BATON ROUGE — The LSU football team will be featured in a one-hour documentary on Hurricane Katrina, which will air nationwide on Fox Sports Net on Sunday, Sept 3, the network announced.
“EYE OF THE STORM”, presented by FSN, is a moving documentary that tells the story of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath through the eyes of football players, coaches and administrators at LSU.
The one-hour special embraces the strength of the human spirit, as the Tigers, faced with their own hardship and despair, came together to serve a storm-ravaged community, and completed one of the most remarkable seasons in school history, providing a renewed sense of hope and pride along the way.
The documentary will air to a national audience at 8 p.m. CT on Sunday, Sept. 3, the day following LSU’s season-opener against Louisiana-Lafayette.
“In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many residents of Louisiana turned to sports as a light to help them through the devastation and return to a sense of normalcy amidst the chaos,” said Bob Thompson, President of Fox Sports Networks. “We are truly honored to present ?EYE OF THE STORM’, an inspirational story about the LSU Tigers and an extraordinary football season that helped bring a wounded, shattered community together.”
Due to Hurricane Katrina, LSU’s 2005 season opener against North Texas was postponed until Oct. 29, and the scheduled home game on Sept. 10 against Arizona State had to be played on the road, but the Tigers were undeterred. LSU, as if scripted by Hollywood, overcame adversity against ASU and snatched victory from defeat with a game-winning touchdown catch late in the fourth quarter by receiver Early Doucet.
Throughout the season, the Tigers were never able to escape the fact that they were playing in the shadow of a nightmare, watching as their school’s basketball arena was transformed into a triage unit and their outdoor track had morphed into an emergency helipad for helicopters transporting victims to nearby hospitals. But even amidst that chaos, the Tigers persevered, playing like a team possessed.
LSU went on to post an 11-2 mark for the year, winning nine straight games, before falling to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. LSU capped its remarkable season on the field by posting a 40-3 win over ninth-ranked Miami in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
With unprecedented access to locker rooms, summer training camp and other LSU football facilities, ?EYE OF THE STORM’ features behind-the-scenes footage of players working as athletes by day and as volunteer relief workers by night. Though in production for a year, the documentary will not be completed until hours before airtime. Producers consider it essential that the story conclude with images of the Tigers storming their home field for the 2006 season opener on Sept. 2, meaning that they’ll have just over a day to complete their work.
The Emmy-winning team of director Bill McCullough and producer Dan Klein of Wonderland Productions serve as executive producers. McCullough has worked on such projects as HBO’s “The Chris Rock Show,” “Inside the NFL,” “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel” and “Howard Cosell: Telling It Like It Is,” for which he received many accolades, including a Golden Eagle award and four Emmy Awards. McCullough has also worked on such top-rated documentaries as NBC’s “Concert For America” and IFC’s “Fahrenheit 911: A Movement In Time,” among others.
With decades of television production experience, Klein has also received great praise for his work, including an Emmy Award for ESPN’s “Outside The Lines,” an Emmy nomination for HBO’s documentary “A City On Fire: The Story Of The ’68 Detroit Tigers” and a Golden Eagle Award for Spike TV’s documentary “Untold: Terry Bradshaw,” which was also awarded to McCullough.
“This is one of the most inspiring stories in the history of sports,” said McCullough.
Klein adds, “The LSU Tigers lifted the spirits of the entire state last year and we’re proud to bring their story to FSN.”
Head coach Les Miles, Chancellor Sean O’Keefe and LSU police chief Ricky Adams each share their experiences and relive the catastrophe. Also featured in this documentary are Athletic Director Skip Bertman, RB Justin Vincent, WR Doucet, former WR Skyler Green and political consultant and LSU grad James Carville.