Time for our final edition of Fleur-de-Links: Gameday (preseason style). The sooner we get this game behind us, the sooner we get to turn our full focus to the 9/9/10 Wikings: Endgame Game of the Century - The Quickening: Back to Football Extravaganzapalooza (Kevin - get on that Favre/Highlander movie poster photoshop).
But something tells me that no matter what happens next Thursday, the Wikings kerfluffle with us will continue.
This morning's links, tweets, and video roundup brings you: player travel and feedbag tweets, pre-game news and notes, a Grandmaster Wang column, Handwerger's latest 53-man roster and mailbag, a Jeff Duncan Juicy Fruit column (is anyone else tired of this yet? I can already tell that this will be repeated countless times by MSMers all season long), an NFC South TE rankings by Pat Y., a Saints dance team history, and an AP story on Wikings backup QBs, to help us get ready for the onslaught of Saints-Wikes to come.
See you on the other side...
Players at Wednesday's TD Club Banquet
MalcolmJenkins At the touchdown club banquet... gotta love the fans http://twitpic.com/2kasu9
T_Porter22 Just left the Touchdown Club's luncheon...had a great time..the fans are unbelievable
alexbrown96 Just left this fabulous luncheon with a few rowdy fans hahahahaha but they were all having fun.http://plixi.com/p/42707636
alexbrown96 She took a pic of me and I got one of here as well http://tweetphoto.com/42707723
alexbrown96 And how about trying to tell this lady she isn't looking good lol hahahaha tons of fun http://tweetphoto.com/42707824
Tweet Travelogue
HeathEvans On the bus headed to pre-season game #4..... @ReggieBush is mad b/c he has to fly coach! 1st class sure is nice! #fb
Jmack37 Bout to head to the airport for tenn
dmpressley The luncheon was great!! Now on the plane headed to Tennessee...
dmpressley On the plane listening to "No ceilings
LanceMoore16 Just landed in Nashville. Ready for our last preseason game tomorrow night. Gotta make it a good one.
drewbrees Just landed in Nashville to play the Titans tomorrow night. Beautiful weather. Lookin for a good place to eat
Jmack37 Landed in nashville safely
reggie_bush Just touched down in Tennessee for our final preseason game tomorrow. I'm so glad preseason is just about done! Ready for week 1 Vikings!
Getting Their Feedbags On
HeathEvans Where do we eat in Nashville? Steak maybe? #fb
alexbrown96 Headed to Ruth Chris with @bobbymccray I have to get that stuffed chicken wow it's sooooo good!
drewbrees Had a great dinner tonight in Nashville at Capital Grille with Chesney and the boys. Great food and great stories.
Miscellaneous
reggie_bush Wow I didn't realize the miners that are trapped underground in Chile have now been there for 27 days! That's crazy
alexbrown96 That would be classic but will cost him dearly! RT ochocinco vows to fire Patriots' rifles if he scores wk 1http://tinyurl.com/2dh6d3x #NFL
JonVilma51 a lil update....your boy is doing well rehabbing and taking it one day at a time. can't rush it though,, i want to be there sept 9th!!
TylerLorenzen Night before a game staying in a Marriot reminds me of #uconnfootball. Good luck saturday in the big house.
Jmack37 Excited to play tomorrow...I love football!!!! thank you Jesus for all the blessings!!!!!! God bless you too tweeps
PreGame PreViews and Such
Saints conclude preseason tonight - New Orleans Saints - SunHerald.com
Jim Mashek - The Saints’ final preseason game will be a chance for Chase Daniel and Patrick Ramsey to sort out the backup quarterback duties, while players such as wide receiver Adrian Arrington and defensive end Junior Galette try to nail down one of the team’s final roster spots. The Saints (2-1) face the Tennessee Titans (1-2) tonight at 7 in Nashville.
moosedenied " #9 Dream -or- Just Like Starting Over
To borrow a refrain from Stu - Sing it, Wang.
NFL readjusts umpire positioning for Thursday night's games | NOLA.com
AP report. The NFL will move umpires back to their old spots during the final five minutes of Thursday's preseason games.
New Orleans Saints battling for roster spots in final preseason game | NOLA.com
Nakia Hogan. With the roster cut-down day Saturday, Saints Coach Sean Payton and General Manager Mickey Loomis have critical decisions to make at several positions, including safety, defensive end, backup quarterback and running back. Payton wouldn't put a definite number on the amount of available positions to be had, and he said players "certainly" can win or lose a job tonight.
Preview: New Orleans Saints reserve quarterbacks have final audition against Tennessee Titans | neworleans.com
If one believes that New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton is going to keep only two quarterbacks on his 53-man roster, then Thursday night’s exhibition finale in Music City U.S.A. looms large for veteran Patrick Ramsey. Allee-Walsh concludes the piece with his "bubble watch" of the fight for the remaining roster spots as he sees it.
New Orleans Saints Vs. Tennessee Titans preview: 2010 preseason game four | Examiner.com
Danny Cox
No Brees, little Chris Johnson in Saints, Titans - FOX Sports on MSN
AP - Welcome to the NFL's final preseason game where timing is everything, and the clock already has started ticking toward the Saints' regular season opener on Sept. 9.
Lagniappe
WWL-TV.com's Projected 53-man Saints roster | wwltv.com | Eye on Black and Gold
The Saints must cut 22 players by Saturday at 3 p.m., trimming their roster from 75 players to a league-mandated 53. It’s not an easy decision for New Orleans’ coaching staff.
The Hand Off: Questions about Vilma's injury and where the Saints rank | wwltv.com | Eye on Black and Gold
Handwerger's Saints mailbag column.
New Orleans Saints' Sean Payton believer in juju of Juicy Fruit | NOLA.com
Jeff Duncan - The Juicy Fruit is Payton's lone game-day superstition, and for him, it's every bit as important as the play sheet.
Superdome roof getting a good scrubbing to remove mildew | NOLA.com
Bruce Nolan (Superdome Roof Beat Writer) - The job is enormous and the view spectacular, but at the end of the day the work is pretty ordinary: Like other New Orleanians caring for their driveways or decks, private crews atop the Superdome are pressure-washing mildew off the 9.6-acre landmark.
Ranking the NFC South tight ends - NFC South Blog - ESPN
The tight ends are the next stop on our tour of NFC South position rankings. The Saints place two in the Top 4, and three in the Top 8. One of them hasn't even played in a real game yet! We must be awesome at this position. No way we're not sweeping the division, 6-0.
New Orleans Saints trivia and tidbits: Dance team history | neworleans.com
In 1967, Tommy Walker decided his Saints pre-game and halftime shows should have a true New Orleans rhythm. Thus, a 48-member upbeat dance team was created a few weeks before season's start. William Taylor provides us with some history and context to go with the weekly cheesecake we get from Dave in "The View from Section 140."
Minnesota Vikings backup QBs again left waiting in the wings | NOLA.com
AP report. Once again, Brett Favre has stolen the show -- and all the playing time -- with the Minnesota Vikings and relegated the backup quarterbacks to irrelevance. One week until gameday - the advanced scouting of the Wikes has now begun. Just a taste of the smorgasbord of Wikes coverage to come over the next 7 days.
V-Roll Roll Call
Black and Gold Reports: New Orleans Saints vs. Tennessee Titans |
Adrian Arrington says he needs a big game Thursday |
Sean Payton says there is a downside of the PUP list |
Sean Payton says decision on roster moves takes lots of calculations |
Darren Sharper says he'd like to play against Minnesota |