The Best of Savoir-Faire: Randy, a Freakin’ Nostradamus

While the rest of you sat on your arses and watched ESPN this week, Randy Savoie was taking part in a project to rebuild homes for Katrina survivors who relocated to Lafayette, La., following the storm.

Here is a report he filed on New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams this Spring.

The boy is a freakin’ Nostradamus!

 

The Battle of New Orleans: Gregg Williams Takes Charge of Saints “D”

written on May 12, 2009

Gregg Williams is a big name among NFL defensive coordinators. The Saints defense was once one of the league’s elite. The two were united in January. Will the marriage get off to a rousing start?

It is risky to answer in the affirmative. It usually takes at least a year or two for even the best coaches to transform a defense that is clueless in defending the size and speed of the crafty playmakers on the other side of the ball.

Given the Saints’ penchant for surrendering the big play over the past two years, some New Orleans partisans are hoping Williams is the Rembrandt, the Monet, the da Vinci of assistant coaches.

The Rev. Bob Harrington, the late Chaplain of Bourbon Street, once said his God has the power to raise the dead and often does. 

The reverend preached his brand of old time religion to many a forlorn Saints fan over the years before finally succumbing to the many temptations the street has to offer.

Perhaps with a little Divine intervention, Williams can revive the once-proud New Orleans defense.

There is no questioning his credentials. He is a proven winner. The skins are on the wall. Williams has built stubborn defenses at Washington , Tennessee , and Buffalo .

He was influenced early in his career by the arrogant-but-lovable Buddy Ryan, architect of one the best defenses in NFL history. Ryan instilled an attack mentality in those ’85 Bears . Williams plans the same for the ’09 Saints.

Unlike his predecessor, the reserved Gary Gibbs, Williams has a gregarious personality and engages the local media with some witty repartee and colorful badinage.

He’s known as dial-a-quote for a reason.

Here’s a Williams sampler:

• “We want to be a tough defense, we want to be a smart defense, and everywhere I’ve been able to play, we’ve been pretty nasty. We’ve been able to play with good aggressiveness. Those are the things that I think win you football games, tough close football games—that’s toughness and intelligence.”

• “There’s going to be some blisters and some hurt feelings, but trust me, there will not be one player that isn’t clear on what I want and what my expectations are. I can’t do anything with the DNA your momma and daddy gave you, but I can make sure you’re tough and play hard.”

• “If you want to play on a defense I coach, you’ll have to be a tough football player. I’m not going to apologize for being competitive. You’ve got to think you’re the best, and you have to play with an attitude.”

Pretty heady stuff.

According to Psychology Today , one theory that is gaining momentum is that failure is at worst a mixed blessing that can pay off in the form of learning and growth and wisdom. Williams is not taking that chance.

He has parted ways with former secondary starters Mike McKenzie, Josh Bullocks, and Kevin Kaesviharn while playing an instrumental role in the team using its first-round selection on Ohio State cornerback Malcolm Jenkins. Look for a lot of new faces in 2009.

Given the Saints’ high-octane offense—an NFL-high 463 points in 2009—Williams’ task may be no more complex than transforming a poor defense into an average one. After all, the Cardinals gave up 26 points a game last year and came within a whisker of winning the Super Bowl. 

The offense is replete with firepower—Drew Brees , Reggie Bush , Marques Colston, Jeremy Shockey, and Devery Henderson—and there is no reason to expect a drop-off in point production.

If the Saints “D” can move from the bottom third to the middle of the pack, it may be all that is needed for a deep playoff run.

One thing is evident following this weekend’s minicamp: Attack will replace read and react as the Saints’ defensive philosophy.

Knock them the (….) out!

Attack! Attack! Attack!

Whip his ass!

If you want to make this team, you better show me something that is going to force me to keep you here!

Williams’ aggressive style caught the attention of his new team.

Said first-round pick Jenkins, “If you are going to loaf or not play hard or make a bunch of mistakes, then he doesn’t want you here. He’s the type of guy who is real smart, but he’s not going to take no stuff from you.

“That’s the type of coach I like, that can rip you but teach you. He set the tone in the first meeting with us; he said as a defense we’re going to set the tone, we’re not going to react to what the offense does, we’re going to dictate the practice.

“You can feel his intensity. You can see it in his eyes.”

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To Hate Like This Is To Be Happy Forever: Saints, Falcons Bitter Rivalry

Hatred strikes me as one of the few signs of life remaining in the world. This is another thing about the world which is upside-down: all the friendly and likable people seem dead to me; only the haters seem alive.
Walker Percy

Any Saints fan 40-plus remembers when they became a Falcon hater like it was yesterday.

It was Nov. 12, 1978, when New Orleans Saints fans discovered the kind of true happiness that only the hatred of a bitter rival can produce.

With the Saints still in playoff contention on that fall afternoon 31 years ago, Archie Manning and a stubborn defense held the Steve Bartkowski-led Atlanta Falcons at bay for 59 minutes.

The Falcons had closed the gap to 17-13 on a Hascal Stanback touchdown run with 57 seconds to go. Then, the Saints took over presumably to run out the clock.

Legendary Saints radio Voice Wayne Mack , a Chicago native, had the call:

“With this big win, the fans will be dancing on the tables at Pat O’Brien’s.”

A melancholy Mack would say later, “I should have learned from the Chicago Tribune headline that proclaimed, incorrectly, the victory of Tom Dewey over Harry Truman in the presidential election of 1948.”

On fourth and two, Saints coach Dick Nolan decided to run Chuck Muncie. The Falcons defense held. Then, Big Ben , and we’re not talking Roethlisberger here, reared his ugly head.

With 19 seconds remaining, Atlanta QB Steve Bartkowski lined up in what came to be known as the Big Ben formation: three wide receivers on his right. At the snap, the receivers starting flying toward the New Orleans end zone with seven defensive backs in hot pursuit.

Bartkowski lauched a missile to the goal line and then everything seemed to move in slooooowwwwww motion.

Ten bodies collided around the ten yard line, like tourists at Mardi Gras fighting for a pair of beads flung from a Bourbon Street balcony.The ball seem to hang in the air forever.

Then diminutive Falcons receiver Alfred Jenkins attained his moment of glory.

Jenkins caught his only pass of the afternoon and darted into the end zone.

An eerie silence followed in the jam-packed Superdome. Kind of like one of those spooky New Orleans Victorian mansions on Halloween night.

The crowd sat in stunned silence enduring sheer agony no sports fans should ever have to endure but ultimately does.

Atlanta had won 20-17, cruelly dashing the Saints playoff hopes.

A local radio talk show host printed up a batch of “I Hate the Falcons T-Shirts.” The batch sold out in three days. Three decades later, mine still hangs in my locker. I sneer every time I look at it.

Two weeks later, the Saints traveled to Atlanta for a rematch.

Different city. Same creepy results.

With 53 seconds left and the Saints leading again 17-13, New Orleans went into the infamous, dreaded prevent defense. Bartkowski marched the Falcons to the Saints 23 with 16 seconds remaining.

Deja vu all over again Rocky….ugggghhhhh…..Deja vu all over again….

Bartkowski fired to the end zone. Saints defensive back Ralph McGill intercepted.

Flag on the play!!! Oh My Sweet Jesus, you gotta be kidding me!!!!!

Referee Grover Klemmer called interference on New Orleans DB Maurice Spencer. Falcons receiver Dennis Pearson would admit later he didn’t feel a thing. Two weeks later the league office informed the Saints that Klemmer blew the call.

New Orleans States-Item sports editor began campaigning for instant replay, a revolutionary idea in those days.

The following year, the two teams would meet again in the season opener.

“I’m tellin ya’ Charlie….I’m a nervous wreck….this game is the greatest moment of our lives. There’s never been a game like this.”

Revenge was on everyone’s mind when the Falcons came to New Orleans in September 1979.

Do you remember the 21st night of September?

Our hearts were ringing
In the key that our souls were singing
As we danced in the night,
Remember how the stars stole the night away

Ba de ya – say that you remember
Ba de ya – dancing in September
Ba de ya – never was a cloudy day

Yeah, it was Earth, Wind and Fire for the Saints in the Superdome that day. Alas, mostly fire.

“We had the biggest meeting in the the history of the fan club Tuesday night, Joey!!!!! I haven’t been able to sleep: I hope our players aren’t as nervous as I am.”

Turns out one player was suffering from extreme anxiety that day- punter Russell Erxleben.

” He’s a punta, not a keecker……ha ha ha ha…..he will not kick in this league.”

Turns out he was neither a kicker nor a punter. More head case than anything else.

This time it took four quarters plus about 8 1/2 of overtime for the Dirty Birds to traumatize the City of New Orleans again. John Watson snapped the ball over punter Erxleben’s head.

Erxleben recovered it at the goal line and under heavy pressure threw it into the waiting arms of Atlanta’s James Mayberry who raced into the end zone for a 40-34 Falcons win.

Three fluky wins in a row by the hated Atlanta Falcons.

True happiness is hating this much!

So for all us Saints fans who remember the days before ESPN, the seeds of hatred for the Dirty Birds were sown over 30 years ago.

As one of those Greek philosophers said, I think it was Aeschylus, “Before the old wound is healed, there is fresh blood flowing.”

I’m sure the Falcons will receive a warm Southern welcome Monday night. The kind of  a Halloween weekend welcome you receive only in New Orleans.

Darkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y’alls neighborhood

The foulest stench is in the air
The funk of forty thousand years
And grizzly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom

A former Saints All-Pro told me Friday morning that Atlanta rockstar QB Mat Ryan has never seen anything like he’s gonna see from Gregg Williams’ defense Monday night in the Dome.

Surely, a much better defense than the one that suffered those Shakespearean losses back in the late 70’s.

Said New Orleans safety Ralph McGill all those years ago, “We got nothin’ but buzzard luck. They did to us what buzzards do to you when they die.”

Yeah, losing like that three times in a row….well, it was just a damned shame. A hell of a thing. A real damned f****** shame.

Those kind of memories, well, they cut deep ya know. Cut real deep.

They say the first cut is the deepest, but the second and third aren’t much fun either.

Put you in the mood for some more sweet revenge, Nawlins style.

Well, who the hell knows.

 

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ESPN’s Mike and Mike Have Good Laugh at New Orleans Saints’ Expense

Mike Greenberg, the poor man’s Bob Costas, and his sidekick Mike Golic, yukked it up pretty good at the undefeated New Orleans Saints’ expense this week:

“The New Orleans Saints a three-point favorite over the Giants this week in New Orleans…ha ha ha ha…that’s going to be one of my stone-cold lead pipe locks this week big guy…yuk yuk yuk yuk…thanks for beating me to it Greenie…ha ha ha ha.”

Stevie Wonder can see these two have their laps firmly planted on the hindquarters of the Giants and Jets and anything East Coast. Greenberg’s ignorance of college football and hatred of the Southeastern Conference was on full display when he wondered aloud if an undefeated Cincinnati team should play for a national championship.

“LOL…maybe all that cold weather in Bristol is freezing his brain…LOL…ought to come down South and thaw out sometime Greenie…ha ha ha ha.”

Of course, I am quite sure not many in New Orleans heard Greenberg’s condescending remarks about the Saints given the show’s decade-long interminably low ratings in New Orleans.

They have bounced from station-to-station in New Orleans over the years posting a 1 share in the Arbitron’s compared to city’s top-rated morning show, Walton & Johnson, with an 18 share.

In football, the equivalent of that would be getting beat 55 to 3.

“It’s time for our stone-cold lead pipe locks Golic…I’m starting with the Saints and the Giants big guy…The Saints are a three-point favorite…yuk yuk yuk…the Giants are 5-0…I’m taking the Giants to win straight-up Golic…ha ha ha ha…and ground the high-flying Saints…After all, Eli Manning’s numbers on the deep ball are much better than Drew Brees…”

“I agree with you on that pick Greenie…ha ha ha ha…you beat me to it…yuk yuk yuk yuk…”

According to Mike and Mike, the Saints haven’t beaten a real team all year. They always got some damned excuse:

“The Jets had an off day offensively…McNabb was injured…The sun was shining…Sanchez had birdshit in his eye…”

Always some excuse for the Saints beating the hell out of their beloved East Coast darlings.

Nevertheless, Greenie the Weenie, an affectionate term used by some of his ardent fans, prides himself on his unparalleled work ethic and diligent preparation and never fails to remind us of his painstaking attention and yada yada yada.

For a guy who studies so much it seems strange he failed to mention that the Giants haven’t beaten anyone this year.

Their five victories came against teams with a combined 5-20 record. Three of their five victories came against winless Tampa Bay, Kansas City, and Oakland. They beat a Washington Redskin team in utter disarray and an average-at-best Dallas Cowboys.

“Have any of you heard this? G–damnit! I’m sick and tired of what the New York media elite is saying about us! The papers, television, fans, Ike and Ike on ESPN—everybody out there is trying to make us look like some Bourbon Street, Pat O’Brien’s Hurricane drinking pushovers; we’re back to being a laughing stock.”

“They’re ridiculing us and who we are, all that we’ve accomplished this season, making jokes about us and I’m sick of it. I can’t take this. I just can’t take this shit anymore.”

“I had to tell you this, fellas; I had to tell you because you’ve got to put a stop to it; you’ve got to help me get this control of this thing. It’s absolutely unforgivable that this organization is being mocked! Will you help me? Can you shut up that Bob Costas-wanna-be Mike Greenberg?

Can you stop this crap from continuing any longer? Can you stuff it down their g–damn throats??

Yeah, Greenie and Golic had a good laugh at New Orleans expense this week and I’m sure if the Saints win on Sunday…

“Well, poor Eli’s foot was bothering him again Golic…yeah that’s it big guy…and the Giants were banged up on defense…well, I guess this proves the Minnesota Vikings are the team to beat now in the NFC…”

Word has it these Giants are hurting on defense: Boley, Canty, Ross, Brown, and Kehl. This may not bode well for the visitors especially when you’re getting ready to take on the league’s most lethal offense—Brees,Thomas, Bell, Colston, Henderson, Shockey, and well, the list goes on and on and you get the picture.

It may not be a fair fight Sunday afternoon in the Superdome.

Kind of like when five foxes and two chickens are voting on what to have for dinner.

 

 

 

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Is Cool Brees Another Joe Cool? Will Saints Prove Media Elite Wrong?

Super Bowl titles be damned. Drew Brees ranks among the best to play the game.

Trent Dilfer won a damned Super Bowl and he sure in the hell isn’t headed for Canton unless he buys a plane ticket. Dilfer won a Super Bowl. Guess those football Gods have a sense of humor afterall. Ha ha ha!

Rev. Bob Harrington, the late Chaplain of Bourbon Street, after having one-too-many threw the Good Book further and more accurately than Dilfer threw a football. I’m telling ya’. Yuk, yuk. yuk!

It should come as no surprise that Joe Montana is the name that pops up most frequently at some of New Orleans’ favorite bars and Houses of Ill Repute, they tell me,when talk turns toward who Drew Brees compares to most favorably among NFL legends.

Let me tell ya’ Jack had Brees played for Walsh and the Niners during those days, he would have a few Super Bowl rings too. Yeah, Walsh would have loved Brees, Jack. I’m telling ya’ he would have.

Enough football. You wanna lap dance or you want Rocky to throw your ass out in the middle of Bourbon Street sir?

In “The Score Takes Care of Itself,” an excellent new book about San Francisco coach Bill Walsh, the late Walsh remembers fondly a determined Montana in the final year of his remarkable career.

“Joe Montana, perhaps the greatest quarterback in NFL history, in his last season as a professional, when he was playing for Kansas City, would spend two hours a day every day at the same little practice field at Menlo College near San Francisco,” remembers Walsh.

“I would work with him on basic fundamentals that would bore a high schooler to death. Joe had four Super Bowl rings. How did he get them? Why was on he on that little practice field? Joe understood what mastery means.”

“You never stop learning, perfecting, refining-molding your skills. You never stop depending on the fundamentals – sustaining, maintaining, and improving. Jerry (Rice) and Joe, maybe the best ever at their positions, at the last stages of their careers were still working very hard on the fundamental things that most high school kids won’t do because it’s too damned dull.”

“It wasn’t dull to Jerry and Joe, because they understood the absolute and direct connection between intelligently directed hard work and achieving your potential. We all do; I do. Everybody who’s a serious player knows what it takes. The difference is how much you’re willing to give to give to get there.”

Like Montana, Brees is slight of stature as quarterbacks go and neither one has ever been accused of having a rocket arm. However the combination of dedication, attention to detail and applied intelligence are unparalled. Montana had the necessary RPM to make all the throws and so does Brees.

That damned Brees. I can’t beat him to Saints Drive in the morning. Ever man! Ever. I get there at 6:10 and he’s been there at 6:00! Maybe I need to get a place closer to the office. Damn that Brees! ha ha ha ha.

Now it appears the Saints may be on the same page….that Gregg Williams and Darren Sharper are to the defense what Payton and Brees are to the league’s best offense.

But they haven’t played anybody Kenny. Two of their wins came against Detroit and Buffalo and they beat the Eagles without McNabb and the Jets with a rookie quarterback and blah, blah, blah…….

On ESPN’s Mike and Mike Friday morning, the ex-jock and the little metrosexual argued over who is the NFC’s best team- The Giants or Vikings. Never held a watch to it but they spent a lot more time talking about the recently disposed Jets than the Saints this week. Kind words about the Saints seemed almost obligatory rather than heartfelt.

Those Vikings are amazing big guy. All of the offseason questions I had about them have been answered. Yada. Yada. Yada.

And the Jets have Braylon Edwards now! Yada. Yada. Yada. Will make Sanchez even better.Yada.Yada.Yada. And those Giants about to be 5-0. Maybe an all New York Super Bowl.

And what about Cutler and the Bears? He makes them a legit Super Bowl contender,Greenie.

And the Saints, well the Saints, no doubt Brees is great but the Jets “D” made him look ordinary Greenie and, well, you have to wonder if their defense is for real and will the week off hurt their momentum and blah, blah, blah.

As Bill Walsh and the Niners were blazing new trails, they faced similar snubs from the eastern media elite who were loathe to admit that a power shift was occurring away form New Yawk to the wrong coast. This same media elite will never admit the Saints are the real deal even if Brees and company win the Super Bowl.

To the media’s credit, many who picked the Saints to go all the way the past two years were burned, but those predictions pre-dated the arrival of Gregg Williams and the failure of the national press to acknowledge Williams’ contribution to the Saints resurgence seems either intentional or uninformed.

Well, hell, time will tell.

We’ll see how Eli and the Giants do against those 90,000 screaming fans in the Dome and the Saints new “D” Jack. Yeah we’ll see how Archie’s boy holds up against all that noise and Gregg Williams’ NO-NAME “D.”

Montana and Brees. Rice and Colston. Sharper and Lott.

Well, who the hell knows.

 

 

 

 

 

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Will Sanchez Make His Mark Against Saints? Donkey or Thoroughbred?

They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway. They say there’s always magic in the air.

“We’re going to win Sunday. I guarantee you.”

It ain’t braggin’ if you can back it up.

By late Sunday afternoon on Jan. 12th, 1969, Joe Namath’s bold prediction became reality as the sun set on South Beach. The charismatic kid from Alabama with nimble feet and a laser arm, nicknamed “Broadway Joe,” had backed up his boast.

The New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts to win Super Bowl III. Forty years later, it is still considered the greatest upset in football history.

Guess those media smartasses won’t be laughing at us anymore! 55-0 my ass!

Fast forward to 2009 and Jets fans are saying rookie Mark Sanchez is Joe Namath reincarnate. The USC rookie has New York off to a surprising 3-0 start in grand style and has Jets partisans dreaming about that magical afternoon in Florida so many years ago.

As I spent last week in Washington, D.C. witnessing the local media excoriate Redskins coach Jim Zorn, an old man sitting on the bank of the Potomac River explained to me that the NFL can be divided into two groups-thoroughbreds and donkeys.

He concluded that only a jackass gets mad at a donkey. I pondered the comment while finishing a beer. He uttered the words with much conviction and I, myself, believe this to be so.

The old man said it explains why Zorn never seems overly upset with his team. He has come to accept that these Redskins are donkeys and, like Zorn or not, he is no jackass in my view.

I take a last swallow of beer and notice that the Washington Post sports page, as good as sports pages get these days, has the New Orleans Saints ranked No. 1 in their NFL power rankings.

Seems the D.C. media is taking notice. Admiring these Saints from far and away.

Have no doubt that Rex Ryan is transforming the New York Jets into thoroughbreds this season. Most observers regarded Eric Mangini and the 2008 Jets as donkeys and it would be difficult to argue with that opinion.

The last time Sean Payton matched wits with Ryan came in 2006 at the Superdome and unfortunately Payton came out looking like the donkey and Ryan the thoroughbred. At the time, Ryan was Baltimore’s defensive coordinator. The Ravens drubbed the Saints 35-22 on Halloween weekend.

Drew Brees had his worst game in a Saints uniform, throwing three interceptions (two returned for touchdowns) and never looked comfortable against Ryan’s attacking defense.

The Saints managed only 35 yards net rushing. Prized rookie Reggie Bush had 16 yards on 5 carries before leaving with a sprained ankle.

“Welcome to the NFL, rookie! We mean business, baby!

Said Payton that afternoon three years ago: “We have to evaluate what we did, because it wasn’t good. That one is on me. I have got to do a better job getting these guys to play.”

“You just look at the stats. The most telling stat of a game every time around is turnovers and takeaway ratio,” said Brees. “Obviously, we had five turnovers. I could tell you already, your chances are not very good.”

Yeah, Rex Ryan and his vicious, take-no-prisoners Ravens defense made life miserable for the Saints that fall day in ’06.

Nevertheless, times have changed.

The Saints parted ways with some of the donkeys on that team (Josh Bullocks comes to mind), and, this off-season, replaced a donkey defensive coordinator with a thoroughbred, Gregg Williams.

As a result, “Broadway Joe” Sanchez is likely to face a lot more heat than he has the previous three weeks, and I have yet to see a quarterback look good when he is getting knocked on his arse every other play.

Remember Brady against the Giants two years ago. Brady. Poor bastard.

If Will Smith and Charles Grant repeat their performances of a week ago in Buffalo, bringing the heat from every conceivable angle, those lights on Broadway may dim a bit by Sunday night. You can bet Williams will show the rookie rockstar QB looks he’s never ever seen.

The stink eye! Welcome to the NFL, rook! How do you do!

The old man on the Potomac was right. At the end of the day in this league, you are either a thoroughbred or a donkey.

If Sanchez loses his first game as an NFL starter Sunday in the Superdome, my guess is Rex Ryan won’t be too upset with his first-year QB “Broadway Joe” Sanchez.

After all, he wouldn’t be the first rookie signal caller that defensive coordinator Williams made to look like a donkey.

Remember, only jackasses get mad at donkeys, and whoever accused the revered Ryan family of being jackasses?

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As Bush Comes to Shove: Reggie Primed To Silence Critics in 2009

Wikipedia describes the burning bush as an object from the Book of Exodus located on Mount Horeb. The bush was on fire but was not consumed by the flames, hence the name.

In 2006, Reggie Bush was on fire when he entered the NFL as arguably the best college running back ever. And he fell in the Saints lap when those foolish Texans selected a defensive end named Mario Williams.

In his rookie year, he introduced himself to New Orleans in dramatic fashion with over 1,500 total yards as the Saints made a deep playoff run that ended with a loss in the NFC Championship game to the Chicago Bears.

Saints partisans assumed it was a sign of things to come.

However, the next two years were not nearly as productive. Bush battled injuries and life without his running mate/mentor Deuce McAllister- and Bush quickly found himself in the line of enemy fire.

The media sharks wasted little time questioning his legitimacy as the overall second pick in the 2006 draft. They said he is a complimentary back and always will be. They said he lacked toughness and durability and a lack of focus that they attributed to Kim Kardashian, I think.

However, if 2009 training camp is any indication, Reggie Bush is determined that he’ll never be consumed by the flames.

Saints RB Pierre Thomas says Bush is hitting the hole with the kind of explosion never before season in his four-year NFL career. He says Bush has looked outstanding from day one this preseason.

Last Saturday night, those Bourbon Street preachers were shouting from the rooftops that,” steel is strengthened in the fire! In the fire!” And when is the last time one of those guys was ever wrong about anything? Although, on occasion, a few of them eventually succumb to the temptations the street has to offer.

If those preachers are right, Bush should be pretty damned strong at this point.

In 2007, Bush lost his mentor and partner-in-crime McAllister to a torn ACL against the Titans and never appeared comfortable as the Saints featured back, averaging only 3.6 yards per carry and missing the final four games with a torn knee ligament.

One year later, he got off to a fast start with a combined 163 rushing/receiving yards and a dynamic 42 yard catch-and-run for a touchdown against Tampa Bay. He followed that with a two-touchdown effort against Denver and a spectacular game against Minnesota, returning two punts for touchdowns and tying an NFL record for punt returns for TDs in a game.

The injury bug struck again as he hurt his left knee in an Oct. 19 game against division rival Carolina and Bush missed six games one season ago.He felt the wrath of critics and fans on talk radio and barbs of the network guys.

Publicly, Bush said all the right things.

He took personal responsibility for his lack of productivity. He said he wasted precious time trying to be a finesse back. He said he needs to be more explosive. Hit the hole faster. He said he learned his lesson. He said to hell with all that flash-n-dash stuff.

I’ll be one of those damned north-south runners! No more tip-toeing and jitterbugging and stutter-stepping for me! I admit I have a problem! Like AA! From now on, I’ll run the way every other back in the league runs! I’ll be happy with the three-yard gain!

Privately, Bush tells friends all that media criticism cuts deep, burns and just downright pisses him off…says he wants to shut up all those media bastards once and for all. Says he’s planning a dramatic comeback.

They just don’t understand me! I’m not conventional! Asking me to run north/south…Oh my God, man, that’s like asking Michael Vick to be a drop-back conventional pocket passer!

What the hell are they thinkin’!

Way? No way! No ******way!

Ain’t my game man! Ain’t my game and never will be!

Don’t buy all that stuff about Reggie’s juking and jivin’ days are over. That he is forsaking his unconventional ways this year and going straight. Ain’t gonna happen. It wouldn’t be Reggie. He’ll make his dramatic comeback this year and he’ll do it his way.

The Three Musketeers said as much on local talk radio this morning.

They said Reggie is a wingback who excels when you throw the him the ball in space or hand it to him and let him explode outside.

And they see that when healthy he is very, very effective. Damned effective. A lethal weapon.

No free agent linebacker, cornerback, safety…whoever the hell they are, is bringing me down in the open-field jack! Try it! Try it! See what Happens.

Speed kills, baby!

The Musketeers say he is a terrific receiver and occasionally a terrific running back and his dazzling speed holds every defensive player accountable every time he’s on the field.

Oh yeah, speed kills, baby!

They say he is a solid and completely different type of player who will never be a between the tackles runner but, nevertheless, can be  very efficient in this Saints offense.

They say he’s a tiny dancer who will always be jukin’ and jivin’ and giving up yards to gain yards like a drunk stumblin’ out of Pat O’Briens on a Saturday night out onto Bourbon Street.

Always kickin’ it outside. Cutting back. Lookin’ for the outside.

Kickin’. Cuttin’. Lookin’.

And they say it with all the seriousness of your neighborhood mortician, and I for one believe them and nod my head in vigorous agreement as I drive the car down I-10 with the same kinda speed Bush displays on the football field.

“If I’m healthy 100 percent throughout the season, then I should be able to do what I expect myself to do. All I can do is control what I can control. I can’t control what people say (damned media smartasses). I can control what I do on the field. I understand where the criticism comes from. I hear it, and I just use it as motivation.”

Have no doubt, when bush comes to shove, Reggie will make his dramatic comeback and he will do it,as the late Howard Cosell would say, in his own inimitable way.

NFL Guard or Security Guard?

“You don’t know. You just don’t know. You may think you know, but you don’t know and you never will know,” once said former New Orleans Saints Head Coach Jim Mora.

They both toil in relative obscurity.

Little glory; Little adulation; Little notoriety. No one pays much attention really. A thankless task until something goes terribly wrong and then all hell breaks loose.

Of course, I speak of security guards and NFL offensive guards.

One chases shoeshine sharks with a scooter. An artisan of mall security if you will. The other protects rock star NFL quarterbacks from bodily injury. A mistake by either man can be disastrous.

So you think you know football?

Maybe you write your own blog. Maybe you’re a local beat reporter on The Sports Beast. Maybe you live in Philly and are a political professional/crazy Eagles fan who can recite Vince Papale’s bio word for word. Then, again, maybe you think you know but you don’t know and never will.

I have taken it upon myself to gather the names of some of New Orleans Finest in the Security field.

Following are a list of 20 names- some security guards and some NFL offensive guards. In your reply, list the corresponding numbers of the ones you believe to be security guards.

OK, here goes. 

1. Justin Smiley
2. George Varnado
3. Rich Seubert
4. Oscar Harris
5. Darryl Waker
6. Brandon Moore
7. Joseph Corona
8. Brandon Albert
9. Daryn Colledge
10. John Eitmann
11. Travelle Wharton
12. Leonard Davis
13. Jahri Evans
14. Mike Dalmado
15. Aaron Sears
16. Derrick Dockery
17. Turner Barran
18. Byron Young
19. Vince Manuwai
20. Cary Robinson

Next time you run into a security guard or an NFL offensive guard, tell him or her how much you appreciate their efforts. It will make their day.

Saints “D” Looks Sharp(er) In 17-7 Win Over Bengals

In Cincinnati today they are saying you can win for losing.

They say all they wanted to see was their first team offense in high gear and their fragile, rockstar QB Carson Palmer leave New Orleans in one piece.

They got both, as the Bengals first team offense amassed 170 yards of total offense, although there was a brief scare on the Cincinnati sideline when Carson Palmer suffered a mild ankle sprain.

“We did some things we wanted to do. We got a good look at a lot of guys tonight, which, I think, was the fun of it.” Cincinnati head coach Marvin Lewis told reporters following the New Orleans Saints 17-7 win in the exhibition opener for both teams. “We know what we have to improve upon. We were sloppy with our hands in a lot of different areas. We can’t turn the football over.”

But turnover the football they did early and often against a Gregg Williams newly revamped Saints defense.

One of the reasons the high-profile Williams was brought in was to the teach the art of thievery to a defense that rarely stripped the ball from opponents one year ago.  Unfortunately for Saints partisans, all the stripping in 2008 took place at those Houses of Ill Repute on Bourbon Street.

You see Williams was a defensive coordinator in Washington, DC and good Lord knows he couldn’t help but learn a thing or two about theft coaching in that town.

Hopefully last night was a forerunner of things to come.

Williams’ opportunistic unit created three turnovers, noteworthy for a team that has suffered from a dearth of playmakers the past two years. Defensive end Bobby McCray, with six quarterback sacks, was the only significant playmaker last season.

Early in the first quarter, New Orleans new free safety Darren Sharper, an off-season free agent acquisition, showed he still has some game at 33 when he stripped Bengals running back Cedric Benson of the football. Middle linebacker extraordinaire Jonathan Vilma recovered the free ball and rambled 47 yards to the Cincinnati 6-yard line.  

Said Sharper: “The turnovers we created with the defense was the most positive thing because that can change games. Your chances of winning become a lot higher when you cause turnovers. We’re going to keep doing that. On thing about Coach Williams is he has a big playbook and a lot of different schemes. You best believe we have some things in our back pocket that we’re going to pull out.”

Like any good poker player, Williams is not going to tip his hand this early in the season. This high-stakes NFL competition is too rich for some coaches’ blood but Williams has never been one to be easily intimidated.

Vilma said he tried to score but got a little tired. This life of crime can be a tough job.

Stripping. Swiping. Forcing Fumbles. Interceptions in mid-air. All in a day’s work for Williams’ new gang of small time crooks.

After Cincinnati’s second possession stalled, Vilma got caught engaging in some more highway robbery. He intercepted a Palmer pass intended for Andre Caldwell and returned it 65 yards to the Saints 4 yard line before Caldwell stripped Vilma from behind and the Bengals Andrew Whitworth recovered.

While neither turnover resulted in a score, Saints Head Coach Sean Payton gave his new defense some style points.

“I was pleased with how we played defense and created turnovers,” said Payton.

And while it wouldn’t be the Saints if they didn’t get goughed for big yardage time and again, early returns seem to indicate the Gregg Williams aggressive, attack style, take-no-prisoners approach may be at its genesis in New Orleans.

Just last Sunday, Fr.Tony over at Our Lady of Hopeless Cases, on the edge of the French Quarter, qouted St. Francis of Assisi, “preach often, if necessary use words.” Then, he  put down the mic and returned to his chair and I joined in the cheering- whooping and hollering and even shouted Praise The Lord!

On Friday night, veterans Vilma and Sharper let their play speak volumes and in the process may have ushered in a entirely new way of doing things, a sassy new style of defense on the Bayou that will drive opponents crazy.

 

Saints “D” Looks Sharp(er) In 17-7 Win Over Bengals

In Cincinnati today they are saying you can win for losing.

They say all they wanted to see was their first team offense in high gear and their fragile, rockstar QB Carson Palmer leave New Orleans in one piece.

They got both, as the Bengals first team offense amassed 170 yards of total offense, although there was a brief scare on the Cincinnati sideline when Carson Palmer suffered a mild ankle sprain.

“We did some things we wanted to do. We got a good look at a lot of guys tonight, which, I think, was the fun of it.” Cincinnati head coach Marvin Lewis told reporters following the New Orleans Saints 17-7 win in the exhibition opener for both teams. “We know what we have to improve upon. We were sloppy with our hands in a lot of different areas. We can’t turn the football over.”

But turnover the football they did early and often against a Gregg Williams newly revamped Saints defense.

One of the reasons the high-profile Williams was brought in was to the teach the art of thievery to a defense that rarely stripped the ball from opponents one year ago.  Unfortunately for Saints partisans, all the stripping in 2008 took place at those Houses of Ill Repute on Bourbon Street.

You see Williams was a defensive coordinator in Washington, DC and good Lord knows he couldn’t help but learn a thing or two about theft coaching in that town.

Hopefully last night was a forerunner of things to come.

Williams’ opportunistic unit created three turnovers, noteworthy for a team that has suffered from a dearth of playmakers the past two years. Defensive end Bobby McCray, with six quarterback sacks, was the only significant playmaker last season.

Early in the first quarter, New Orleans new free safety Darren Sharper, an off-season free agent acquisition, showed he still has some game at 33 when he stripped Bengals running back Cedric Benson of the football. Middle linebacker extraordinaire Jonathan Vilma recovered the free ball and rambled 47 yards to the Cincinnati 6-yard line.  

Said Sharper: “The turnovers we created with the defense was the most positive thing because that can change games. Your chances of winning become a lot higher when you cause turnovers. We’re going to keep doing that. On thing about Coach Williams is he has a big playbook and a lot of different schemes. You best believe we have some things in our back pocket that we’re going to pull out.”

Like any good poker player, Williams is not going to tip his hand this early in the season. This high-stakes NFL competition is too rich for some coaches’ blood but Williams has never been one to be easily intimidated.

Vilma said he tried to score but got a little tired. This life of crime can be a tough job.

Stripping. Swiping. Forcing Fumbles. Interceptions in mid-air. All in a day’s work for Williams’ new gang of small time crooks.

After Cincinnati’s second possession stalled, Vilma got caught engaging in some more highway robbery. He intercepted a Palmer pass intended for Andre Caldwell and returned it 65 yards to the Saints 4 yard line before Caldwell stripped Vilma from behind and the Bengals Andrew Whitworth recovered.

While neither turnover resulted in a score, Saints Head Coach Sean Payton gave his new defense some style points.

“I was pleased with how we played defense and created turnovers,” said Payton.

And while it wouldn’t be the Saints if they didn’t get goughed for big yardage time and again, early returns seem to indicate the Gregg Williams aggressive, attack style, take-no-prisoners approach may be at its genesis in New Orleans.

Just last Sunday, Fr.Tony over at Our Lady of Hopeless Cases, on the edge of the French Quarter, qouted St. Francis of Assisi, “preach often, if necessary use words.” Then, he  put down the mic and returned to his chair and I joined in the cheering- whooping and hollering and even shouted Praise The Lord!

On Friday night, veterans Vilma and Sharper let their play speak volumes and in the process may have ushered in a entirely new way of doing things, a sassy new style of defense on the Bayou that will drive opponents crazy.

 

Why the Saints Need Michael Vick

As I drove back home from Sunday Mass at Our Lady of Hopeless Cases, I saw a guy holding up a sign under the Claiborne St. overpass that read: “Homeless, hungry, just lost the CBS sportswriter competition, will work for food,” and it scared the living hell out of me to the point where I dialed up my shrink who is vacationing with his 23 year-old Iranian girlfriend in the Virgin Islands.

He told me life is indeed not fair and then we lost the connection.

I, myself, admit that I struck my computer monitor hard several times after I found out I was not a CBS choice, but now I am about as gracious a loser as you will ever hope to find and vow to read every word of the new Saints correspondent’s articles with avid interest and great enthusiasm.

The opening of training camp is less than two weeks away, and while I considered writing a piece that related Tom Watson’s dramatic performance at the British Open to the New Orleans Saints in the profound way of all profound sportswriters, I realized that I am not that profound and lack the skill to write a column of that nature in a way that anyway would give a s*** about.

As far as Stewart Cink, I don’t feel any animosity. The Golf Gods mandate that guys like Stew play at levels they will never play at again in order to ruin historic moments so the game can remain as utterly boring as possible.

One guy I have felt animosity towards over the years is Michael Vick.

In November 2006, I wrote these words about Vick after a Saints win over Atlanta:

“As for Michael “I am sick of people trying to play my game” Vick, he has to feel like Aretha Franklin these days—all he wants is a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Vick is a $130 million quarterback with dollar-store ability as a passer. He gashed the Saints defense for 166 yards rushing but those yards seem to come as a by-product of every other facet of the Falcons offense breaking down.”

“Teams welcome him running for 166 yards, especially when the result is a meager 13 points at game’s end. Watching Vick attempt to mount a passing attack is like watching Sisyphus push his burden up the hill. Excruciating, in a word.”

‘Inconsistent. Inaccurate. Uncomfortable in his own skin. But definitely ambidextrous. Vick managed to flip off Falcons fans with two hands at once. Now, that’s talent.”

Obviously, I was an angry young man three years ago and disliked Michael Vick with the kind of intensity that feels good. As the great French novelist Albert Camus once wrote, “only the haters seem alive to me.”

However after hours of cognitive therapy and many of Father Tony’s sermons on forgiveness at Our Lady of Hopeless Cases, I no longer hate Michael Vick or anyone else for that matter and would be as happy as a clam if the Saints signed him as Drew Brees’ backup. The Saints have expressed no interest and Vick has yet to receive the green light from Commissioner Roger Goodell to return.

However, league experts say there is nothing stopping him from signing with a team today.

In spite of his character flaws and travails, the consensus is that Vick was always a model teammate.

Former Atlanta Falcons safety Keion Carpenter told Sports Illustrated in July 2005, “This man is one of the most unselfish teammates you’ll ever see, because he truly doesn’t care about his numbers. As long as I’ve known him, every time someone says he can’t do something or sets up barriers, he leaps over them.”

Former Saint Morten Andersen echoed those sentiments during his days in Atlanta.

In the 2000 Sugar Bowl, he dazzled us with an electrifying performance in defeat against Florida State back when the Noles were damned good. In just his fourth season, he led the Falcons to within one game of the Super Bowl and, then, he tried to alter his style to pocket passer to silence his critics with disastrous results.

In 2006, Vick told The Sporting News, “I don’t know what the hell I was thinking to be honest. It was something I wanted to do. I mean, I knew people were saying that the only way you are going to be perceived as a great quarterback is by staying in the pocket. I run a 4.2 a 4.3 40. Why would I need to do that.”

It was never will never be a normal passing game with Vick, but he was clearly bothered by the critics in the days before his downfall.

Vick told Sports Illustrated in 2005, “The commentators can say all they want but tell them to ask any defensive coordinator in the league this question: “Do you game-plan for Michael Vick in the passing game? I guarantee you 31 coordinators will say, ‘You’re damned right we do.’ I don’t care what my numbers say; that’s a quarterback.”

That is a quarterback, Michael.

And with QBs falling at an alarming rate every year who would you rather take your Super Bowl chances with Saints’ fans if Drew Brees should suffer the same fate as Tom Brady did one year ago—Brunell, Harrington, or a Vick with something to prove?

 

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