this point. I'm just kind of hitting it around with something desperately needed to jump-start this thing. Jeff is definitely outplaying me. I've already carded FOUR (yikes) double bogeys. Then on the short 312-yard par-four eighth hole, I got what I needed. This hole yields many options off the tee. I played it conservatively with a three wood. Hit the fairway leaving me with 103 yards to the pin. A wedge (my best of the day) to seven feet. The putt rolled straight and true and IN!! Birdie!! My spirits immediately rose only to have them sink again as my tee shot on the challenging par three 9th hole was one foot away from being spectacular, only to find the top of the 10-foot high grass wall bordering the left side of the green and into the lake below. Ugh. Maybe I can get more consistent on the back nine.

As I make the walk from the ninth green to the 10th tee (the longest walk on the course between holes) I realize that this is a very manageable walking course, Farabaugh said that on some Saturdays as many as 40 people will walk the TPC Louisiana. He also explained how all precautions have been taken to ensure guest safety.

"When COVID-19 was starting to get more prevalent in the area we changed the way we operated," Farabaugh said. "The biggest changes are allowing individuals to take their own golf carts. We've pretty much eliminated the direct interaction between a guest and an employee as well. The golf shop is closed, the grille is closed, everything is a to-go order, and we also have check in from the side, an old midway grille that we converted into like an auxiliary golf shop. We are trying to create that type positive experience where the customer felt they weren't going to be potentially infected by this disease if it was anywhere.

"We removed all furniture on site and everything that is still available is disinfected and sanitized multiple times a day. So while we are normally closed during the Zurich Classic, we were able to go off the cart path, normally cart path restricted leading up to the event, so we were open for two weeks. So our members and locals that are playing golf, and there are many of those, without question got the benefit of not having the Tour event being played and obviously the course is in great shape."

I agree with that assessment and as we make the head for home, I'm definitely playing much better than the front nine. I wind up parring three of the last six holes including 17 and 18. Hit a solid 6-iron to the green at the par three 17th and played the par-five 18th exactly as you should. Hit my approach 9-iron from 127 yards to about 10 feet. I'll show you the results of that putt with pictures. Sigh. Regardless, a good way to end the day, and even better was playing 18 holes in a smooth 3 hours and 20 minutes. Despite the 18th not lined down the fairway with the Champions Club and the huge grandstands behind the green, you walk off 18 with the feel of a professional golfer (just not the score) on a big-time course. It's that experience, Farabaugh said, that keeps golfers coming back.

"I would say not only because of our staffing and how committed we are to the golf course, it's going to be the best golf course experience they're going to have in the local market without question," Farabaugh said. "The golf course is going to be top-notch. Our staff is really committed and bought into what we're all about and that's producing a PGA Tour experience, not only for the Zurich Classic but 365 days a year."

So concludes another edition of Walks with Graff. As always, hope everyone out there is staying safe. Take care of yourselves and each other and get in a walk. Even if it happens to be on your favorite golf course.

P.S. The last two pics are of my approach at 18 on the green and the ensuing putt result. Thought that would be a nice touch to the story.

walks-with-graff-tpc-louisiana

Walks with Graff: TPC Louisiana

Greetings fellow walkers. I hope you are all continuing to stay safe and practice social distancing. Now it's time to take advantage of the great weather we've been having and get outside and get a nice walk (or run) in. This time our excursion will take us to the West Bank of New Orleans and the historic neighborhood of Algiers Point.

If you're wondering where Algiers Point is, it's basically where the Mississippi River ends the "crescent" around the city and makes a sharp turn due east. Not only will you enjoy walking through this quiet and beautiful neighborhood, but also you'll be treated to the best view of the city of New Orleans, hands down. So let's get going. As always, feel free to break off this route and start one of your own, but this should be a decent starting point.

I started this walk at the corner of Verret and Alix streets in front of the Holy Name of Mary Catholic Church. Head south down Verret toward the Crescent City Connection, which will come into view in a couple of blocks. Eventually, you'll come to Opelousas Avenue, the southern boundary of the neighborhood. Take a left onto Opelousas and enjoy the oak tree-lined view. I couldn't help but think how much this street reminded me of Esplanade Avenue, which of course, we traversed a week ago. Continue on Opelousas for about six blocks till you come to Atlantic Avenue. Hang another left and head toward the levee, which will be in view the entire way.

Walking up Atlantic took me back to playing baseball not very far from where I was at Skelly Rupp Stadium in my teens. It also made me think of some of the athletes that called the West Bank their home. From Reggie Wayne to Patrick Surtain, to present day Deion Jones and Landon Collins who played on the same football team at Norman Playground in Algiers, there is no shortage of stars who began their careers here. Another of those is Steve Barrios, who grew up in Gretna, and prepped at West Jefferson. Steve was a wide receiver at Tulane University and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2000. A part of Tulane football broadcasts for over 30 years now, Steve recalled some of those greats beginning with a certain Baseball Hall of Famer.

"My main playground was Knights Corner or Mel Ott Park, named after THE Mel Ott, who was born in Gretna, moved on to a fabulous pro career, inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1951," Barrios said. "If you look up his stats, it's really just incredible. Hit over 500 home runs and had a .304 lifetime batting average. So he's kind of, I think, the most famous person from the West Bank, even though in latter days a lot of guys have come from there that are really big names.

"Other guys that have come after me but guys that I really admired coming from the West Bank, one of them being Kordell Stewart, who went to John Ehret High School. He had a fabulous high school career even though he didn't play ball until his junior year. Then he went to the University of Colorado, had a great career there, then drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers where he became known as "The Slash." The first quarterback/wide receiver/running back, he gave fantasy football players fits because they didn't know if he was playing or what position he'd be."

Steve also gave an interesting take on how prep athletics and the talent has really blossomed in the last few decades. "When I came up there were only two high schools on the West Bank, that was West Jefferson and Berhman. All the smaller high schools had morphed into junior highs, and the junior highs morphed into West Jefferson, so that made West Jeff a powerhouse...but now the West Bank is just flooded with high schools. You have John Ehret, Edna Karr, O.P. Walker, Helen Cox. All of these schools they compete now and do quite well, so the athletic landscape has really changed tremendously. The West Bank still puts out a great number of high school athletes not only recruited locally but kids wind up going other places. It's simply because there's such a great crop of high school kids coming out on the West Bank every year."

When you get to the levee, you will have gone one mile. Now comes the best part. Take a quick right on Patterson Road and go about 50 yards to the paved entrance to the top of the levee (unless of course you want to run up it through the grass). The top is two lanes and paved the entire way. You have the option to go east or west, but, trust me, on your first time you'll want to head west toward the skyline of New Orleans. You'll be able to see St. Louis Cathedral directly in front of you with the river on your right. It's also interesting to hear the very high river lapping at the concrete levee just a few feet below.

From now through the end, just enjoy the view of the city, which you can almost reach out and touch. You'll come up on Algiers Point itself, then, as you veer south again, the Algiers Point Terminal, where you can take a ferry to the East Bank. Pass the Terminal, and you're greeted by a large statue of Louis Armstrong and the beginning of the Robert E. Nims Jazz Walk of Fame. Highlighted by French Quarter-style lamp posts and ample paving, the Walk honors great jazz musicians of yesteryear, apropos considering Algiers is the birthplace of Jazz. Continue heading this way toward the CCC.

The levee is paved so you can walk as far as you want to, but for distance sake I continued until I reached the bridge, then turned back around, with the river now on the left. This time when you reach the Terminal, veer to the right and head to street level parallel with the levee, which is Morgan Street. In a couple of hundred feet you'll pass a historic landmark for the second time, the Algiers Courthouse.

Homestretch time. Morgan Street becomes Patterson Road and you'll be going against traffic so head to the sidewalk. Head east a few more blocks till you see the sign for Verrett. Take a right and head back down Verrett till the original starting point at the Church. You're done!

Hope you all enjoyed this one as much as I did. As I mentioned with the Mid-City walk, the best compliment I can give it is that I'll do it again, very soon. You will certainly want to head back to enjoy those levee views that are second to none. If you want to just walk the levee for however many miles, you can do that too. We'll talk again soon. Stay safe everyone.

walks-with-graff-algiers-point

Walks with Graff: Algiers Point

Hello again everyone. I hope you are staying safe and taking care of each other wherever you may be. It's that time again to get back out in the fresh air and get a nice long walk in. This time our journey will take us through the Mid-City/City Park area of our fair city. The highest compliment I can give this walk is that I enjoyed it so much, I'm going to do it again very soon. Like today as a matter of fact. So let's get to it.

We'll start this particular walk on Gentilly Boulevard, directly across the street from one of most historic race tracks in the country, the Fair Grounds. Going back to 1838, it is the second oldest site of horse racing in America, and the tradition of Thanksgiving Day at the races is still celebrated by many a family every year. Of course. the Fair Grounds is also home to JazzFest, when for two weekends in late April and early May, the world descends on New Orleans to celebrate music, food and crafts. Take a right on Fortin Street and the grandstand/clubhouse will be on your right. You get a sense of how long the stretch run is for the horses at this track, notoriously one of the longest in racing. You also get the feeling of how important this piece of land is for the culture and the city of New Orleans.

Lenny Vangilder has been a part of the local sports scene for over three decades. Currently the vice president at Crescent City Sports, Lenny also was the publicity director for the Fair Grounds from 1998-2009. He discussed the significance of the Fair Grounds and horse racing locally.

"There's history showing racing going on at that site at Gentilly pre-dating the Civil War," Vangilder said. "Louisiana was one of the first states to actually have horse racing. It's a sport, it's an agribusiness that generates more than a billion dollars in the state of Louisiana annually. That's what's going on in the late fall and winter at the Fair Grounds. Then of course in a normal year when racing ends in late March there's a quick turnaround and then half a million people show up over two weekends time for JazzFest so obviously thats what a lot of people know the Fair Grounds for but it does have a major role the rest of the year. There's a lot of history in terms of the Fair Grounds name (dating back to 1872) and in terms of racing."

I asked Lenny if he could pinpoint the greatest race in the history of the track. It's not an easy question to answer.

"Wow. It's hard to say what defines 'greatest'. There have been a lot of historic moments there," Vangilder said. "In 1942 they actually created a race for Whirlaway (1941 Triple Crown winner) to run in, which became the Louisiana Handicap, which is still run to this day. There have been all kinds of great horses that have come through the Fair Grounds, especially in the last 20 years with Kentucky Derby winners like War Emblem and Funny Cide. There's so many good horses and there's so many high quality races that are run at the track every year it's hard to pin down one."

Time to take a left on Mystery Street and then an immediate right on to Esplanade Avenue, one of the signature streets in our city. Oak trees, and beautiful homes dominate the scene, so make sure you take it all in. You'll pass historic St. Louis Cemetery No. 3 on your right as you head over Bayou St. John and Wisner Boulevard and the entrance into City Park. It really is amazing how this area has transformed over the last few years with the amount of walking paths, gardens, and new facilities that are now in existence. Along with the natural beauty that has always been here, City Park has now become a destination when just as recently as 10 years ago, an area heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina, it was not.

Head straight toward the New Orleans Museum of Art. and veer around Collins Diboll Circle toward Franklin D. Roosevelt Mall. On your right another gem, the newly constructed Louisiana Children's Museum, which unfortunately right now is closed. Keep going west down the Mall heading toward Marconi Drive. As you walk around Beau Bassich Circle and head back east on the Mall on your right will be another historic venue. Tad Gormley Stadium is the holy grail for high school football in this city, having hosted some of the most heralded matchups and huge crowds going back to the late 1930s.

The horseshoe stadium not only boasts football and soccer as a host, but a U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in 1992, a Lollapalooza in 1996, and even The Beatles played the venue in 1964. Vangilder is very familiar with Tad Gormley also, as he ran the press box during the Trials...not only a great 10 days for the stadium, but for the city itself, which was a huge underdog to even host the event.

"The backstory of the Trials is truly fascinating. How they (Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation) ended up getting it was a massive upset. The world of track and field is closed in in that you end up going to the same places more times than not, places that are really all about track and field," Vangilder said. "Once New Orleans was awarded the Trials then they had a short period of time to go out and raise the money to needed to renovate Tad Gormley. What that event did was everything went from wooden to metal bleachers, a cinder to all-weather track, and you had tents that rang the top of the stadium bowl that served as corporate suites.

"Of all of the vernacular that we use in the world of sports, there is maybe no more magic than the word 'Olympic'. Had this just been the National Championships in track and field in a non-Olympic year coming to New Orleans, it wouldn't have had an impact. You had some really interesting stories that would play themselves out over the course of those 10 days. New Orleans had never been a track town up until then but what it showed you more than anything else was that it didn't have to be a mainstream event to make people come out and witness what was truly a spectacular event of athletics.

"The great part about it is now we're 28 years removed and we've still got a renovated Gormley out there and had that not happened who knows what Tad Gormley would be at this point."

Now we're into the second half but this walk continues to impress, as you exit the Mall take a right onto Victory Drive and head past the New Orleans Botanical Gardens and Storyland. Cross over to the other side of the road with City Putt on your right and head back toward the museum entrance again. Now cross the Bayou for a second time on Wisner.

This time, instead of heading back on Esplanade, veer to the right at the Shell station and head down Moss Street and walk along the Bayou. Cabrini High School will be on your left and the refurbished Magnolia Bridge (which you can cross now) on your right. Keep heading straight till you come to one of my favorite street names in the city - Grand Route St. John - we are now in the homestretch, continue all the way down Grand Route till you come back to where you began, Gentilly Boulevard.

I hope you enjoy this walk as much as I did. Remember, the route laid out is just a guideline, but as I mentioned earlier, there are so many options now in this area of the city, feel free to break off and find your own route.The miles will melt away and you'll discover a part of the city you probably had under-appreciated over the last few years.

That's it for this week, remember to stay safe out there and take care of yourself and each other. We'll talk again soon.

Todd Graffagnini is the radio play-by-play announcer for the New Orleans Pelicans and a digital contributor to the New Orleans Saints.

walks-with-graff-mid-city-city-park

Walks with Graff: Mid-City/City Park

Hello everyone. Hope all of you are staying safe and taking care of each other. It's time once again to venture into the fresh air and get in a nice long walk to refresh the body and mind. This time, it's off to the shores of Lake Pontchartrain and the surrounding areas of the University of New Orleans.

Full disclosure, this is the first time I've done this particular walk, but I think you'll find it enjoyable and I promise you'll learn a little about the history of this area, especially those of you under the age of 40, so off we go.

Start at the corner of Elysian Fields and Leon C. Simon and head north toward the lake. The main campus of UNO will be on the left. In about a quarter-mile (or less) we come up on a roundabout which was the old entrance to Pontchartrain Beach (more on that later). Veer to the right and head toward Lakeshore Drive. This section of the road has no sidewalk so stay to the right where there is a safe path to walk, then cross over to the road and over the levee and the lake will be in sight.

A little lagniappe about walking on the lake is that the breeze is most always up, so even if the weather is a bit on the warm side (and it will be for the next six months) it's pretty pleasant out there. Head east on the seawall (it's flat and ideal for walking). In another quarter-mile you'll see over the levee on your right the UNO Lakefront Arena and the lights of Maestri Field, the home of UNO baseball. Lakefront Arena has been much more than the home of UNO basketball, volleyball and swimming and diving since it opened in late November 1983. Countless concerts, NBA games, various conference basketball tournaments, even Disney on Ice have all been showcased in this building but as you make the turn right onto Franklin Avenue from Lakeshore Drive and head toward the top of the levee, the northwest parking lot is being used for something that was never expected. The car line this particular day was long for COVID-19 testing on site, beginning daily at 8 a.m.

Time to go off road and walk on the levee itself and continue to head east. Looking at the venerable building conjures up memories of great basketball games inside the arena when capacity crowds were the norm and not the exception. Gabe Corchiani is a well-known local businessman and restauranteur, best known now for owning Fat Boy's Pizza on Metairie Road. Back in the mid 1980s though, he was a point guard for the UNO basketball team that reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time under head coach Benny Dees. Corchiani, a 2009 UNO Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, recalls those early days in the new Arena and the excitement inside on game nights.

"The arena itself they had just opened the year previous, which was the inaugural year, and we were the second year out there to play when I came in as a freshman. For an 18-year-old, coming out of high school (in Miami) and playing in something like that, that type of facility was phenomenal. From the locker rooms, to the swimming pool, to the auxiliary courts to the big main arena, everything was brand new, so we were very spoiled with being the first ones to actually go ahead and play in there and use the facility.

"Those years that I played out there ('84-88) our average crowd was about 7,500-8,000 every game. That's sort of unheard anymore, but we used to be the game to go to in town and of course we did play some real good competition. We always had a Notre Dame come in or Memphis State, USC, and teams like that which were really good draws and of course it didn't hurt that one year ('86-87) we were ranked 14th in the country. We had gotten a lot of publicity and notoriety and we had a lot of local support. The media was out there, all three stations, every day at practice. It was really neat. It was a great experience."

Head back down off the levee back to the seawall where now Lakefront Airport will be directly across the way to the entrance to the Industrial Canal. Continue along to the bottom of the Seabrook Bridge and turn back around and head west back along the seawall. Now the walk gets historical, as you pass Franklin Avenue for the second time on your left you can see the top of a power plant looking building with Old Glory flying proudly. The present day Orleans Levee District Flood Division building used to house one of Andrew Higgins' manufacturing facilities that produced boats and landing craft used to helped win World War II. Still to this day there is a cut in the seawall where Higgins used to launch his boats into the lake for testing.

Heading into the homestretch, go back up over the levee on Lakeshore Drive and to the roundabout. Now, those who want to end the excursion take a left on Elysian Fields back to your mode of transportation. On this day I wasn't ready to stop just yet so I continued on Lakeshore heading west. To the right is the site of the present day UNO Research and Technology Park. However, those of you over the age of 40 can clearly remember when this piece of land was Pontchartrain Beach Amusement Park until 1983. You can almost hear the screams from the people who were hurtling down the great Zephyr roller coaster. Still within those walls today is the Milneburg Lighthouse which dates to 1838.

One final little bit of history before the walk concludes. On the left used to be a Naval Air Reserve Base dating to as early as 1941. You can still see the original smokestack and some barracks/office buildings behind that which are the only structures remaining from that time.

I hope all of you enjoyed this trip back into some New Orleans Lakefront history and got in some good exercise as well. We'll visit again next week with another edition. Stay safe.

walks-with-graff-exploring-the-lakefront

Walks with Graff: exploring the Lakefront

I am a walker. At this point in my life it's pretty much an obsession. Six days a week, five miles (sometimes more) a day, with an occasional elliptical or treadmill on the road when the weather is inclement.

It hasn't always been this way. I was a baseball player into my third year of college (1989) until an accident ended my athletic career overnight. Jogging, much less running, from then on was out of the question and frankly, I wasn't much into working out anyway. I remained that way until the summer of 2007 when I looked at myself in the mirror and had enough. From then on I've been on the pavement. Doesn't matter what city I'm in or what season it is, I'm walking. I always know that every day at some point I'm going to have to block off at least 1:15 to get it done. 

That is my preview for you introducing this new column here on Pelicans.com. As we adjust to our "new normal" of staying at home with no live sports to watch or much less to broadcast, there is a challenge to everyone to remain as active as they can despite the circumstances. One of the things we can do in this time of social distancing is to get out of the house and get a run or a walk in, if nothing else to try and keep our sanity.

Now as an aside to each column, I will take you to a different part of this great city, get the miles in and talk a little sports, as I'll try and incorporate the walking route with sporting venues and add a story or two in the process.

We'll begin this first chapter with my personal favorite, the one that I've done more than any, the Uptown walk through Tulane University and Audubon Park.

Starting at the northern most point of the Tulane campus at South Claiborne and Ben Weiner Drive. This walk will take you through the campus, across St. Charles Avenue and the streetcar tracks and around the oval in the park and back to the beginning re-tracing your steps back to Claiborne.

You begin at the W. Kennon McWilliams Athletic Complex and to your immediate right is Greer Field at Turchin Stadium, which has been the home of Tulane baseball since 2008, and baseball has been played on that exact piece of land going back to the early 1980s. Walking past though, brings a hint of sadness, as the Green Wave should be in the middle of baseball season after a 15-2 start and a Top 25 ranking until the season was ended on March 11. You can't help but think back to the months after Hurricane Katrina, when this campus was empty, as it is today, a definite feeling of eeriness.

Rick Jones was the coach of Tulane baseball from 1994-2014 and retired as the all-time winningest coach there with more than 1,000 career wins at three schools. He recalled the time after Katrina and what the feeling was like not being on campus. Words that seem hauntingly familiar in today's landscape.

"Obviously it was surreal ... and I told my assistants (Mark Kingston and Chad Sutter) we don't have a manual to follow here. So we're gonna take it one day at a time, that's the way we looked at it. We took 38 guys to Lubbock, Texas and the people at Texas Tech treated us so well.

"The difference between then and now are two. One, we knew we were gonna come back, even though we were displaced at Zephyr Field, we knew we were gonna have a season. The difference though is all the country is going through this now. It was only us and UNO at the time and UNO had a ballpark to come back to. I couldn't have been more proud of the 2006 team (who made it to a regional final vs Ole Miss). That team really, really achieved and I'm really proud and always will be of that club."

Continuing along you will pass 6-year-old Yulman Stadium, the home of Tulane football, the Hertz Center, where basketball and volleyball offices and practice courts are housed. Veer to the right on Janet Yulman Way and you come up on a turf field where if this was 50 years ago you would be smack dab in the middle of old Tulane Stadium, the home of the Sugar Bowl and host of three Super Bowls until the construction of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Cross Willow Street and head straight on McAllister Drive and cross Freret Street at the light and head straight to the heart of campus. You will end up at St. Charles, but don't stop now (unless you want to), the beautiful oak trees and golf course of Audubon Park are next. Do one lap around the oval (I go counter-clock wise, but that's just me), enjoy the scenery, then head back through campus again to make the trek back to Ben Weiner Drive. The entire route is four miles, not a bad number if you're just starting out this walking thing.

As you hit the last hundred yards, when you see Turchin Stadium again for the second time on your left, a sprawling ballpark that was built after the old stadium was set for renovation in the summer of 2005, which obviously never happened, it still looks brand new despite it being 12 years old. Rick Jones remembers that special night game in February 2008 when the new ballpark opened.

"I can't imagine a more special night. I remember myself, and Rick Dickson (former Tulane athletic director) and Scott Cowen (former Tulane president) going out in front of the stadium before we did the ribbon cutting and a sea of people all the way up and down Ben Weiner, there was nothing but people in green and just being able to say, 'OK, here we go, we're back!' it was just such a great feeling."

Well that's it. I hope you enjoyed your first walk with me, and maybe you just might get out there and follow the route as I'll post them each time. Stay safe everyone.

walks-with-graff-the-uptown-route

Walks with Graff: the Uptown route

none

Presented By

Chevron

<a title="Pelicans Livestreams" href="https://www.nba.com/pelicans/live" target="_blank">LIVE: Pelicans End of Season Interviews with David Griffin, Willie Green | WATCH &gt;&gt;</a>