The Greater New Orleans Open PGA Tournament should be so lucky.

After 14 years of play without having a single round postponed or cancelled as a result of bad weather, the 2004 edition of the Joe Fortunato Celebrity Golf Classic finally fell prey to Mother Nature.

The Saturday morning groups all finished their round with only a few opened umbrellas, but early into Saturday afternoon’s action the bottom fell out, and the Duncan Park course quickly became unplayable.

The tournament committee wisely ruled that any attempt at further play Saturday would be futile. An inch and a half of rain had fallen on the course, and more was expected to move in.

As you’d imagine, as soon as everyone left, the rain stopped.

The decision had been made to cut the competition to 18 holes, with no play on Sunday morning, and those scheduled to play Saturday afternoon were to play their round Sunday.

The committee agreed that, since players had paid for two rounds of golf, those requesting would be issued a voucher good for another round of golf at Duncan Park.

Anyone man (or woman) enough to go face to face with Joe Fortunato and demand a complete refund of their entry fee would be accommodated, though all entrants did get a couple of good lunches, and at least a round of golf for their money.

I hope no one made a request and suspect that no one did.

All who play in this event know their entry fee goes toward the Miss-Lou chapter of the National Football Foundation’s scholarship fund, which annually grants several thousand dollars in college aid to deserving graduating high school scholar-athletes.

An added bonus is the opportunity to hobnob with the celebrity athletes who annually attend and support the function.

Those attending and playing this year included former Ole Miss stars Eagle Day and his son, William; former all-pro return-man Noland Smith of the Kansas City Chiefs; and Mississippi great Baily Howell.

Joe Fortunato, though he no longer plays in the event named in his honor, is extremely involved each year in the organization and daily hard work required to make it a success.

Allen Brown, who grew up in Natchez and played at Natchez High, each year spearheads the cooking. Allen and his crew are vital to the Forutanto Classic, and their food likely draws entrants as much as does the golf.

Both Joe and Allen are genuine celebrities and, along with Day and Howell, are in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

I promised last week I’d have some comments about Eli Manning and the NFL Draft.

When Eli, through his father Archie, let it be known he did not desire to play for the San Diego Chargers, who had the first draft pick, the big-city media went ballistic.

They had 20 years earlier given John Elway a free ride when he refused to play for the Baltimore Colts, who had drafted him and forced a trade to Denver.

Manning, we all know, played for Ole Miss. Looks like that elite media is guilty of profiling, doesn’t it?

Al Graning is a former SEC&160;official and former Natchez resident. He can be reached at

AlanWard39157@aol.com.