The NFL, the Saints and the Hurricane

First, let me say that the NFL has done a lot of great things in response to the hurricane as far as raising money and dedicating time to the cause, and having some of the players like Brett Favre, Steve McNair, and Peyton and Eli Manning who are from the affected areas help out. All that's great. But this post is about the football and coverage aspects of the Saints season so far.

First, from a football perspective, the Saints got screwed. Now, obviously, they can't play at home, so they were screwed regardless, but there were ways that could have been minimized. Playing games in San Antonio is good because that is where they are currently located, so they don't have to travel. Playing games in Baton Rouge is good because they will most likely have a home atmosphere as far as the crowd goes. However, playing in New York was about the stupidest decision I can see. First, because it's unfair to the Saints who now have 7 "home" games and 9 road games. Second, it's a big advantage for the Giants who now have 9 home games and 7 road games. That gives them an advantage not only over the Saints in that particular game, but over everyone else in the league who only have eight home games, and also puts the Saints at a further disadvantage not only to the Giants, but to all the other teams. They should have played that game as close to New Orleans or San Antonio as possible, so that if there was any edge to be had, it would be the Saints'. Or at the very least, somewhere else that was neutral. I think the Giants probably would have won either way, but why create issues that aren't necessary?

Now, my other problem is the coverage of the Saints to start the season. It's hard to criticize without sounding insensitive, but I'll try it anyway. But first, I should say that the Saints clearly have a difficult road ahead, and obviously have a bigger challenge than the other 31 teams have. So, any success they have should be appreciated, and respected. However, it should not be slobbered all over to the point that those of us who did appreciate it have a hard time doing so without throwing up. It started last week, when the Saints opened with a win on the road against the Panthers. Now, they won on a late field goal by 3, but watching any highlight shows or coverage of the game, you would have thought they had just dominated the Super Bowl. Again, ti's a nice story that they won, but let's not get carried away. They were called America's Team, that game was called the Game of the Week, all the broadcasts had to lead with that story. It's just all out of proportion with what they did. Like I said, they obviously have had a tough time, and will contiue to as opposed to the other teams in the league, but it's not like any of these guys were stranded on roofs a couple of weeks ago. These people probably have it the easiest of anyone living in the affected areas, since they didn't have to worry about how or when to evacuate, it was all arranged by the team. They didn't have to worry about where to live after, since the team had to accomodate them. And they all have the means to take care of their families, since no one playing in the NFL shoudl be hurting for money. So, while I think highligting the Saints more than they usually would be and showcasing their accomplishments is good, beating the story to death gets annoying.

Here are a couple of things I noticed in the little bit of the saints game I saw on Monday. First, someone said something to the affect of Aaron Brooks being one of the best quaterbacks in the league. Now, he's an ok QB, but I wouldn't put him anywhere near the top of the league. And I don't think anyone else would either, except now that they have to build every Saint into some sort of ... well, saint. Next, I heard one of the guys, Mcguire, I think, talking aobut how much he hated what Joe Horn did with the cell phone end zone celebration, but now he thinks Joe Horn is probably a pretty good guy after he's seen his response to the hurricane. Well, maybe if you dipshits would stop blowing shit out of proportion in the first place, you would have thought he was a good guy all along. Maybe if there's a hurricane in Oakland, Joe Buck can come around on Randy Moss. Yeah, probably not. Anyway, then the worst thing I saw was, when the Saints were about to punt, but only had ten men on the field, and the announcers were saying they were going to need a call timeout. But then, they noticed that the officials had not started the play clock yet, so they had time to get the last player in. Now, I don't know why the officials didn't start the play clock on time, but the reaction from the announcers was that that was a good job by the officials to give them the extra time. Why, because they've been displaced by the hurricane? Honestly, I have no idea what they were getting at, but that's the only conclusion I could draw from the reaction, and I would be even more disgusted if I found out that that was why the officials gave them more time.

Anyway, the point is stop treating the Saints' season like some awe inspiring special event. It makes me sick, and puts too much pressure on these guys who already have too much to deal with. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to turn on Countdown next week and see Chris Berman giving Deuce McCallister a blowjob, it's gotten so bad.