Shanoff's WUC: Saints Fans Create Super Vibe

Today's Calls: Saints vs. Vikings, Colts vs. Jets, Lakers vs. Cavs, Kobe vs. LeBron, Allen Iverson vs. Tracy McGrady, Wade Phillips vs. Tim Floyd, Rick Ankiel vs. Franklin Guttierez, Prince vs. Rally Songs and More.

The Opening Pitch: You will never hear an NFL game atmosphere like the Superdome on Sunday.

It is the biggest game in the history of the Saints franchise -- and the frenzied, desperate crowd will act like it. You need to tune in because this is an all-time home-field advantage.

Brett Favre, incredibly, has had a career year. The Vikings D is better than the Saints' version and good enough to knock the Saints offense off-kilter. Prince wrote a rally song for them.

And it won't matter, because the Saints fans will make it so crazy that Favre won't hear himself think -- and the defense will have to trot back on the field, over and over. They can't stop Brees & Co. forever.

The Saints making the Super Bowl represents nothing less than the greatest turnaround story in league history, on two levels: Historically, this is the most hapless franchise in the league. The city was nearly washed away. This is a release decades -- and a half-decade -- in the making.

It's not just that I cannot fathom going through two more weeks of Favre. It's that I cannot fathom the Saints and their fans missing this opportunity to create one of the great memories in NFL history.

Saints 34, Vikings 31.

AFC Title Game: Like most of you, I really want the Jets to win. I want to see the Colts take a karmic punishment for tanking late in the season. I want to see a hot Wild Card team pull off its most improbable win yet. If the Jets can stop the Chargers, they can certainly slow down the Colts.

And yet slowing down the Colts has never been enough: I go back to that game early in the season when Peyton Manning had the ball for all of 15 minutes and still scored a bajillion points. But there is something about the way that Rex Ryan is making the Jets feel like they can beat anyone. They will keep it close enough to pull it off: Jets 23, Colts 20 OT

NBA Talking Points: I find the Cavs' sweep of the Lakers -- beating L.A. on Christmas Day and, again, last night -- to be less than revealing. Let's see Cleveland do it in June, when it actually counts.

Milestones: Kobe became the youngest player ever to reach 25,000 points. Another incredible milestone for Bryant.

Injury Watch: As long as Mo Williams is back and healthy for the playoffs, the Cavs should have no problem competing for an East title. The next 4-6 weeks? Not so important.

NBA All-Star Voting: AI is in. I have no problem with Iverson getting an All-Star starting spot -- and I have no problem with the way the fans voted. Undoubtedly, they wanted to see one of the most entertaining players of all time get one more All-Star shot before he retires. The way he has dominated All-Star voting in his career, he deserves it. (Unlike T-Mac, who fans were smart enough to bump for Steve Nash.)

CBB Mania: Games of the Weekend.

Ohio St. at West Va.
Duke at Clemson
Oklahoma St. at K-State
BYU at San Diego St.
Texas at UConn

MLB Hot Stove: Rick Ankiel isn't going too far from St. Louis -- he signed a 1Y/$3.5M (2nd-Y option at $6M) deal with the Royals, who could use the buzz that Ankiel brings.

More Mariners: Again, you can't say Seattle isn't spending to win. That deal with CF Franklin Gutierrez from earlier this month? Worth $20M, including payments of $5.5M in 2012 and $7M in 2013. But they have him locked up, and he showed good potential last season.

(Speaking of spending, the Phillies aren't afraid to pay to keep the core together: Shane Victorino got a 3Y/$22M extension.)

Miguel Cabrera is in alcohol rehab, as if the incident before the AL Central play-in game last year wasn't enough of a tip-off. But kudos to Cabrera for taking control of his problem.

CFB All-Star Games: East-West Shrine, which is mostly players not good enough to get invites to next week's Senior Bowl. The NFL scouts are still watching, though, and a player can move up boards with a good week of practice, culminating in a good performance in the game this weekend.

Next week: Senior Bowl mania, headlined by Tim Tebow, who will be THE story in Mobile.

NFL Coaching Carousel: Wade Phillips may have gotten a couple of extra years on his new deal, but that doesn't mean that Jerry Jones won't fire him after next season if the Cowboys underachieve -- and, based on this season, that means anything less than getting to the NFC Championship Game.

CBB Scandal: Tim Floyd would like you to know that he denies everything:

"Why I left was not in any way an admission of guilt. It was a complete testament to a lack of support by my administration and how we were treated after four years of doing everything the right way." -- Tim Floyd, former basketball coach at USC. (Brian Cook supplies the proper response.)

The Last Word: "Purple and Gold" is a new rally song written for the Vikings by Prince, released last night. Here are the lyrics:

the veil of the sky draws open
the roar of the chariots touch down
we r the ones who have now come again
and walk upon water like solid ground
as we approach the throne we won't bow down
this time we won't b denied
raise every voice and let it b known
in the name of the purple and gold

we come in the name of the purple and gold
all of the odds r in r favor
no prediction 2 bold
we r the truth if the truth can b told
long reign the purple and gold

the eyes say ready 4 battle
no need 4 sword in hand
we r all amped up like a rock n roll band
ready 2 celebrate every score
ready 2 fight the elegant war
ready 2 hear the crowd roar

that's what we came 4
and so much more
in the name of the purple and gold

r spirits may b tired
r bodies may b worn
but since this day is r destiny
r history - that's y we must b
4ever strong as the wind that blows the Vikings' horn
in the name of the purple and gold

The song is not getting good reviews, but I would counter with this: When Prince is willing to write your team a rally song, you take it.

Dan Shanoff writes The Wake-Up Call every weekday morning for SportingNews.com and blogs daily at DanShanoff.com. Got any comments, questions or feedback? Email Dan at shanofftsn-[at]-gmail-[dot]-com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/danshanoff.

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