Saint Home Game Moves to New York

The New Orleans Saints, left without a home field after Hurricane Katrina, will play their home opener against the New York Giants at Giants Stadium.

The game was scheduled for Sept. 18 at the Superdome, which was used this week as a shelter for storm and flood victims. The relocated game will be played the same weekend, although the date and kickoff time have yet to be announced.

Because the Jets will be using the stadium that Sunday for a game against Miami, the New Orleans game would most likely be played Saturday or Monday. The league said, however, there is the possibility a doubleheader format could be used, with games at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. The Jet game currently has a 4:15 p.m. kickoff.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who announced the decision in a written statement, said the game would be presented with elements that would “highlight and contribute to” the national relief effort. He said the Saints and Giants would donate a portion of their proceeds to Hurricane Katrina relief.

It is not known where the team will play its other seven home games.

-- Sam Farmer

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USC basketball Coach Tim Floyd said Friday his sister lost two homes in Hattiesburg, Miss., to Hurricane Katrina and that many of his friends in the area lost their homes.

“It’s one tragedy after another from friends calling me,” said Floyd, whose homes in the region survived, as did that of his mother, who was evacuated to Colorado before the storm.

Floyd, who was born in Hattiesburg, coached at the University of New Orleans for six seasons and was coach of the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets during the 2004 season.

-- Robyn Norwood

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The Fair Grounds racetrack in New Orleans won’t reopen for its November meet, Churchill Downs President and Chief Executive Thomas H. Meeker said during a conference call.

Churchill Downs, which last year purchased the bankrupt track for $47 million, has held preliminary discussions about transferring a portion of the 2005-2006 meet to the Louisiana Downs track in northwestern Louisiana.

-- Greg Johnson

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Stock car driver Kim Crosby, who hopes to qualify today for tonight’s Ameriquest 300 in NASCAR’s Busch series at California Speedway, was among the lucky.

Crosby, who gave up her position as a junior high school principal in Slidell, La., to become a full-time driver, got out of the disaster area before the hurricane hit. And her house in Slidell, a New Orleans suburb, was not hit.

“We are lucky,” she said.

Drag racer Richie Stevens Jr., a New Orleans native, will drive his pro stock Dodge in this weekend’s U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park, but his house is gone and the family business, Stevens Collision Center, may be.

“They said my house has anywhere from 10 to 15 feet of water in it,” he said.

-- Mike Kupper

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The Lakers and Sparks announced plans to donate $100,000 to the American Red Cross, and the Lakers will hold auctions at each home game during the month of November to benefit hurricane victims.... Del Mar jockeys volunteered to be dunk-tank targets today, Sunday and Monday at the track. For $10, fans will get two chances to drop the jockeys into a tub of water. Del Mar Thoroughbred Club agreed to match whatever funds are raised.

Baltimore Raven cornerback Deion Sanders challenged all professional athletes to donate at least $1,000 apiece through payroll deductions to benefit the hurricane victims.... NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, who grew up in New Orleans, will fly to Baton Rouge, La., today on a plane carrying relief supplies.... The Texas Southern-Prairie View A&M; football game, scheduled to be played today in Houston, was postponed.