ITEM ONE:

GIANTS’ TISCH: “SHORT CUTS” TO THE FIREHOUSES

New York Giants co-CEO PRESTON ROBERT TISCH was born and raised in New York City.  When the team decided last week to visit a firehouse in Manhattan that had lost members in the World Trade Center disaster, Tisch jumped into the driver’s seat to lead the way to more firehouses.  While Giants players visited the original firehouse, they got a call from a second location that had also lost personnel.  Tisch decided to cram in as many firehouse visits as possible.  He secured a state police car to lead the Giants’ bus, and the caravan started weaving through Manhattan traffic.  “Knowing how to get around New York better than most people, I jumped into the trooper’s car to give the driver specific directions,” said Tisch.  “We were clearing the streets.  The troopers were blaring the sirens.”  The team ended up making seven stops in all.  “The police captain at the 17th Precinct at 51st and Lexington said, ‘We hadn’t seen the firemen smile all week until your guys came’,” said Tisch.  

ITEM TWO:

TEXANS UNVEIL THEIR UNIFORMS: RED, WHITE & BLUE

The expansion Houston Texans take the field in the realigned NFL next season.  The colors and uniforms they’ll wear were revealed this week.  The color scheme: red, white and blue.  Texans owner BOB MC NAIR unveiled the uniforms at a downtown Houston rally that was attended by an estimated 12,000 people and included musical performances by native Houstonians ZZ TOP and CLAY WALKER as well as appearances by Houston residents MARY LOU RETTON and A.J. FOYT.  McNair said that the team’s colors, which he described as steel blue, battle red and victory white, represent five traits: pride, courage, strength, tradition and independence.  “So when you think about it,” said McNair, “these traits not only identify Texans, they distinguish all of us as Americans.”  McNair’s foundation will contribute $250,000 to the disaster relief effort.  He will add a portion of every Texans’ jersey sold as well as all proceeds from a commemorative T-shirt.

ITEM THREE:

FIRST OCT. FOOTBALL WEEKEND: A NOTABLE ONE IN H.S. & COLLEGE

The weekend of October 5-7 will be a memorable one in amateur football.  In college, YALE UNIVERSITY will play on a Sunday (October 7) for the first time in its 129-year football history.  The move away from its traditional Saturday was made to highlight the game as the grand finale of the university’s “Tercentennial Spectacular Weekend.”  Yale’s 300th birthday falls on Friday, October 5.  Three Yale alumni play in the NFL: Carolina RB CHRIS HETHERINGTON, San Francisco TE ERIC JOHNSON and Chicago S THAN MERRILL…….On Saturday night (October 6), a long-awaited meeting of two of the top high school teams in the nation takes place.  Veterans Stadium in Long Beach, California, seating 15,000, will be the site as DE LA SALLE of Concord, CA. takes on LONG BEACH (CA.) POLY.  The schools were ranked first and second in the nation last year, respectively, by USA Today.  De LaSalle, coached by the 1995 NFL High School Coach of the Year BOB LADOUCEUR, has won 115 games in a row.  Long Beach Poly has a 56-1-1 record in the past six years.  “I think it will draw a maximum crowd,” says Ladouceur.  Both schools boast numerous NFL alumni.