Pitching in from the pitch

NEW ORLEANS --There was a festive feeling at Tad Gormley Stadium in City Park Sunday. Not the usual Nawlins jazz or zydeco festive feeling, though. The Revolution's opposition for a preseason match was CD Olimpia, Honduras's most popular and successful club. "Los Leones" attracted a predominantly Latino crowd of 8,947, which, combined with the sounds of local radio station La Fabulosa and the aromas from the Honduran concession stands, could have been transported from Tegucigalpa.

But a significant percentage of those in attendance were backing the Revolution in their 3-1 victory. The Revolution are creating goodwill in their weeklong stay here, interacting with local soccer clubs and pitching in to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. After practice today, the Revolution will bus to the St. Bernard Project headquarters in Chalmette, then grab hammers and paint brushes.

"The Saints and Hornets have done some things, but those are local teams, and I remember when the Redskins came in, they did something with their wives," said New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who attended the Revolution-Olimpia game. "They can gut a home, put up sheet rock. Everything is incremental. There is no quick fix. Eighty percent of the city was under water and St. Bernard Parish was hit the hardest; it took the brunt of the storm and was totally devastated."

The Revolution could have chosen a more trouble-free area to prepare for their MLS season opener in Chicago April 7. Kenny Farrell, a former Salem State College player and now coach of the New Orleans Shell Shockers in the Premier Development League, persuaded the Revolution to take a chance on the Big Easy. After arriving, the Revolution quickly joined in the spirit.

"Coming back to the hotel from practice, I was sitting in the front of the bus, behind the coaches," midfielder Ryan Solle said. "Someone asked who wanted to go out and maybe do some work on Tuesday, and the coaches' hands went up and so did mine. I looked back and the whole bus had their hands up. I wasn't really surprised, just excited. We're in preseason training but this is about doing something more than just soccer.

"This is a great opportunity to help. Katrina was devastating to the whole nation. Just walking on the streets now, you still see the effects."

Most of the damage to St. Bernard Parish and the Ninth Ward has been cleared out. The remaining houses have large X's painted on the front, indicating the date and the initials of whoever searched the premises. Sometimes, there will be a notation that a dog was found inside.

Much of the vegetation has revived since the hurricane hit Aug. 28, 2005. Few traffic lights function, but there is little need for them, anyway. The parish population has been reduced from 65,000 before the storm to 7,000. Two hardware stores have reopened and a drugstore is set to open next month.

"After the storms, 100 percent of the homes were officially 'uninhabitable,' " according to the St. Bernard Project website. Now, 95 percent are uninhabitable.

The median income for St. Bernard Parish was $36,000 and half the residents were retired, many of them homeowners existing on fixed incomes.

"Families were working hard, as tradesmen, in the refinery industry, and as fishermen," the website said.

Some homeowners have written "Do not demolish" on their houses. Some are living in white FEMA trailers on the streets.

"They will see the depth of the destruction," Farrell said of the Revolution. "They can take it in and go from there. You can't get it from watching it on TV. Until you go in there, you can't know how bad it was. And you can't leave the city without knowing what happened there."

The Revolution trained here in 2004, and when Carlos Llamosa tore a knee ligament in the final preseason game, it was considered a disaster for the team. But the Revolution have a different perspective on disasters now, and coach Steve Nicol embraced the chance to return.

"The fact we can come here, an MLS team coming to New Orleans, and if we can take people's minds off the trouble they have for an hour and a half, great," Nicol said. "It should be an eye-opener for everyone. You never know how good you have it until you see something like this. It's a reality check."

Asked if he expects to be putting up drywall, Nicol replied, "I'll do whatever they ask me. It should be a good experience for all of us."

City Park was not the first priority when the area started recovery projects. The golf course has been neglected, an occasional ball-washer the only evidence of its existence. Saints star Reggie Bush funded the restoration of the stadium field. Tad Gormley Stadium, built in 1937, is used mostly for high school events and was named for a track and field coach, but also played host to a Beatles concert and the 1992 US Olympic track and field trials.

"When this stadium was 11 feet under water," Farrell said, "we didn't know if we would be playing soccer in here again."

The day before Hurricane Katrina hit, the Revolution were taking a 2-1 victory over Kansas City in Foxborough.

Revolution defender Jay Heaps went out after the game with Steven Pate, a former teammate at Duke University and now a Boston-area resident.

"Obviously, when the hurricane hit, everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing," Heaps said. "Steven is from New Orleans and he said, 'We're nervous about this one,' not thinking it would have the impact it truly had.

"You walk around and see some of the damage and recovery effort and see they are a long way away from where they need to be. We were here three years ago and the city was full of life and what everyone reads about. It's different post-Katrina, and it touches you. You can see what the water did, the structural damage. It will be interesting to see, if we are going to be knocking nails or moving dirt and debris."

The Revolution's Khano Smith has seen first-hand the effects of tropical storms in his native Bermuda.

"A lot of places around here look like the hurricane was here yesterday," Smith said. "I know what people are going through. I was fortunate not to lose our house but you can imagine the people that put their lives into their homes and they lose them."

Revolution defender Marshall Leonard's family immersed itself in volunteer work in Houston after the hurricane.

"A lot of people went to Houston, where my family lives," Leonard said. "My father is a physician and went to help, and my mother and sister volunteered to help refugees.

"They are a long way from coming back here. You can see remnants of Katrina on the way to practice, big buildings with windows out, the spray-painted crosses on homes. It's surreal.

"We didn't live it, but this is a chance to give something back. Hopefully, we'll work on buildings, paint, help with home renovation. I like doing that stuff. Over an hour or two, we are not going to have a huge effect, but it's a chance to pitch in."

Frank Dell'Apa can be reached at f_dellapa@globe.com.