Mark your calendars: Seven home games, including SEC games against Auburn, Florida, Texas A&M and Arkansas, highlight LSU’s 2013 football schedule, which was released by the conference today. The 2013 LSU schedule features eight conference games—four at home and four on the road—as well as four non-conference contests beginning with the season opener against TCU in the Cowboys Classic Aug. 31 in Arlington, Texas. Other non-conference games for the Tigers in 2013 include the home opener against Kent State on Sept. 7, UAB on Sept. 14, and Furman on Oct. 26. Check out the complete schedule here.
Sneak peak: Fans will get an opportunity to watch the New Orleans Hornets practice on Saturday morning as the team holds an open workout at New Orleans Arena from 10 a.m. to noon, The Times-Picayune reports. The event is free. Coach Monty Williams will be wearing a microphone during the workout, so those in attendance will get an idea of what transpires between coach and players during a routine practice session. New Orleans opens the regular season at home on Oct. 31 against the San Antonio Spurs. Read the full story here.
One in the loss column: Louisiana will pay as much as $90 million to get out of a troubled borrowing deal that helped upgrade the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. The State Bond Commission gave preliminary approval today to a debt refinancing for the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District that will include the termination payment to Merrill Lynch, which handled the previous bond sale. The proposal will restructure a 2006 bond deal that became saddled with problems as part of the credit crunch and financial downturn a few years after the deal was struck.
