Cornerback Ray Buchanan admitted he was frightened.

"I was saying, 'Couldn't they wait until after the game?'" he said.

As Atlanta prepared for its first possession, the public address announcer told a Georgia Dome crowd of 46,483 about U.S. and British strikes against terrorist targets on the other side of the world. The fans cheered and began chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!"

Word of the military action came just before Sunday's sports events began.

The start of the Cardinals-Eagles NFL game at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium was delayed nine minutes as part of President Bush's speech was shown on the stadium's big screen. The sellout crowd of more than 64,000 immediately began cheering as video images of the attack were televised.

The ABC telecast of the U.S. men's World Cup soccer qualifier in Foxboro, Mass., was replaced by news coverage, and the NASCAR race was switched from NBC to TNT.

Before the CART race in Houston, fans sang the national anthem and heard Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA." Then, a naval officer told the crowd about the readiness of America's military.

"The president has launched Operation Enduring Freedom," he said.

It drew a huge roar from the crowd, many waving small American flags.

In several NFL stadiums, the speech was shown on scoreboards at halftime. In Pittsburgh, the Steelers came onto the field for second-half warmups during the speech, but mostly seemed oblivious.

Miami Dolphins officials decided against telling the crowd of 72,713 in Joe Robbie Stadium about the attack, but the team learned of the news before the kickoff of its game with New England.

"We talked about it a little bit, thought about it and said a prayer," said Miami defensive end Jason Taylor, standing at his locker in red, white and blue shorts. "We have a job to do, and we had to go do it. Now, we can obviously focus more on what's going on in the world."

No announcement was made at Giants Stadium, where New York played Washington.

"There were so many other ways for fans to learn of it," said Jim DiEleuterio, president and CEO of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. "There are literally hundreds of TV sets in the stadium and fans have radios and portable TVs."

At Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., news of the attack was shown on big screen televisions in the infield prior to the race. Fans cheered when the screen showed images from Kabul, in full view of the drivers, and a flyover of two fighter jets drew more cheers and salutes from the crowd.

In the Braves' clubhouse at Turner Field, pitcher Tom Glavine stepped off a treadmill and saw his teammates milling in front of the TV sets.

"We're all interested in what's going on and the outcome of it," he said. "We're a heck of a lot more concerned about what's going on than we usually are."

Milwaukee players getting ready for their baseball game against Arizona watched Bush's speech in silence on a TV in the clubhouse.

"We all knew it was going to happen," Brewers pitcher Mike De Jean said. "Baseball has been secondary since Sept. 11. I think we all want to get home and be with our families in times like this."

Outfielder Geoff Jenkins echoed his teammate's comments: "I think the whole country has been on edge, waiting for our response."

After Houston beat St. Louis to win the NL Central title at Busch Stadium, there was no on-field celebration by the Astros out of respect for those involved in Sunday's attacks.

"Those men and women fighting for us are the real heroes today," Craig Biggio. "We appreciate what they are doing to ensure that America remains the greatest country in the world."

Houston catcher Brad Ausmus asked everybody in the clubhouse to bow their heads for a moment of silence.

"Although we're very excited about what we've accomplished, we would like to let those who are fighting for our country know were thinking about them," he said.

At the PGA Tour's Michelob Championship in Williamsburg, Va., a large-screen television in a public hospitality tent remained tuned to news of the U.S. attacks even after TV coverage of the tournament began at 4 p.m

Within an hour of news of the first strikes, the PGA Tour added a message to its electronic scoreboard telling of the air attacks.

"The U.S. has launched air attacks on terrorist targets in Afghanistan," the message said. It cycled in and out for about 15 minutes.

The U.S. soccer team, which was getting ready to play Jamaica in a critical World Cup qualifier, saw its game removed from ABC-TV for coverage of the events in Afghanistan.

"News has the authority to take it as long as they need it," ABC Sports spokesman Mark Mandel said in New York.

ESPN decided to televise the game on tape delay at 1 p.m. EDT Monday. ESPN was televising the CART race at the time of the soccer match, and ESPN2 broadcast the Houston Astros-St. Louis Cardinals game.