Sugar Bowl to Be at LSU if Enough Hotels Ready

Work crews were busy in several New Orleans hotels Wednesday, repairing damage from Hurricane Katrina.

That’s good news for the Sugar Bowl.

If enough hotels in the New Orleans area are up and running by December, this season’s Sugar Bowl will be played at Louisiana State’s Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.

If they aren’t, Atlanta’s Georgia Dome would be a likely alternative, Sugar Bowl Executive Director Paul Hoolahan is expected to tell the commissioners of the 11 Division I-A conferences at a BCS meeting Tuesday in Chicago.

“Obviously, this will not be a normal New Orleans Sugar Bowl experience,” said Hoolahan, who got his first look at the bowl offices in the Superdome on Wednesday.

“But I think everyone will take a little disruption, maybe more than a little disruption, to get this done.

“Our preference is to play the game in Louisiana, because the Sugar Bowl is a Louisiana event. But we are pursuing a parallel track to ensure that there is a Sugar Bowl this year.”

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Ohio State tight end Ryan Hamby has received a couple of hate letters since dropping a seemingly sure touchdown pass during the Buckeyes’ loss to Texas last week.

Cutting over the middle into the end zone, Hamby was open when Justin Zwick’s pass bounced off his chest and into the air. He had a second chance to grab it but was slammed by a defender just as the ball touched his hands.

A touchdown would have given Ohio State a 10-point lead in the third quarter. The Buckeyes ended up settling for a field goal and eventually lost, 25-22.

“I can’t think about it too much because we still have a lot of football to play,” he said as the ninth-ranked Buckeyes prepared for Saturday’s home game with San Diego State. “I’m not going to lie. I think about it sometimes. But you’ve just got to move on.”

A senior from Cincinnati, Hamby said he had a sleepless night after dropping the pass.

“I just came open and, I don’t know, it all happened so fast,” he said. “I knew I caught the ball and it got knocked out of my hands. I was kind of laying there thinking, ‘Man, I wish that didn’t happen.’ But it’s part of life and you’ve got to deal with it.”

Asked about the content of the letters, Hamby said, “I’m not going to talk about them, but they’re just dumb things. You almost want to say, ‘You know, in the scheme of life there are things going on around the world. It’s just a game.’ ”

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The financially troubled Hula Bowl is returning to Honolulu for its 60th game after spending eight years on Maui. The planned move ends months of speculation that the annual college all-star game may be relocating to the mainland or folding.

The 2006 Hula Bowl will be played at Aloha Stadium on Jan. 21, Mark Salmans, the game’s president and chief operating officer, said in an e-mail to Associated Press.

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Northwestern senior receiver Mark Philmore is taking time off from football for personal reasons, Wildcat Coach Randy Walker said.

Philmore ranks ninth at Northwestern in receptions in a career with 113. He has caught a pass in all 31 of his games.

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Vanderbilt will honor running back Kwane Doster, who was shot to death in the off-season, with a ceremony at halftime of its home opener against Mississippi on Saturday.

Doster was killed in his hometown of Tampa, Fla., on Dec. 26. The 2002 Southeastern Conference freshman of the year would have been a senior this season and the starting tailback.