ESPNRADIO.COM all for the move of the Saints

[Shiner Bock Girl]

WOW, i was surpised how ppl calling in were critizing NO, saying the Saints should leave NO, and their mayor was also critized for all he said about Benson...PPL were supporting Benson...lol

[Shiner Bock Girl]

Not one person has critized San Antonio and accused them of stealing the Saints....

[blaze89]

Huh? Is the city of San Antonio calling? Has the mayor called yet?

[Shiner Bock Girl]

Huh? Is the city of San Antonio calling? Has the mayor called yet?

No these were ppl from louisana, one from texas i know for sure and the rest from all over....Cowerd really made SA look good....No the Mayor didn't call in but they played a clip of Nagin saying they want their team back but not the owner...Cowherd said they didn't deserve an NFL team the way they treated the Saints...Don't know what that was about....Not to mention the same things we were saying that they are in no shape to be worrying about football and it was a shame that was their first priority....

[Shiner Bock Girl]

Cowherd said why would you want to have your kids in the NO schools when you could put them in good schools in beautiful SA....He really made NO sound like a very dirty place....I've never been there myself so i don't know.

[goliath]

I'm actually not surprised.

I think this whole "PR backlash" "everyone will hate SA" idea is overblown.

I have family and friends all over the US. Not one of them that Ive talked to about the situation has bashed SA. There attitude has been more of "it suxs for NO but theres no way they can support them now...its a business" type deal. Most Ive talked to have actually expressed more outrage that the Saints could be higher on the priority list than other more important things.

[goliath]

Cowherd said why would you want to have your kids in the NO schools when you could put them in good schools in beautiful SA....He really made NO sound like a very dirty place....I've never been there myself so i don't know.


Not to bash a city when its down but I dated a girl who went to LSU so I went to NO alot when I was in college. Nice place to party (Bourbon ST) and some nice historical areas but crime was high (everyone would warn you not to leave the group you were with) and it was dirty. Personally, I wouldnt want to live there.

[Shiner Bock Girl]

I'm actually not surprised.

I think this whole "PR backlash" "everyone will hate SA" idea is overblown.

I have family and friends all over the US. Not one of them that Ive talked to about the situation has bashed SA. There attitude has been more of "it suxs for NO but theres no way they can support them now...its a business" type deal. Most Ive talked to have actually expressed more outrage that the Saints could be higher on the priority list than other more important things.

Thats good to know.

[Extra Stout]

Not to bash a city when its down but I dated a girl who went to LSU so I went to NO alot when I was in college. Nice place to party (Bourbon ST) and some nice historical areas but crime was high (everyone would warn you not to leave the group you were with) and it was dirty. Personally, I wouldnt want to live there.

Yeah, to be perfectly honest, New Orleans was a decaying shithole before the hurricane hit. Corruption was reaching sub-Saharan levels, the local economy was in shambles, crime was stratospheric, infrastructure was a joke, and the public schools were so bad that the only viable choices were private schools or home schooling.

If handled properly, the rebuilding of New Orleans could be a phoenix rising from the ashes. However, some things have to change. First of all, New Orleans was hardly unique among Louisiana cities in being a shitty place to live. The entire state is that way. You know it's bad when there's a discernable difference crossing over from Mississippi and Arkansas over there, much less Texas. Their system of law doesn't work, their economy is trapped in 1930's Depression-era populism, and corruption so overwhelms every endeavor in the state that it's difficult to impossible to do business there.

If the same folks are going to oversee the rebuilding of New Orleans and control the money, we're basically throwing away $200 billion. They'll make the same mistakes, and what we'll end up with is $200 billion with of casino infrastructure ready to be destroyed by the next big hurricane, after which the same merry band of cronies and charlatans will beg for another handout.

[Extra Stout]

By the way, what I just wrote is a big reason why Texas and Arkansas stepped up to the plate so quickly to take care of Katrina victims. That Louisiana government was categorically unequipped to care for even the most basic needs of its citizens has been plainly obvious to the most casual observer since the bounds of discernable memory.

If we didn't do it, it wasn't going to happen.

[Extra Stout]

Apparently it's sinking in very quickly around the country that New Orleans is going to be out of commission for the forseeable future and that major businesses stationed there will have to find other arrangements to continue operating.

While that doesn't make Benson or San Antonio any more tactful, perhaps that meme is going to defuse whatever rancorous public opinion was going to be thrown at the owner and the city.

[tgrgrd00]

Yeah, to be perfectly honest, New Orleans was a decaying shithole before the hurricane hit. Corruption was reaching sub-Saharan levels, the local economy was in shambles, crime was stratospheric, infrastructure was a joke, and the public schools were so bad that the only viable choices were private schools or home schooling.

If handled properly, the rebuilding of New Orleans could be a phoenix rising from the ashes. However, some things have to change. First of all, New Orleans was hardly unique among Louisiana cities in being a shitty place to live. The entire state is that way. You know it's bad when there's a discernable difference crossing over from Mississippi and Arkansas over there, much less Texas. Their system of law doesn't work, their economy is trapped in 1930's Depression-era populism, and corruption so overwhelms every endeavor in the state that it's difficult to impossible to do business there.

If the same folks are going to oversee the rebuilding of New Orleans and control the money, we're basically throwing away $200 billion. They'll make the same mistakes, and what we'll end up with is $200 billion with of casino infrastructure ready to be destroyed by the next big hurricane, after which the same merry band of coonasses will beg for another handout.

You are so full of yourself it is a joke. You act like your shit don't stink. Your arrogance is appalling.

I will have you know that is was the Federal Government who designed and built the levees that failed! Ever heard of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers? They are the ones who built the levees around N.O. and they are the ones who are going to be getting the money to rebuild the levees. Don't blame the merry band of coonasses, blame the Corp of Engineers.

As a matter of fact the merry band of coonasses has been telling the Corp of Engineers for years that the levees would not hold but they kept cutting the funding and ignoring the coonasses.

If it was not for the failed levees New Orleans would be much better off and we would not be out of commission for as long as everyone seems to be hoping.

Yes, everyone made mistakes in the days after the storm....some are still making them, even the ones who did right after the storm. Louisiana accepts some blame for being inept after the storm but if not for the Corp. we would be much better off.

[Kori Ellis]

I normally don't step into this stuff. But this ...


They'll make the same mistakes, and what we'll end up with is $200 billion with of casino infrastructure ready to be destroyed by the next big hurricane, after which the same merry band of coonasses will beg for another handout.

doesn't belong in this forum.

Please don't cross the line.

[Extra Stout]

You are so full of yourself it is a joke. You act like your shit don't stink. Your arrogance is appalling.By the way, I don't live in San Antonio.

And I'm sorry, but Louisiana is a irredeemable shithole. Texas has its own problems, and corruption, and stupidity, et cetera, but in Louisiana, it reaches the point where one does not feel that one is in the United States anymore. Really, Mexico is better run, at least south of the desert anyway.

And I know you have your own civic pride and such, but sorry, its cultural richness aside, New Orleans was the worst-governed major city in the U.S., beneath Detroit, beneath St. Louis. You know it's bad when folks in East St. Louis see how the living conditions in the Ninth Ward were pre-Katrina and go, "Dayyyyyyum!"


I will have you know that is was the Federal Government who designed and built the levees that failed! Ever heard of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers? They are the ones who built the levees around N.O. and they are the ones who are going to be getting the money to rebuild the levees. Don't blame the merry band of coonasses, blame the Corp of Engineers.Blah blah blah. As if the Corps is some independent entity that wasn't responding to the demands of Louisiana politicians. Was it the Corps' idea to settle people on most of the floodplain in south Louisiana? Well, that area's supposed to flood every year! Gotta build levees to stop that from happening! Oh, doing that makes the land start disappearing into the Gulf? Oops! Gotta spend more federal money! Make sure our buddies get the contracts!

Was it the Corps' idea to develop the land between the old city and Pontchartrain without raising it? That was brilliant. How long has backfilling technology been available? What, centuries? Oh, you mean developers and politicians didn't give a crap about long-term planning and just wanted the cash, damn the future consequences? Oops! Gotta spend more federal money! Make sure our buddies get the contracts!

Did the Corps get the idea for the Gonzaga spillway on their own, or was that something politicians demanded to prevent flooding in New Orleans? Hmm? Oops! The Mississippi River seems to like this spillway and the Atchafalaya Basin better than its own channel! Gotta spend more federal money! Make sure our buddies get the contracts!


As a matter of fact the merry band of coonasses has been telling the Corp of Engineers for years that the levees would not hold but they kept cutting the funding and ignoring the coonasses. And what money was allocated for levee maintenance got siphoned off to help build casinos. Yes, we're all aware of the sordid history.


If it was not for the failed levees New Orleans would be much better off and we would not be out of commission for as long as everyone seems to be hoping.

Yes, everyone made mistakes in the days after the storm....some are still making them, even the ones who did right after the storm. Louisiana accepts some blame for being inept after the storm but if not for the Corp. we would be much better off.If not for the Corps keeping nature at bay, New Orleans would never have become what it was in the first place.

See, in other states, when leadership sees what is clearly a major priority, they all get on the same page and lobby Congress at the same time for the same thing. That way, Congress knows they're serious, and that project gets done amidst all the vapid earmarks.

In Louisiana, however, levee upgrades are in this soup of requests, up there with casino parking lots and shrimp farming and roads to Uncle Billy's tilapia stock pond and sugar cane subsidies and a grant to Cousin Boudreaux's oil drilling business and a minority enterprise zone for the property that somebody's "business associate" owns on the Westbank and I-49 this and I-49 that and a new visitor's center for St. Breaux Bridge Parish's Museum of Alligator Teeth. Oink, oink. Which project takes priority again?

Oh, wait, that's right, you want all of them at the same time, and besides, the feds are supposed to figure out for you what the really impotant ones are, right, because once upon a time LSU did some study?

New Orleans isn't unique in being vulnerable to nature. It isn't unique in having smart people identify the problems and develop solutions. The difference is that everybody else has enough presence of mind to get their shit together and take care of it, rather than making excuses about why it didn't get done.

There's a reason what happened to New Orleans doesn't happen elsewhere. There's a reason why Haley Barbour and the feds got to work rather than switching between pointing fingers and sitting with their thumbs up their asses.

It's because Louisiana is one of a kind. That's the unpleasant truth.

[Extra Stout]

Besides, it has nothing to do with the people of Louisiana per se, except that they continue to tolerate Third World-caliber government. It's the political culture that sucks away livelihoods and opportunities, and leaves the state helpless to fend for itself in an emergency.

Y'all have put up with it for decades, even centuries, even taking pride in it. THEY did this to YOU. Why defend them?

If not for the way they've run the state, New Orleans would be Amsterdam-on-the-Mississippi, dredged up on high ground, designed to handle the waters that impinge upon it, and 5 million strong with a bustling diversified economy. With its strategic location and abundant resources, and its vibrant cultural offerings, it should be a boomtown.

Instead, it has never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

If the right people were put in place to cut through all the graft and rebuild the city right, maybe it could fulfill its potential as trade center, energy capital, and technological innovator drawing from the resources of many nations. If it's going to be the same old, same old, you'll get a cross between Cajun Disneyland and mini-Las Vegas in a city the size of Baton Rouge.

[tgrgrd00]

By the way, I don't live in San Antonio.

I don't care where you live I still think you are full of yourself.



And I'm sorry, but Louisiana is a irredeemable shithole. Texas has its own problems, and corruption, and stupidity, et cetera, but in Louisiana, it reaches the point where one does not feel that one is in the United States anymore. Really, Mexico is better run, at least south of the desert anyway.

Good if it doesn't feel like LA is part of the U.S let us seceed. We will keep the oil and gas that comes through our state, we will put taxes on all of the grain and other materials that come through our port down the river. We will be the richest state outside of the Union and we will buy Texas back one day.


And I know you have your own civic pride and such, but sorry, its cultural richness aside, New Orleans was the worst-governed major city in the U.S., beneath Detroit, beneath St. Louis. You know it's bad when folks in East St. Louis see how the living conditions in the Ninth Ward were pre-Katrina and go, "Dayyyyyyum!"

Well at least we have rich culture.


Blah blah blah. As if the Corps is some independent entity that wasn't responding to the demands of Louisiana politicians. Was it the Corps' idea to settle people on most of the floodplain in south Louisiana? Well, that area's supposed to flood every year! Gotta build levees to stop that from happening! Oh, doing that makes the land start disappearing into the Gulf? Oops! Gotta spend more federal money! Make sure our buddies get the contracts!

WHAT? THIS IS THE MOST RIDICULOUS STATEMENT OF THE BUNCH!

The Corps is an independent entity from Louisiana...the US Army Corps of Engineers designs and builds projects all over the U.S. The corps built the levees because the people of the U.S. demanded that people live in the flood plains. That's right...the demand for oil and gas and a major port at the mouth of the countries greatest river is what made that decision. The people in the midwest are as much responsible for where N.O. sits as anyone.

So why shouldn't the federal government spend money to protect the area by levee and by stopping coastal erosion? The federal governement makes billions and billions of dollars off of the port of N.O. and surrounding areas from oil and gas taxes. All it would have taken to prevent all of this is to spend even 1% of that money on protection and none of this would have happened.

I have a question for you...How far offshore are the federal boundaries for oil and gas royalties off the coast of Louisiana? How far offshore are the federal boundaries for oil and gas rights off the coast of Texas?

Hell if they would just let LA in on what Texas gets we would build the protection ourselves!!!!!!


Was it the Corps' idea to develop the land between the old city and Pontchartrain without raising it? That was brilliant. How long has backfilling technology been available? What, centuries? Oh, you mean developers and politicians didn't give a crap about long-term planning and just wanted the cash, damn the future consequences? Oops! Gotta spend more federal money! Make sure our buddies get the contracts!

Did the Corps get the idea for the Gonzaga spillway on their own, or was that something politicians demanded to prevent flooding in New Orleans? Hmm? Oops! The Mississippi River seems to like this spillway and the Atchafalaya Basin better than its own channel! Gotta spend more federal money! Make sure our buddies get the contracts!!

See above remarks.


And what money was allocated for levee maintenance got siphoned off to help build casinos. Yes, we're all aware of the sordid history.

Do you have any exact numbers on this? I know in the last 8 years funding for the levees has been cut something like 80%. Most of it to fund the war in Iraq.


If not for the Corps keeping nature at bay, New Orleans would never have become what it was in the first place.

No shit. The corps keeping nature at bay started all this mess but somehow it is N.O. fault?


See, in other states, when leadership sees what is clearly a major priority, they all get on the same page and lobby Congress at the same time for the same thing. That way, Congress knows they're serious, and that project gets done amidst all the vapid earmarks.

In Louisiana, however, levee upgrades are in this soup of requests, up there with casino parking lots and shrimp farming and roads to Uncle Billy's tilapia stock pond and sugar cane subsidies and a grant to Cousin Boudreaux's oil drilling business and a minority enterprise zone for the property that somebody's "business associate" owns on the Westbank and I-49 this and I-49 that and a new visitor's center for St. Breaux Bridge Parish's Museum of Alligator Teeth. Oink, oink. Which project takes priority again?.

Yea right...this only happens in Louisiana...that is a laugher.

[samikeyp]

Well at least we have rich culture.

as do we in San Antonio.

[Marcus Bryant]

I agree with XStout's assessment of Louisiana and New Orleans. It was backasswards before Katrina hit. It's hard to fault Benson for seeking a market that doesn't resemble a war zone at the moment.

[Extra Stout]

And still, while New Orleans is a pit, it's a pit on which Benson is turning his back after decades of support.

It would be nice, assuming Benson is bound and determined to leave, if Tags made the commitment to return to New Orleans once the city is ready to support a team again.

It's nice PR, and besides, if everyone there is as defensive about the obvious dysfunction in the state as our new resident whiner, he'll never have to follow through on the promise anyway.

[ChumpDumper]

Tags should just give them the Super Bowl for a decade or so.

Without having to susidize the Saints and paying to bid for the bowls, they'll come out ahead.

[tgrgrd00]

And still, while New Orleans is a pit, it's a pit on which Benson is turning his back after decades of support.

It would be nice, assuming Benson is bound and determined to leave, if Tags made the commitment to return to New Orleans once the city is ready to support a team again.

It's nice PR, and besides, if everyone there is as defensive about the obvious dysfunction in the state as our new resident whiner, he'll never have to follow through on the promise anyway.

I do realize that I am whining quite a bit....I appologize. I am up against quite a few people on here (undestandably). You tend to get a bit whiney.

I never said LA or N.O. was perfect...but some people act like there isn't problems in their states or their towns or there counties. Like we are the only ones who have ever had a stupid or corrupt politician.

[Extra Stout]

I never said LA or N.O. was perfect...but some people act like there isn't problems in their states or their towns or there counties. Like we are the only ones who have ever had a stupid or corrupt politician.Sorry if it seems that I was dogging on you personally.

It just frustrates me that the place has so much human capital and natural wealth available and has done so little with it. Unless you're an elected official, you are part of said human capital that is being underutilized. I know it was there -- a lot of the refugees came over here, and as an example, there were a bunch of qualified medical professionals (nurses, etc.) that local hospitals just scarfed up, at twice the pay they were getting in N.O.

There were folks shocked at how easy it is to find a job over here and glad to be working and earning a good living they never could have had in New Orleans. Businesses that were expecting an influx of people dependent upon the state have been pleasantly surprised at the number of good workers.

Yeah, there have been some problems too, but much less than expected.

I know Louisiana has no monopoly on petty corruption (obviously, seeing how S.A. leaders have behaved), but it's sad that its pervasiveness has robbed its own people so much and curtailed its own power and influence. Y'all deserve better.