For local Who Dats, the PR Newswire has an announcement that may be of interest. Cox Communications and the Saints have signed a deal to continue bringing you the same great coverage you have come to love on Cox Sports Television including pre-season games, "Outside the Huddle," "Saints Tonight," the Black-and-Gold scrimmage and the Saintsations swimsuit calendar show through 2010. This also means more Cox in your Saints and more Saints in your Cox.
Both the Saints and Cox will promote each other across a variety of outlets. Cox will showcase the Saints through its website, billing
messages, customer newsletters, cross channel public service announcements as well as billboard and radio messaging. Saints fans attending home games in the Louisiana Super Dome will see Cox Communications signage outside the Dome as well as Cox messaging on the score board, the game day program and the Saints' website.
The Times-Pic also has an article about the deal. Does this prove Benson won't give favor to newly acquired Fox affiliate WVUE?
In league news, the NFL owners are meeting today. The Times-Pic has the article . On the agenda: the collective bargaining agreement. The owners are expected to vote to opt out of the agreement and eliminate the salary cap starting with the 2010 season. This could possibly hurt teams with smaller markets and teams on the lower end of the spectrum as far as available money for player salaries is concerned, (see: cheapest ticket story below) i.e. the Saints. Tom Benson had these two gems to say about how he felt about the labor agreement and opting out...
"I had better not talk to you about that right now," Benson said. "I don't know enough about it."
"I don't have any comment," Benson said. "Maybe later when I know a little more."
Wise man Mr. Benson is. If only more people would adopt this intelligent philosophy.
Amid all the hoopla (not that much hoopla) surrounding Dan Morgan's retirement, this one kinda slipped past. Saints signed UFA OL Brian Stamper from Vanderbilt. Stamper started all five years he played. From the New Orleans Saints official website .
The Sporting News listed ten players who will make the Pro Bowl next year for the first time in their careers. Number 3 on the list, our very own Marques Colston.
3. Marques Colston, WR, New Orleans Saints. Colston has quickly become the seventh-round pick every other team is trying to find. But despite making a splash with 168 catches, 2,240 yards and 19 TDs over his first two NFL seasons, he hasn't been rewarded with a Pro Bowl appearance. It's nothing against Colston's talent -- it's just that wide receiver happens to be fully loaded at the moment, and it's hard to displace venerable vets such as Torry Holt and Donald Driver.
As long as Drew Brees continues to connect with Colston, he will enjoy several more prolific seasons and make multiple Pro Bowl trips. What shouldn't hurt his campaign -- even though it does -- is Colston's strong, silent personality, which contrasts with Terrell Owens' flashy diva personality. Colston isn't quite a household name because of where he plays, but one or two more big years should do the trick.
To see the whole list, click it here.
The Saints had the sixth lowest average ticket price in the league last year at $54.86. The Patriots had the highest with $90.89 and the Bills had the lowest at $46.26. Proof that being a perennial winner has a downside. Check out the whole list from the Buffalo News here. If the salary cap is eliminated as mentioned in an above story, expect ticket prices to go up for teams like the Saints who will need to make more money to be able to compete.
Finally, on a sad note, the Hornets lost game 7 of the western conference semi-finals last night. Congratulations to the team for a great season. I hope the new love the city has for its basketball team continues into next season and we can all look back at this year as the beginning of a long-lasting and memorable relationship. New Orleans Hornets in 2009!