I'm not sure if any of you noticed this week but I haven't really been around too much and have kept quiet for the most part. No real front page posts to speak of. Part of that was because I was so preoccupied putting together that nice little two part interview with Kenny Wilkerson. I hope you all enjoyed it and I thank Kenny again for taking time to do it. But other than that, I haven't really touched on some of the bigger stories floating around in Who Dat Nation this week. Funny too, because this is usually a slow news period when it comes to the NFL but the Saints have given us all plenty to discuss. So I figured I would wrap up my thoughts on the entire week in one post. This is when having a blog comes in handy.
First of all, are we finished talking about Michael Vick? Did you all get it out of your system? Was that fun? Can we return back to the real world now? Geebus. The idea of Michael Vick playing for the Saints is as laughable as Josh Bullocks in the Pro Bowl. How's that for some perspective. I believe this whole stupid thing got started because Herm Edwards, for reasons I'm not sure I will ever fully understand, decided to include the Saints on a short list of Michael Vick landing places on NFL Live. From there it only takes one (read: Pat Y.) or two (read: Peter King) bored writers on a slow news day to run with it. Before long, it's a real possibility. Give me a break. I'll spare you of any more diatribe since Duncan and Triplett over at the Times-Pic have already done it well enough. Geez. Michael Vick? Really? We're really reaching now fellas. Duncan nailed it: "Stop the insanity!"
There is another big name player whose name is being thrown around as a possible Saints pick-up: The Edge. No, I am not referring to the legendary U2 guitarist, but rather running back Edgerrin James. Like the Vick rumors, I would prefer to laugh this one off as nonsense but Mickey Loomis is making that difficult by admitting that the team has been evaluating James. Still, I'm inclined to agree yet again with the Times-Pic staff by saying I really don't think it's happening. Besides, we can't believe anything Loomis and Co. say anyway, particularly when it comes to the current running back situation. At draft time they denied any interest in a power running back saying he might already be "in the building." Then we found out they tried to grab Beanie Wells. Now they are telling us they've been evaluating Edgerrin James which means they probably don't even know who James is. In fact, from now on I am going to subscribe to George Costanza's opposite theory. My name is Dave, I hate the Saints and I love Josh Bullocks. However I must admit that some good has come from all this: The Beanie Wells/Edgerrin James speculation has scared the crap out of Pierre Thomas and gotten him even more motivated than he already was. If that's possible. Perhaps Loomis and Co. do know what they're doing. Touche.
It's a good time to be a New Orleans resident right about now. Public school test scores are up, the state and Saints worked out a deal and the Super Bowl is coming back to da Dome. I'll admit it's hard for me to get really excited about something that is still four years away but this is goodness all the way around. I am, of course, saying this as a citizen of the city of New Orleans and not as a Saints fan. I'm not sure what the benefits to the actual team would be but I know this will be great for the town. Perhaps just as the MNF opener against the Falcons in 2006 signaled the city's return to normalcy, the Super Bowl will mark the end of Hurricane Katrina recovery. If Tom Benson really is mostly responsible for landing the Super Bowl in 2013...thank you.
And the off-season keeps getting better and better. First the Saints fired Gibbs. Then Bullocks was shown the door. Now you can add my Long Island homie Tony Kornheiser to the list of people that won't be ruining Saints games in 2009. Most of you guys who have been around for a while know how I feel about Kornheiser doing Monday Night Football, especially when the Saints are playing. The good news was always that I only had to suffer his nonsense for away games since I attend the home games, though even then the fact that we were actually in the same building made me shudder. I never thought it would be Tony's fear of flying that would cause his departure from the show but nonetheless the move gets me more excited than this kid opening up his Pokemon cards. Even better for Saints fans, he is being replaced by former Bucs coach Jon Gruden. Who better to break it down during the two Saints MNF games than the guy who had to gameplan against our team twice a year? Bonus.
Finally, the icing on the cake was yesterday when we learned that Charles Grant and Will Smith will miss a quarter of the entire season this year. I don't care who is to blame or whether or not this is fair. It's too late for any of that. The end result is that our two "best" defensive ends won't be on the field for a healthy chunk of 2009. Just another disappointment from these two. As far as I am concerned, Smith and Grant are on a short leash.
Final thoughts?