NEW ORLEANS SPORTS

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Saints tailback Deuce McAllister, cornerback Mike McKenzie and defensive tackle Brian Young remain questionable for Sunday's game against Tampa Bay, according to the Saints' official injury report released Friday.

LSU is making contingency plans to use the Superdome for its home game against North Texas on Sept. 13.

LSU Associate Athletic Director Herb Vincent said the school has every intention of playing North Texas at Tiger Stadium as scheduled, but it wants to have a backup plan in place in case cleanup from Hurricane Gustav remains an impediment or another hurricane takes a turn toward the Gulf of Mexico.

The good thing about our canceled out Friday and postponed Saturday is it's only temporary.

Warranted, needed and necessary, because power outages in New Orleans and the metro area made prep football games impractical, and power outages and damage in Baton Rouge and to Tiger Stadium made the LSU football game unwise.

Once training camp opens next month, the Hornets will be pushing to surpass last season's frachise record 56 victories and advancing beyond the second round of the playoffs.

Athlon magazine, however, has the highest expectations for the Hornets this season, picking New Orleans to win the NBA championship.

AP Photo / Rob CarrThe Superdome is okay, but will the Saints be just as fine against Tampa Bay?

With so much going on in the New Orleans sports community, it's easy to lose sight of things.

That's where NOLA.com comes in. David Gladow offers a weekend preview of sorts every Friday at noon in the form of a live chat with the New Orleans community.

Want to talk about the Hornets' offseason moves or the upcoming Saints game? Want to vent your frustrations over Tulane or LSU? This is your time to sound off. Send in your questions and comments, and Dave will touch on your hot topics every week.

The Saints released their official injury report on Friday, with six players listed as questionable and only one - defensive tackle Hollis Thomas - listed as out for Sunday's game against Tampa Bay.

Cornerback Mike McKenzie (knee), tailback Deuce McAllister (knee) and defensive tackle Brian Young (foot) are all listed as questionable despite fully participating in each practice this week. McKenzie and McAllister are both returning from major knee surgeries last year, so they could be limited in the early-going this season.

Coach Byron Scott and several New Orleans Hornets' players will participate in Chris Paul's day of service charity event on Sept. 19 in Winston-Salem (N.C.).

The event is a city-wide initiative targeted to unite volunteers and organizations throughout Winston-Salem under the banner of Paul's ongoing mission to give back to his hometown. Scott participated in last year's Winston-Salem Weekend event, along with several Hornets' players.

The New Orleans Hornets will resume their normal business operations in New Orleans on Monday after having to temporarily shut down their operations at the close of business last Friday so employees could make their evacuation plans.

Hornets spokesman Harold Kaufman said all of the team's employees followed the city's evacuation orders given by Mayor Ray Nagin before Hurricane Gustva made landfall Monday.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Superdome will be operating Sunday afternoon as if it's any other game day or at least that's the goal, according to Doug Thornton, the regional vice president of SMG, the company that manages the Superdome.

Thornton said fans won't notice any difference in the traffic or the parking or inside the stadium, with the only possible exception being some specialty food items like carving stations and po-boys and pastas that require a little extra prep time.

TUSCALOOSA, ALA. -- Forget Nick Saban's 24-hour rule, the usual time he gives a team to celebrate a victory.

After Alabama's opening 34-10 demolition of No. 9 Clemson in the Georgia Dome last Saturday, the Crimson Tide coach barely let 24 seconds go by before he reminded everyone it was time move on.

John McCusker/The Times-PicayuneLSU football coach Les Miles has given his team a few days off since they're not playing Saturday.

BATON ROUGE -- LSU Coach Les Miles was born and raised in Ohio, played and coached at Michigan and spent a majority of his coaching career in the Midwest.

But he's starting to get a reputation as king of hurricane country.

For the second time in his four years at LSU, Miles has had to coach around trouble related to a hurricane.

LSU's game against Troy at Tiger Stadium on Saturday was postponed and moved to Nov. 15 because of the impact of Hurricane Gustav.

TPC Louisiana in Avondale sustained more damage from Hurricane Gustav than first believed and will be closed for an indefinite period of time, General Manager Luke Farabaugh said Thursday.

Farabaugh said approximately 300 trees were downed by Monday's storm that made landfall in southeast Louisiana, up from an initial report of 50-to-100.

Most of the fallen trees are in the wood lines and do not define the 7,500-yard, par 72 Pete Dye layout that serves as the host venue for the annual PGA Tour event, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. - Senior safety David Skehan has been suspended for Saturday's opener against Alabama for what Green Wave Coach Bob Toledo called a violation of team rules.

Skehan started 11 of 12 games last season, but was moved to linebacker during spring practice. However, after sports hernia surgery over the summer which caused him to lose 20 pounds, Skehan was shifted back to free safety at the beginning of fall camp.

Ehret and St. Paul's canceled their season-opening game on Thursday morning in a move that will permit St. Paul's to play St. Thomas More of Lafayette on Saturday.

A total of 30 metro area high school football games have been canceled because of the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav, and only three games will go on.

In business performance, the Zephyrs held their own this season despite having to cancel the last three games because Hurricane Gustav was taking aim on New Orleans.

In baseball performance, the team didn't come close to matching the performance of the 2007 playoff team.

"I thought the season went pretty good," Zephyrs General Manager Mike Schline said. "The team wasn't as exciting on the field, but that's out of our control."

INDIANAPOLIS -- Even though they relocated more than 800 miles to the north, the Saints couldn't have shut themselves off from Hurricane Gustav if they wanted.

Every time they turned on the television in their hotel rooms or glanced at a newspaper or walked past a TV in the lobby Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, they got the latest update about the storm that mercifully bypassed New Orleans.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey was not on the team's injury report Wednesday, so does that mean Sunday's regular-season opener at the Superdome finally will be Shockey's debut?

"I hope so," Shockey said. "I hope so."

BATON ROUGE -- Hurricane Gustav's powerful winds were no match for Tiger Stadium structurally, but the storm scuffed it up enough to cause postponement of LSU's game Saturday against Troy.

The game will be played Nov. 15, a common open date for both schools.

BATON ROUGE -- LSU Coach Les Miles met with the media Wednesday for the first time since his postgame address after the Tigers' 41-13 victory against Appalachian State on Saturday at Tiger Stadium.

The message? The Tigers are continuing to move ahead even with Saturday's game with Troy postponed until Nov. 15.

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. -- The price of gas may be falling, but hybrids still are the hot ticket items for Tulane's defense.

Ends becoming linebackers and then moving back to ends again. Safeties becoming linebackers. Cornerbacks becoming safeties.

In truth, the labels don't matter that much. Versatility does.

The St. Tammany Parish school system has called off all athletic events for this weekend, Superintendent Gayle Sloan said Wednesday.

Also, Shaw and Rummel have canceled their season-opening football game scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Joe Yenni Stadium by order of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

And, there will be no football games at Pan American or Tad Gormley Stadium this weekend, as City Park is closed until Monday.

New Orleans moved closer to landing its first Final Four since 2003 on Wednesday.

But that doesn't mean the other cities in contention moved further away.

In an unprecedented move, the NCAA Men's Basketball Committee named all 10 bidding cities finalists for Final Fours between 2012 and 2016.

English Turn Golf & Country Club and Oak Harbor Golf Club are expected to resume business as soon as possible after sustaining minimal damage from Hurricane Gustav.

"We just got a lot of debris to pick up,'' said English Turn Director of Golf Derek Sanders, whose Jack Nicklaus-designed venue on the West Bank played host to the annual PGA Tour stop in New Orleans from 1989 through 2004.

"Less than 10 trees are down; no standing water. We still don't have electricity as of right now. We'll and open up for dining Friday night and golf Saturday morning. It all depends on the electricity. If we get our power up, we'll be going. We're going to open for golf just so people can get their minds off the storm and get back to a normal operation.''

New Orleans - along with the nine other cities that submitted bids -- is a finalist for the right to host the 2012-16 Men's Final Fours. The other cities/areas that submitted bids are: Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, North Texas, Phoenix, San Antonio and St. Louis.

Sites are scheduled to be awarded in November.

BATON ROUGE - The LSU-Troy football game scheduled for Saturday has been postponed, sources at Troy and LSU confirmed Wednesday

LSU officials will make an announcement at a 3 p.m. news conference. The schools are making plans to move the game to Nov. 15, a common open date for both.

Shaw and Rummel have canceled their season-opening football game scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Joe Yenni Stadium by order of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. - Not again.

That was the prevailing thought of many of the Tulane football players, especially the 17 team members left from the Green Wave's 2005 Katrina-caused odyssey as they evacuated New Orleans on Saturday ahead of Hurricane Gustav.

Michael DeMocker / The Times-PicayuneDamage to Tiger Stadium at LSU included downed trees around the exterior.

BATON ROUGE - To see Mike VI, one would never know a maelstrom had swirled around him.

The LSU tiger lolled about his living space Tuesday afternoon, oblivious to the live oak branches that had crashed all around him when Hurricane Gustav ripped up the campus Monday afternoon.

Before Hurricane Gustav made landfall Monday, Hornets General Manager Jeff Bower had concerns about the storm's fierce winds and possible flooding on the West Bank that could potentially damage the Alario Center, site of the team's practice facility.

BATON ROUGE - The LSU-Troy football game scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. in Tiger Stadium is still on hold.

LSU officials met Tuesday but have not made a decision on whether to postpone the game in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav.

Associate Athletic Director Herb Vincent said no decision came out of a Tuesday

At first glance, it appears TPC Louisiana in Avondale, which is home to the annual Zurich Classic of New Orleans, has weathered the storm.

"It looks like we dodged a bullet,'' TPC Louisiana General Manager Luke Farabaugh said Tuesday when reached in Tupelo, Miss., where he evacuated to escape Hurricane Gustav. "There are anywhere from 50 to 100 trees down - mostly smaller trees in the wood-lines - with some minor building damage, standing water in bunkers and power outage. But no significant trees that define the golf course are down.

"The challenge for us now is to be able to get all of our staff back in to town and get it all cleaned up.''

INDIANAPOLIS - The Saints announced Tuesday afternoon that they will play Sunday's regular-season opener at the Superdome at 12 p.m., as originally scheduled.