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| Home > City Guide - New Orleans - Sport | ||
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Sport Much like any other sport-respecting US city, American Football is the standout favourite in New Orleans. The New Orleans Saints NFL football team (tel: (504) 731 1881; website: www.neworleanssaints.com) clinched the NFC West division title in 2000, however, have fell to rivals St Louis and San Francisco in 2001. This year sees the Saints take on Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Arizona in the NFC South division. This much loved team can be found at the 60,000-seater Louisiana Superdome, Sugar Bowl Drive (tel: (504) 733 0255;), which is also the home of the famous Sugar Bowl game (website: www.nokiasugarbowl.com), which concludes the college football season on New Year’s Day. The previous week sees the Sugar Bowl Basketball Tournament, again between the best college teams. These take place at the New Orleans Arena, 1501 Girod Street (tel: (504) 525 8573; website: www.neworleansarena.com), which is adjacent to the Superdome and also hosts tennis, sailing, swimming, track and field facilities and, during the winter, the New Orleans Brass hockey team (tel: (504) 522 7825; website: www.brasshockey.com). The New Orleans Zephyrs play baseball at Zephyr Field, 6000 Airline Highway, Metairie (tel: (504) 282 6777; website: www.zephyrsbaseball.com). To purchase tickets, sports keen visitors should call the venues as early as possible. Hotel concierges are able to help with acquiring last minute tickets. Tickets are also available from Ticketmaster (tel: (504) 522 5555; website: www.ticketmaster.com), which levies a US$2 surcharge per ticket. Fitness centres: Many of the large hotels have their own fitness centres and even some of the smaller ones have exercise rooms. Places that accept guests include Le Meridien New Orleans, 614 Canal Street (tel: (504) 525 6500), at US$12 per day, and the Hilton Riverside, 2 Poydras Street (tel: (504) 561 0500), at US$12 per day, which also covers its putting and driving range, tennis, squash and racquetball courts. Golf: There are at least two dozen public and private courses in the New Orleans area. The English Turn Country Club, One Clubhouse Drive (tel: (504) 391 8019), has a course designed by Jack Nicklaus and hosts the PGA’s Entergy Classic each April. Fees are around US$150. Non-members must be accompanied by a guest or have their reservation made by their own club’s golf pro. The closest public course to downtown is the 18-hole Audubon Golf Club, 473 Walnut Street (tel: (504) 865 8260). Fees are US$9 weekends, US$12 weekdays. There is also a course in City Park (tel: (504) 483 9397). Horseracing: The Fair Grounds Race Track, 1751 Gentilly Boulevard (tel: (504) 944 5515), is the third-oldest in the USA, first opened in 1872. It hosts races from November to March, Wednesday-Sunday at 1330. Tennis: There is a Tennis Center in the City Park (tel: (504) 483 9383) and courts in Audubon Park (tel: (504) 895 1042) but otherwise courts are private. |
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