Eagles - Saints

[Matt_Bowen_Fan]

Westbrook is also a decent guy; he went to a different high school than me, but I met him then a few times and since he's become an Eagle, and he's very grounded still.

I saw the game, but couldn't hear the playcalling(wife wanted to go out). It was exciting, with a lot more white faces than most games. I have to admit, I was torn between the teams, but as much as I like Garcia, who does does everything a Q can do extremely well(IMO, he's one of the most balanced QBs out there: he can pass, can scramble, and he knows when each is the thing to do), I want to see Brees do well. He got a raw deal when the Chargers let him go. This might be the Saints' best chance ever to win a Super Bowl.

 

[foreverfree]

Speaking of Pop Warner quarterbacks... did anybody else notice there was not a single black kid in any age group among the winners of the Punt, Pass, Kick competition?

I glanced at the first winner, a white girl, then turned my head rather than risk seeing blacks in the rest of the row.

John

 

[foreverfree]

I felt the same way, Bart, the most glaring example being the false start on the 4th and 10. The flag came out late, whereas a false start flag should be thrown before or right at the snap of the ball.

Perhaps the official had trouble getting the hanky out of his pocket? Doesn't that happen to all of us?

John

 

[foreverfree]

Maybe the "script" is for the woebegone Saints to overcome the tragedy caused by Katrina and the government and go to the Super Bowl, much like the "Patriots" won it in the 2001 season.

LOL, good one, Don, It will be interesting to see if it plays out that way. Now I'll be wondering about all the calls and watching the refs more closely.

Now that I think about it, one of the announcers said Sean Payton has said he wants the Saints to be like the Patriots...

It's pretty inexplicable to me why Reid makes that call at this point in the game. Does he really think his D is gonna hold McAllister to less than 10 yards in 3 carries? They didn't accomplish that feat all night long.

Thoughts?

I was surprised at the punt, too. Perhaps Reid was hoping that Bush would muff it deep in Saints territory. Perhaps Reid thought that the Saints knew about "4th and 26" also and would prepare accordingly.

John

 

[jaxvid]

One season removed from 3-13 and playing in the wake of the horrific real-life disaster of Katrina, the Saints will play for the NFC title.


That's on the ESPN homepage right now.  I don't think that pro wrestling, I mean pro football, is necessarily rigged, but certainly feel-good tweaking isn't beyond the realm of possibility. We know that rosters are "tweaked" big time because of an agenda.  The system likes nothing better than feel-good stories, especially if it involves lots of blacks. 

You hear a lot from the sports media about how the Saints have lifted up the spirits of New Orleans and helped them "come together" yet everday I read about how bad it is in that city. The murder rate is through the roof, even for a "chocolate" city, they have instituted a curfew, there was a march on city hall to demand relief from the violence.....but the Saints have "pulled the city together"?? Yes sports is fantasy and the people that cover it live in a fantasy world.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

The only thing that could pull New Orleans together is a giant vacuum. I wouldn't live there if someone gave me a nice house.

 

[Kaptain]

A couple of my thoughts was that it was too bad Garcia didn't win. That would have been the best scenario against the caste system - for the QB spot. He is one of the better QBs in the league. Clearly outplaying Donovan. The constant excuse making for the difference in the team once Garcia took over was laughable - just when I think I have heard it all.

A couple of crucial calls went against the Eagles. Especially the false start on 4th and 10 - I couldn't see it on the replay. Maybe I missed it.

Most of all though, the Eagles lost because they lacked a power running game. The Saints had FB Karney leading Deuce through the line and that sealed the victory. I didn't see the Eagles ever use a FB combined with a true power running back. They could have used one when they had 2nd and 1 on the 3 yard line in the 4th quarter. They had to settle for a field goal instead.

 

[foreverfree]

A couple of my thoughts was that it was too bad Garcia didn't win. That would have been the best scenario against the caste system - for the QB spot. He is one of the better QBs in the league. Clearly outplaying Donovan. The constant excuse making for the difference in the team once Garcia took over was laughable - just when I think I have heard it all.

A couple of crucial calls went against the Eagles. Especially the false start on 4th and 10 - I couldn't see it on the replay. Maybe I missed it.

Most of all though, the Eagles lost because they lacked a power running game. The Saints had FB Karney leading Deuce through the line and that sealed the victory. I didn't see the Eagles ever use a FB combined with a true power running back. They could have used one when they had 2nd and 1 on the 3 yard line in the 4th quarter. They had to settle for a field goal instead.

Re the false start, the lineman lifted his hands out of the 3-point stance briefly. He might have lifted his shoulders slightly too.

Having a short week after beating NYG hurt the Eagles too.

John

 

[Deus Vult]

What the national media don't get -- or don't report -- is the difference between New Orleans proper and Greater New Orleans. New Orleans proper, with a few distinct exceptions, was a pig sty even before Katrina. Greater New Orleans is suburbs populated by ex-New Orleanians. The two were always at odds, primarily because of the racial differences.

When the media report that the Saints sold out the Superdome far in advance, what they do not report is that the ticket-holders are from white suburbs and towns that were largely unaffected by Katrina. The typical Saints fan in David Duke's old Metairie district, just outside New Orleans, finds the new "ethnically cleansed" New Orleans proper a vast improvement, and is enthused about taking his family to football games in the Dome. In other words, the success in ticket sales came before the Saints' onfield success, and was an expression of suburban whites' newfound enthusiam for their erstwhile hometown.

Talk of "pulling the city together" reeks of the nonsense you will read and hear tomorrow from your local MLK-celebrants. The bottom line is New Orleans is much less-black than it was two years ago; as a consequence, white expats feel welcome again. They feel safer going downtown, and are more willing than they have been in decades to go into the city with their wallets open.

Imagine Louie Farrakhan's spaceship hovering above Detroit, beaming up 80% of the black population. White, suburban, expat Detroiters would probably find themselves going back into the city more than they have in decades. It is unfortunate for Houston, however, that New Orleans' favorable demographic shift came not as a result of spaceships.