The terrorist attacks that rocked New York and Washington on Tuesday also brought the sports world to a near stand-still.

Professional sports leagues canceled or postponed scheduled games, and colleges followed suit.

The Harvard Department of Athletics postponed two soccer games in the last two days and consented to the cancellation of a field hockey game last night. For weekend games, such as the football team’s season opener at Holy Cross on Saturday, the school has adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

“Decisions on team travel, canceling or postponing contests will be made on a day-to-day basis, with the safety of our athletes and concern for the many people affected by these events being our primary guide,” said Harvard Director of Athletics Robert L. Scalise.

While Brown and Yale Universities have cancelled their football season openers—in California and Maryland, respectively—Harvard, Columbia and Dartmouth plan to play on Saturday. A final decision will not be reached until early this morning.

“None of these decisions are being made lightly,” said John Veneziano, assistant athletic director for sports media relations. “We’re just trying to carry on.”

The varied reactions in the Ivy League mirror those across the nation as other athletic conferences debated yesterday about the status of weekend football games. The Pacific Athletic Conference (PAC-10), Big East and Atlantic Coast Conference decided yesterday to postpone all league games. The seven other major Division I-A conferences will allow games to go on.

Many officials, including PAC-10 Commissioner Thomas Hansen, raised the specter of the decision to go ahead with NFL football games the weekend after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy ’40 on Nov. 22,1963. While the NFL was roundly criticized for carrying on with its schedule, the NCAA was praised for postponing its games in the aftermath of that national tragedy.