East’s Storm Leaves Sports Adrift : Impact: Only a few events are held as an entire range of activities is affected.

It was a day fit for neither man nor beast.

Nor baseball nor basketball nor golf nor tennis nor auto racing nor horse racing, nor even hockey.

As violent weather struck the East Coast and parts of the South on Saturday, events were rained out, snowed out, blacked out and blown out.

About the only event that might have had a chance was the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.

There was snow, piling up six feet high in the South.

There were tornadoes in Florida.

There were winds, howling at 100 m.p.h. in the Florida Keys.

And there was hail, bombarding the Gulf Coast.

At Philadelphia’s Spectrum, wind blew out a window, resulting in postponement of the King-Philadelphia Flyer game after one period.

Two other NHL games, the Pittsburgh Penguins at the New York Islanders and the New York Rangers at the Washington Capitals, also were called off.

“It would be crazy to play on a day like this,” Islander General Manager Don Maloney said.

Three NBA games were postponed: the Indiana Pacers at the New York Knicks, the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. the Washington Bullets at Baltimore and the Denver Nuggets at the Philadelphia 76ers.

St. Louis Cardinal Manager Joe Torre called it the worst weather he has seen in 30 years of spring training.

“I hope it’s the worst I ever see,” he said after his team’s scheduled game against the Pittsburgh Pirates was scrubbed at St. Petersburg, Fla. That was one of nine exhibitions in Florida canceled because of the harsh weather. Only two were played.

“That’s as bad conditions as I’ve ever played in,” White Sox outfielder Michael Huff said after Chicago beat the Boston Red Sox, 10-4, in one of the two games played, a game shortened to five innings. “There were times that if they hit it to me, I wouldn’t have seen the ball.”

At the Lipton Championships, the only 128-draw tennis tournament besides the four majors, 54 matches were postponed because of high winds at Key Biscayne, Fla.

Ferocious winds were also the cause when the third round of the $1.1-million Honda Classic golf tournament at Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., was canceled, cutting the event to three rounds. Larry Mize held a one-shot lead after two rounds.

Before anyone could tee off Saturday, the winds had ripped down concession tents, sky boxes and hospitality tents at the Weston Hills Country Club course. The putting green and practice areas were evacuated because of the danger of wind-blown debris.

The NASCAR race at Hampton, Ga., scheduled for today, was postponed after Saturday’s second round of qualifying at Atlanta Motor Speedway was wiped out.

Saturday’s horse racing program at Aqueduct in New York was canceled Friday when the magnitude of the storm was forecast. Racing was held at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Fla., however.

In basketball, a power outage halted the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament at Charlotte, N.C., throwing the semifinal between North Carolina and Virginia into darkness for 29 minutes before play was resumed.

The sellout crowd of 23,532 was advised before the outage about the possibility of a power loss because of the storm.

“We thought we needed to warn them early that the possibility was there,” tournament director Fred Baraka said. “I think the preparation of them knowing it could happen has helped us in terms of the crowd control.”

The men’s NCAA Division II East Regional at Millersville, Pa., was rescheduled for today, as was the championship game in the NCAA Division II South Regional in Troy, Ala.

At Madison Square Garden, they gave it a shot. About 15,000 showed up for the Big East Conference tournament in the afternoon. But with water dripping onto the court, it was decided to postpone the Knick-Pacer game scheduled for the evening.

The 76ers’ Jeff Hornacek arrived early at the Spectrum to watch the Kings and the Flyers. When he learned that game was being stopped and his would not even start, he understood.

“I mean, it’s a game ,” he said.

But neither rain nor sleet nor snow could deter some others.

A franchise-low crowd of 1,362 attended the Whaler-Buffalo Sabre game at the Hartford Civic Center.

“We’re hockey fans,” Pat Callahan said. “That’s why we’re here.”

Although the Braves’ minor league complex in Florida sustained an estimated $20,000 in damage, pitcher Mike Loynd, who was to make his first spring appearance, was upset by the decision not to play.

“Why did they cancel?” he asked. “This was my one chance to pitch.”

Caught in the Storm

Major sporting events postponed or canceled because of bad weather:

SATURDAY NBA

Denver at Philadelphia; Cleveland vs. Washington at Baltimore (rescheduled for Monday); Indiana at New York (rescheduled for today).

NHL

Kings at Philadelphia; Pittsburgh at New York Islanders (rescheduled for today); New York Rangers at Washington.

EXHIBITION BASEBALL

Nine games in the Grapefruit League in Florida.

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Big South Conference Championship at Charleston, S.C.; Northeast Conference Championship at Teaneck, N.J. (rescheduled for today).

GOLF

Honda Classic, third round, at Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

TENNIS

Lipton Championships at Key Biscayne, Fla.

AUTO RACING

Second round of qualifying for Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 NASCAR race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Practice scheduled for Friday.

HORSE RACING

At 10 sites from New York to Florida.

TODAYAUTO RACING

Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 NASCAR race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Race rescheduled for next Saturday.

HORSE RACING

Aqueduct in New York.

NHL

Washington at New York Islanders; Philadelphia at Hartford.