Louisiana Superdome Is Ready For Saints Return ... But Is New Orleans?

Doug Thornton, the vice president of the company that manages the Louisiana Superdome, says that the stadium is fine after Hurricane Gustav hit the region yesterday.

"We're in good shape," said Doug Thornton, vice president of SMG, the company that manages the Superdome and neighboring New Orleans Arena. "We've got some exterior signs ripped and things like that, downed fences and light poles blown over, but nothing major, nothing structural or nothing that would affect the interior condition of the building."

That means the New Orleans Saints are planning to play their game this Sunday at the dome. They will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

However, that isn't a foregone conclusion. Most of the city has been evacuated ... so there aren't (as of now) any fans nor staff there to attend the game. They aren't sure if suppliers can get their food, drinks and whatever to the stadium in time.

If it cannot be done, the Saints-Bucs game will most likely take place in Tampa. Since they are division rivals, they can swap out their November 30th scheduled meeting back to New Orleans.