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| 3/10 | Toliver Will Practice With Broken Hand |
| | LSU wide receiver Terrence Toliver suffered a broken hand in the early-morning altercation that got him hit with three police citations Sunday. But he’ll have to gut it out during spring practice as part of his punishment for his part in the fight outside Fred’s Lounge in Tigerland. “He will practice with that hand,” LSU head coach Les Miles said after the Tigers went through their sixth practice of spring training. “He will sustain some running.” Miles noted, however, that Toliver, the Tigers’ leading returning receiver who will be a senior next fall, had never been involved in any prior incidents during his college career. Continue... |
| 2/18 | Mainieri Likes Makeup Of New Tiger Baseball Team |
| | It’s been quite a whirlwind offseason for LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri, who parlayed last year’s national championship into everything from a trip to the White House to presiding over the Natchitoches Christmas Festival of Lights to leading a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade. “I got to spend a lot of quality time with (Saints coach) Sean Payton,” Mainieri said of riding with the Krewe of Orpheus. “I even got to hold the Lombardi Trophy.” Fun stuff. “But I was hired here to be the baseball coach, and that’s what we do,” Mainieri said. Perhaps he and Payton discussed the joys — and pressures — of repeating. Mainieri gets first crack when the Tigers open the 2010 season Friday with a three-game series against Centenary. Continue... |
| 2/14 | Column: The Week That Was ... And What Might Have Been |
| | A friend sending in dispatches from New Orleans probably put it best. After surviving the post-Super Bowl French Quarter, after second-lining down Poydras Street with the Saints’ victory parade all the way to the crowded lounge where Drew Brees taught the listing patrons the pregame chant, she reported something along the lines of: This is one city in serious need of some Lent. Me, I have more faith in Louisiana, always a plucky and innovative bunch, and I trust the state will suck it up and get through the anti-climax of Mardi Gras, giving the traditional festival its proper due with spirits and beads intact. Especially the Krewe du Who Dat. Then, with time to take pause, maybe it will really, really sink in. Also, Louisiana can maybe go back to work again. But, gosh, it’s been a whirlwind week. Continue... |
| 2/9 | Column: Rest Of State Had Stake In Saints, Too |
| | MIAMI, Fla. — The way the story is being told around here, you get the feeling that the Saints — that would be your Super Bowl champion Who Dats — were returning home Monday to find the Ninth Ward had overnight blossomed into a veritable Crescent City Beverly Hills. Katrina, if she ever happened, is now as dead as the Aints. It makes a good sob story, the feel-good tear-jerker of the year, one for which the movie rights are surely being negotiated even as we speak. And the Saints did seem to have a higher calling than just winning a football game, a subplot that ran rampant throughout the annual pre-Super Bowl hoopla. And afterward. “We’re here because of their strength and everything they fought through the last few years,” said quarterback Drew Brees, who made sure a trip to Disney World wouldn't conflict with the parade of the century. “Not only were we rebuilding a team and an organization, but also the city was rebuilding with us. We fed off of it. We felt we had to win this game for them.” Continue... |
| 2/8 | Column: Believe It! - Saints Are Super Bowl Champions |
| | MIAMI — Good gosh, this is going to take some getting used to. You probably woke up this morning — assuming you bothered to go to bed — figuring it was some silly dream, a practical joke. I’m here, over strong coffee, to clear out the cobwebs and tell you I saw it with my own disbelieving eye balls and it’s 100-percent, black-and-gold true. Parts of it may still be a little fuzzy. Hell may have icicles as cold as the ice water running through Sean Payton’s veins, and the sun may have risen from the West and — who knows? —those piggies with wings must be flying around the moon by now. But the Saints ... The Saints are ... Saints are ... Super Bowl Champions of the entire Who Dat World. You didn’t imagine it and don’t let anybody tell you any different. Saints 31, Colts 17. Burn your bags and promise you ain’t never gonna say Aint no more. It was more of a white-knuckler than the score indicates, but who cares? America is now the Who Dat nation and will learn soon enough how to second-line to Esplanade and back. Continue... |
| 2/7 | Brees, Payton A Marriage Made In Saints Heaven |
| | FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The truth behind the happiest marriage in the NFL is that neither Drew Brees nor Sean Payton really knew what they were getting into four years ago. Both kind of acted on blind faith, like an Internet romance. They weren’t always seemingly joined at the hip to the point, as now, that sometimes it’s hard to tell if the Saints have a “coach on the field” or a “quarterback on the sidelines.” “It’s like ESP,” Brees, the Saints quarterback, said of his relationship with his head coach. “I can anticipate a call before it comes. “When I come to the sideline, we’re always seeing the same things. We just have that kind of confidence with one another that he’s going to put me in the best position and I’m going to make him right as much as I can. It’s just a great quarterback/play-caller relationship. “I wouldn’t want to play for anyone else.” The relationship culminates today when Brees and Payton put their noggins together in the first-ever appearance by the Saints in the Super Bowl against the Indianapolis Colts. Continue... |
| 2/7 | Column: Don't Believe The Nonsense, But Saints Can Win |
| | FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Relax. But listen up to what I’m telling you and listen good. The Saints can win this thing. Probably will if they’re not careful. It won’t be because it’s the XLIVth Super Bowl and the Saints are 44 years old and Obama is the 44th president and it’s been 4 years, 4 months since Katrina and the Saints beat the Vikings 4 minutes, 44 seconds into overtime. Although admittedly that’s pretty compelling stuff to 4-tell with, along with the startling revelation this week that Peyton Manning wears No. 18, voila — 1 + 8 = 9 = Drew Brees. It won’t be because Marie Laveau has lifted the Saints curse, although that’s certainly timely and appreciated and, by the way, what took so long. The voodoo thing, however, is way overrated. It won’t be because the NFL finally admitted they don’t own Who Dat, and even invited The Who to handle the halftime entertainment chores. It won’t be because hell done frozen over and pigs are flying around Louisiana and Bobby Hebert wore a sequined dress with fishnets down Poydras Street. Continue... |
| 2/7 | Saints Are Playing For More Than Themselves |
| | FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — For many long-suffering pro football fans in Louisiana, it probably won’t seem real until the actual kickoff. The New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl. It’s here, Roman numeral XLIV, to be exact. They will kickoff against Indianapolis late this afternoon with the Colts trying to win a second Super Bowl. The Saints? “Anything we can do to bring back New Orleans, we’re doing,” tight end Jeremy Shockey said. “We need to win this game. We have the best fans in the world. That’s what we’re playing for — the fans.” It may sound like more added pressure for a game that generally doesn’t need any additional hype. Head coach Sean Payton doesn’t think so. Continue... |
| 2/6 | Saints Well Prepared For The "Big Game" |
| | FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Indianapolis Colts have 25 players who helped them win the Super Bowl three years ago in the very stadium they’ll play the Saints on Sunday night. The Saints have a handful of veterans who’ve been in Super Bowls, but the often woeful franchise as a whole hasn’t been anywhere near one without a pricey ticket. The Saints are confident that whatever advantage it gives the Colts is way overrated. Never mind that Super Bowl debutantes haven’t fared particularly well over the years. “That has never even crept into my mind,” said offensive lineman Jahri Evans. Other than then first Super Bowl, teams making their first appearance are only 7-18 in the big game, and three straight have fallen since Tampa Bay bucked the trend in 2003. “Sure there’s going to be nerves,” head coach Sean Payton said. “Guys are going to be wound up. But we’re going to manage that just fine.” Payton, who was an assistant on the New York Giants’ 2001 Super Bowl team, said that, in a way, the Saints have been readying for this moment the entire season. Continue... |
| 2/6 | Column: No Mixed Emotions For Archie |
| | FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — And you thought the NFL didn’t have a sense of humor. They dreamed up a new trophy to present here, slapped John Madden’s name on it for commercial effect and called it the “Most Valuable Protectors Award.” It’s for the best offensive line in the NFL, as voted on by some people who I’m sure know a lot about it. The Saints rock-solid herd of cattle won it. One little problem. The Saints were a tad busy practicing when it came time to present the hardware. They sent regrets. So ... accepting the award on behalf of Jon Stinchcomb, Jermon Bushrod, Jahri Evans, Carl Nicks and Jonathan Goodwin is ... Archie Manning. What is this? A Saturday Night Live skit? Continue... |
| 2/5 | There's A Bond Between The Saints And The City |
| | FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — It really is different with the Saints. Every NFL team at some point is expected to make the obligatory claim that they have the “best fans in the world.” Linebacker Scott Fujita has been there. He started his career in Kansas City, known for one of the most vocal stadiums in the NFL, and moved on to Dallas Cowboys, perhaps the league’s signature team. “New Orleans is different,” he said, while being careful not to bruise any friendships he left behind in former ports of call. “I’m still struggling to find the words to express it or explain, but ... it’s just different. The people ... nobody does it like in New Orleans.” Added offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb, “At away games you can tell the difference between the fans that we have the other team’s fans.” Continue... |
| 2/5 | Column: Tale Of Two Cities A Mismatch |
| | FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.— Noticeably missing from this year’s Super Bowl run-up is the traditional trash-talking between opposing cities. I suppose the two mayors have done their civic duty and staged some kind of friendly wager — yawn — but if you’re going to go to all the trouble of getting to a Super Bowl, you’re supposed to leave no stone unturned. It’s not enough to want to beat the other city’s professional football team, you really owe it to yourself to build up a two-week, lightly researched hatred, with all the taunting and raspberries that suggests for ... New Orleans? Indianapolis? OK granted, maybe it wouldn’t be a fair fight. Nothing particularly wrong with Indianapolis, I suppose. Continue... |
| 2/4 | Strip Club Defense Solves Saints Playoff Dysfunction |
| | FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Saints as a dynamic, fun-to-watch offense with all the whistles and roman candles isn’t really a new development. They’ve been scoring virtually at will ever since Drew Brees and Sean Payton got married and moved to New Orleans four years ago. So how can having the NFL’s 25th ranked defense be the difference in not making the playoffs the last two years and suddenly playing in the Super Bowl? It’s never happened before — never has a team with that lowly ranked of a defense been here. Some of the NFL’s old guard even looks askance at the Saints, who thus far aren’t of a mind to apologize. Yet Payton seems to have tithed wisely when he gave up a portion of his own salary to free up club funds to lure in Greg Williams as defensive coordinator. For a 25th ranked defense? Continue... |
| 2/4 | Column: Question Colts Injury Claims |
| | FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — I’m telling you. The boys from Indianapolis are up to something. And it’s not good. You can just feel it in the air. Something ain’t right. It doesn’t take Inspector Clouseau to figure out there’s something terribly convenient and mostly suspicious about this whole Dwight Freeney “ankle injury” mystery. The NFL allegedly has stricter rules about dealing with injury reports. It’s not like the colleges where you just assume if a coaches’ lips are moving and the subject is an injury, then they’re surely lying through their teeth. But the NFL boys know how to dance around even their rules, two-stepping adroitly with the truth to their own personal advantage. Continue... |
| 2/2 | Column: Saints Fans Dress For Success |
| | One can only imagine the scene at the NFL’s weekly status report meeting bright and early Monday morning: “So what’s the latest in New Orleans?” “Nothing much. Oh, yeah. It seems they did have a couple of thousand cross-dressers stage a parade from the Superdome to the French Quarter. Pep rally thing for the Saints.” “Cross-dressers?” “Yeah, you know ...” “Oh, the female impersonators? I heard about those people down there on Bourbon Street. Pretty entertaining. Most of ‘em, I understand, it’s hard to tell, they look just like ...” “Not exactly. Different bunch. As I understand it, most of these guys were smoking cigars and had hairy legs and were flaunting their beer guts as they kind of belly-flop pranced. Not real lady like, least from all I could make out from our initial reports.” “But they were wearing dresses?” “That’s what I understand.” “Why on earth?” “It’s New Orleans.” Continue... |
| 1/31 | Column: Saints Fans Need To Enjoy The Ride |
| | There’s no cheering in the press box, as you know, which even includes your standard-issue Who Dattin’. No matter who owns and licenses and collects rent on the chant. So late last Sunday night in the Superdome press area, as the prose was wrapped up and the laptops were packed away and then the elevator was slow to arrive, you heard it over and over and over. You heard it spoken softly, touched with disbelief. “Did you ever think you’d see this day?” Not really. Halfway down the elevator, another buddy, chipped in wistfully: “Did you ever think you’d see this day?” The New Orleans Saints are heading to the Super Bowl in Miami. Walking to the parking lot, yet another chirped in, as if making idle conversation: “Did you ever think you’d ...” “No, I never thought we’d see this day.” It’s had a week to sink in now. The New Orleans Saints will leave bright and early Monday morning on a charter airliner for the Super Bowl. Continue... |
| 1/26 | Column: Saints Defense Had It Their Way |
| | NEW ORLEANS — All was peaceful in the Big Easy Monday morning, a crisp, clear day dawning on a near-empty French Quarter where about the only detectable activity was some scrubbing up from a truly landmark festival — even by Bourbon Street’s lofty standards — the night before. A lot of Saints fans were evidently sleeping in on the start of the work week. It had been quite a night from the moment Saint place-kicker Garrett Hartley calmly stroked a 40-yard overtime field goal, knew he caught it pure, and didn’t even bother watching its flight before looking down at holder Mark Brunell and nonchalantly remarking: “Looks like we’re going to Miami.” To the Super Bowl. In two weeks. First, however, the exhausted, happiest, friendliest, stranger-hugging mob on earth instinctively made its way to the French Quarter, merrily honking horns and Who-Dattin along the way. Apparently, this delirious throng that engulfed an entire city did not realize — and seemed to care not one bit — that Minnesota, as I understand it, was actually the better team, the one that deserved to win the game and the one that would have been going to the Super Bowl if life and football were fair. Continue... |
| 1/25 | Column: Believe It, The Saints Really Are In The Super Bowl |
| | NEW ORLEANS — It’s OK. Really. Uncover your eyes. You can exhale now. It’s over. There is Justice in the World, Peace on Bourbon Street, Goodwill toward Drew Brees and Joy to the Who Dat. Life as we know it is suddenly one big umbrella- twirling Mardi Gras with side dishes of Jazzfest and St. Patrick’s Day and endless Second Line all rolled into one. The Aints are dead. There’s a Saints’ Super Bowl in our lifetime and the earth did not open up and swallow New Orleans whole. You thought it was going to be easy? The 42-year plan finally worked. Don’t ask questions. But, gosh, it was testy there at the end, and if the gamer than game Minnesota Vikings are kicking themselves all the way back to Minneapolis, that’s OK, too. The Saints have been there, done that. For 42 hand-wringing, ever-teasing years. Continue... |
| 1/18 | Column: Saints' Plan Worked To Perfection |
| | NEW ORLEANS — Now Dat’s more like it. Crisis averted. These Saints always said they could flip the switch on this monster at their pleasure. They shut it down in mid-December for what many presumed were questionable motives. No sense working up a real sweat, they claimed, when the games had almost ceased to matter much. That’s what they said at least. Made for a good story. But some fans, perhaps burned in the inglorious past by the black and fool’s gold, suspected the rest of the NFL had figured them out. Or maybe worse, that they’d peaked too soon on this past-perfect season and the familiar voodoo was about to strike again. Silly them. The games kind of matter again. And the Saints promptly put up 45-14 worth of Who Dat on the unsuspecting Arizona Cardinals. “So much for being rusty,” Saints head coach Sean Payton said with a hint of I told you so in his friendly smirk. Yeah, it’s OK to believe again. Continue... |
| 1/14 | Column: SEC Will Miss Little Lord Kiffin |
| | Just a hunch, but I’m guessing that Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley has reconsidered. Perhaps Urban Meyer now has his key to the Gators’ football offices back and can come (and by all means stay) as he pleases. The only way the college football offseason could get any more entertaining would be for Tennessee to swoop into Gainesville and pluck Meyer from his sabbatical/R&R vacation — or whatever it is he’s on — to come be a Vol. Otherwise, Lane Kiffin has gone and upstaged Meyer again. It must be an obsession with him. Little Lord Kiffin is one and done, gone from Tennessee to Southern California, and now the Southeastern Conference is going to have to look elsewhere for its cheap entertainment. Continue... |
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