Fisch und Wirbellosenforum

New Orleans’ iconic Superdome Dalton Risner Jersey , home to the Saints football team and a symbol of the city’s revival after Hurricane Katrina, will undergo a $450 million facelift, under a financing plan approved Thursday that is aimed at keeping the NFL team in Louisiana for decades.Super Bowls, will see its ramp system removed and replaced with elevators and escalators, club and suite levels expanded, new entry gates erected, concession stands added and access for people with disabilities improved.Construction is expected to take four years, working around football and other event schedules, but will be completed before the Superdome hosts its next Super Bowl in 2024, said Doug Thornton, a New Orleans-based executive for SMG, which manages the facility.The Superdome renovations are part of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ ongoing negotiations for a new state contract that could extend through 2050 with the Saints, a team whose popularity has soared with record-breaking quarterback Drew Brees and whose relationship with New Orleans has tightened through years of hurricane recovery.“We’re 100% committed to this market, 100% committed to this state. We want to be here,” said Dennis Lauscha, the president of business operations for the Saints, speaking on behalf of team owner Gayle Benson, who also owns the New Orleans Pelicans NBA team.Borrowing plans to pay for the upgrades won unanimous backing Thursday from the State Bond Commission, a panel of statewide elected officials and lawmakers. The state, the Saints and the Superdome management district will share in the borrowing repayment, with the state covering $90 million, the Saints putting up $150 million and the district paying $210 million.Lawmakers will have to determine how to pay for the state’s share. The Superdome management district �? the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District �? will cover its portion of construction costs with a local hotel tax dedicated to its operations and revenue it receives from events at its facilities, Thornton said.Louisiana’s current contract with the Saints Drew Lock Jersey , negotiated by former Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration in 2009, runs through 2025. Edwards, seeking re-election to a second term this fall, is trying to strike a new 15-year deal with the team, with a 15-year extension option.“Following today’s action, I believe that in short order, we will finalize a long-term lease extension that keeps the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome for many years to come,” the Democratic governor said in a statement. “This is good economic news for the city and our state.”The stadium in downtown New Orleans �? which also serves as home to college football’s Sugar Bowl �? opened in 1975. The 73,000-seat facility has gone through several renovations, including a massive rebuild after Hurricane Katrina wrecked the building, ripping away part of its roof, in August 2005.After the levees failed during the hurricane, thousands of evacuees escaping flooded neighborhoods crowded into the Superdome. The storm-ravaged facility filled with mold, water and muck, threatening to serve only as a reminder of Katrina’s misery.But hundreds of millions in renovations, a reopening in 2006 and the Saints’ Super Bowl-winning season a few years later helped the Superdome become a symbol of New Orleans’ recovery. Millions of dollars in additional improvements followed.While other NFL cities have been building new stadiums, Lauscha said that’s not needed in New Orleans, as long as investments continue into the Superdome.“Overwhelmingly, people like the Superdome. So, that’s our home. We love it, too. It serves us very well,” he said.It’s unclear what other terms the Edwards administration is renegotiating with the Saints.Louisiana no longer pays direct cash subsidies to the team, as it did under a prior deal reached by former Gov. Mike Foster, but the organization receives many other inducements from the state.The Saints keep money from concession sales and parking at the Superdome Jamel Dean Jersey , the NFL organization is exempt from state sales tax and it retains the revenue generated by the sale of naming rights for the Superdome. State agencies also pay more than $8 million a year to rent downtown New Orleans office space from Benson. GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP)Marcus Mariota’s answers were clipped, many one word. His facial expression changed minimally, a quick raise of the eyebrow or lip before giving an answer after his performance against the Arizona Cardinals. The Tennessee Titans lost a game they should have won and their quarterback shouldered most of the blame. ”Frustration is an understatement,” Mariota said following Tennessee’s 12-7 loss to the Cardinals on Sunday. ”Defense played lights out, special teams did their job, and I’ve been hurting our team. I’ve got to find ways to be better.” The Titans (8-5) entered tied with Jacksonville atop the AFC South after winning six of their previous seven games. All they had to do was beat the struggling Cardinals (6-7) to stay in the division lead, maybe move a game ahead if the Jaguars couldn’t get past Seattle. Tennessee couldn’t get it done. Jacksonville beat the Seahawks to boot. Not a great first trip to University of Phoenix Stadium. ”At the end of the day, we didn’t play very well,” Titans tight end Delanie Walker said. ”Our defense held them to field goals and if you can’t put points on the board, obviously you can’t win game.” Mariota starred as a redshirt freshman for Oregon at the 2013 Fiesta Bowl his last trip to Glendale, leading the Ducks to a 35-17 victory over Kansas State. He was mostly ineffective against Arizona’s defense, struggling with his aim and not nearly as mobile after tweaking his knee in the first quarter. Tennessee’s run game, which moved up to seventh in the NFL last week, was almost nonexistent, contributing 65 yards on 22 carries after a season-high 198 yards last week. The Titans finished with 204 total yards to fall a game back in the division. ”Defense played out of their mind the whole game,” Titans coach Mike Mularkey said. ”We had a chance to win the game because of our defense. Special teams wasn’t good enough, and neither was our offense.” After a punt-filled first quarter, the Titans put together a nine-play, 50-yard scoring drive, capped by Derrick Henry’s 6-yard TD run . Tennessee’s offense then went back to sputtering. The Titans took a gamble in the third quarter, attempting a fake punt that appeared to work. Upon review, the officials changed the spot, leaving Tennessee short of a first down. Arizona took over at the Titans’ 35-yard line D.K. Metcalf Jersey , setting up Phil Dawson’s second field goal, from 23 yards to cut Tennessee’s lead to 7-6. ”We should have got it and I thought we got it,” Mularkey said. ”I don’t know how it got overturned. With all those bodies, I don’t know how they saw it. I question that immensely, that overturn.” The Titans moved into Arizona’s end of the field on its second drive of the third quarter, but a miscommunication with receiver Rishard Matthews turned into an interception by Tramon Williams. Mariota’s second interception, with Tennessee trailing 9-7, was his fault. Trying to squeeze a pass into Walker, he didn’t see Josh Bynes drop back into underneath coverage. Bynes snared the ball and returned it 25 yards to Tennessee’s 15, setting up Dawson’s fourth field goal, a 35-yarder that put Arizona up 12-7. ”That’s on me. I didn’t see him under there,” said Mariota, who threw for 159 yards on 16 of 31 passing. The Titans got the ball back twice in the final 3:45, but were forced to punt once, and turned it over on downs. Defensively, the Titans were effective pressuring Blaine Gabbert, sacking him eight times, even with outside linebacker Derrick Morgan injured. Tennessee was good in the red zone, holding the Cardinals to four field goals and a miss on another. It wasn’t good enough, thanks to the Titans’ wobbling offense. Now the Titans will remain in the desert to figure out what went wrong, practicing this week at Arizona State University to prepare for Sunday’s game against San Francisco. —