Louisiana is mourning the death of Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson, who passed away at the age of 90. Benson was admitted into a hospital three weeks ago, because of the flu. He bought the Saints in 1985 and former quarterback Bobby Hebert says if it wasn’t for Mr. B, he would have never played professionally in his home state…
cut 5 (13) “…New Orleans Saints”
The Saints and Pelicans say there will be a streamless transition in ownership from Mr. Benson to his widow, Gayle Benson.

The Saints have re-signed pass rusher Alex Okafor to a two-year deal worth 10-million dollars according to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Okafor was having a good season with the Black and Gold when he injured his Achilles in Week 11. Okafor also reportedly visited with the Bucs.

The LSU baseball team begins SEC play tonight as they host the Missouri Tigers. The Bayou Bengals enter league play with a 12-6 record. Coach Paul Mainieri says he feels good about his pitching after a rough start…
cut 18 (20) “…really respectable”
The SEC is expanding replay for conference games. Coaches will now have the opportunity to challenge force or tag outs, hit by pitch, placement of runners on a boundary call and runner interference on double plays.

Louisiana Tech opens Conference USA play by hosting Rice. Game one is tonight at 6 PM and the two teams will play a doubleheader tomorrow starting at one o’ clock because the threat of inclement weather on Sunday.

The Pelicans tried to rally back from 15 points down but New Orleans lost to San Antonio 98-93.