NEW ORLEANS - The Sugar Bowl will be played at LSU's Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge if enough hotels in New Orleans have had the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina repaired by December.

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.

NEW YORK - ESPN will start a series of Monday night baseball broadcasts and gain greater flexibility to move games to Sunday nights under a new eight-year contract worth $2.368 billion.The agreement, which runs through 2013, allows the network to have a team appear on its exclusive Sunday night games up to five times per season, up from 11 over a three-season span under the six-year contract that is expiring.Baseball is getting $200 million from ESPN in the final season of its current deal, which was worth about $815 million for its television component and was a product of a lawsuit settlement.The sport will average $296 million under the new agreement, a television and a baseball official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of a confidentiality agreement in the deal. ESPN will pay baseball $273.5 million in 2006, $293.5 million in each of the following four years, $308.5 million in 2011 and $306 million in each of the final two seasons.

RALEIGH, N.C. - Ron Francis, one of the NHL's career leaders in games played, goals, assists and points, announced his retirement, ending his 23-year career.Francis, 42, was a four-time all-star who played for Hartford, Pittsburgh, Carolina and Toronto. He ranks among the league's all-time leaders with 1,731 games (third), 549 goals (19th), 1,249 assists (second) and 1,798 points (fourth).Francis said he had decided to retire months ago, but made it official as other notable players like Mark Messier, Scott Stevens and Al MacInnis left the game this month.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Robbie Loomis stepped down as Jeff Gordon's crew chief, four days after the team failed to make NASCAR's Chase for the championship.Loomis will finish the season as consultant for Hendrick Motorsports while Jimmie Johnson races for the Nextel Cup title. He will join Petty Enterprises next season as vice president of race operations, where he will run the day-to-day operations for Jeff Green and Kyle Petty's teams.Steve Letarte, who has been with Gordon's team for three of his NASCAR titles, will take over for Loomis as crew chief.

Butler County Horseshoe League pitchers Butch Neff, Bill Enslen and Buck Majors won first place in their respective classes at the recent Pennsylvania State Horseshoe Tournament in Beaver.Neff pitches for O'Donnell's while Enslen and Majors pitch for Zelienople.

Slippery Rock University sophomore Matt Walsh was recently named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference golf co-Athlete of the Week.Walsh shot an even-par 142 to finish tied for fourth place at the Ohio Valley University Invitational last weekend in Mineral Wells, W. Va. He fired rounds of 72 and 70.