NFL and baseball call off weekend games, along with college football

By Howard Fendrich

Associated Press

The National Football League on Thursday called off all 15 games this weekend because of the attacks on New York and Washington, and major league baseball postponed all games through Sunday, extending what was already the sport’s longest cancellation since World War I.

In addition, the Big Ten, Big 12 and Southeastern conferences reversed field and postponed all football games set for this weekend. They joined the Atlantic Coast, Big East and Pac-10 conferences, meaning there will be no major college football on Saturday.

And Major League Soccer canceled the last six games of its regular season. Playoffs will begin Sept. 20, commissioner Don Garber said.

Major league baseball will resume play on Monday.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said all players will wear American flags on their uniforms for the remainder of the season, and American flags will be given to fans during all games Monday.

Since Tuesday’s attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, baseball had wiped out six days of play. Thursday’s decision will raise the total of postponed games to 91, the most since nearly the entire final month of the 1918 season was canceled.

Baseball intends to make up all the games by extending the regular season, which had been scheduled to end Sept. 30. The games will be rescheduled for the week of Oct. 1. That could push the conclusion of the World Series into November.

The National Football League said it would decide later whether to reschedule its games or go with a 15-game season.

“We in the National Football league have decided that our priorities for this weekend are to pause, grieve and reflect,” commissioner Paul Tagliabue said in a statement. “It is a time to tend to families and neighbors and all those wounded by these horrific acts of terrorism.”

Along with major league baseball, the National Basketball Association, the PGA Tour and the National Hockey League already had suspended events. The decision by the NFL, which was criticized for playing two days after the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy, had been anxiously anticipated.

The affected games include 14 on Sunday – from Oakland, Calif., to the nation’s capital and East Rutherford, N.J., near New York – and Monday night’s game at Baltimore.

Tagliabue said a decision on whether to reschedule this weekend’s games or play a 15-game season schedule would be announced as soon as possible.”

Many players wanted the games called off.

“You know what? I’ll forgo my weekly paycheck. This is serious,” said Phil Hansen of the Buffalo Bills.

Others thought the NFL should set an example for terrorists.

“I don’t want cowards to dictate what we do in this country. That’s where my anguish is right now,” Baltimore coach Brian Billick said.

The NBA canceled basketball exhibition games Sept. 16 in Shanghai, China and Sept. 18 in Taiwan. NASCAR’s Winston Cup auto race in New Hampshire on Sunday was postponed until Nov. 23.

Men’s and women’s golf took separate courses.

Tiger Woods was in St. Louis with most of the world’s top players for the $5 million World Golf Championship, which was called off Wednesday, along with the PGA Tour’s Tampa Bay Classic. The LPGA Tour, though, will open its tournament in Oregon on Friday as scheduled.