It's not how you start the race, it's how you finish it.

November 20th, 2006

The Saints mid-season lull is mirroring their mid-game ones, effectively bringing them back to the pack in the NFC.  Their poor performance in the division’s brutal match up with the AFC North has jeopardized their playoff chances:

	Ravens	Steelers	Bengals	Browns
Saints	Loss	Loss	Loss	Win
Panthers	Win	12/17	Loss	Win
Falcons	Loss	Win	Win	Loss

 

When Marques Colston went down early in Sunday’s game Saints fans were about to endure the following to learn how much he would be missed:

• At least 7 dropped passes
• No other go-to guy in the red zone
• Drew Brees throwing about 44 good passes 
• Drew Brees throwing about 7 bad passes.
• Seeing 3 of those bad passes have end zone ramifications.
• A forgotten running game that can’t be turned on and off.
• A Saints passing record – set in a loss, just like the record that was broken
• Finding out that “It’s not how you start the drive, it’s how you finish it.”

Here’s the good news:  We’ll party again this Sunday at Noon as the Saints play a huge game in Hotlanta.  I’ll be attempting Nacitoches Meat Pies and maybe some Blackened Tuna.  Bring your leftover Thanksgiving desserts.

50 Things I think I learned this week.

November 13, 2006

Things I think I learned this week:

 

1. The Saints will have 3 losses when they beat San Diego in the Super Bowl.
2. I stick to my predictions until rationality sets in.
3. The Saints’ Run defense is erratic at best
4. The Saints’ Pass defense is poor.
5. Angelo Brocatos is back and better than ever
6. The Saints’ offensive year will go down as their best ever, unless they continue to fumble.
7. Driving up Tulane Ave makes you feel like you are in Beirut
8. The roast beef po-boy at Parkway Tavern is as good as any in New Orleans
9. The oyster po-boy at Bozo’s remains undefeated.
10. Ocean Springs downtown is pretty cool and Al Fresco’s is a neat spot.
11. I don’t know why a guy catches two TD bombs one week and sits the next
12. Nothing personal, but the guy who replaced him cost the Saints a chance at victory when he had a bad day at the office on the last drive
13. I’m now not sure that New Orleans will ever come back
14. If I were mayor I’d subdivide the whole city for the next 5 years and appoint an assistant mayor for each neighborhood and see if they can save their neighborhood.
15. Voters hated the Iraq war almost as much as I did
16. New Orleans is going to need to be rebuilt much like Iraq.  Too bad our money, I mean China’s money they’re loaning us, is going over there.
17. The French Quarter is back and stronger than ever.
18. The restaurants are still great
19. Diets are hard when sausage bread enters the picture.
20. I still have about 600 restaurants in New Orleans to try
21. That doesn’t bode well for my diet.
22. My dog is insane.
23. I don’t know what the coast is going to look like, probably condos, but it’s going to get fixed much faster than New Orleans.  The houses in New Orleans are still flooded – just not with water.
24. As excited as the den got when Reggie soared is nothing compared to how excited Bella got when we all yelled.
25. The prospect of Carson Palmer flinging footballs around the Superdome this weekend scares me.
26. I’m glad the GM of theChargers was right about Philip Rivers – or we wouldn’t be where we are.
27. We didn’t miss Joe Horn in his first week out.
28. We did yesterday
29. Drew Brees played another great game.  Can’t fault him.
30. I liked the way the Saints blitzed a little more.  That’s why I’m not a coach.  It didn’t work. 
31. No other Saints team I could remember would shrug off a 14 point deficit and still lead at halftime.
32. The defense got worn down
33. The defense is not a ball hawking one and that is going to hurt more and more.
34. Marquis Colston may be the best Saints offensive weapon ever if his progress continues.
35. If you can name one wide receiver in the NFL you would trade him for at this moment you’re smarter than me.
36. The Saints offensive line is really the biggest surprise of the year so far. (Did you see them in preseason?)
37. Rutgers is going to get screwed
38. The winner of the Notre Dame – USC game is in the catbird seat
39. Notre Dame knows when to lose a game.
40. Tulane is pretty bad.  USM is pretty good
41. Arkansas is going to get screwed
42. Snug Harbor is a neat place.  Listening to Ellis Marsalis doing a set while you finish up eating is pretty cool.
43. The Marigny is becoming one of our favorite parts of New Orleans
44. Every running back fumbles.  Reggie’s reached his quota.
45. Reggie hit the line better this week than in previous weeks.
46. I’m glad I don’t have to make my living betting football.
47. The prognosticators are just as bad as me.  They are slow to recognize improvement and momentum.
48. Tom Brady isn’t Superman after all.
49. Peyton is halfway there.
50. I still think Drew Brees is MVP

A Movie History of Violence

I departed the couch to see The Departed, Martin Scorcese's latest bloodbath.  I liked it immensely, but then I like bullets passing through brains passing for entertainment.  I came home and watched a History of Violence and reached Defcon4 on the desensitization index.  

Fast paced and frantic, The Departed may finally get Marty his Oscar, but it is not exactly a masterpiece.  My wife fell asleep 3 times then proclaimed she didn't understand it.  She's never made it through L.A. Confidentail either.  For some reason some great movies are great sleeping pills. 

Accolades to Mark Wahlberg who, playing with the same Boston home field advantage as Matt Damon, steals the movie by spitting out the best written lines.  The movie centers around a couple of implants - Damon and Leonardo DeCaprio, on opposite sides of the law.  Two and a half hours of twists and turns (of course the movie is too long - aren't they all) result in the inevitable shoot outs and surprises.  You'll be entertained, especially if you like crimson.  Nobody does high brow violence better than Marty - except maybe Tarantino - but then I'd categorize his as high-brow comic book violence.  Nicholson is over the top, as usual, and the movie soundtrack pounds away, punctuating the scenes like it was a music video.

I give the movie toes up.  Toes up refers to my first row seat at Cinemark in Gulfport where I put my feet up on the bar.

Always been a Scorcese fan, but not the typical one.  I rank his top 7 all time this way - and no one else in the world would:

1.  Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

2.  Taxi Driver

3.  Raging Bull

4.  Goodfellas

5.  The Last Waltz

6.  The Departed

7.  The Aviator

Toes up, The Departed is worth getting up off the couch for.

Election Over - Back to Sports

Election over.  Rummy out.  Government headed for gridlock, where it can do the least damage.

Today's challenge - name a good war.

Since World War II. 

Taking out Hitler was noble and necessary - and maybe Hussein's removal was too.  Isn't it funny how dictators seem to end up cowering in a bunker?

I'm not even sure the US is in a war anymore.  It seems like our troops are just in a shooting gallery and 100 or so get creamed per month.  Hopefully better explanations, strategies, and results are forthcoming.

My wife often asks me why men like football so much.  I explain that it is the fundamental toil for turf - the back and forth struggle for land.  It's why we fight wars - we want to advance, control the area on land and in the air.  Men enjoy different aspects of the game.  I enjoy the strategy - the field generalship - the chess.  Some enjoy the power - the battle in the trenches.  Some enjoy the preparation - the war room where you try to outhink the opponent.    There's a long lead time to a battle.  The players heal, practice, get stronger, review their performance.  Then comes the skirmish. Football is like war. 

Baseball is more like real life.  No down time.  You have to play the game every day.  It's a daily grind.

It is why both sports are great.  But very different.

 

Saints run Bay Record to 3 - 0

November 7th, 2006

I thought it was a huge game.  I admit I was worried.

The Saints stole the Superdome matchup with Tampa and did not sufficiently pressure a QB in his first NFL start.  In the Tampa rematch, they ratched up the pressure on defense and watched the offense start and finish with precision.

 

While I don't know how anyone but Peyton could be the NFL MVP - (who does more for his team?) - Drew Brees continues to thrust himself into contention.  Short and efficient or long and accurate - he's made more difference on this team than anyone but Sean Payton could have imagined. 

 

Wouldn't you have loved to be in the film room with Payton as he analyzed the now-departed Saints and decided to say goodbye to the underachievers? 

 

As Chicago begins to reveal its deficiencies, this week's test with the New York Giants will tell us who the Saints main NFC competition for the Super Bowl will be. 

Be sure to attend our viewing Sunday when:

a.  The Saints march into my old home town and try to put their foot on the neck of the struggling Steelers.

b.  Bob Richards brings Gumbo and Sausage Bread to the party.

 

Remember - this game has been moved to 3:15 PM - so, we'll look to begin around 3.

 

If you didn't show this past Sunday, you missed quite a day.  Almost 30 people came and went throughout the day, devouring about 28 pounds of shrimp.  The late group was almost 20 relief workers from Nashville that seemed to enjoy the jumbo shrimp as if they were lobsters.  It was a pleasure and an honor to have them in our house.  Special thanks to them for their efforts on our coast.

 

Thanks to Donnie Daquin for the wine, Becky Rutlede for desserts, Laurie & Charlie Howorth for co-hosting their group, and everyone who came by.  And thanks to Liz for enduring all this....it was a memorable day.

 

See you Sunday.