20 years ago today Buddy Diliberto passed away
When it came to Benson, I think Buddy respected him more because he at least made some great personnel moves and team-related decisions once he took ownership although their were some modest criticism here and there. It wasnt until maybe mid-late 90's that Dilberto's focus on Benson turned a lot more critical and maybe a tad bit more personal although it never really reached the same level of nasty, vitriol that existed between him and Mecom. Mecom despised and hated Dilberto and IMHO, maybe that was a deflectionary coping mechanism for him to not consider that perhaps critics like Dilberto were right about him all along. He was an absolute failure as an NFL owner and in quite a few other business ventures. The only two decent, respectable HC's Mecom ever hired was Hank Schramm and Bum Phillips, perhaps Dick Nolan was a distant third but IIRC, he presided over the disastrous 1-15 1980 "Baghead" season when so many issues plagued the team like drug/substance abuse, lack of discipline, effort and Nolan's confusing, stubborn committment to a Flex Defense that works only if you have a lot of time and right players, which Nolan didn't really have in New Orleans in the late 70's.
I don't think many in the Saints organization and perhaps even some of the players from the late 60's-early 80's liked Dilberto due to the fact that he persistently and stubbornly kept saying the quiet parts out loud about how criminally incompetent, inept, frankly stupid the sort of FO and ownership we had under Mecom and Buddy kept showing and pointing the obvious parts of that stupidity in a way that was uncompromising and unfiltered. One constant refrain from Dilberto all throughout the 70's and early 80's was that John Mecom was an idiot, clueless owner who was always way in over his head and every year with each passing losing season and bad FO decision, trade or first-round draft pick, he kept proving his point.I'll never forget the morning of January 8th, 2005. It was a Saturday, and I was on my way to work. Before heading out, I hopped on here to catch up on the latest Saints news (hoping to read that Jim Haslett had been fired). Instead, I saw a thread with Buddy D's name on it. I was completely shocked to find out that he had passed away. It was a serious gut punch. I had faithfully listened to his radio show, and no matter how badly the Saints played, he always found a way to make you smile. He shared in the joy of winning and frustration of losing.
I remember one time during the 1999 season, when the Saints were playing terribly (they finished 3-13), Buddy D opened his show with a prayer, asking the Lord to help the Saints. It was both hilarious and sincere.
Listening to him tell callers they were "squirrels" was always funny, and he never held back when discussing Saints players, coaches, or even the owner. If something was bad, he called it bad. During the Buddy D roasting session, he joked that the Saints had banned him "for life and 10 years." When he asked, "What's the 10 years for?" the response was, "Well, in case you're the second Lazarus, you'll get 10 more years."
WWL hasn't been the same since he passed. RIP, Buddy D!
When it came to Benson, I think Buddy respected him more because he at least made some great personnel moves and team-related decisions once he took ownership although their were some modest criticism here and there. It wasnt until maybe mid-late 90's that Dilberto's focus on Benson turned a lot more critical and maybe a tad bit more personal although it never really reached the same level of nasty, vitriol that existed between him and Mecom. Mecom despised and hated Dilberto and IMHO, maybe that was a deflectionary coping mechanism for him to not consider that perhaps critics like Dilberto were right about him all along. He was an absolute failure as an NFL owner and in quite a few other business ventures. The only two decent, respectable HC's Mecom ever hired was Hank Schramm and Bum Phillips, perhaps Dick Nolan was a distant third but IIRC, he presided over the disastrous 1-15 1980 "Baghead" season when so many issues plagued the team like drug/substance abuse, lack of discipline, effort and Nolan's confusing, stubborn committment to a Flex Defense that works only if you have a lot of time and right players, which Nolan didn't really have in New Orleans in the late 70's.