What in the Bloody Hell Happened?

Sorry Packer fans who need some cheap entertainment, this would not be a frustrated Bears fan's manifesto of the week three debacle. No, I will displace my pain here and look south here to New Orleans. 2006's most dynamic offense suddenly looks over matched, and Drew Brees appears to emulating Rex Grossman with his eight interceptions in three games. Sean Payton definitely possesses that I'm smarter than you attitude of calling plays with a lot of unnecessary trickeration (for Christ's sakes an end around reverse flea flicker), but did Joe Horn really mean that to the Saints offense? Despite rushing for 4.4 yards per carry going into tonight's game, Deuce McAllister had only received 20 carries. Now that Deuce will be out for the season with a torn ACL, the Saints do not have a between the tackles runner on their roster. Big play guy Devery Henderson has not been targeted down field, and Marques Colston screams one year wonder at this point. Oh, and that Bush fellow resembles Dave Meggett more than Brian Westbrook. I now understand why Payton was so quickly out of a job after engineering the offense that led the Giants to the Super Bowl. Come week ten, the Super Dome will be back to its usual state of being half-filled and the Saints will be back to their rightful place drafting in the first hour this April.

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Milking tragedy, year two

If you're a loyal reader of this blog, 1) you're a loser; 2) thanks for reading! and 3) you may remember last September when I went pretty ballistic over what I deemed the national sports media's attempt to piggyback the post-Katrina rebuilding of New Orleans to big, big ratings and "we care" points by flaunting their empathy and inflating the social significance of pro sports.

A year later, ESPN's not done, and--suprise!--neither am I.

PLEASE. STOP. THIS. ...EVERYONE.

A year removed from the Saints' return to the Superdome and two years removed from the hurricane itself, the always-flimsy connection between the Saints' success and the real-life issues that linger as a result of Katrina seems even more fabricated than ever.

COME OFF IT, ESPN.

Last year, your maudlin crap may have played a tangible role in the recovery effort. The sensationalism you brought to the broadcast may have enhanced the fund-raising efforts tied into the game. But by now, if there's anyone that doesn't understand "New Orleans has come a long way since Katrina, but there's still a lot of work to be done, but look at all these people doing good things!" then I doubt that Mike Torico's heartfelt tone will be the thing that finally gets them to open their eyes.

There's no disguising it this year--IT'S JUST A FOOTBALL GAME.

Why am I so cynical? I wish I could answer that. I can only speculate, but I imagine that if I (meaning me specifically; I speak for no one) were a New Orleans native, I'd be sitting at home thinking, "When did these people ever care this much about New Orleans before? What do they even know about New Orleans culture beyond some watered-down grab bag of shellfish and jazz? I'm a big boy; I don't need a pity party; I don't need to be propped up. I didn't make all-things-New Orleans chic again; neither did my neighbors; outsiders from the national media did. And it took near annihilation for them to notice us. So fuck 'em."

...But that's just me. Is it ridiculous? Yes, because I am ridiculous. But I aslo don't think it's entirely without parallel.

Last word I'll have on this, hopefully forever: The Saints play football. They are a football team, playing football. Know your bounds, ESPN. Cover the game. You are not missionaries. You are a cable sports channel.

And I'm done.

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