http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/s...l=1&adxnnlx=1125638036-SbJJM+NmpJJcMEmrT5F9vg N.B.A. Prepares to Relocate Hornets in Aftermath of Hurricane * By PETE THAMEL and HOWARD BECK Published: September 1, 2005 Playing sporting events in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is such a daunting prospect that the National Basketball Association is bracing to relocate its local franchise for the entire coming season. The N.B.A. does not begin play until November, but the deputy commissioner Russ Granik sent an e-mail message to the league's 30 teams yesterday to prepare them for the Hornets' possible relocation. "Even if the arena is operable, it still may be impossible to play games in New Orleans for some time," Granik wrote in the e-mail message, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times. It is a similar reality faced by the Saints of the National Football League, Tulane University and other university and professional sports teams in New Orleans. With the city being evacuated and with an estimated two months until power returns, uncertainty lingers. The Saints and the Tulane football team will operate out of Texas. After a preseason game tonight in Oakland, the Saints will fly to San Antonio and practice there until their opening game at Carolina on Sept. 11. Possible locations for the Saints to play their home games, including their Sept. 18 home opener against the Giants, are Louisiana State in Baton Rouge, which was relatively unaffected by the storm; Birmingham, Ala.; San Antonio; and Los Angeles. Tulane's team arrived in Dallas, where it was staying in a local hotel and sharing football facilities with Southern Methodist. Many Tulane students have also relocated to Dallas, moving into the S.M.U. student union, which has been nicknamed Camp Katrina. Rick Dickson, the Tulane athletic director, said the chance of there even being classes at Tulane this semester was "remote." "That's beyond the first phase of this," Dickson said in a telephone interview. "We're trying to make certain everyone is in safe harbor." Granik's e-mail message said that plans were already under way to find locations for the Hornets' training camp, which starts Oct. 3, and preseason games. The league will begin searching for regular-season alternatives next week, when there is expected to be a better analysis of the damage to New Orleans. If the Hornets are forced to relocate - whether for a few weeks or the entire season - the league will seek to place them close to home. L.S.U. offers the closest alternative, about 60 miles away, and an arena, Pete Maravich Assembly Center, that holds 14,164 people. That is small by N.B.A. standards, but it could accommodate the Hornets, whose average attendance last season was a league-worst 14,221. "Right now, we're kind of all focused on the humanitarian relief effort and haven't really focused on the implications yet for the Hornets," said Tim Andree, senior vice president for communications for the N.B.A. All Hornets employees have been accounted for and are safe, Andree said. But it has been an anxious time for friends and associates, who have had difficulty reaching Hornets employees and players. "I have not been able to get a hold of anyone," said Mark Bartelstein, a player agent whose clients include Hornets forward P. J. Brown. "We've been calling pretty much nonstop and have had no luck making contact." L.S.U. is also a speculative favorite for the Saints' relocation. Many campus athletic facilities are currently being used as shelters and a hospital for hurricane victims. The outdoor track has been converted to a landing pad for helicopters dropping off people rescued from the floods. "You'll hear three helicopters in a row and then not hear one for 30 minutes," said Herb Vincent, an associate athletic director at L.S.U. "There's anything from private helicopters to Black Hawks." The Maravich Center is a triage unit and the university's indoor track field house is serving as a special-needs unit. Nicholson Drive, a main campus thoroughfare that would have been cluttered with tailgaters this weekend for the L.S.U. home football opener Saturday, is instead being used by ambulances. L.S.U. postponed its opener against North Texas. "Before the hurricane, it would have been one big Mardi Gras-type party this weekend," Vincent said. "But it wasn't appropriate to have that when there's people with dire needs and emergencies." Tulane was not the only Conference USA university forced to evacuate; Southern Mississippi's team relocated to Memphis. Southern Miss and Tulane were scheduled to play each other this weekend. Other than postponing that game until Nov. 26, Dickson, the Tulane athletic director, said no other athletic decisions had been made. Dickson said that there was significant damage to every building on Tulane's campus and that the university was exploring setting up a satellite campus. The N.C.A.A. said it would be flexible in the wake of the storm, including letting students at places like Tulane compete if they were not enrolled in school. Numerous relief funds have been set up through sports organizations, including by Conference USA. The N.F.L. donated $1 million to the American Red Cross for the hurricane victims and the N.B.A. players union announced plans to raise $1 million. Clifton Brown contributed reporting for this article.
I would wonder if the PMAC is big enough for the NBA, but oh yeah, the Hornets had the worst attendance in the league. As long as I'm at LSU I'd love to see pro and college sporting events here.
