Saints owe New Orleans a season to say good-bye (an old headline)
Not reading that trash, don't want it to bring me down.
It might be just me, but that article actually brought me up. It was a good reminder of where we were and how far we’ve come. This article wasn’t just one man’s opinion, it was (almost)
everybody’s opinion. New Orleans was dead, the Saints were gone and that was that. All Katrina did was hasten the move of a dying organization that was likely going to be moving to greener pastures sooner or later anyway. This wasn’t just what one or two (or ten) people in the national media was saying, this is what every last one of them was saying.
And we survived it.
The area is rebuilding (slowly to be sure, but progress is being made) and the Saints are still here. But not only are they still here, they are thriving. A fanbase that once struggled to sellout games now has a waiting list 10’s of thousands of names deep (at a time where other teams in larger markets are facing the threat of blackouts for the first time). The ownership (who I was not a fan of even prior to Katrina and I downright despised in the season following) has wholeheartedly thrown themselves back into the community. I don’t know what the hell happened to Ole Tom but he has really worked hard to make this a top flight organization since the ’06 season. He’s opened up his pocketbook to bring in coveted free agents and coaching talent (something he had always been loath to do) and (even more importantly) has been willing to work hand in hand in with the State to reach a deal to keep the Saints in New Orleans long term. Prior to 2006 Benson’s attitude towards the State could best be summed up by Ray Liotta in
Goodfellas:
“**** you; pay me.”
And that was it. No willingness to compromise, no willingness to negotiate, no willingness to restructure a terrible deal that was unsustainable, it was just “**** you, pay me. I want the deal we have and I want a new stadium or I’ll pick up stakes and move if you don’t like it.”
I don’t know what made him change. Maybe it’s just him growing kinder with age. Maybe he realized that the grass isn’t always greener in LA’s pastures (as 3 other NFL franchises will tell you). Maybe he just went senile and the front office was able to convince him he had already moved the team to a new market but regardless he’s really answered the bell over the last few years. He recognized that there was no way the current deal could continue to be paid and that with today’s economic situation a new stadium is a pipedream no matter where he goes, and Benson was finally willing to sit down at the table and work out a plan that was good for both the team and the State. And for that I thank him.
So I say bring on the negative articles. Sure they’re a reminder of how bad things were once upon a time but in each one, off in the distance, I can see the beginnings of a brighter tomorrow. A tomorrow that is slowly turning into today.