Tuesday, September 20, 2005
2006 Sugar Bowl in Atlanta? Say It Ain't So!
Hurricane Katrina has claimed another victim.
Organizers of the Sugar Bowl say they'll play their postseason game in either Baton Rouge or Atlanta after being forced out of the Superdome in New Orleans by the aftermath of the devastating storm.
Sugar Bowl officials say they'll know in about three weeks whether Louisiana has recovered sufficiently to keep the game in the state where it has been played every year since it was established in 1935.
While Tiger Stadium on the LSU campus would make an adequate game host, the city of Baton Rouge does not have enough hotel rooms and sufficient infrastructure to host a large-scale event.
Sugar Bowl executive director Paul Hoolahan said that if the game is to be played there, New Orleans would have to be prepared to house most of the participants, media and fans traveling to the January second game.
Atlanta has already given Sugar Bowl officials the go-ahead to play the game in the Georgia Dome, which hosts the Southeastern Conference championship game in December. That made Atlanta an obvious and convenient choice as a temporary home for one of college football's longest-running and most recognizable events.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Organizers of the Sugar Bowl say they'll play their postseason game in either Baton Rouge or Atlanta after being forced out of the Superdome in New Orleans by the aftermath of the devastating storm.
Sugar Bowl officials say they'll know in about three weeks whether Louisiana has recovered sufficiently to keep the game in the state where it has been played every year since it was established in 1935.
While Tiger Stadium on the LSU campus would make an adequate game host, the city of Baton Rouge does not have enough hotel rooms and sufficient infrastructure to host a large-scale event.
Sugar Bowl executive director Paul Hoolahan said that if the game is to be played there, New Orleans would have to be prepared to house most of the participants, media and fans traveling to the January second game.
Atlanta has already given Sugar Bowl officials the go-ahead to play the game in the Georgia Dome, which hosts the Southeastern Conference championship game in December. That made Atlanta an obvious and convenient choice as a temporary home for one of college football's longest-running and most recognizable events.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
# posted by Jude Boudreaux @ 9/20/2005 03:10:00 PM 
