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Reports on the saints are taking so many different angles, i just read one that said the team can't wait to get back to louisiana, and would highly prefer to play at LSU.
It's only speaking the truth, and sometimes it hurts.During a news conference, Deputy Superintendent Warren Riley said police were telling the remaining residents that there is no food, water or jobs and nothing to remain in New Orleans for. "This city has been destroyed," Riley said.
Reports on the saints are taking so many different angles, i just read one that said the team can't wait to get back to louisiana, and would highly prefer to play at LSU.
That's there first option is to play at LSU but it's not going to happen with LSU being a staging point for evacuees and relief efforts.
Well the article didn't mention evacuees, it said the problem was LSU would play there saturday and that logistics with the field if the saints played there sunday.
They just reported the Benson wants to move to SA permanently rumor on ESPN News...that doesn't make it true, of course. But now it's national. Fallout should be interesting.
They said Saints officials are desperately trying to talk him out of it.
exactly right.Some people
SOME people.
Colin Cowherd was spot on this morning on this subject.
All the money, the govt, the state, and the city are gonna give, goes to the people.
Football is about 105th in line in importance.
I gaurantee you that not everyone watches the Saints, not EVERYONE cares about the Saints.
If the Saints want to move here/?
Ill voluntarily give some tax money to renovate or fix the dome so it happens.
COme on Mr, Benson. Do it....
I dont think it makes sense to lead on NO fans either by coming to SA on some so called "temp" basis with the notion that some day you may return to NO
The Saints would have to keep up that charade for a year or two..maybe even longer..who knows
Its going to be a long..long time before NO would be able to support the Saints...the Superdome may not even be fit to be saved..which means even longer till they had a new Stadium
The Team may not announce something right now...but I doubt they let it go past the end of this coming season. I think the saints dont have much choice but to move. Playing somewhere on a temp basis doesnt make sense past this season. No way NO is back to normal and ready to go by next season
NO will NEVER be normal.
The French Quarter may stay, downtown that didn't get flooded too bad will be ok.
But corporations and businesses that wanted to be there or were there, arent going.
The city IMO should try and become a midwest Las Vegas.
Shows, gambling, partying BIG hotels.
It would work....
In four years, I can see New Orleans being at the Corpus Christi type level in terms of population and economy.
I agree...
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporlea...09.html#077000
Opinion: Please don't go, Mr. Benson
The people of the New Orleans area "battered, grieving and homeless" are in desperate need of something to hold onto. Something to ease their broken hearts and nourish their spirits.
Saints owner Tom Benson can give them that something. He can choose, and we fervently hope he will, to play this fall's home games at LSU's Tiger Stadium.
Saints fans are among the most loyal in the NFL. For 38 years, they have embraced this team whether it won or lost, and the losses almost always outnumbered the wins. Mr. Benson owns this team, and it is his business. But this is our team, too, at least in spirit. What other fans would pack the Superdome year after year despite lackluster win/loss records? Don't these devoted people deserve that sort of dedication in return?
This metro area has suffered the worst natural catastrophe in the nation's history. People who were helpless to get out of the way of the storm died in our beloved Superdome. The Dome is wrecked, and it is a place known for misery right now. But it can be refurbished. Its rebuilding can be a hopeful sign to the hundreds of thousands of residents who have been scattered across the region by Hurricane Katrina - people who have lost not only loved ones and homes, but their entire community.
The Saints have been a source of that sense of community since the day they first walked on the field. They bring us together in a way nothing else does.
The NFL doesn't want the Saints to leave. As after the Sept. 11 attacks, when the New York Giants chose to stay in their ravaged city, the league sees the Saints as a balm for wounded souls.
Surely the players don't want to leave. Receiver Joe Horn spent three hours touring the Astrodome on Saturday, signing autographs for children and giving the 15,000 displaced storm survivors something to smile about.
And it is difficult to believe Mr. Benson would want to leave, despite reports to the contrary. He has talked in recent months about how much he loves New Orleans, about his desire to stay here, and we take him at his word.
Before Katrina, Saints fans wanted their team to stay. Now they need it to stay.
I still don't think the NFL will let it happen.Saints look at making San Antonio 'home' all season
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/column...len&id=2152641
SAN ANTONIO -- Despite their public stance that they hope to play home games in Baton Rouge, La., for the 2005 season, the strong preference of New Orleans Saints officials is to stage the contests here at the Alamodome, and it is a position that team management is expected to soon articulate to NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue.
"The best [scenario] for us is to play the games right here, because, well, this is where we are," coach Jim Haslett said Monday, following his team's first practice in preparation for Sunday's season opener at Carolina. "I know a lot of things have been discussed, but we would like to be here. But it's not up to us. The league will make the decision."
Saints owner Tom Benson, who on Monday afternoon declined to do interviews but did suggest he will sit down with the media later in the week, will meet sometime in the next few days with Tagliabue and other NFL officials. That session, which likely will be in New York, could occur as early as Tuesday, club sources told ESPN.com. It's expected that Benson will review his franchise's options, and also lay out for the league the details in place in San Antonio, where the Saints already have decided to practice all season.
Multiple team sources said on Monday the Saints have focused hard in recent days on San Antonio as their home site.
At a Sunday evening press conference, general manager Mickey Loomis indicated that the Saints would like to play at LSU, because of its proximity to New Orleans and the chance that whatever fans remain in the abandoned city might be able to travel to home contests. Loomis and other team officials pointed out that the Saints have season ticket patrons across the Gulf Coast.
But there is some construction still ongoing at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge and playing there could be a logistical nightmare, since the city has become a major staging area for the relief efforts in the area. In addition, it might be difficult to secure hotels for visiting teams, since many of the Baton Rouge facilities are already hosting evacuees. And, as is the case with everything Saints officials and players say or do now, there is a sensitivity that must be factored into the equation.
City of San Antonio officials here have been quietly at work to create an incentives package for Benson, one that would include guaranteed sellouts for every contest. There is one significant scheduling conflict, given that the Alamodome is scheduled to be the site of the NCAA volleyball championships Dec. 15-17. The Saints have a home date on Dec. 18, against Carolina, and the San Antonio Express News reported Monday that it takes about 48 hours to install the artificial surface at the dome.
"You just hate to be moving all over the place every week, like nomads, you know" said wide receiver Joe Horn. "If we're living here, maybe we should just play here."
The apparent change of focus to San Antonio came amid reports that Benson planned to move the franchise here permanently and to not issue refunds to season ticketholders in New Orleans. The latest report, on the tickets, came from a New Orleans television station which cited a discussion with Saints executive vice president Arnold Fielkow. There were also indications that some sentiments that Benson may have expressed directly after the impact of Hurricane Katrina have softened in recent days.
Still looking weary, Benson politely rebuffed interview attempts as he left the practice field on Monday afternoon. "Guys, I'm about up to here right now," Benson said, holding his hand to his chin. "Talk to Greg [Bensel, director of media relations] and hopefully we can do something later in the week."
Benson likely does not want to make any public comments until after he has an opportunity to meet face-to-face with Tagliabue and league officials.
Responding to the reports that have suggested the Saints will never play again in New Orleans, Haslett said: "If somebody was saying that, obviously, they don't know what they are talking about."
Once again on Monday, there was a sense that New Orleans players and coaches feel that the league is not doing enough and has stacked the deck against them. Players and most coaches, including Haslett, were unaware that the NFL had set the date for their "home" opener at Giants Stadium for Monday night, Sept. 19.
"Oh, well, more of the same," said safety Jay Bellamy.
An exasperated Haslett, clearly operating on very little sleep, and only six days from the regular-season opener at Carolina, joked again about the possibility that the league will decide to have the Saints play all their "home" games at the sites of their opponents.
"We'll do whatever we have to do," Haslett said. "If that's what the NFL says we have to do, then we'll do it."
For the second day in a row, Haslett's cited the Saints' success on the road during his five-year tenure. New Orleans is 24-16 in road games since Haslett arrived in 2000, and just 18-22 at home in that period.
If he hires a 90% NO staff he might be able to pull it off..
kids need to get to school etc..
Also he might get the NFL to agree to an expansion team once the city get's back up and running (2-3 years from now)..
Once they rebuild everything, give NO two years and there'll be as many fans going to see the Saints as there were before the hurricane...none.
Last edited by Duff McCartney; 09-05-2005 at 11:21 PM.
Two things:
Was this ever in question? And they (and the Jets) were already in a different state anyway, their facility -- and much more of their fan base -- intact.As after the Sept. 11 attacks, when the New York Giants chose to stay in their ravaged cityUm, it's abandoned.whatever fans remain in the abandoned city might be able to travel to home contests.
Tell that to AL Davis
Tell it to Art Modell as well.
...and Bud Adams
...and Georgia Rosenbloom
...and Bill Bidwell
exactly...no one ever went before.. and now that they are spending money rebuilding they should all of the sudden go...
maybe fema will build them a new stadium.
Well, The Superdome is reporeted to be beyond repair. ABC News is saying it has to be torn down.
that wasn't ABC News saying that...it was the Superdome Director. The NO version of Mike Abington.
If that's the case, then the Saints HAVE to move, no questions.
They announced that on ESPN that he could be moving them to SA permantely so I guess he is serious. That is good though, I hope they do. I will be at most games.
San Antonio is not getting a team while LA doesn't have one. Get a clue. This is the epic San Antonio pipe dream that just won't die.
LA!
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