After the goofy debate over whether or not the NFL could claim ownership of the phrase, "Who Dat", when used in conjunction with a certain color combination or symbol, I easily found myself rooting for small businesses, and against the "Evil Empire".  While Saintsational and coldpizza's back-and-forth on the subject was both entertaining and informative, I personally came out still believing that, even if a large business entity had right to a brand they purchased and spent money and man hours promoting, it was still a total ***k-move to come out flapping the pink slip around in the air only moments after said right became financially beneficial to them.  It didn't help the NFL's case in my mind that they choose to be a "union of independent businesses" when that helps them milk every penny out of a deal(in avoiding antitrust consideration on marketing contracts, e.g.), and then choose to be a single business, with the sole rights to a property they never expressed an interest in when that perspective is more helpful.

All that aside, I realized, after writing something on one of the posts dedicated to the issue, that, while I had given hundreds directly to the NFL, or some other major media outlet, this year for Saints crap, I hadn't actually put my money where my mouth was, and given so much as a dime to one of those small businesses whose coattail-riding I was rooting for.  Then it dawned on me(thanks to Saintsational actually bringing it up) that I was writing on the domain of one such small business owner!  So, I promptly gave my credit card information over to Dave Cariello, c.o. Campus Connection, in exchange for a rather cheesy, but fun "Who Dat Nation" tee shirt.  To my pleasant surprise, it even features fleur-des-lis' in place of the stars on the flag, in clear violation of league wishes!  Thanks, Dave!

After literally days of waiting, I'm happy to say that Campus Connection's fine, and mildly unlawful product has finally arrived, well in time to be worn during the Saints' Super Bowl!  While I've upheld a three-year-old superstition of not wearing any Saints paraphernalia during games this year, since I haven't actually given a cent to either the Saints or the NFL on this one, and since there's no game afterward, either way,  I'll be breaking with that tradition this weekend by wearing this stylish and affordable testament, both to my love of the Saints and other New Orleans local business, and to my passionate dislike of copyright laws.

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulet!

     After the thorough beating the Saints put on Arizona last weekend, I quickly became horrified of the very legitimate possibility that the Saints would have garnered enough respect from the Talking Head community to actually be expected to win the NFC Championship game next weekend.  I mean, they totally put to rest the issue of momentum, they proved that the return of all their defensive starters really  DID make a profound difference to their defensive prowess, and the Dome really did turn out to be the horrible burden on opposing offenses it was supposed to be.  Not to mention Reggie Bush's sudden return to his zen-like state of "Reggie Bush-iness", or the immense difference that having more than one tight end AND a fullback had on our offensive efficacy.

     But then, the Vikings had an equally impressive resurgence, and managed to humiliate the Greatest Team in the Universe on Sunday.  They got six sacks on perennial MVP Tony Romo, forcing two fumbles, they manhandled inexplicably starting running back, "The Professor And" Marion Barber, scored a pointless 4th down touchdown while holding a three score lead, and Brett Fa-Vra even sang the "Pants On The Ground" song in the locker room!   Oh, man, thanks you guys.  That was close!

     So, as the completely unnecessary five days between games trudges along, I am relieved to discover that the Saints, while being an undeniably decent team, still have little to no chance of overcoming this Nordic Juggernaut.  So far, the only guys I've heard that expect the Saints to come out on top of this game are Marshall Faulk and Jim Mora, Jr..  Two guys with ties to the city.  That's it.  The rest of the NFL's top palm readers are certain that the only advantage the Saints have is Domefield Advantage, and that the Vikings will not bat an eye at that little issue.  Brett Favre has been working closely with Jeff Dunham all week, learning to throw his voice directly into the earholes of his offensive linemen.  Plus, did you know that he won a Super Bowl in the Super Dome?  Yeah, it's true!  So this should be essentially the same environment as that was, right?  Anyhoo, apart from that little "advantage", the Saints' offense, defense, and special teams are all completely outmatched.  Sure, not statistically, per say, but, you know, as a whole.  'Cuz if there's one thing the Saints haven't done this year, it's handle great quarterbacks, right?  And when's the last time we were able to contain All-drian Day-terson?  And sure, the Saints offense is ranked first in nearly every meaningful category, and has done this for three of the past four years, but I'm fairly certain that's all come against the basement of the league's defensive units.  I mean, when have they ever scored a touchdown against a top-ten defense?  Can you remember?

Also, did you know, that at least one division one-seed is required to lose in a championship game?  That unwritten rule has been in effect for as long as I can remember(which only dates back to 2007, FYI).  And that team sure as heck isn't going to be the Colts, because they just DON"T DO THAT.  EVER.

     The bottom line is, this NFC Championship game ended at about three o'clock last Sunday, at the end of the two-seed Divisional game.  It didn't really matter who won it, just that a winner was determined.  That takes a HUGE burden off of my shoulders, as a fan of this Saints team.  Because, if there's anything that can kill the Saints' potential to win a big game this year, it's being predicted to win said big game.  As long as we "don't stand a chance", I'm confident in our chances.

As the 2009 playoffs, and the obligatory predictions and observations from the various network sports braintrusts get into full swing, the Saints are, unsurprisingly, given fairly little chance of doing anything impressive in the coming weeks.  They have played arguably their worst month of football since September of 2007, heading into their best playoff position in franchise history.  The surprising thing is just how easy and complete the abandonment of the Saints' bandwagon was for the football gurus of our glowing talkie boxes.

As bad as the Saints have played recently, they still have the best record in the NFC, they are entering the playoffs healthier than any other team in the league, they will not have to play another road game short of making the Super Bowl, and they managed to retain the top offensive ranking, despite taking off from competitive football a week early.  Yet one would be hard-pressed to find an article suggesting the Saints have any hope at all in this second season that wasn't written or filmed in the state of Louisiana.  We all know that no team has ever made the Super Bowl after dropping the last three games of the regular season.  We also all know that no team has ever made the Super Bowl after representing the city of New Orleans for an entire season.  But does anyone recall a less relevant top-bracketed playoff team?  Reading the bold observations of such great football minds as Jeff Chadiha, Steve Wyche, and even supposed NFC South Champion Pat Yasinskas, you'd think the Saints were clinging to the same twig of hope as the New York Jets.

My guess for the last top-seeded playoff team to be as lowly-considered as these Saints is Rex Grossman's 2006 Chicago Bears.  The same Bears that stole the Saints' last great hopes for a championship away from us, despite all indications that the Saints could not be beaten by such an overvalued squad.  That tidbit of meaningless pseudo-trivia gives me some hope.  But the more important and equally unquantifiable correlation that leads me to believe these Saints aren't dead yet is the fact that the best Saints team we fielded this season was the middle-ranked, under-appreciated team of September/October that put one embarrassing  beatdown after another on some of the then-elite NFL squads.  The team that was expected to be clawing desperately at an unlikely third NFC South wildcard spot behind Carolina and Atlanta. This Saints team eats one-and-done predictions and undeniable questions about unfavorable matchups against high-flying smashmouth defenses and solid running attacks for brunch, and craps out 150-yard rushing games, pick-sixes, 4 passing TD's, and 48-to21 thunder!  Metaphorically speaking.

Of course, it could easily turn out that the Saints have truly run out of steam, that Payton and Williams' respective bags o' tricks are already turned inside-out, and that these Green Bay and Dallas fires cannot be easily extinguished.  As a Saints fan, all I've ever known of January is letdown, or rooting for a team I despise to beat a team I despise more.  But this team has crushed a lot of solid teams, and overcome a lot of tough obstacles to earn the right to stage their last stand in front of the toughest "12th man" in the NFL.  And the most hopeful aspect of this January for me is that this team has played it's most inspired football in the games when they were widely criticized and underestimated by brilliant predictioneers like Jason LaCanfora and the bespectacled, thoughtful Howie Long.  For however little it's worth, they really seem to thrive on being the underdog, even when the underdog, in this case, is the best team in it's conference.

So go out there and prove the Swami and the Professor wrong one more time!  And, if it helps any, You suck, New Orleans!  Your run defense is a joke, and your running attack is a mirage!  And Tony Romo and Aaron Rodgers are the greatest quarterbacks in the known universe! Prove me wrong, you bastards.

Well, that was a terrible start to the weekend for Saints fans, but thanks to our frienemies over in Charlotte, it ended on a high note, as the Panthers nullified our embarrassing loss with an equally embarrassing win over the Vikings.  All hail the heir-apparent to the Delhomme legend, Matt Moore!

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I think this is Tom Coughlin in the postgame press conference

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