A few notes and observations before Friday night’s New Orleans Bowl game against Florida Atlantic at the Louisiana Superdome:

Taking a back seat Memphis and Florida Atlantic are vying for a small share of the attention in New Orleans, but Thursday they found themselves pushed back further on local newscasts by civic unrest. Some citizens attempting to attend a packed city council meeting on the proposed demolition of four public housing complexes were turned away by police with mace and taser guns. The uprising made national headlines and dominated local news Thursday.

A coach-and-child reunion Memphis offensive coordinator Clay Helton said he hadn’t had the opportunity to shake hands or say hello to Florida Atlantic coach Howard Schnellenberger during a busy week of bowl preparations. After Thursday’s practice at the Louisiana Superdome, Helton said he fondly recalls being a frequent visitor to the Orange Bowl sidelines from 1979 to ‘82 when his father, Kim, was an assistant on the Schnellenberger-coach Miami Hurricanes. “It was a fun time,” Clay said. “I was 7 years old in 1979 and I got to hang around with Vinny Testaverde, Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar and Alonzo Highsmith.”

Louisiana legend Former LSU coach Dale Brown was the featured speaker at Thursday’s New Orleans Bowl luncheon. A motivational speaker, Brown didn’t disappoint. He talked about overcoming obstacles in a speech that mentioned everyone from Elvis Presley to Albert Einstein.

Three days of national attention Friday night’s New Orleans Bowl will be carried by ESPN2 and give the Tiger athletic program the second of three nationally televised events in a span of only four days.

A few notes and observations from New Orleans, where the Tigers are awaiting Friday’s bowl game against Florida Atlantic:

Temper, temper After spending Tuesday getting acclimated with the French Quarter, the Tigers resumed practice.

And for the first time since the U of M began preparations for the bowl, Tiger coach Tommy West lost his patience. He stopped practice to admonish the team for its lack of concentration. He said he’ll turn today’s walkthrough at the Louisiana Superdome into a normal practice, a rarity before game day.

Several who attended the workout, and weren’t familiar with West’s practices, asked if the blowup was legitimate. West isn’t known for playing such games. He was serious and upset with the offense’s lack of timing.

Extra, extra read all about it In a city that will play host to an intriguing Sugar Bowl (Georgia vs. Hawaii on Jan. 1) and the BCS title game (LSU vs. Ohio State on Jan. 7), one would expect the local newspaper (The Times-Picayune) to give the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl scant attention.

Yet Wednesday’s paper devoted a front page story (on Florida Atlantic linebacker Cergile Sincere) to the game and a full inside page, which included an article on U of M special teams player Turner West, son of Tiger coach Tommy West, and several note items. Tuesday’s sports section had a story on former Memphis QB Danny Wimprine, a New Orleans native and a quarterback for the city’s Arena Football League franchise.

A Grand Slam The U of M practiced at Tulane, which has recently rebuilt its on-campus baseball stadium. The facility, located next to the football practice field, is an impressive 4,000-seat stadium, built at a cost of more than $10 million. The stadium was damaged during Hurricane Katrina andhad to be rebuilt.

Seeing Blue in the Big Easy Or expecting to see it. Longtime Tiger fan and Highland Hundred member Perry Short called after reading Tuesday’s story on the expected low turnout among U of M fans. I wrote that Tiger AD said nearly 4,000 tickets had been sold through the Memphis ticket office.

Short said he’s predicting the Tiger contingent will surpass 5,000. He said a number of fans bought tickets through TicketMaster and not through the U of M.

A few items from Thursday’s Tiger football practice . . .

** Workouts for next week’s New Orleans Bowl against Florida Atlantic began Thursday at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. Wet grounds at the Murphy Athletic Complex forced the team to work out on the artificial surface at Rex Dockery Field and may send the Tigers back to the Liberty Bowl Friday.

** Speaking of fields . . . at some point the U of M athletic department must seriously consider renaming the practice fields at the Murphy Athletic Complex after longtime facilities coordinator Murray Armstrong, a fixture on the campus for five decades.

** The biggest roar from the players at Thursday’s practice came after offensive lineman/tight end Arron Bentley caught a screen pass and, behind his 290 pounds of momentum, leveled defensive back Michael Grandberry trying to make the stop.

** Former Tiger Rod Brown, who played linebacker in the early 1990s, said he’ll be in New Orleans for the BCS title game between LSU and Ohio State in January. Brown was a teammate of LSU assistant Larry Porter at Memphis. Porter played running back for the U of M and has worked under Les Miles since the two were at Oklahoma State.

University of Memphis football fans will enjoy getting to know Arkelon Hall.

The former Washington State quarterback, who played last year at the College of the Sequoias (Brent Schaeffer’s junior college), is an engaging, straight-forward, confident athlete. For a quarterback, those are ideal attributes. While he’s not blessed with outstanding speed, he is 6-2 and 215 pounds and possesses the ability to pick up yards when necessary.

He’s also looking forward to a return to the South, where he spent a portion of his childhood. His time at Washington State was limited. He was redshirted his first year and injured during his redshirt freshman season before transferring to the College of the Sequoias.

U of M fans shouldn’t be too quick to annoint Hall as Martin Hankins’ successor, even though Hall was rated the No. 8 quarterback prospect in the nation by ESPN.com coming out of high school. While he threw for 13 touchdowns in junior college, he was picked off 14 times.

But he gives the position a needed boost after losing the record-breaking Hankins, whose final game will be the Dec. 21 New Orleans Bowl. Hall said during his official recruiting visit to the U of M campus last weekend that he would sign with the Tigers next week. He didn’t hesitate when asked if he’d take other visits, saying once he reaches a decision, it’s final.

Having Hall in the mix at quarterback in the spring will be interesting. He’ll battle for the position with returnees Will Hudgens and Matt Malouf. If those three are locked in a solid competition, look for the Tigers to possibly move 6-5 Dallas Walker, a freshman from Ridgeland, Miss., to tight end.

Here’s some interesting numbers on University of Memphis quarterback Martin Hankins.

In his final six game of the regular season, Hankins threw for 2,107 yards and 17 touchdowns. Excluding Hankins, only 10 quarterbacks in the program’s history have passed for more yards IN THEIR CAREERS. Again, excluding Hankins, only seven quarterbacks have thrown more touchdowns IN THEIR CAREERS.

With one game left in his two-year career (the Dec. 21 matchup in the New Orleans Bowl against Florida Atlantic), Hankins ranks second on the U of M’s passing charts in yards (5,489) and touchdowns (35). In four seasons, Danny Wimprine amassed 10,215 yards passing and tossed 81 TDs.

Hankins also will finish his career as the second-most accurate passer in the program’s history to Steve Matthews.

Conference USA needs to look at how it conducts its post-season voting for all-league teams.

Its release earlier this week of the all-conference teams had several glaring omissions, including the absence of a player from either East Carolina or Memphis on the first team offense and defense. East Carolina and Memphis finished 6-2 in the East Division, tied for second behind division winner Central Florida.

To borrow a line from the FedEx/Paintball commercial, `How could that happen?’

Unfortunately, several who vote for the all-conference teams are not being responsible and thorough, which is a travesty for those players who are deserving. Memphis had an offensive lineman, Brandon Pearce, who earned first-team honors during the preseason, but was not on either the first or second teams.

While it had no player make first- or second-team defense, East Carolina wasn’t shut out. Kick-return specialist Chris Johnson earned first-team Special Teams recognition.

And the omission of Memphis quarterback Martin Hankins from the second-team offense seemed a mistake, too. Rice’s Chase Clements earned a spot on the second team. He had respectable numbers (3,377 yards, 29 touchdowns, 16 interceptions), but the Owls finished 3-9. Hankins basically matched Clements’ production (2,939 yards, 22 touchdowns, 12 interceptions) and did so in two fewer games, while being largely responsible for the U of M’s second-half march to a bowl game.

C-USA will attempt to correct the omissions with its second all-conference team, this one voted on by coaches. It will be released next week.

But why confuse the public with two teams. Mix the voting of willing, committed media members in league cities with the coaches’ input and announce one representative team. That would go a long way toward solving the problem and making sure deserving players aren’t overlooked.

A couple of interesting notes before Memphis plays its regular-season finale at home against SMU:

*** With depth at running back (DeMyron Martin and James Mapps) and a prolific passing attack led by quarterback Justin Willis and receiver Emmanuel Sanders, it is difficult to fathom why this team isn’t ranked higher in several Conference USA offensive categories (SMU is sixth in total offense, seventh in pass offense and ninth in scoring).

*** Both coaches — Memphis’s Tommy West and SMU’s Phil Bennett — have sons playing on their respective teams; Turner West is a special teams player/receiver and Sam Bennett is a deep snapper.

*** If the Tiger defense, which has played well the past two games, can keep SMU under 24 points, the prospects for a seventh victory appear favorable; SMU, under coach Phil Bennett, has gone 2-43 in games in which it is held to fewer than 24 points.

*** A representative of the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl will attend the game; New Orleans remains the top postseason option for the bowl-bound Tigers.

*** SMU has turned the ball over a conference-high 29 times.

*** No team in C-USA has fewer sacks (11) than Memphis, which has allowed the fewest (12).

*** Memphis quarterback Martin Hankins should earn one of the loudest ovations when the 15 seniors are recognized; Hankins, a transfer from 1-AA Southeastern Louisiana, will finish his career ranked second to Danny Wimprine in every major passing category: pass attempts, pass completions, yards and touchdowns.

*** And a final Hankins note: his 5,153 passing yards make him only the second Tiger quarterback in school history to surpass 5,000 yards . . . and he accomplished the feat in only 21 games.