SR Where are they now/what ever happened too? (1 Viewer)

[KiwiSaint]

KOOL-AID and Acreboy were my favorite posters.

Haha...Acreboy and the great chili dog saga!

 

[CowtownSaint]

As a newer member, reading this threat really warms my heart. This is such a tremendous community

 

[blackadder]

The was a brief era of the EnglishSaint (or was it BritishSaint? long time...) A gent named Simon Alcock from near Stoke-on-Trent. They used to come over for a couple/three games a season.

Damn this makes me feel old. I started on IronEra as well when Ditka was coach and Zaven Yaralian was the DC and it was the Billy Joe show.

 

[Kielio]

Kiel here! My dad, Shrimpnose, also browses. I never post, but i have fond memories of the first Carolina game after Katrina when I met a bunch of yall. Literally, just a bunch.
I can honestly say, I wouldn't be the Saints fan I am today without this site. Andrus!, you know who you are! Celebrity to me!

 

[Saintman2884]

I wonder what happened to Saintman2884? I heard he and TPS are now neighbors on the Other Side of the Tracks and spend 2-3 nights a week in chicken-or-dinosurs debates about atheists, dinosaurs, Christians, Captain Jack Sparrow and Pirates of the Caribbean vs. God's way of dealing with humanity as a rulebook or a guideline to follow. Weird EE topic issues that led to odd, heated exchanges between SR members that 16 years later almost seems strange, weird, and out of touch with the more serious, sobering political and social issues of this era. 2003 seems like a more innocent, carefree time oddly enough since we had a President who illegally invaded a country based on false, doctored evidence claiming Iraq had WMDs they clearly didn't have earlier that year.

 

[DaveXA]

I wonder what happened to Saintman2884? I heard he and TPS are now neighbors on the Other Side of the Tracks and spend 2-3 nights a week in chicken-or-dinosurs debates about atheists, dinosaurs, Christians, Captain Jack Sparrow and Pirates of the Caribbean vs. God's way of dealing with humanity as a rulebook or a guideline to follow. Weird EE topic issues that led to odd, heated exchanges between SR members that 16 years later almost seems strange, weird, and out of touch with the more serious, sobering political and social issues of this era. 2003 seems like a more innocent, carefree time oddly enough since we had a President who illegally invaded a country based on false, doctored evidence claiming Iraq had WMDs they clearly didn't have earlier that year.

There can only be one 2884.

 

[MSUSousaphone]

For nostalgia purposes, I found an old backup cd that had some of the articles from our writers back in the IronEra days.

This is one of my favorites from by my buddy RothT (RIP) , who treated us to his "Gripes of Roth Column" back then. Sure brought back some memories. Man! I miss that guy!

The To Do List
By Roth Tucker | IronEra Staff Writer
Posted 10/21/99 7:54am cdt

Well, so much for waiting for the next game to "calm down." If I keep following that strategy, I will have grown three additional rings around my derriere by the time I’m at peace.

So that’s great. We start off 1-4, where the "1" was a rather pedestrian but effective outing, but the "4" was more painful than 88 straight hours of Oprah. Does anyone else feel as tired as I do?

Man. I have to go back DECADES to remember a feeling like this. It’s been awhile.

But, we’ve been here before. In fact, we’re pretty predictable creatures. Check out this stack of old papers I found. Seem to be leaves from an old "Things to Do Today" pad I had lying around:

SAINTS FAN TO DO LIST

Sunday:

1. Fire everybody, put all of the coaches in jail, take to streets demanding an emergency session of congress to pass an amendment approving the use of capital punishment as a penalty for losing NFL games.

2. Invite priest over to perform exorcism of house following removal of Saints paraphernalia and burning of same in front yard.

3. Demand that Angela Hill begin her newscast with mass hypnosis to get the entire city to forget there ever was a professional sports team in New Orleans.

Monday:

Keep head coach, allow stay of execution for (assistant coach’s name here.)
Throw out newspaper with advertisements for Saints jerseys.
Report WWL-TV to Federal Communications Commission for showing "pornography" for broadcasting what they oddly term as "highlights."

Tuesday:

Commute sentence of all coaches, providing they renounce "what I think are dumb ideas"
Notice for first time that favorite pair of fleur-de-lis boxers are missing. Chafe.
Call Buddy Diliberto with asinine fake name; tell disparaging Saints joke so old that it could be carbon-dated. Laugh hysterically, informing audience that you are "a great wit"

Wednesday:

Pay off coaching staff’s parole board—hey, they’ve paid their debt.
Wonder why the gold plated cutlery strikes such an appealing contrast against the black Elvis placemats.
Call local cable access channel, during "Ferret Enthusiasts Live Call In Show," using neighbor’s name; fatalistically state that "it’s probably just our lot in life" to support the Saints, puzzling the show’s host, who is trying to engage audience in a discussion of how best to clean out rodential abscesses.

Thursday:

Lobby congress for repeal of mandatory death sentence for unusually heinous losses in a sporting event.
Purchase new pair of fleur-de-lis boxers, on advice of physician attempting to treat severe chafing, which has now spread to base of neck.
Write letter to paper, stating clear and rational reasons to spare the Superdome from the wrecker’s ball.

Friday:

Attempt to recall reason for filing criminal complaint against "any and all persons associated with the New Orleans Saints for mental torture."
Purchase particularly attractive set of official NFL New Orleans Saints snowshoes at Lakeside Mall—they’re a bargain!
Call Buddy Diliberto and ask why all these people in the national press are so down on "our team."

Saturday:

Force congress to re-submit bill re: capital punishment, but this time erase word "coaches" and write in "officials."
Figure out a good explanation for wife, who is sure to notice new Fleur-de-lis tattoo, placed squarely in the middle of forehead.
Call Buddy Diliberto, scream incoherently about how much the Saints will win by tomorrow; realize you have called him at home, four hours after the end of his show. Apologize and hang up.
Go to sleep, tingling with excitement about tomorrow’s Saints game, now that you’re sure they’ve "turned the corner."

And, that, ladies and gentlemen, has been synonymous with my life for as long as I can remember.

You know what I love most, though? It’s the "bright-siders." Those people that come around too soon after a loss and just HAVE to cheer you up. They say the most amazing things, too. Here’s my favorite:

"But hey, you’ve lost by less than a touchdown in each game".

Great. I’ll put those little words of condolence down there with "But you were almost clear of the track when the train hit you."

Another perverse one is "but, can’t you take heart in the fact that you led right up until the finish?" My response: "Yes, but falling out of a plane could be considered skydiving until that nasty little bit at the very end."

I gotta tell you, it’s rather hard to find a new and innovative way to express this sentiment, one best represented by low bestial growls and grunts. These kinds of things are felt at an elemental level. Where there are no words.

In fact, year after year, I am amazed at the amount of emotion this team plays with. By that, of course, I mean the emotions of the fans. They play with them the way an alleycat plays with a wounded mouse.

It’s a blood sport.

As I sit there, pulling the last remaining hairs out of the top of my head with what used to be my fingernails, I ponder how a team could possibly lose the same game over and over again.

"Gee. Join the club." You say. OK, OK, relax. I’m not looking for sympathy here.

But take the Bears game for example. Five turnovers.

I don’t care if you are playing Jesus of Nazareth and 10 of his 12 apostles, if the Lord happens to cough up the ball 5 times, you should win.

You should win.

No matter what. It should be awarded to you, like a balk, or a ground rule homer, or a presidential grope or something.

Ditto with the Falcons game, ditto with the Titans. I don’t quite count the 49ers game because I still think we should allow the officiating team to take their rightful share of the credit for that one.

Anyway, there are some striking similarities and themes emerging from these games too, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. By position:

Quarterback:

No big Nancy Drew here. Hobert goes out, we lose. Tolliver really struggled in the preseason and has had problems going forward. I genuinely like the guy for his toughness, but let’s face it—between the untimely audibles and the untimely mistakes, we’ve turned up some untimely losses. It becomes glaringly obvious that a low-risk, low-return QB should have been picked up in the preseason.

Running Back:

Methinks that some folks in Metairie aren’t being quite on the up-and-up when it comes to the condition of Mr. Williams. I don’t buy into the silly conspiracy theories that Ditka is risking Ricky’s health to save his career/reputation—in fact, if anything, I think it’s Ricky who’s keeping his pain to himself, just to get out on the field. But I will say this: regardless of what Mike says, Ricky ain’t 90%. Not from what I saw of him at UT.

If last week was Ricky at 90%, then we would have wasted our draft and a half. Luckily, we know better than that. Elsewhere RB looks pretty much like it did last year. Lamar is OK if he’s got blockers.

Wide Receivers:

Maybe I’m all alone here, but I think that this is by far the biggest area of improvement. Kennison is coming along very well (despite a poor showing against theTitans) and Poole is, well, strange. I don’t think anyone took him seriously last year (myself included), because when you watch him, he looks...slow. What’s so weird is it seems that any time the guy gets his hands on the ball, it’s as if someone just set his head on fire. He just picks up and dashes off towards the end zone. If you’ve got tape, find a catch he’s made and watch the angle the safety takes on him. Really. Try it. You’ll see what I mean.

Now, the reason I think we’re not doing as well as we should in this area falls under play calling, mentioned below

Offensive Line.

First, why on earth does some second rate defensive end like Chuck Smith have Willie Roaf’s number? I just don’t get it. Here’s a guy that goes up all week against much better DE’s than anything Atlanta has to offer, but can’t handle this Smith person. What’s up with that?

But in general, something is not right here at all. As everyone knows, on paper, we have one of the best lines in the league, if not THE best. Sadly, however, we do not play on paper, but rather on Astroturf, and grass. Someone needs to alert these guys to that fact.

And yes, I know that there are times when we telegraph our plays; but the great teams can make a first down in the fourth quarter when they’re up by 10, even though everyone from me to the assistant magistrate in Hunan province knows that they’re going to run.

Tight End.

Cam’s great, no doubt. Everyone wishes he was 100% and feelin’ great, because he’s clearly the best receiving tight end the Saints have had in a long time.

But you know what? That short pass is there all day. When Cam goes out, Slutzker gets open. And Scott ain’t bad either. Anyway, short passes also go under "play calling."

Defensive Line

I don’t care what anyone else says, or doesn’t say. I think Wayne is hurt. We have had problems defending the run up the middle all season and it’s obvious that the teams we’re playing have figured this out. Tennessee wasted absolutely no time in hitting us there and neither did Atlanta. OK, to be fair, some of these big holes come when our DL is caught in stunts and stuff, but there is no way Wayne "Mountain" Martin would be getting pushed around like this if he was 100% healthy.

Now’s the time you wish we’d gone after Jerry Ball or if you wonder how Whitehead (who I like a lot) might handle the middle. Either way this is a problem that anyone can see, and unfortunately that has included our opponents.

Linebackers

It has become trendy to beat up on our linebackers, and not completely without cause. We do have problems here, as the coaches candidly admitted in the preseason. Other teams see it too, and if they’re not hitting us on middle dives, then they’re going for short passes and dumps.

Now I say that, but these guys have come up with some HUGE plays. Mark Fields, of course, is exciting to watch and may be the only Saint right now who really deserves the term "explosive." Problem is, we seem to crackle and pop more than kaboom in the later stages of the game, when big plays can decide the outcome.

Defensive Backs

No doubt. Ashley Ambrose was a great pickup. I haven’t had so much fun watching a db since a young Dave Waymer took the field. The rest of the unit has improved, too. Again, though, there are key points in the game, where mistakes in coverage or play calling have cost us the full retail price.

Special Teams

First, I am not all that impressed with Barnhart. Yeah, hang time is great, but can’t we get just a little more length out of these things? I know it’s the net yards that matter, though, so I’ll hold off on judgment a little longer.

But I gotta say this: whoever thought that Troy Davis would recreate himself as a kick returner? I watched the first few games thinking his yards were some kind of fluke—now I honestly wonder when he’s going to break one. Sometimes he really looks like he will.

Play Calling.

Yeah, this could be a whole other article, but I’ll try to keep it brief. We’ll see how THAT goes.

On offense, here’s my first thought. Hey, our tight ends are great and all, but something’s up when you see the sheer number of times that Cleeland, then Slutzker can get open across the middle. Remember when Poole turned that crossing route into a 46 light-year touchdown run? Seeing what I see?

Nope?

OK, try this one: ever wonder why our QB’s get into trouble because the pass plays take so long to develop downfield? A lot of times these long routes give safeties plenty of time to close. Aha!

That’s it! We need quick slant routes and short passes. Back the LB’s out of the box, don’t make your line block for 5 or 6 seconds.

And these silly long laterals out to the far end hash mark where Kennison is waiting to get tackled don’t count either.

And there are some others that belong in the playbook, too. We have mobile QB’s, and now we know that bootlegs and QB options will work (witness the touchdown called back against the Titans—it was a broken play, but the lesson’s there).

And on defense, is it me, or are we playing soft to the sticks once we pick up a lead? That seems kind of crazy given that we know that short passes over the middle kill us and that such schemes severely limit the possibilities of turnovers and other big plays. Hey, the way to win in the fourth is to get their offense off the field, ASAP. I think all the soft zones have accomplished, when they have been used, is to tire out our defense.

And here’s one more. Why did we steal Willie Clay from the Patriots only to have the guy riding the pines? Look, if our LBs are chronically deficient in pass coverage, go to a nickel of some kind and get Clay AND Kelly out there. So what if we’re a little smaller in that package? I seem to recall Willie making more than a few solo tackles on hapless RBs behind the line when he played in New England. Let’s see what happens.

Oh, and I’m sure many of you will have read this far and say "Good lord! That’s 10 minutes of my life gone forever!" But others of lesser taste will say, "I can’t believe he didn’t do the whole column on Ditka’s behavior. Well, tell ya what. Lemme say this about that. I don’t really care all that much about Mike’s silly behavior.

Why?

It could have been worse.

Much worse.

He could have mooned us.

I don't think you can post a whole article here. Just tease it and add a link.

Kidding.

Love you, guys and gals. Really great thread.

 

[DaveXA]

what’d I miss

I dunno, but I miss you. ❤

?

 

[Pancakes]

Love this thread.

Ryno’s gifs every week were great!!

And I still can’t seem to get rid of all the notifications of St Chads links that he sent. Really enjoyed those every week.

Sniper wolf was pretty funny. I know he got banned.

I’m really gonna miss billinms on here. He was such a great member and always brought a great opinion.

 

[zatsnzapps]

As for the poster holding the knife to the screen, was that BobE? It just seems right. lol

It was Reclusive Rob.

 

[Madmarsha]

Nice thread. Those pics from 2006 are great. I still have that shirt and wear it from time to time. It's a bit tighter now unfortunately.

Things tend to shrink in the wash.

 

[Madmarsha]

I’m really gonna miss billinms on here. He was such a great member and always brought a great opinion.

Yeah, nobody else is allowed to go. I simply can't take it.

 

[ndcc]

I woke up this morning, and guess who else came to mind?

Steve Gleason's mom!

What was her name? Sharon? I forgot her moniker. Anyway, great lady!

 

[saints4eva]

Yeah, nobody else is allowed to go. I simply can't take it.

Me either ?

 

[nolasteve]

I wonder what happened to Saintman2884? I heard he and TPS are now neighbors on the Other Side of the Tracks and spend 2-3 nights a week in chicken-or-dinosurs debates about atheists, dinosaurs, Christians, Captain Jack Sparrow and Pirates of the Caribbean vs. God's way of dealing with humanity as a rulebook or a guideline to follow. Weird EE topic issues that led to odd, heated exchanges between SR members that 16 years later almost seems strange, weird, and out of touch with the more serious, sobering political and social issues of this era. 2003 seems like a more innocent, carefree time oddly enough since we had a President who illegally invaded a country based on false, doctored evidence claiming Iraq had WMDs they clearly didn't have earlier that year.

Not nearly as “out there” as I remembered. Glad to see you’re still breathing!