Your God-given right to record videos for hate groups

Why does the Advocate publish Dan Fagan? Their management constantly makes a big deal out of the need for us all to arrive at a more respectful civil discourse. But then they turn right around and hand over editorial space to Fagan's inflammatory disingenuous clickbait taeks. I really don't understand. The only explanation I can come up with is Fagan's product comports with somebody in charge over there's definition of decency.

Which means somebody in charge over there thinks it's perfectly within the bounds of decent, respectful, civil discourse to say that a well known hate group famous for promoting psychological torture and funding politicians who believe there is such a thing as "legitimate rape" is merely "advocating for the preservation of family values."

Brees did seem to waffle some on his association with Focus on the Family, claiming he was unaware of the religious group’s stand on gay issues.

 “I was not aware of any of the things they said about them lobbying for anti-gay (causes)… any type of messaging or inequality or any type of hate-type related stuff. I was not aware of that at all,” Brees said.

 But Focus on the Family is much like most Christian organizations advocating for the preservation of family values. Does Brees consider defending traditional marriage as “hate-type related stuff?”

Focus On The Family is not like "most Christian organizations." It is a politically active anti-gay hate group founded by a psychopath. Dan Fagan clearly knows this and yet chooses to tell us a blatant lie about it. And the Advocate then chooses to legitimize Fagan's deliberate lie by publishing it on its very civil and respectful op-ed page. Why would they do that?

Drew Brees ought to have known all of this as well although, as Lauren Theisen writes here,  the possibility that he did not is at least plausible.

I can’t see inside Brees’s head and don’t know what his beliefs are—given that he’s a rich, straight man who’s spent nearly two decades fanatically focused on playing pro football at a legendary level, I’d wager he might not even know what conversion therapy is. But his explanation has to do better than this. The video doesn’t mention Focus On The Family at all, let alone disavow them, and speaks in only the vaguest possible terms about the specific criticism Brees received. At best, the statement makes clear that Drew Brees will not directly attack any gay person for their sexuality, but whether or not he believes they should have full rights is still up for debate.

“I’m not sure why the negativity spread, or why people have tried to rope me into certain negativity,” Brees says in the video, most annoyingly. I know he’s hard at work preparing for the Texans, but literally five minutes on the internet, tops, would answer that question. He really doesn’t even have to do it himself! Just find someone who’ll tell him, “Hey, that video was produced by people who want to oppress gay people. Back away from it now.” Drew, if you’re reading, I’m telling you it right now.

For whatever reason, though, Brees, who makes an estimated $16 million a year renting out his carefully managed public persona for brands, doesn't always subject his partners to the most strict vetting process. Witness his association with cult like multi-level marketing schemes like Advocare, his support for an attempt by Tom Benson and Ron Forman to privatize and profit off of publicly accessible park space at The Fly, and his involvement in a diamond counterfeiting deal over the summer to name a few. We might expect that someone with this much money at stake in choosing the right business associates should pay a little more attention to what their business is all about.  But Brees is enough of a weirdo football nerd that it we can't be too surprised if it turns out he doesn't make time for all that.

That's hardly an excuse, of course.  Big Easy Magazine traces Brees's relationship with Focus on the Family at least as far back as 2010.  Certainly some basic awareness should have soaked through at some point. Maybe he really does support the hate part of the hate group's agenda after all.  Indeed even the "Bring Your Bible To School Day" event he promotes in the video is, at best, an iffy propaganda stunt aimed at undermining church/state separation by stoking the radical right's victimization complex.  That's certainly the angle Fagan takes in his bad faith (groan) defense of Brees from persecution at the hands of (checks notes) a small New Orleans based website.*

But the rules are different now. Are Christian groups no longer allowed to take positions on controversial social issues? Are organizations whose beliefs are Bible-based now off-limits for celebrities like Brees? Is this the new standard? The fact Brees had to defend, quantify and clarify his association with Focus on the Family speaks volumes. It should concern us.

Actually, no, none of this "should concern us."  The fact that the Advocate thinks so little of its readers that it would present such obvious bullshit as just one end of the ordinary spectrum of honest political argument might, however.

*Speaking of persecution complexes, maybe the folks over at Big Easy Mag can sit back and take a few breaths.  The way they've reacted via social media and subsequent commentary to the inevitable criticism that comes with publishing a critical story about a local icon seems a little out of proportion. On the other hand, maybe if the other various corporate outlets such as the several owned by the Georges Media virtual monopoly weren't #bothsidesing the issue to death, they wouldn't feel so out on a limb.

Try to make me go to prehab

A day in the life of Terron Armstead. We begin in the morning with a story about how Terron is rested and ready.  Nothing broken. No sauce necessary.

With a full offseason under his belt, Armstead has put the injury behind him and is happy to be healthy as training camp kicks off.

“I feel good,” Armstead said on the first day of training camp. “Great to be out there with the guys. Every offseason I’m just learning more about prehabilitation and injury prevention, but there’s no secret sauce.”

Armstead is about three fifths of a great player.  When he's playing, he's an elite athlete; quick, agile, straight up fast, even. He'd be an ideal left tackle if he ever lasted a whole season at close to full strength. He's never played a full schedule, though, so it's expected that he's going to miss time. The Saints need to plan for that every season.  But this roster looks especially thin along the offensive line so it would help matters greatly if Terron were able to make it the whole way through. So it's good to see he's learning... "prehabilitation".. whatever that is.

Anyway, he probably needs to learn faster because here we are later in the very same day.

ARMSTEAD SCARE

The Saints had a scare late in practice when starting left tackle Terron Armstead limped off to the side with an apparent injury during an 11-on-11 drill. He went to the ground after getting behind the line of players and trainers immediately surrounded him as he lay on the ground. After a few minutes, Armstead eventually got up without assistance and appeared to walk without a noticeable limp. He eventually returned to the main group.

Nobody could have prehabbed for that.  

Guess Ryan Pace wins this round

So long Cameron Meredith. We really truly hardly knew you.

The Saints won't save much cash or salary-cap space by releasing Meredith, who had already agreed to a pay cut of $2.1 million to stay with the team in March. He was due to receive $1.3 million in base salary, with $500,000 fully guaranteed.

Meredith, 26, originally signed a two-year, $9.5 million deal with the Saints as a restricted free agent in 2018, and the Bears decided not to match their offer.

The Bears' decision raised eyebrows at the time, since Meredith had 66 catches for 888 yards and four touchdowns with Chicago in 2016. But Bears general manager Ryan Pace explained that the input from Chicago's medical and training staff led to the team's decision after Meredith tore his ACL and other ligaments during the 2017 preseason.

Unfortunately for both Meredith and the Saints, the Bears' outlook proved to be prescient.

The Saints have only one guy on the roster people think of as a top-line NFL receiver and he's (quite rightly) holding out right now. It's okay, though, because the reporters are all tweeting that this one undrafted rookie looks good to them.  That only happens every year so you know it's solid.

Not even supposed to be here today

Pretty sure Drew Brees wanted to go out on top and call it quits last year. And the only reason he's back now is because the Saints came soooo close to getting him there.  But then that thing happened and nobody wants to leave it at that so here we are.  It might work out really badly this season.  We could be in for a months long exercise in frustration this year. The Saints offense could easily take several steps backwards if the line never stabilizes, or they can't adequately replace Mark Ingram, or they keep going through life with only one receiver on the roster. It could get ugly. But after what happened it's hard to blame Drew for showing back up. Even if he's not really supposed to.

"Caretaker of incredible assets"

That's really great. Good one, Gayle.

For now, Benson said she will stick with the status quo, though as someone who sees herself less an “owner” and more “a caretaker of incredible assets”, she plans to address the issue at the league’s upcoming summer meetings in order to be as inclusive as possible.

“As with any word, phrase or expression, interpretations can be perceived differently,” she said in a statement. “That is in many ways why diversity, inclusion and openness is so important to companies and society. As with any expression, my intention and the intentions of the organization I am responsible for is never to be insensitive or insulting.

The "insulting" thing is that we are asked to maintain billionaires through massive public investments in subsidies and infrastructure creating profits that accrue to them. Brand them however you like.

Ralph is doing the hot take wrong

I'm fine with the "Pelicans become more popular than Saints" article in theory.  I don't buy it. But I get why you might build an argument for it at this point in time.  The Pelicans are about to draft Michael Hecht and "validate the business community" or something. And, as we all know, 2019 will probably be the Final Football Season In History.  But the thing that really moves the argument that basketball could overtake football in popularity from TAEK to plausible would be the phrase "traumatic brain injury."

Virtual football

I know this is cathartic for a lot of people but I really don't think it is a great idea.  I mean I guess it's cool if you are into virtual reality or.. like "deep fakes"videos or conceptual art or any sort of media that gets us talking for hours about things that didn't happen in real life.

Sure hope they know what they're doing

The 2019 Saints are going to a good deal more different from the 2018 Saints than the 2018 teams was different from 2017.  The loss of Mark Ingram is obviously the most visible change. That's been written about enough already, so I won't say much.  The way he ended up leaving for virtually the same figure the Saints replaced him for seems suspicious to a lot of people but I imagine it was more an accident than anything else.  There was a chain of events that week involving three of four different teams that played out like an especially stupid Three's Company episode. It's hard to know who or what to blame. Probably nobody.  Anyway, it's clear Ingram was a critical team leader over the past few seasons. And he had grown to be an absolute fan favorite. This is going to be a different team without him.

It's also going to be a different defense.  The Saints were near the top of the league in run defense last year. But with Sheldon Rankins's return uncertain, David Onyematta's suspension, and Alex Okafor's departure, there are major changes happening along the defensive line. More may be in the works.

Oh also Max Unger retired.

The point here isn't to just list the free agency comings and goings. There are plenty of those every year.  But this year it seems like the goings scoop out a bit more of the heart and soul of the team than usual.  It might be fine. But it's a risky thing to have happen when you're trying to make one last run before your quarterback retires.

The purpose was trolling and self promotion

Not sure how that wasn't clear.

Two New Orleans Saints fans filed suit against Roger Goodell with an “unclear” purpose, wrote a federal judge in her ruling that denied a request that the court force the NFL commissioner to further review a missed call toward the end of the NFC Championship.

In a case the NFL initially believed to be a class-action suit on behalf of Saints season ticket holders and the “Who Dat Nation,” the plaintiffs said in a hearing Monday they simply asked that federal judge Susie Morgan force Goodell to further investigate the missed call.

Their hope, they said, was that Goodell would change the result of a game that put the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl, which will be played Sunday against the New England Patriots.

Morgan denied that request in a filing dated Thursday (Jan. 31).

“It is unclear what action Plaintiffs seek to compel him to do,” Morgan wrote.

Again, the clear purpose was to get Frank D'Amico's name mentioned in the news a bunch of times this week. Couldn't have been any clearer.  But don't blame Morgan. She's been busy dealing with actual problems like monitoring the "remarkable progress" of the NOPD consent decree reforms. (Not quite remarkable enough to be finished, yet, apparently.)  Maybe Morgan could have at least gotten us some body cameras for the referees before letting this thing drop, though.

But this isn't the only lawsuit that was pending. I'm actually not "clear" on what the others are asking for. But only because I am too lazy to look it up at the moment.  This letter writer says the Saints and the city are owed "restitution."  And I am inclined to agree with that.  In fact, we should get this thing out of court as soon as possible so we can set up a claims center like we did with the BP settlement. Anything to get Calvin Fayard a cut.

Also.. I'm pretty sure this is a typo but what exactly is the point of asking for "rooster space"? 

So, Commissioner Goodell, who fines the NFL when it makes errors? In all this, the Saints are the aggrieved party. While replaying the final 1:49 is not an option, restitution must be made. Increased salary cap; extra draft picks; additional team rooster space. Make it right.

We tried like hell to get that Popeyes thigh to come through for us again during the NFC Championship but it didn't work out the way we would have liked. Not sure if poultry is what gets us forward after this.

I guess I was finally ready to talk about it a little bit

Here is the show we did this week about the terrible football outcome. It covers a lot of things but I'm not sure it really gets at what I want to say.  For example, I am extremely wary of the various acts of self-promotion various politicians, brands, lawyers, and other grifters are wallowing in so that they might capitalize off of everyone's misery. For example, this says "Boycott Bowl" is supposed to benefit the New Orleans Recreation Development Foundation which raises a ton of questions for me that maybe need to be revisited later.  There's more. But I'll save it for after the 'cast.



Personally I'm at the stage where I can make myself look at the game highlights but I really can't start thinking about offseason type stuff just yet.  Maybe after the Superbowl... oh but that's when we can talk about the Democratic primary, isn't it?

As far away as Provo, Utah

Must be a few Taysom fans out there.

The New Orleans Saints and their fans won’t soon forget the missed pass interference call that could have put the team in the Super Bowl.

Nor, it seems, will the head referee from the NFC Championship played Sunday.

Bill Vinovich, who doubles as a college basketball referee during the week, faced a question from fans and asked that at least one sign be removed from a game he officiated Thursday (Jan. 24) at BYU in Provo, Utah.

“Was it pass interference,” asked one fan in a video posted to Twitter.

“I don’t wanna talk about that stuff,” he replied, according to the tweet

For a second I thought I was ready to talk about it

But, no, I am not ready yet.

It would be great if someone would tell the grifting lawyers  and cynical brands all trying to capitalize on the moment to shut the fuck up for a minute, though.

Now Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen has joined the chorus of derision over the "No Call" debacle in the NFC Championship game on Sunday.

The day after the game, the fried chicken giant posted to Twitter a blurry photo, perhaps showing a box of chicken, with only a hashtag for explanation: #refereechicken.

Ha ha, very amusing, Popeyes.  But, hey, you were supposed to take care of all this for us, Sunday.  We had the talisman mounted and in place and everything.





You had one job, Popeyes. And here you're trying to be all clever on the internet now...

look i'm really not ready to talk about this yet

Do you think this is even true?

Y'all there is so much....

But, look, I wonder, not so much about the veracity of this, but about the NFL's decision to publicize it.  Can't help but think maybe they want to make it about us and not them.

No idea what to expect

It is going to get pretty ridiculous real quick

No time to chicken out now

"Oh my god, antenna, what do you want!" 

This was me shouting like an idiot at some point during that abysmal first quarter last weekend.  The Saints and their fans were experiencing a worst case scenario so extravagant in scope it seemed almost purposeful. They had turned the ball over on their first play. They had quickly fallen behind by two touchdowns as the offense stumbled over itself, defenders seemed to lose the ball in the Superdome lights, and possibly the team's top (or at least its number 1-A) defensive lineman was lost to a torn Achilles tendon. Also the TV kept losing the signal.



Admittedly it's hard to know what to expect when you're trying to watch the game from the back of a pickup truck in the middle of Dumaine Street which is exactly what we were doing that afternoon for... some reason. We didn't buy the playoff tickets this year and, well, we had to go somewhere so why not this?  The playoffs are supposed to be a new experience anyway; unfamiliar, more intense. Nobody knows what to expect. Sometimes things happen that you aren't prepared for and adjustments need to be made on the fly.

That is precisely what happened to the Saints as well as to us during that first quarter. The team was grasping for answers and so were we.  Our solution to the antenna problem started to take shape when a ladder was added to the truck bed to try and get it a little more elevated. But it wasn't finalized until it was decided what the antenna actually wanted was a piece of chicken.  After that the picture cleared up just fine.  This was also the point where things started to fall into place for the Saints. This is most likely a coincidence.




Happy Birthday Drew Brees

The best quarterback we're ever likely to see in a Saints uniform turned 40 this week. On Sunday, he celebrated by badly underthrowing Ted Ginn on the Saints' first play from scrimmage.  He also celebrated by directing a 92 (112? 117? reports differ) yard drive that essentially won the game.  But even that drive included another cringe inducing underthrow.

Sunday night, he continued celebrating.

The party was attended by many of Brees' Saints teammates, coach Sean Payton and celebrities such as Keegan-Michael Key and New Orleans rapper Choppa, who performed the "Choppa Style" remix he recorded specifically for Brees' birthday — first debuted by The Advocate on Friday. You can see footage of Choppa's performance below, via Saints wide receiver Austin Carr's Instagram Story.

I really think the Advocate missed a trick here by not sending Nell Nolan.

As for Choppa, boy that guy does not miss an opportunity to milk a moment for all it is worth does he?  The T-P sent a reporter to document Choppa's very long Sunday which began with a performance in Champions Square, took him all the way to Baton Rouge for a Cleo Fields fundraiser, and back to New Orleans for the Brees birthday party.  All of this is happening, more or less because of one tossed off sideline moment a few months ago.

“This was done organically,” Smith tells me in the Sprinter van later, recounting how, in a manner of weeks, a video of the Saints players dancing to “Choppa Style” in a post-game victory just popped off. Next thing they knew, the song was playing inside the Superdome as fans caught on and Mark Ingram, Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas were dancing on the sidelines. There was a spark, and then, the explosion.

“They say lightning never strikes twice,” Choppa said Sunday. “But I’m here to say, stay prepared. Embrace it. Embrace it when it’s your turn.”

And right now, it’s Choppa’s turn.

It's fun to see the way 90s era rap acts have grown into classic New Orleans standards.  Half of the  golden age Cash Money stuff, for example, may as well be Mardi Gras Mambo now. I'm pretty sure you can hire Mannie Fresh to play your kid's birthday party. On Twelfth Night this year, we saw him roll by on the Funky Uptown Krewe's streetcar. (He's in the back. Maybe you can see him here.)



The Saints' gameday staff have certainly embraced this.  Choppa Style is far from the only local favorite to waft in over the PA there. During the Carolina game, I even caught a few seconds of MC Thick's Marrero during a timeout.  Imagine if that had somehow become this year's theme song.  I don't know if it takes the smoke and lasers quite as well.

Dammit Sheldon

This was the low point of the day by a long stretch. 

An MRI Monday morning revealed Sheldon Rankins tore his Achilles against the Eagles Sunday (Jan. 13), and the New Orleans Saints defensive tackle will have surgery this week according to a league source.

Cam Jordan is a great player. Marshon Lattimore has stretches where he performs like a great player. Demario Davis has had a great season.  But it's not a stretch to say that Sheldon has had the best season of all of them.  8 sacks from an interior lineman is superstar level performance and indicative of the quickness and disruption he brings to a defense that finished 2nd in the league against the run as well. This is the best defense in the NFL's final four and Sheldon Rankins is a huge reason for that.  When he went down early in a game the Saints already trailed in, we could not have felt worse.

Except that we can feel worse when we think about how serious an injury like that can be to a player who relies on a quick step and lateral reactive movements.  It's why we were skeptical of the Manti Te'o signing a couple of years back.  Te'o actually panned out credibly well considering.  But he hasn't become a full time starter much less the young star he had been prior to his injury.  Hopefully Sheldon can recover too. But can he ever be as good as the player he had become in 2018?

Dammit Peat

Hey internet users, lay off of Andrus Peat already.  The dude is trying to gut it out with one hand.

In the New Orleans Saints win over the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round, Peat struggled at times as a hand injury impacted his performance. He had four penalties, two holdings and two false starts, but after the game, his teammates were impressed by his gutty performance.

“He’s a fighter,” left tackle Terron Armstead said of Peat. “A lot of guys on our team, that’s just what we do. That’s how we’re made. He’s not somebody that’s going to speak on it or look for sympathy. Whatever he’s dealing with, he’ll fight.”

Peat broke his right hand in Week 17 against the Carolina Panthers, and during the bye week, he underwent surgery, according to sources. Peat had a cast on his right hand when he walked through the locker room during media availability on Wednesday or Thursday of the bye week, and in Sunday’s game against the Eagles, he had a thick wrap on his hand for the game and a bandage over the incision after the game.

Remember how relieved everybody was that the Saints would have an extra week to rest after clinching home field early?  Yeah that's not working out as fantastic as it could have.  Peat got hurt in a meaningless game many other starters were held out of. That week Sean Payton complained to the press that NFL rosters were too small.  He knew he couldn't protect everybody he would have liked.  Some guys had to play.  Peat was one of them. The Saints have the best offensive line in football when everyone is healthy.  That's hardly been the case at all this year outside of like five or ten minutes. The fact that they've battled through it as well as they have is remarkable.  They've got to do it for two more "fucking games" though.

How the Eagles game was won

A lot of attention has been given to the way it ended.  And a fair amount of attention has been given to the thousand yard drive.  But the moment that really solidified my confidence was another sequence that has gotten some attention.

They committed four penalties on the drive, if you include the holding call on the punt return that made them start at their own 8-yard line. And one of those -- a holding call against left guard Andrus Peat -- nullified a potential 46-yard TD pass from backup QB Taysom Hill to running back Alvin Kamara.

Brees also missed on a potential 46-yard TD pass to Hill one play earlier. And the Saints also got backed up by a phantom holding call against center Max Unger that made the Superdome erupt in anger when they showed the replay on the big screen.

Yeah, people were upset about seeing Taysom barely miss throwing a touchdown one play after barely having missed catching a touchdown.  But this is when it clicked for me.

Calm down everyone we are fucking with them

— skooks (@skooks) January 13, 2019

I was thinking back to the Saints' regular season blowout of the Eagles. That week, Peter King wrote a behind-the-scenes story about the Saints' preparation for that game.  King describes a play the Saints ended up running in the game where they lined up with no quarterback.  Taysom Hill and Drew Brees were split to either side before Taysom eventually motioned to behind center to take the snap.  I don't think the play produced much. But the point was to cause the Eagles a moment of panic. I know it cracked me up when I saw it.   Here is King's description of how that play came to be. 

In the wide hallway outside Salon II, I asked Payton: “How’d you think of the double-bunch play?”

“Thursday night,” Payton said. “Just doodling. Just thinking. I just thought of it, and I said to the coaches, ‘Will this work?’ And [quarterbacks coach] Joe Lombardi said, ‘Why not? We can do anything we want.’ When I told Troy Aikman about it [in the FOX production meeting], he said, ‘Who’s getting the snap?’ I said, ‘No one. Yet.’ “

Payton thought for a minute, giving a John Nash look into the distance. “Part of it, really, is thinking of something that they [the Eagles] haven’t seen. That’s the job of a game-planner. You want eight heads to turn to [smart Eagles veteran safety] Malcolm Jenkins and be like, ‘What do we do?’ “

And that has been the Saints' attitude when it comes to Taysom.  They think they can do anything they want. Or, at least, they want to make sure opponents believe they think they can do anything they want.  That's where the Taysom plays really do their damage. They instill a fear that anything can happen.

Sure it's also good that Hill makes plays through his own athleticism. But mostly he is there so the Saints can fuck with people.  On Sunday, the Saints demonstrated to the Eagles that Hill might get behind their whole defense and score one play before they demonstrated that he might just throw a 46 yard touchdown.  It doesn't matter that the play didn't count. In a way, it was better. It made the methodical slow death the Eagles endured for the rest of the drive even more agonizing.



How else the game was won

None of this is to say that it wasn't also the chicken.  We do know these facts.  Before there was a sacrificial chicken thigh on the antenna ladder, the Eagles went up 14-0 and eliminated the Saints' best defensive player.  After the chicken went up, the score was 20-0 Saints. Also we should point out for Saints fans with longer memories that, if the chicken theory is valid, it is not the first time the Eagles have been defeated in the playoffs by Popeyes.

But, as much as we would love to credit the chicken altar, the fact is the Saints just did again what this Saints team has done all year.  They never panicked and fought through a tough game against a physical opponent.

Also... ALSHON DROPPED THE BALL.

Which brings us to... who is this week's opponent, again?  Do we have a playoff history with this team?



Holy crap what are we gonna do with ourselves?

The 2018 Saints have been the best team of the Sean Payton era. I will hear no arguments against this. They have been the smartest, toughest, and strongest overall Saints team I've ever watched. There have been some dramatic games, as there always are. And there have been games we knew would be close. But there hasn't been a moment this season when we've felt like they were going into a game overmatched.  It's been a very easy and confident time to be a fan.

Until this week.



Everybody is excited. But I wondered the other night if the missing D and A here represent Sheldon's Achilles and Peat's hand.  Also, this week, the hits have kept coming.

The Saints will play without wide receiver Keith Kirkwood as he’s been ruled out after missing a third straight day of practice with a calf injury. He had two catches for eight yards and scored the team’s first touchdown against the Eagles last weekend.

Tight end Benjamin Watson is listed as questionable, but is reportedly set to miss the game due to appendicitis. Watson has been in the hospital and PFT learned, via a source, that he does not require surgery at this time

Meanwhile every story about this also notes, as if mocking, "the Rams report no injuries."  So for the first time this entire season, I'm starting to worry.  Maybe that's well founded. Or maybe it's just the moment.

The last time the Saints played in an NFC Championship, it was the most uniquely terrifying football game I've ever experienced. It was like very much wanting to die but getting steadily angrier that we might not be allowed to. I remember a little bit about Garrett Hartley setting up for his kick. And I do remember what was going on a minute or so after. But I swear I must have blacked out while that ball was in the air. I'm not sure I've ever fully processed it.

Anyway, here we are nine years (!) later and somehow still not dead. After 2009, we were certain we'd never have to worry so much about this stuff anymore. The task was done. We had won football.  But this week, we're right back into feeling like things suddenly matter again.  Primarily it matters that we all get to go to Atlanta for two weeks where, ideally, we'd face off with the only other fan base in America who will never shut the hell up about 28-3. That seems important.

It's strange to want things again. But it's also risky. And that, more than the injury situation, is probably what has us the most worried. So what to do in a time of uncertainty but fall back on our superstitions?  I've been given to understand that the chicken has been preserved.. and perhaps epoxied, even, in order that we may bring it back to the street in case that helps.  But I suspect that may only work against the Eagles.  Luckily, I have a few backup notions.

I've mentioned these before but here is the recap. In January we noted the Vatican's Tricentennial gift to the city commemorated Pope John Paul's 1987 visit to New Orleans.  That may not seem like much but some of the old folks still believe the Papal blessing that year finally broke the "curse" of the Girod Street cemetery. The 1987 Saints went on the become the first Saints team in 21 years to post a winning season and playoff appearance.

We have also noted a few times this season that the brake tags for 2018-19 are black and gold.



That color tag was last valid as the Saints were preparing to make their 2009 title run.



Finally, and, yes we have mentioned this one before too, there was the return of the serval.  The mysterious African wildcat spotted in Metairie this season, had only previously appeared to us in, yep, 2009.

Hey maybe all this is nonsense. But, really, it's all we have at this point. Besides what else is football for, anyway?  What would it hurt to find the serval and have him lead the team out of the tunnel on Sunday.  His name is Cezar. That sounds appropriate to the arena, doesn't it?  Almost as appropriate as Valerio... hey what would it hurt to find the serval and have him lead the team out of the tunnel riding on the back of a jaguar?  Oh wait.... hey what if the serval came riding on the back of a jaguar riding on the back of Taysom Hill..... Get me Sean Payton on the phone. We can do anything we want, right?

"Playing selfishly for themselves"

Is there any other way to do that, Drew? 

"Keep in mind, '14, '15 was really tough," Brees said. "The locker room changed significantly, when we lost a lot of really strong leaders. All of a sudden, there was a bunch of young guys that I don't feel like truly understood what it was to be a leader, understand the way that we had built this program and the foundation that had been laid and what the expectation level was.

"So all of a sudden, it was a little bit out of control. I felt like a lot of guys were playing selfishly for themselves, they weren't playing for the team. So we just got a little off track. And we had to get back steered in the right direction.

Anyway do you think he's talking specifically about Jimmy Graham? Also imagine having a mid-level manager at your workplace walking around sniping at you and the rest of the staff that you don't "understand what it is to be a leader" or some such crap.

To a whole new year of disasters

Well here we go again. 2019 feels like it should be a skip year. We're so close to having decades with easily agreed upon names again.  Let's just get this over with and start the 20s already.

But sadly, no matter how post-modern, post-truth, and... well.. still.. just barely pre-apocalyptic the world we live in becomes, we still have to do the years in order for whatever reason and so here we are.  It turns out there's plenty to do this year. There are elections for major statewide offices, including Governor. There are major municipal showdowns brewing over surveillance, housing, and public schools. Also there's a Superbowl to be won.

Last week, I put a blurb in this post about how great the Saints' season has been but I didn't include the two most important data points which could indicate that something special is coming.  The first is the Return of the Mysterious Serval.  (Actually I did mention this in November.)  The fact that a rare African wild cat was spotted on the streets of a Metairie neighborhood this year may seem like a quirky little news item. But it's happened before in Uptown. To be precise, it happened once before. In 2009.  Could it be that the Serval only appears to us when the Saints are on their way to a championship?

Similarly, and I know I have mentioned this previously, the brake tags are black and gold this year.



The last time that happened (albeit in a slightly different hue) was, yep, 2009.



So here is 2019. Yeah there's a lot to worry about, but also the signs are looking rather positive.

Post-Christmas grab bag

It's been a long and exhausting holiday weekend. Here are a few items that may have slipped out of the Santa sack this week.

• The Sewerage and Water Board 2019 budgets are approved.  I'd like to know more about this item.
  

  The operating budget calls for the elimination of more than 130 positions, for a total of 1,581 positions, including 210 that are now vacant. But it includes 21 new jobs dealing with customer service issues.
  
  Korban has said that the positions being cut are ones that were never filled or are not necessary and that the reductions will not impact the utility's frontline operations. The S&WB has consistently struggled to hire the workers it needs to fill all its vacant positions, and staffing shortages have contributed to the problems that led to widespread flooding in August 2017.

  The staffing shortages are a chronic problem and a reason the utility does not function the way it should. But also the 130 unfilled positions are not necessary? Okay.
  
  Meanwhile millions of dollars worth of "critical" and "urgent" projects are going unfunded.
  

  Meanwhile, the S&WB has estimated it will need about $3 billion over the next 10 years to meet imminent and future capital needs. 
  
  Of that amount, 185 projects totaling $582 million were recommended for 2019, significantly higher than the $384 million the agency budgeted in 2018 and far more than it was actually able to spend.
  
  The board instead expects to fund 34 projects next year at a cost of $167 million, leaving dozens of projects labeled "critical," "urgent" and "necessary" on the table.

  The Advocate story refers here to the ongoing dispute between the mayor, the state, and "tourism leaders" over the prospect of using more tourism-generated revenue to fund infrastructure.  As it turns out, the Washington Post is covering that this week for some reason.
  

  Much of the money goes to major state-owned tourism draws: the Superdome and its neighboring arena as well as the massive Ernest N. Morial Convention Center beside the Mississippi River. Changing the flow of money would require legislative action. But so far the mayor’s call for a “fair share” for the city has gotten a cool reception from Gov. John Bel Edwards and the president of the state Senate — as well as from one of the top spokesmen for the tourism industry.

  
  

  “Over time, the city of New Orleans has not put one dollar into the building of the Superdome, the building of the convention center; has not put one dollar into the operations of the Superdome or the Convention Center; has not put one dollar into the average, every-year renewal and refurbishment that has to take place,” said Steve Perry, one tourism booster.

  "Not one dollar.." other than every single cent raised in New Orleans off the backs of chronically exploited tourism labor, I guess. It's our money.  Give us our money, Steve.
  
  
  
• Here is a can't-miss Katy Reckdahl article about the post-Katrina destruction of New Orleans's neighborhoods written for The Weather Channel, of all possible outlets. Because, as we are well aware here, gentrification in our city is, at least in part, a climate change story.




After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico last year, Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, saw the early stages of a housing grab and described it as “disaster gentrification.” Similar buyouts and land-flipping happened in New York after Hurricane Sandy and in Houston after Hurricane Harvey. 

In every city, storm damage and flooding initially displaced people of every ethnicity and income level, though in New Orleans, like elsewhere, communities of color were harder hit because of historically segregated housing patterns that pushed African American households to lower-lying areas. One analysis of black and white households found that black residents were more than twice as likely to live in flooded areas.  

In New Orleans, the disparities were exacerbated during rebuilding, as higher-income people moved into city cores, displacing lower-income families. Similar “back to the city” dynamics are playing out in every urban area across the country. But in disaster-ravaged cities like New Orleans, they’re playing out at fast-forward speed.


Watching this process happen on a daily basis for the past 13 years is why I always have headaches now. The animating ethic of our city's recovery has been about attracting investment and "putting properties back into commerce" with little or no regard for consequences. 


“There’s so much history here,” Bowman said, as he filed through the box. He is feeling worried about his future here on North Galvez. He was blindsided a few years ago when a suburban land investor bought the house from beneath him through a municipal tax sale. At first, Bowman paid rent to stay in his family home. Then, a second buyer appeared earlier this year, giving him a five-day eviction notice. That’s when he consulted a legal-aid lawyer. 

Bowman is hard on himself about the situation. He scraped the house so that it’s ready for painting and has made some repairs on his own, out of an obligation he feels to his great-grandfather’s work. But he doesn’t want to sink more money into the house until he’s certain it belongs to him. So he’s embarrassed that needed repairs have gone undone. He’s ashamed that he and his family didn’t figure out that no one was paying taxes. And he’s worried sick about what the future could bring.

His lawyer, Hannah Adams, of Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, is concerned that other generational owners like Bowman may also have lost houses, because of new municipal ordinances and policies intended to move Katrina-damaged properties into the hands of new owners. 

In 2015, Bowman discovered that, in 1997, a city treasury official had adjudicated the property for back taxes of $577.91, sending certified mail notices to his grandmother, Marie Camille, who had been dead for nine years, and to DeDe Pierce, who had been dead for 23 years. There’s no record of whether certified mail notices were sent and no records of any notices being returned undeliverable.
Had he known, he would have simply paid the taxes, Bowman said.

A process that worked to push multi-generational New Orleanians out of their family homes has also greatly benefited "investors" who can pick up a properties at auction prices and turn them into cash cows on Airbnb. In January, the City Council will discuss a motion that may limit some of these abuses. Naturally, the investors are whining to the Advocate.  


My wife Andrea and I have operated a licensed “temporary” short-term rental in our 7th Ward New Orleans home since February of this year. Under New Orleans Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer’s proposed changes to the STR ordinance, we will lose this much-needed revenue, and likely be forced to sell our home and leave the area. We bought the double lot on Franklin Avenue at a NORA auction in December 2015 with the stipulation that we would build a new house on the previously blighted property within one year of the auction. Neither of us are professional builders, but over the course of the following year, we managed to complete a modest 900 square-foot home, fulfilling our obligations to NORA. Like many working people, we sought creative ways to finance our project, ultimately receiving the assistance of my in-laws, who obtained a mortgage on our behalf.

It kind of sounds like he's upset that he could lose his STR license because the house isn't technically in his name?  He doesn't say whether or not he and his wife actually live in the "home," though.  The signature on the letter gives his location as Metairie. Anyway, this is only one in a string of confused and/or disingenuous pro-STR letters and op-eds the Advocate has published since basically the day Palmer's motion was publicized.  The "pro" side seems like they were ready to roll.



• I haven't had a chance to watch this WDSU segment on the Orleans Parish school system yet. Is it any good?  Do they talk at all about the Board's decision to charter out McDonogh 35?  



The board heard about two hours’ worth of impassioned commentary before that vote at the evening meeting, mostly from parents and alumni who wanted the school to remain run directly by the OPSB, as nearly all public schools in the city once were.

As they spoke, protesters with the group Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children cheered them on, sang chants with biblical references and shouted, “Erase the board!”

“These are the alumni of McDonogh 35, these are the parents, these are the children. This is the community,” resident Walter Goodwin told the board. “We did not elect you to be a rubber stamp. Do not rubber-stamp this. We elected you to represent us.”

Several audience members began crying and screaming after the vote.

I watched this meeting on the live stream and, while this Advocate reporter's description is technically accurate, it reads a little cartoonish to me, like she is almost making light of the protest. But "Erase The Board" is likely the beginning of something.   It's something well overdue, of course. Remember all of this was still in front of us in 2016 when the Board was up for election.  Almost nobody ran.



• Are the 2018 Saints the "most complete" team in the history of the franchise? Probably.  Of course we'll have to wait and see how it all ends but, assuming they manage to at least advance a little in the playoffs,  it's really not going very far at all to ask if this is the greatest Saints team.  


The season has had a little bit of everything. It had spin moves. It had dance moves. It had a blowout win against a defending champ. It had a sweep of Atlanta. Drew Brees broke an NFL record. Mark Ingram and Wil Lutz broke team records. Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara set some early career benchmarks that indicate they'll break records of their own one day.

But the most impressive thing to me has been the way Saints have consistently won tough games against physical opponents at Baltimore, at Minnesota, and at home against Pittsburgh. The key here is the Saints aren't doing any of this with smoke and mirrors. They've gone toe to toe with every heavyweight this year and come out on top.  Anything can happen in the playoffs, but there's nothing we've seen this season to give us any cause not to be confident seeing them matched up with anybody.  That's not often how this goes, even in the better years.



• Finally, hey look, more things go boom on Monday night.



City and tourism leaders have revealed there will be not one, but four fireworks displays launched at different points around New Orleans on Tuesday (Jan. 1) for New Year’s Eve. The shows will start in New Orleans East and follow at City Park and then Uptown before culminating with the traditional downtown display.

Take the celebration out into the neighborhoods a little bit.  I like this idea.  I don't know how much I understand the timing, though.  


The fireworks are scheduled for:




· 8:30 p.m., at Read Boulevard near Interstate 10




· 9:30 p.m., at City Park’s Big Lake near the New Orleans Museum of Art




· 10:30 p.m., from barges on the Mississippi River between Napoleon and Jefferson avenues




· Midnight, downtown from river barges between the French Quarter and Algiers.

The whole point of the fireworks is to mark the coming of the new year, right?   And the point of having them in far flung locations is to bring them to people who probably aren't going to the Quarter anyway. So there's no reason to believe any of these displays conflicts with the others. Why not just do them all at midnight?

Less is more

The Saints' Reduced-Taysom strategy has been a bit of a surprise in recent weeks. But if it means they're choosing to get one huge game-changing play per game out of him rather than 10-15 little trolling opportunities, then there's a solid logic to that.

Easy listening

The mini-sodes go by so quick it's like you don't have to invest anything at all to give them a listen.

In this one, Varg tracks down writer/actor/journalist James Karst to talk about his continuing research on the early life of Louis Armstrong. Karst's work on Armstrong has appeared previously in the Times-Picayune. In the interview he talks about a photo featured in this article and about the time (or times) Louis was arrested. 

Also there is some post-game commentary from two Saints fans just looking for answers after the loss at Dallas last Thursday.  It's not clear if they find any.