Brandon Jacobs' season over

Napoleonville native Brandon Jacobs, a running back for the New York Giants, will have knee surgery and won't play in the Giants' season finale on Sunday, the New York Daily News reports.

Giants Coach Tom Coughlin made the announcemnht on Wednesday. Coughlin did not specify what Jacobs' knee damage is. The problem wasn't discovered until Jacobs was examined on Tuesday.

"I think Brandon's always had some issues that he's had to deal with," Coughlin said. "He wouldn't use it as an excuse and I won't either."

42 seek Nicholls coaching job

Hud Jackson, son of former Nicholls State football coach Sonny Jackson, ex Tulane assistant coach Frank Monica, ex UL-Monroe coach Charlie Weatherbie and former Nicholls assistant coach Tim Rebowe top the list of applicants to replace Jay Thomas as Nicholls State's newfootball coach, according to NewOrleans.com.

Also on the list of aplicants: Former New Orleans Saints defenseive back Tyrone Hughes and Joshua Earle, an LSU assistant who also coached at Nicholls.

Orgeron says he's staying at Tennessee

Ed Orgeron, a Larose native and assistant football coach at the University of Tennessee, tells Go Vols Extra that rumors of him taking jobs at the University of Nevada Las Vegas or Southern California aren't true.

“I’ve been busting my tail recruiting for Tennessee; that’s my focus,” Orgeron told the Web site.

I-49 Task Force tries to revive interest in finishing route from Lafayette to New Orleans

The I-49 Task Force is looking at using gasoline taxes and tolls to pay for the project, which would make US 90 and interstate highway from Lafayette to New Orleans, according to reports from The Advocate in Baton Rouge and the Lafayette Daily Advertiser.

Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph (pictured right) said there's a chance the project could get funding from either the long-term transportation funding bill being considered in Congress or a second round of economic stimulus spending from Washington.

Either way, Randolph told the newspapers, a show of local support improves the chances of funding.

“It always makes a difference if we are all speaking with the same voice representing a lot of people,” she said.

Lafourche musicians write a 'Who Dat' song

Travis Thibodaux and his father Gary Paul Thibodaux of Raceland have written their own take on "Who Dat?" and the Saints' march toward the Super Bowl, the Times-Picayune reports.

The song, "Who Dat Roll," has been recorded by Williams Riley, a Nashville, Tenn.-based band led by Larose native Steve Williams. Travis is the band's drummer.

You can hear the song at Williams Riley's MySpace page.

Thibodaux native Renald Richard is 'I've Got a Woman' co-writer

The Naples (Fla.) News has a feature on 84-year-old Renald Richard, a Thibodaux native who co-wrote Ray Charles' classic "I've Got a Woman." Richard played trumpet in Charles' band and went on to a life as a music teacher in New York before retiring to Florida. He now writes gospel songs.

Ex Nicholls player to coach at LSU

The Advocate is reporting that Frank Wilson, a Nicholls graduate, will replace Larry Porter on LSU's coaching staff. Porter was named coach at Memphis last week. Porter was running backs coach and chief recruiter for the Tigers.

Wilson, 36, currently coaches wide receivers at the University of Tennessee.

A three-year letterman on the football team at Nicholls State from 1993-1995, Wilson earned honorable mention all-conference honors as a running back his sophomore year. He was also named preseason all-conference as a defensive back his junior year and as a running back his senior year.

Parkview blanks ED White

From The Advocate: No. 2 Parkview Baptist returns to the Superdome Classic for the second time in three years with a dominating 42-0 victory over No. 3 E.D. White, setting the stage for the Eagles to try to win their third state championship this decade.

Auburn gigged for recruiting violations over Reed

The Dothan (Ala.) Eagle, Mobile press Register and Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser are reporting that Auburn University committed secondary recruiting violations in May during an event that Thibodaux High's Trovon Reed and several other recruits participated in.

The violations involved how the recruits were treated during "Big Cat" weekend in May. The SEC and NCAA said Auburn erred by participating in a game-day simulation and by allowing recruits to interact with boosters.

Because of the rule-breaking, the Southeastern Conference prevented Auburn from sending correspondence, including e-mail, to six recruits including Reed until Sept. 30. The school was allowed to make just one phone call to each in the month of September, in which a member of the coaching staff had to read a three-paragraph statement that explained why contact would be temporarily cut off.

Reed signed with the school in November.

Thibodaux native's son was world's most famous amnesiac

From CNN: Henry Molaison, known as H.M. in scientific literature, was perhaps the most famous patient in all of brain science in the 20th century.

"My daddy's family came from the South and moved North, they came from Thibodaux Louisiana, and moved north," Molaison would say. "My mother's family came from the North and moved South." Within 15 minutes he might repeat this exact statement twice more, unable to remember that he'd already said it. Scientists studied him for most of his adult life.

This week, researchers are dissecting his brain to figure out exactly which structures contributed to his amnesia, which he suffered for more than 50 years.

Chackbay teacher plans backwards half marathon

The Times Picayune and the Tri Parish Times both have a feature on Richard Strasbourg, a French teacher at Chackbay Elementary School from Montreal, Quebec, who plans to run the Ole Man River half-marathon backward on Dec. 20 in New Orleans.

He's not nuts, the papers report. He's raising money to fight cancer and he's trying to win a spot in the Guiness Book of World Records.

You can read more about Strasbourg's effort and make a donation at this page.

Magazine profiles Port Fourchon

Supply Chain magazine profile says "Strategically invaluable Port Fourchon thrives on leadership and is a vital link to offshore oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico."

You can see a digital copy of the magazine's print profile at this link.

Phylway gets $12M levee contract

Phylway Construction of Thibodaux has been awarded a $12,191,374 construction contract for a Corps of Engineers levee near Lake Ponchatrain, the Web site Defense Professionals reports.

The project is north of Airline Highway in St. Charles Parish. The levee goes from from Good Hope to Cross Bayou. This is the project's second phase. The project's estimated completion date is Jan. 17, 2011.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, is the contracting agency. (W912P8-09-D-0046).

'Colonel Kringle' appears at Nicholls on Thursday

The Nicholls Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, along with Santa Claus and the Lafourche Parish Government, will participate in the Southland Conference's 12 Days of Christmas by hosting the first annual "Colonel Kringle," which is a toy drive held to assist local families in need during the holiday season.

All who bring an unwrapped toy to the Nicholls-Loyola basketball game on Thursday, Dec. 3, will have a free photo opportunity with Santa Claus, who is making a special appearance for all to make early Christmas wishes.

The toys raised by the Colonel Kringle will then be donated to the Lafourche Parish Government Community Services branch to be placed with families in need of the gifts.

Nicholls names interim football coach

Nicholls State assistant football coach Kent Keith has been named interim head coach, and a search committee has been formed to select the next head coach of the football program, the Nicholls Athletic Department announced.

"Kent Keith has head coaching experience. He was the most logical choice in terms of keeping the program moving forward during this important recruiting period," Nicholls Athletics Director Rob Bernardi said.

The department also announced the formation of an 11-member search committee to begin the process of finding a new head coach.