Good Tidings to you (Saints fans) wherever you are

Who Dat!!! Saints controlled their own destiny this past weekend by assuring themselves a playoff bye. First time in team history. I told a bunch of my friends that this is the best season the Saints have ever had, even beats the '87 (12-3) season. We don't just beat teams, we crush them. The Giants were waving the white flag or Tiki's cry hanky by the end of the 3rd Quarter. When have you ever seen a Saints team beat so many good teams handly all season.

I love were this team has taken us, and I can't wait to share in the enjoy on Jan.13 or 14th the first playoff game in New Orleans since 2000. As the horrible teammate/coach killer T.O. once said, "I love me some New Orleans." Or something along those lines. Reggie had a coming out party for those trash talking his running skills. He hit the holes with a fierce meaness that made Tiki feel older by the second. The defense really came up huge after Fred "I won't bash you today" Thomas got burnt on the 4 play from scrimmage. They didn't allow the Giants into our territory all game. That's right, all game. Here's to a happy holidays to all. I know Payton will not rest his players next week, so let's put a cap on this season by closing out the Panthers at home. Who Dat! Who Dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints? Who Dat?

Yen and Yang

Dice K Matsuzak officially started his Red Sox career the other day with his 6 year - 51 million dollar deal. That's a lot of yen. I'll give the Red Sox some credit. They set their goals for the off season to acquire a starting pitcher, and they did that some 100 million dollars later.

Is he the next Greg Maddux? Is he going to be another Hideo Nomo? No one knows for sure, but one thing is for sure, the "Donger" can throw 4 great pitches. That's more than I could say for the late Matt Clement. Clement is having trouble finding his shoulder much less finding his way into the rotation. He's trying to find his career much like Paris Hilton.

I like our rotation as we have it set up with Schill, Beckett, Donger, Pap, and Wake. The only thing I fear is that the starting pitchers will have to go nine innings every night to keep us from going to the bullpen. Bradon Donnelly is a nice addition, but he's not a closer. If the perm that Craig Hansen wears off soon than maybe he can become our closer? That's asking a lot considering that Hansen lost all confidence in himself last year having been sent down to AAA more times than Bull Durham. With the resurgence of a healthy Jon Lester we finally have a left hander that can come out of the bull pen with a chance to help out. I like Lester. He was definitely thrown into the mix to early last year, and should be eased into the lineup during the season. He could be our only left hander to put up against that formidable Yankee lineup that has 5 guys who bat from the wrong side of the plate.

Taking the good with the bad. The recent pick up of Dice K. plus if medical science will allow it we can dump J.D. Drew (he'll still become a Sox unfortunately), and add into the mixture the fact that we have Papelbon moving into a starting position we have plenty of upside. It's not saying we don't have holes up the middle at short-stop and second base. Can someone explain to me why we didn't unload Pedrioa a year ago when our scouts knew he would amount to nothing more than an shorter version of Damian Jackson? Everytime I see him out there playing it's like someone allowed the Little League player from Worchester to be on the field. Isn't there anyway Tito can put a measureing stick on the outside of the dugout much like those on roller coaster rides? Well, that's why you have to take the good with bad. The yen and the yang.

CHAMPS not CHUMPS!!!

Wow!!! This has been one crazy season of football for Saints fans. Mixed with highs and lows. Most of the lows coming at home mind you, but still a lot more highs than lows. Nine to be exact.

There is a terminology or coach speak that you take it one game at a time. This is so true after a loss. Yet, after a win like we had last week the city of New Orleans and Saints nation world wide was dreaming of sugar plums and Super Bowls. Let's remember that this is the same team that won 3 games last year!!! That's the same amount of times I scream out every game that Fred Thomas is killing us. Then I remember that we are without our starting safety and our back-up Omar Stoutmire was out last week too. Not good.

I did see some things that were promising for the game on Sunday. Connor Payton looks like he could replace Fetch monster as our new tee retriever. I did like the fact that our defense didn't break under much pressure from the Skins. They pounded us and were in the redzone 4 times only to come away with 16 points. Can someone explain to me why Fred Thomas is still playing cornerback for our New Orleans Saints? The guy has a club hand, gets burnt more than Toi Cook on Flipper Anderson, and I see more of his backside every game which is not his best side. I think I may have also jinxed the Saints by wearing my 2001 NFC West Divisional Champs T-shirt while watching the game.

We still won the division which to me is the biggest shocker because if you asked me 3 months ago I would have laughed and called you an insurance adjuster. Although many us are hitting a bit of a low with the Saints after the loss we must remember where we came from and that we are in the playoffs. I'm definitely looking forward to this weekend we play the Giants at the Saints unofficial second home (Giants Stadium). After the Giants annihilated our decimated team last year on national television right after Katrina, I would love nothing more than to eliminate them from the playoffs at their home on the second to last week of the season. There's no turning back now. We're headed to the playoffs!!! What's more surprising than that is that the Saints have a waiting list for season ticket holders!!! Hold on. I need to read that again... Yup, that's right the Saints have a waiting list for season tickets. THE SAINTS ARE COMING!!!

Marathon Man

Well, the big show down in Dallas is over and I guess this picture sums up how Cowboy fans feel about dem' Cowgirls.

I was over-joyed on Sunday night as I watched my beloved New Orleans Saints thoroughly whoop up on "America's Team." Just a note to all you football fans out there, this isn't your daddy's New Orleans Saints team. All week long I kept hearing about how we haven't played anyone yet, how the Saints franchise has never won more than one playoff game, and how bad our defense plays. Ssshhhhhh!!!!

I guess the most surprising thing to me and maybe to all Saints fans is how resilient this team is. After the big play by Julius Jones, the Saints march back down the field and tie it up. Then they unleashed a barage of offense that Dallas has never seen before by scoring 21 unanswered points. It was beautiful. The didn't even let up until the end of the 3rd quarter when Payton feeling sorry for his old boss decided to run the ball every down until the end of the game. I remember saying earlier in the season that the Saints will only get better and we are definitely seeing some really good Saints football.

Speaking of which. The old addage "It's a marathon not a sprint" should be applied here within context. I distinctly remember fans getting worried in a skid against the Ravens, Bengals, and Steelers that we were headed down the wrong path. Suddenly, the Saints have stopped turning the ball over, and have been dominating teams ever since.

This past Sunday I achieved something I thought I would never do in my life. I ran my first ever marathon in Dallas (White Rock). It was a great day. My running shorts were adorned with a gold fleur de leis and the word "Saints." I ran a great race until I hit the wall at about mile 21 which made it extremely difficult to finish the race, but I never quit and finished running at 4 hours. My last 5 miles were excruciating as ever step I took was in pain with cramps in my legs. It took me about 50 minutes to run the last 5 miles. The point I'm trying to make here is that we all experience some adversity in our daily lives, it's how we respond to that which makes us who we are. At the end of the race, I looked over at my wife with a brief look of disappointment because I missed my qualifying time for another race.

She spoke without hesitation, "You set out to finish this race and that's what you did. Be proud of what you've accomplished today because it doesn't matter how fast you ran as long as you finished what you set out to do." Never truer words have been spoken. At first I thought, is she talking about me or the Saints? What does it matter? We are the same. You and me, we are the New Orleans Saints. We are going to finish this marathon.

JFK and the Saints

So living in Texas isn't all that bad when you have your home team coming to play "America's Team" on national television on Sunday night. I've been hearing all week from Dallas fans that the Saints are overrated, that our defense isn't good, and that we haven't beaten anyone worth while. Well that can change this weekend if the Saints pull off the upset in Irving.

Conspiracy theorist abound starting linking the JFK assination to the Hollis Thomas positive steriod test. The connections are vague and incoherent. The Saints play Dallas. JFK was shot in Dallas. Hollis Thomas suspension comes right before we play them for what could be home field advantage in the playoffs. Marques Colston has a mysterious nagging bruised ankle that hasn't healed in 3 weeks. Cowboys have no one listed on the injury report. They're all 100%??? Still I believe our boys in the black and gold will prevail because this is our season. This is our magical run to the playoffs and no one conspiracy is going to bring it down.

Now I've heard from others around that the Saints uniforms last week looked silly. So, I will say this one last time. I wish to see the Saints come out in an all gold uniform. New uniforms for the New Saints. This isn't the same old Saints. We should bring them out for the playoffs. This was an idea from my brother that I feel merits some thought.

Sunday's game against Dallas is big for many reason most importantly would be home field advantage in the playoffs. What would be better than playing a playoff game in the Dome right after New Years? You think the Dome was rocking for the re-opening against Atlanta? Just come and see us in the New Year, the place will be louded than a shuttle lift off. Bring it on. THE SAINTS ARE COMING!!!

Red Beans and Rice are so good with a win.

As if I need to mention that the Saints defense, yes that was the New Orleans Saints, came up huge stopping "the incovenient truth" Frank Gore. So, this brings the question. This is a critical week for our beloved Saints as they prepare for the hottest team in the NFC, da' Cowgirls, on national television Sunday night. Who will be the next one to have thier name in the spotlight? Peyton?

This past weekend, I was astonished by the play of Charles Grant as he rose to the challenge by playing without Will Smith and still dominating the line of scrimmage. I know that many people have made comments on forums and websites that Grant isn't as special as Will Smith, but I beg to differ. He is a formidable defensive end that not only has 52 total tackles and 6 sacks but 4 forced fumbles. This ranks him 6th in the league amongst DE; ahead of Julius Peppers going into Monday Night's game. So what's going to happen at the end of this season with Grant. Will he be franchised tagged or resigned for more money or traded??? I think this is one player that the Saints need to keep for multiple reasons.

1. He's a contributor and plays every week.
2. He makes others around him better by taking double teams, i.e. Hollis Thomas, Will Smith, Willie Whitehead.
3. Always positive. Wants to win badly. Remember he's the one who called Aaron Brooks out on the plane as a quiter. He just said what we'll all had been thinking. You've got to like that about him.
4. He's part of New Orleans. Grant can be seen driving around town in a regular 4 door sedan, cashing checks at local bank, or shooting the breeze with fans at a Hornets game.

So let's do the right thing and resign him for atleast the next 3-4 years and make him a staple to our defense. BTW does anyone else get confused when Hollis Thomas tackles someone for a loss and think that it's the ghost of Jim Wilks out there playing in his body. Love that guy. It was great to see McKenzie get his due with those big interceptions. He's been the only one of the Saints cornerbacks for the past several years that can play man to man. I know he struggles some games, but he's no Fred "Whiplash" Thomas. Plus, for many years the Saints haven't had the pass rush they have had this year which makes a big difference.

Also, the black on black uniforms were slick. Mrs. Unaveritas thought they were silly and they looked like dancer tights. I on the other hand thought it made us look faster and bad ass. Don't need them every weekend though it would be nice for them to break them out for big games like Notre Dame with the green jerseys. As for uniforms I would love to see Peyton in a suit for Sunday night's game. Just a suggestion for da' coach of the year.