Metlife Stadium

Penn State will open its football season Aug. 31 vs. Syracuse at MetLife Stadium in New York's College Classic, the teams announced Thursday. The time of the game has not been set. The Nittany Lions and Orange have met 70 times, the second-highest total for a Penn State opponent. Penn State owns a 42-23-5 series advantage, winning the most recent games, in 2008 and 2009. The teams met every season from 1944 to 1990 but did not meet again until the 2008 game in Syracuse's Carrier Dome.

THE NHL is planning six outdoor games next season, ESPN.com reported Tuesday, citing sources. The first outdoor game will be the annual Winter Classic, in which Toronto and Detroit will meet at Michigan Stadium on Jan. 1, 2014. The other games, according to the report, are being planned as followed: * Anaheim Ducks vs. Los Angeles Kings, Jan. 25, Dodger Stadium. * The New York Rangers vs. the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 26 and the New York Islanders on Jan. 29. Both games would be held at Yankee Stadium, the week before the Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands, Feb. 2. * The Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Chicago Blackhawks on March 1 at Soldier Field.

SUPER BOWL Monday. Super Bowl Wednesday. Surely that sounds better than Super Bowl PPD. The NFL says it's ready for next year's game at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Feb. 2, no matter the weather. Even if it means moving the game from its traditional Sunday spot. Concerns about contingencies arose recently for two reasons: Next year's Super Bowl will be outdoors at a cold-weather site for the first time and the Northeast is still recovering from a monster snowstorm that hit last weekend; the lights went out in the Louisiana Superdome during the Feb. 3 game, causing a 34-minute delay and some anxiety about whether it would resume.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Carrying signs to express their gratitude and their choice of love over violence in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, approximately 400 residents of Newtown, Conn., attended the Eagles-Giants game Sunday. The residents, including about 200 students from the school system, formed a gantlet to welcome players from both teams before the game. They then held hands and ringed the field as the national anthem was played at MetLife Stadium.

MOONACHIE, N.J. - Images of New Jersey's devastated shoreline captivated the nation in the days after Sandy. Less noticed was the enormous damage caused inland when a mile-and-a-half-long earthen barrier along and near the Hackensack River was breached, sending a tidal surge washing over parts of several towns, damaging more than 2,000 homes and other buildings. Now attention is turning to what can be done to prevent similar river flooding in future storms, and townspeople and officials don't like what they are hearing because no one seems to own the problem.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - A good start is what is on the line this time when the New York Giants host the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL season opener. The stakes were much greater the last time the NFC East foes faced off, when they closed the last regular season. New York won to claim the division title en route to the Super Bowl title. Dallas was left out of the postseason. On Wednesday night at MetLife Stadium, the winner will take the early upper hand in the divisional race. For Eli Manning and the Super Bowl champion Giants, this will be a chance to silence the critics and detractors who have sounded off repeatedly after they beat the New England Patriots in February to claim their second title in five seasons.

Need proof that football is a really tough sport? Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said Wednesday that his Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten sustained a "slightly lacerated" spleen in the preseason opener Monday night against Oakland. Forget slightly , you had us at lacerated - ouch. "It's a very serious injury and we're really taking this thing day by day," Garrett said. "He has to be very still and idle for the next week to 10 days, so you won't see him out here on the practice field.

Detroit's Ndamukong Suh - who was twice named the NFL's dirtiest player in Sporting News player polls - will not be suspended for kicking Houston quarterback Matt Schaub in the groin in the Lions' 34-31 overtime loss on Thanksgiving Day. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello tweeted Monday that although the defensive tackle will not be suspended, the play "will be reviewed for a potential fine. " Suh extended his foot and kicked Schaub as the tackle was being spun to the ground during a pass rush.

Don't look for Michael Vick to speed up the Jersey Turnpike to MetLife Stadium now that Marty Mornhinweg is offensive coordinator for the Jets. According to ESPN.com, the two were not on the best of terms last season when Mornhinweg called plays for the Eagles, and that relationship - along with Vick's price tag - makes a reunion unlikely. When Mornhinweg was hired by the Jets last week, the immediate thought was that he might be looking to bring Vick with him. The Eagles have only two weeks to decide about keeping Vick.

The NFL has shot down speculation that New York-area winter weather might cause the cancellation of any live, outdoor halftime performance at next year's Super Bowl. While Super Bowl XLVIII won't set the record for most Roman numerals - that was XXXVIII - it will be the first scheduled for a domeless stadium in a cold-weather climate - MetLife Stadium in North Jersey. "Hope you enjoyed Beyoncé, football fans, because next year, there may not be a halftime show at the frigid Meadowlands Super Bowl," the New York Post wrote Monday.

THE NHL is planning six outdoor games next season, ESPN.com reported Tuesday, citing sources. The first outdoor game will be the annual Winter Classic, in which Toronto and Detroit will meet at Michigan Stadium on Jan. 1, 2014. The other games, according to the report, are being planned as followed: * Anaheim Ducks vs. Los Angeles Kings, Jan. 25, Dodger Stadium. * The New York Rangers vs. the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 26 and the New York Islanders on Jan. 29. Both games would be held at Yankee Stadium, the week before the Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands, Feb. 2. * The Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Chicago Blackhawks on March 1 at Soldier Field.

Penn State will open its football season Aug. 31 vs. Syracuse at MetLife Stadium in New York's College Classic, the teams announced Thursday. The time of the game has not been set. The Nittany Lions and Orange have met 70 times, the second-highest total for a Penn State opponent. Penn State owns a 42-23-5 series advantage, winning the most recent games, in 2008 and 2009. The teams met every season from 1944 to 1990 but did not meet again until the 2008 game in Syracuse's Carrier Dome.

SUPER BOWL Monday. Super Bowl Wednesday. Surely that sounds better than Super Bowl PPD. The NFL says it's ready for next year's game at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Feb. 2, no matter the weather. Even if it means moving the game from its traditional Sunday spot. Concerns about contingencies arose recently for two reasons: Next year's Super Bowl will be outdoors at a cold-weather site for the first time and the Northeast is still recovering from a monster snowstorm that hit last weekend; the lights went out in the Louisiana Superdome during the Feb. 3 game, causing a 34-minute delay and some anxiety about whether it would resume.

The NFL has shot down speculation that New York-area winter weather might cause the cancellation of any live, outdoor halftime performance at next year's Super Bowl. While Super Bowl XLVIII won't set the record for most Roman numerals - that was XXXVIII - it will be the first scheduled for a domeless stadium in a cold-weather climate - MetLife Stadium in North Jersey. "Hope you enjoyed Beyoncé, football fans, because next year, there may not be a halftime show at the frigid Meadowlands Super Bowl," the New York Post wrote Monday.

Don't look for Michael Vick to speed up the Jersey Turnpike to MetLife Stadium now that Marty Mornhinweg is offensive coordinator for the Jets. According to ESPN.com, the two were not on the best of terms last season when Mornhinweg called plays for the Eagles, and that relationship - along with Vick's price tag - makes a reunion unlikely. When Mornhinweg was hired by the Jets last week, the immediate thought was that he might be looking to bring Vick with him. The Eagles have only two weeks to decide about keeping Vick.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - If it had happened at Lincoln Financial Field, there would have been cheers. But most of the MetLife Stadium fans didn't notice when cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was pulled off the field in favor of Curtis Marsh about a minute and a half into the fourth quarter, after Asomugha was called for his second pass-interference penalty of the game. Asomugha, 31, a four-time All-Pro selection with the Oakland Raiders, has looked dazed and confused for much of his two seasons with the Eagles, since signing a 5-year, $60 million free-agent contract in August 2011.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Carrying signs to express their gratitude and their choice of love over violence in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, approximately 400 residents of Newtown, Conn., attended the Eagles-Giants game Sunday. The residents, including about 200 students from the school system, formed a gantlet to welcome players from both teams before the game. They then held hands and ringed the field as the national anthem was played at MetLife Stadium.

MOONACHIE, N.J. - Images of New Jersey's devastated shoreline captivated the nation in the days after Sandy. Less noticed was the enormous damage caused inland when a mile-and-a-half-long earthen barrier along and near the Hackensack River was breached, sending a tidal surge washing over parts of several towns, damaging more than 2,000 homes and other buildings. Now attention is turning to what can be done to prevent similar river flooding in future storms, and townspeople and officials don't like what they are hearing because no one seems to own the problem.

Detroit's Ndamukong Suh - who was twice named the NFL's dirtiest player in Sporting News player polls - will not be suspended for kicking Houston quarterback Matt Schaub in the groin in the Lions' 34-31 overtime loss on Thanksgiving Day. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello tweeted Monday that although the defensive tackle will not be suspended, the play "will be reviewed for a potential fine. " Suh extended his foot and kicked Schaub as the tackle was being spun to the ground during a pass rush.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Trailing by three scores at the half, Andrew Luck walked out of the visitors' locker room at MetLife Stadium on Sunday as one confident rookie. He had been there before. In fact, it had only been a week earlier that Luck, the No. 1 overall pick in April's draft, had heroically carried his Colts back from an 18-point halftime deficit to beat the Packers, 30-27. In his fourth game as a pro, Luck had spotted Aaron Rodgers 18 points, and won. Accordingly, when asked on Sunday if he thought that he could replicate the previous week's comeback, Luck was emphatic.