Re: Re: You called him Gumbo...
You know, I lived in New Orleans for 10 years, & tried to make the Saints my "NFC" team & always looked on the bright side with them, but they do have a messed up organization. Maybe things would be even brighter if they did a few things differently.
J.Johnson & some of the other top-tier coaches always refer to their goal as "putting a good product on the field". It's crass, but that's what it's about. The Saints have always been penny-pinchers who get what they pay for. They let good players, staff, & FO people go rather than pay them. Fan favorites are tossed out & they would continually sign 2nd stringers from other teams & announce that they made an upgrade. Usually true.
Saying they are consciously deciding to upgrade in some of these situations is just spin, and every team does it. The difference between the Fins & Saints, though, is that <b>the Fins put a quality product on the field, year in and out</b>, & every year the fans know they have just as much chance as any other team if the chips fall right. No one thinks that team management is holding them back - the way most fans in N.O. feel...
I'll be the first to admit that the <u>Saints have put together 3 excellent offseasons</u>, but something makes these guys want to jump ship. The team sells "hope" to the fans every year, & for 30 years they haven't delivered. 4 straight years in the playoffs would make Saints fans delirious. Instead they threaten to leave every couple of years, play in a dumpy stadium (I know, I worked there), etc...Personally I believe they are headed in the right direction, but you can't fault S. Knight for wanting to play with a perennial contender in a nicer city, on a better surface, with better (meaning less fickle, more optimistic) fans, or in Miami's case, on a defense with more ProBowler's than he's seen outside of Hawaii.....
...come to think of it, who wouldn't rather root for a team like that as well? :D
You know, I lived in New Orleans for 10 years, & tried to make the Saints my "NFC" team & always looked on the bright side with them, but they do have a messed up organization. Maybe things would be even brighter if they did a few things differently.
J.Johnson & some of the other top-tier coaches always refer to their goal as "putting a good product on the field". It's crass, but that's what it's about. The Saints have always been penny-pinchers who get what they pay for. They let good players, staff, & FO people go rather than pay them. Fan favorites are tossed out & they would continually sign 2nd stringers from other teams & announce that they made an upgrade. Usually true.
Saying they are consciously deciding to upgrade in some of these situations is just spin, and every team does it. The difference between the Fins & Saints, though, is that <b>the Fins put a quality product on the field, year in and out</b>, & every year the fans know they have just as much chance as any other team if the chips fall right. No one thinks that team management is holding them back - the way most fans in N.O. feel...
I'll be the first to admit that the <u>Saints have put together 3 excellent offseasons</u>, but something makes these guys want to jump ship. The team sells "hope" to the fans every year, & for 30 years they haven't delivered. 4 straight years in the playoffs would make Saints fans delirious. Instead they threaten to leave every couple of years, play in a dumpy stadium (I know, I worked there), etc...Personally I believe they are headed in the right direction, but you can't fault S. Knight for wanting to play with a perennial contender in a nicer city, on a better surface, with better (meaning less fickle, more optimistic) fans, or in Miami's case, on a defense with more ProBowler's than he's seen outside of Hawaii.....
...come to think of it, who wouldn't rather root for a team like that as well? :D
