LORMAN &045; Grambling State head coach Melvin Spears said he’ll pursue the forfeit rule in the Southwestern Athletic Conference concerning the postponement of the Alcorn State game.

Spears, an Alcorn grad, said during Monday’s teleconference the Braves had every opportunity to play the game last week but declined. Alcorn president Dr. Clinton Bristow issued a statement Thursday saying the Braves would not play the game following Hurricane Katrina.

Alcorn athletic officials are seeking to play the game Dec. 3.

Spears, however, said his team’s regular season will end Nov. 26 against Southern in the Bayou Classic.

&uot;We gave Alcorn adequate opportunity to play,&uot; Spears said. &uot;They refused to play. We’re not playing after the season is over. We offered to pay their way over here, and they refused to come. So we’re not going to play.

&uot;I will be applying for the forfeit rule. Postponement means both teams didn’t have a place to play. We had a place to play. We’ve got just as many kids from New Orleans as they do. In fact, we’ve got more.&uot;

The contest, originally scheduled for Saturday in Lorman, was up in the air before Alcorn got electricity restored on the campus later in the week. The game was then moved to Sunday, but the university sent out a release Thursday afternoon saying the game would not be played since student-athletes &uot;were troubled by the hardships facing residents and dislocated visitors in southwest Mississippi.&uot;

Alcorn’s roster lists 12 players from the greater New Orleans area affected by Hurricane Katrina, two from along the Gulf Coast and a number of others from towns in southern Mississippi in the storm’s wake.

Wallace Dooley with the SWAC office said the game will be rescheduled at some point.

&uot;At a time when there is a good deal of uncertainty about what the future may bring to victims of Hurricane Katrina, Alcorn State University is clearly pleased that its student-athletes have placed humanitarianism over athletic competition,&uot; Bristow said in the statement. &uot;Our team has decided to make a difference in the lives of those who are suffering from this terrible storm.&uot;

Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas defended the school’s decision not to play the game, as did athletic director Robert Raines. The game could be critical in the race for the SWAC Championship since every game between conference teams counts as a conference game.

But in the grand scope of the aftermath of the hurricane, playing football is not that important, Thomas said.

&uot;It doesn’t matter if we make the game up or not,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;I would love to play Grambling. That’s something the SWAC office, our presidents and athletic directors have to determine. I think we have to put everything in perspective. I think family members’ lives are more important than a damn football game.

&uot;I can’t understand him making that statement. You’re talking about a damn football game? Come on. Football is ultra-insignificant in a person’s life.&uot;

The Alcorn campus was without power most of the week, and the team had to shift its practice schedule around the events following the storm while the campus dealt with a water system that was about to go empty.

At one point, Raines said, Entergy was considering using the Whitney Complex as a staging area to help restore power in the area. Thomas said players slept in the gym once a generator restored power to the building.

&uot;For (Spears) to make those types of comments is very insensitive of what’s happening in this region and what we’re dealing with,&uot; Raines said. &uot;It would have been a tremendous hardship to Alcorn. Our kids had not practiced in four days. We made every effort to play the game on our campus. It became painfully clear to us a football game was not important.&uot;

Thomas said the lack of communication left several players without contact with family members in areas devastated by the storm. He, too, had trouble contacting his parents in his hometown of Heidelberg.

The Braves went to Pearl on Tuesday for practice, and electricity came on early Thursday morning on the campus. The team took a vote, Thomas said, and decided not to go.

The team also had to find fuel and lodging under very tough circumstances in order to get to Grambling for the game. Spears said the conference office and even Grambling offered to pay their way to the GSU campus.

&uot;We have had many guys on our team who were affected and still are affected by the hurricane,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;They did not know where their parents were. They wanted to go, but some of them didn’t want to go. The players said they could not play this game because it’s not as important as the lives of their family members.&uot;

As for this week, Raines said he’s anticipating a call from Southeastern Louisiana athletic director Frank Pergolizzi on the status of Saturday’s game. The game was initially scheduled for Thursday for an ESPNU broadcast, but the game will now be played Saturday at a site to be determined.

The game will likely be played at SLU, but the next option will be at Alcorn. Kickoff will likely be at 4 p.m. to allow the visiting team a chance to arrive that morning and leave following the game.