Can anyone explain to me what is going on with the officiating this year? Please understand that I'm not asking this question from the point-of-view of a "homer." We love football and watch it at both the college and professional level and have seen what appears to be a marked increase of bad calls.

This weekend we saw the call of "unsportsmanlike conduct" for celebrating levied on the LSU punter that took a touchdown off the board. Never mind that the language of the rule governing that call says that the celebration must be "egregious," which is defined as "Conspicuously bad or offensive, flagrant and glaring." Now I don't know if you saw his celebration, but here it is after the jump.

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Hey there Saints fans!  I've seen several comments from a variety of places talking about how the Saints may have trouble matching up against the Falcons, especially without Reggie.  I've also heard more than a few media pundits mention how hard it is to play a Monday night game on the West Coast, then face a tough opponent the following week.  Here is why I don't think that will be too much of an issue.  The Falcons have gone 1 and 1 against two teams that never tested their defense.  Everyone knows about the Saints offensive weapons--Drew Brees, Pierre Thomas, and our talented group of receivers and tight ends.  Join me after the jump for some non-football related  weapons that the Saints may have in their favor against Atlanta.

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We are considering signing up for the DirecTV NFL Season Ticket, since we no longer live in the area but still want to follow our team.  Here is my question:  I've spoken to a couple of people that have had it, and they tell me that if you sign up for the package after the season starts, you can get it at a reduced rate.  Has anyone had experience with this?  Since the first couple of regular season games are going to be televised nationally anyway, I'm thinking about not signing up until the end of September.  Does anyone know when they would be likely to reduce the costs or how much?  I'm wondering how to get the most bang for my bucks!  Thanks--I appreciate any input from my fellow Who Dats!

 

Hey, good morning all you fans of the "Black and Gold!"  I don't think I've seen anything posted about this, but if you are expecting to be in the New Orleans area over Labor Day weekend, you may want to check out an event that looks like it's gonna be a lot of fun!  Check out this link here from neworleans.com, discussing a scheduled tailgate party and play based upon the book "Ain't Dat Super."  Look like a hilarious good time that I unfortunately will miss by just a few days.  I'm fairly sure I'll have some friends and/or relatives in attendance though!

The Ain't Dat Super website can be found here link with info on purchasing the book, along with some videos, photos, history of the team, etc.  I especially like their Creed, found after the jump.  If this information has been previously posted on CSC, well Exccuuuse Mmeee!

  

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I found out that a real rarity was to occur yesterday evening--a real, live member of the New Orleans Saints was going to be in our area (well, about an hour and a half away!)  Usama Young is from Largo, MD, and played high-school ball here.  He came back home for a few days to hold his youth football camp this weekend.  He was appearing at the Capitol Center Chick-Fil-A (near Fed-Ex field) to hold a fund-raiser for the camp and sign autographs.  The wife and I decided to hit the road to see him.

He's a really nice guy and he spent a few minutes talking with us about a number of things.  He signed a photo I printed of him taken after the Patriots game (from Nola.com) and thought I had taken it.  He said it was "tight," and thought it was better than the promo photo he was giving out.  We also talked about a funny photo taken when he recovered the muffed punt in the Redskins game where his face mask is being yanked by a defender and the chin strap was digging in his mouth.  Of course he had the championship ring and was more than happy to show it to us.  Photos after the jump...

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Hey gang!  I just wanted to pass on an experience I recently had with StubHub while trying to get tickets for the Saints-Vikes home opener.  I had been lurking around last weekend, watching and checking eBay, ticket brokers, and StubHub.  Decent offerings were few and far between, partly because I neededed 4 tickets together.  Early Sunday morning, I discovered a newly listed block of 4 tickets on StubHub in club section 311, row 5 (which is the first row of the section) on the 40-yard line for $450 each!  Score!

Naturally, I pulled the trigger and snapped them up, and with shipping plus fees they were still under $500 a piece.  Worse club seats were listed upwards of $890-$1000 each!  Now, on StubHub the seller has 48 hours to confirm the purchase.  Guess what?  Naturally, before the 48 hours were up I had an email asking me to "contact Customer Service ASAP" regarding my purchase.  I figured it was too good to be true!  Sure enough, they informed me that the seller had "made an error."

His only error was that he realized he could have made plenty more for those seats!  StubHub offered me 4 seats together in section 328 row 16 for a total $110 less than the other seats.  Now, these seats were in the corner and obviously not as good.  I told them I would call them right back, then I logged into the site.  I found the seats they were offering me were listed at $505 each, meaning they were willing to take a $330 hit to their profits on the sale (props to them for trying to make things right!) 

Here is where it gets funny--I found 4 seats in section 145, row 15 (25-30 yard line) at $535 each.  That's a total $120 more than the ones they were offering me.  I called them and asked them if they could give me these, and I would pay them the same price as my initial purchase, which was $110 more than they were asking for the other seats.  Meaning...I'd get better seats for an extra $10 hit to them.  Well, the service rep had to put me on hold to find a supervisor, then came back to say he was having trouble finding one, then put me on hold again to speak to the supervisor, then came back to say they weren't sure they could do that because it was "more than just reversing the service charges."  I pointed out that they were already reversing more than the service charge on the others and patiently went over the cost difference (again,) and he finally seemed to understand.  He got authorization from the supervisor and the deed was done.  It's already been confirmed, so now I'm covered by their guarantee.  At least now I'll be there, and in some nice seats.  Maybe I'm getting old, but don't they teach Math to kids anymore?

I don't think I've seen this information posted on CSC yet, and I don't know who might be interested in a bit of happy news, but here goes...

I heard days ago from a very reliable source (who shall remain nameless,) that  a certain favorite New Orleans Saints quarterback and his wife are expecting a second "little Who Dat!"  No, it's not Mark Brunell.  That's right, Drew and Brittany Brees are expecting another child, due in October.  If you do the math, it means that this was likely a playoff time conception.  Looks like more than just the Saints fortunes were rising in January...*ahem*  *cough*

I got the news via facebook, and they have been keeping the info kind of low-key, but I saw that it was posted in a Mike Triplett story on the Times Picayune site late last night so I figured I'd pass on the news here.  The most heartiest of congratulations and best of luck to the happy and super-nice couple! 

A retirement home in Minnesota is looking for an elderly man that's off his medication. He is very delusional & thinks he can play football. He's 6’2” tall, 222 lbs and OLDER than SPILLWAY DIRT! Last seen in N'Awlins wearing a #4 Vikings jersey. If you see 'em, please call 911 ASAP, as Minnesota wants him HOME!

 

I don't mean to make fun of elderly folks that might be having cognitive difficulties, but my wife found this on a friend's facebook page and we couldn't resist posting it in the spirit of good fun!  Please don't kill the messengers!  We are looking forward to a good, exciting game, ending with a Saints victory!!

Who Dat and Geaux Saints!

 

 

 

Just some thoughts as we approach the big Cardinals game in a few hours.  It's amazing how having a team with a winning record and attitude can change things.  It used to be years ago that you would hope for the Saints to win but you would expect them to lose.  Now, we are more likely to expect them to win and hope they don't lose.  It's a small difference in the wording, but a major difference in outlook and approach!

Of course, when looking at the record and accomplishments, this is the best Saints team in their history.  But I think it goes far deeper than that.  I believe that the entire current group associated with the team (I'm including coaches, admin, staff, etc.) are among the best that have been affiliated with the Saints.  Nothing against the teams we fielded in the past, and the previous coaches and staff members, but I think these are just some of the best people, and they are being used in the most effective ways posible for the most part.  It's made for a remarkable year, and win or lose it has been a season I know I will never forget! 

Let us hear your opinions, and why you agree or disagree.