Saints owe New Orleans a season to say good-bye (an old headline) (3 Viewers)

[Dubya]

I stumbled across the following article which was posted back in October, 2005 on Si.com. It got me to thinking about how far we have all come in those 4 years. People were writing us off. The media was writing us off. Now, on the eve of the 2009 season, the future couldn't be brighter. Everything seems to be in place for a magical season. The State and the Saints are finalizing a new deal. There is a 50,000+ waiting list for season tickets. Tom Benson is no longer viewed as the evil owner. The Superdome is being renovated. New Orleans will be hosting a Superbowl in a few years.

Read on and smile about how far all of us have come. These are our Saints. This is our year. Go
Saints!


One more hurrah
Saints owe New Orleans a season to say good-bye (Si.com October 24, 2005)

Once it was safe for the sports cynics to express themselves following the Hurricane Katrina tragedy, they didn't waste any time giving their thoughts on the ultimate fate of the New Orleans Saints: "This," they said, "may have been the best thing to happen to Tom Benson."

Benson owns the Saints, who've long been as beleaguered on the field (they're 2-5 in this lost season) as off. Even before Katrina struck, their home, the Superdome, was a relic akin to the Parthenon. In its heyday it was an homage to a generation where bigger was best and biggest was enough to attract conventions of all sizes. And Super Bowls.


Rest of the story:



http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/roy_johnson/10/24/roy/index.html

 

[superchuck500]

Wow. That's some intense stuff to read.

Let's all be grownups here. The New Orleans Saints are history.

Great post to bring some perspective. We have come so far. I'm so proud of everyone involved - especially the people of New Orleans (and the region of dedicated Saints fans) who refused to ever consider the possibility.

Whodat!!

 

[Innotech]

Who dat say gonna beat dem saints?! Not katrina!

 

[All The Way]

Yeah, and where is Roy S. Johnson writing for now????

passtheword.wordpress.com

Not quite SI.com anymore... eh?

 

[Innotech]

I love how this season we are one of a handful of teams that completely sold out our stadium. Yeah, a hurricane is gonna keep us out of our Dome. Yeah right.

 

[longtime lurker]

Brings back memories....I remember me and my brother sitting in my sister's home in Saucier, MS a few days after Katrina destroyed everything. We would turn our portable generator on for a hour here and there and we were glued to the tv watching reports on espn about what was going on with the Saints and relocation rumors...we both decided on that day to become season ticket holders and do our part to save the team for the Gulf South....memories.

 

[Left_Eye]

That San Antonio mayor's comments still make my blood boil to this day. I'm usually a nice person, but god I hated that man so freaking much for trying to steal our Saints. After all that crap he talked about New Orleans and Louisiana, I'm glad karma came back and bit him in the you know what.

 

[Witchdoctor504]

This article brought back some real painfull memories. This was another attempt to kick the Saints fans of New Orleans while we were down.

Things looked bleak. We were all trying to pickup the peices, our homes, our friends and our family scattered and everytime I read an article like this it was a punch to the gut.(Or possibly lower)

We could have rolled over, and let Katrina get the best of us. The rest of the world expected it. Some even hoped for it.

But we rallied New Orleans. We wouldn't give up OUR SAINTS! OUR CITY! Not with out a fight. They all counted us out, but little did they know how tenacious we are. We as a region screamed "Hell NO!" We wouldn't allow it. We would rebuild, We would return and We would not give up!

We have came along way, yet we still have along way to go. One things for sure the saints aren't going any where soon!

I'm not ignorant enough to ask for an apology from SI. for the article or from the clown who wrote it. It would be nice though for them to return the favor by writing a positive article about the City of New Orleans now that we have the Saints locked up in a long term deal that is great for our city and Saints. Since they had no problem speculating our end in our darkest moment.

Who Dat?

 

[oui_heart_saints]

This article brought back some real painfull memories. This was another attempt to kick the Saints fans of New Orleans while we were down.

Things looked bleak. We were all trying to pickup the peices, our homes, our friends and our family scattered and everytime I read an article like this it was a punch to the gut.(Or possibly lower)

We could have rolled over, and let Katrina get the best of us. The rest of the world expected it. Some even hoped for it.

But we rallied New Orleans. We wouldn't give up OUR SAINTS! OUR CITY! Not with out a fight. They all counted us out, but little did they know how tenacious we are. We as a region screamed "Hell NO!" We wouldn't allow it. We would rebuild, We would return and We would not give up!

We have came along way, yet we still have along way to go. One things for sure the saints aren't going any where soon!

I'm not ignorant enough to ask for an apology from SI. for the article or from the clown who wrote it. It would be nice though for them to return the favor by writing a positive article about the City of New Orleans now that we have the Saints locked up in a long term deal that is great for our city and Saints. Since they had no problem speculating our end in our darkest moment.

Who Dat?

lus-un2:lus-un2:lus-un2:

 

[gpupil]

I believe the problem is that people outside of the area have NO CLUE what this team means to us. I'm always hearing how the Packers and Steelers are such integral parts of their cities, but I'd put the connection between the Saints and New Orleans up against any team in the NFL. The Saints are part of our culture, not just a team. There is something between the fans and team that I'm not sure other cities and fans can understand.

I'm not going to say that losing the Saints back then would have killed the city, but it would have made it immensely more difficult to recover.

 

[byrdzilla]

makes me grateful, i'd be lost without the who dats

 

[byrdzilla]

man, the SA mayor was heartless, i hate SA forever

 

[Saintree River]

I believe the problem is that people outside of the area have NO CLUE what this team means to us. I'm always hearing how the Packers and Steelers are such integral parts of their cities, but I'd put the connection between the Saints and New Orleans up against any team in the NFL. The Saints are part of our culture, not just a team. There is something between the fans and team that I'm not sure other cities and fans can understand.

I'm not going to say that losing the Saints back then would have killed the city, but it would have made it immensely more difficult to recover.

You are very right about how much the Saints mean to the city. And there certainly are parallels between New Orleans, Pitt and GB. Small market towns with fans who love their teams. I think the difference is that unlike GB and Pitt, the Saints don't have the history of winning. If they did then you would have heard cries from the media such as "Can you imagine the Saints anywhere besides New Orleans?" Let's hope the Saints get it going now.

 

[UFCSaint]

man, the SA mayor was heartless, i hate SA forever

I remember hating that mayor and that whole town. I likened it to a guy being in a serious automobile accident and winding up in a coma. Then while he is in the coma, his neighbor tries to steal his wife.

There were a few players on the Saints team who were conceding the move as well and basically said it was the best thing. Joe Horn being one of them. Who was the other guy? A defensive lineman I think...

 

[boutrous]

Who Dat!!!! Makes me proud to be a Saints fan and a New Orleanian. Don't forget the role Tagliabue played in keeping the Saints in our city among the chaos after Katrina. If not for him, who knows, maybe Benson would have slipped off to San Antonio.