Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez! "Let the Good Times ROLL!" As they say in Cajun Country and " Roulez Saints, Geaux Saint!" as we were cheering in the stands! Three in a row for my boys now and nothing made me grin and enjoy my sunburn more than watching the curmudgeonly old Niners fans boo their injured team from the end of the First Quarter on. I've said it before, 49er fans are the worst in the NFL. They did not deserve the 80s, or maybe, they just don't know how to support a team that isn't the poster child for the league. Waa.

Piggy and I got all dressed up and rolled out early that morning to try and stake out some "down the street" free parking in the sketchy neighborhood that surrounds the Monster Park area. We found one, pulled in and hiked down to a pair of BEAUTIFUL if not over-exuberantly Ebayed seats. The seats were right behind the visitor's bench and thanks to a wonderful usher named Monica, a quick jaunt down to the front row to get some up-close and personal pictures of the team. Not that the jaunt was needed often, I think you'll see that the pics from the seats are pretty awesome! (Nice call on my digital camera upgrade!) Anyway, as promised the photos are below.

One grinning idiot, right before we head out.

One beautiful, tolerant football buddy sporting the injured McAllister's jersey and ready to bear the brunt of being there for the opposing team! (Even though they knocked her Eagles out of the playoffs last year.)

At our seats bright and early! 19 rows up right on the 40 yrd line! The day was amazingly warm and sunny for San Francisco, we both got too much of it. The weather cooled to perfect by the 4th quarter, but by then (for some reason - ahem - ) most of the Saint's starters were on the bench.

Here we are getting ready to score again. Colston became a stud again, actually hanging on to a bunch and scoring 3 TDs. Breese passed fearlessly against what was the number 10 pass defense in the NFL. Reggie racked up another 100 all purpose yards again and the team again got the rock around to a variety of playmakers to lock this one down. Seriously, the Niners were stunned and shut down from the beginning. They have an AMAZING punter though.

Number 99, Hollis Thomas and his fellow lineman. The 6'x6' defensive nose is anchoring a suprising deadly run D and racks up sacks like a line backer. Like they said on TV, they need to let him have a 3 digit number. (Fun fact, we got him from the Eagles.)

The receiving corps getting instructions on the bench. They really passed it around and Patten, Moore and Karney made some plays to put the Saints in key scoring positions.

Reggie gearing up to go again. Pierre Thomas even stepped in as a "hammer back", but they are still working the kinks out of that one.

Commander Brees studying the stills from the game between drives. The offense was on the field so much I think he should invest in a speed reading course.

The post team prayer huddle. Piggy and I both love this. While baseball and basketball pros shun each other after the game now instead of high fiving or saying 'good game', its good to see some form of fellowship like this.

Score at the end of the third quarter. A long field goal put up three and a desperation touchdown by the Niner starters vs. the second string Saints gave you the final score of...

Le Ass Whoopin'. Note that this is at the final tick of the clock and most of the colors in the stands are field team yellow, Saint's gold and black and the back of whatever the Niner fans were wearing if they were still there. They mostly left at the end of the third quarter...traffic going home was a cinch.

In related news...YES, we did feel the earthquake that had its epicenter down in San Jose. It occurred right when I was final tabling a nice Omaha H/L tournament on poker stars. It must have shaken something loose, because the cards turned on me soon after and I blew out in 4th for a nice chunk of change, but not where I hoped to be coming to the final table 2nd in chips. Oh well, there is always another tomorrow...or in like 30 minuets.

Two for the Saints! Its a tough win and Leftwich seemed to have the answer until he got folded up the wrong way by the Saint's new and dangerous D. The Falcon's made the Saint's D stay on the field for what seemed like forever and they held up well considering. The O is not out of the woods yet, as dropped balls and penalties probably cost us well over 100 yrds of offense. You can't do that and expect to win out. Reggie gets the game ball for his intense effort in the endzone to score the game winner. With the TD and the 2 pt. conversion, I think he is the first player I have ever seen knock over both pylons in one score. Again, great job getting everyone involved as out undrafted free agent RB scored and Henderson redeemed himself with a little bit of good stuff and a TD catch. He and Colston still lead dropped patches though. Needs some stick-em and some sideline beatings to right them maybe?? Anyway, its a win and I'm happy.

Chiefs are on and looking a little chaotic so I won't say anything yet, they are up by two FGs and the Raiders haven't some anything yet. Jared Allen is still a stud!! We SQUEAK by again and I think they will give me a heart attack by the end of the season if this keeps up. OPTIMUS PRIEST saw plays and got a first down and about 15 yrds on 3 carries and the Chiefs rack up a W the hard way. It was a battle of defenses and punters (punting yardage was a record) and a divisional battle that left KC in first place. Schweeeet.

NEXT WEEK I GO TO SEE THE SAINTS AT SF FROM THE 40 YRD LINE 19 ROWS UP!

Saints Rawk the Hawks!! Road to Recovery?

The changes that the Saints included in this weeks game seemed to really work as they crushed the "boom or bust" Seahawks on Sunday Night Football. What many thought would be a snoozer turned out to be a hell of a game (for Saint's fans anyway, and I saw them in the stand helping to whip the Emerald City's 12th man).

The silent signal calling was a counter-counter to the noise in the stadium that Quest Field uses to generate an inordinate amount of false starts. The calls ended up at a tie of 3-3 for illegal procedure related calls. +1 for Payton's gang.

Patton and Moore, two guys that the coaching staff was fairly obvious about including more in the offense this week, both had great support weeks for guys that were only occasional rotation players this year and came up big when the chips were down. Something Henderson and Colston seemed incapable of doing the first 4 games. Look for them to keep stepping up and the offensive swarm to grow under the command of Brees and Payton. +2 for the Saints!!!

Reggie Bush blew up. In a good way. I seemed involved in almost every play in the first quarter and the Saints attacked the run up the middle (exactly where no one expected Bush to go) and really opened up the whole thing after the DST recovered a botched punt for a touchdown to open things up. Reggie pulled a few of the longest rushing yards of his career to spark the game. The Saints built off the Bush-mania to score thrice with players OTHER than Bush. Disappointing for Bush's fantasy owners but sterling for 'Aint's fans as the offense showed that their 'solution' to its problems wasn't to become more one dimensional and continue to capitalize on the abilities of their whole team. + 2 for Reggie who had over 100 yards of offense by the end of the first half and the team effort.

Drew Brees looked like he was commanding the ship again instead of trying to save it from a ravaging storm. His passer rating blew out of the cellar and his pass selection was almost dead on all night. No picks, only one penalty for grounding and clear crisp throws that were still haunted by the occasional drop but far fewer and less critical than in games past. +1 for Captain Brees!! (106.9 passer rating...third highest of the week.)

WE HAVE A DEFENSE!! After not counting a sack all season, we piled up 5 and added 2 fumble recoveries and a pick to the roster. Tackling was SOLID for the most part and one of the worst defenses in the NFL shone against Seattle. Shaun Alexander score less yards than his backup...some dude named Wexler. My new Favorite Fat Man (said with love) is Big 99 ('casue you can't use 3 numbers on a jersy) Hollis Thomas! Shout out to Harper for his 2 Hassel-bags also. + 1 and a sigh of relief for the Defense.

So, it wasn't all positive. And I'll balance it out with this:

Play selection. There were a few plays like running your back-up crusher up the middle on 3rd and 8 behind the 50 and over using the gut-run with Bush to 'play it safe' in the second half that killed some opportunities and risked the game being brought back into control. This stuff not only gained nothing but put negative yards on the board for Bush and other rushers in an otherwise stellar game. We know Payton is 'aggressive' with play calling an his team continues to rise to the occasion when he puts that to them, but his O's 'safe' options border more on WTF than last year's VIP and has for most of the year. - 2 for the Saint's offense, Jacksonville and Philadelphia will not be as forgiving of these types of errors and Chicago, though worse this year, will still create turnovers in those situations where others might miss out.

Colston and Henderson continue to drop passes. They are HUGE deep threats that either need to have stick 'em coated on every inch of their arms or get to football basics church really fast. Drops by all our key players have killed us this year, but Henderson and Colston were the only ones not to drastically improve this game. That may be why they saw minimal action in the second half and Moore and Patten became down-field stars. I hope they got the message. -1 for the formerly stellar WR duo. Do we need to bring Horn back from Atlanta to smack some catch into you? I'm sure he'll take a pay cut about now.

Seattle Fan's...you SUCK! While this has nothing to do with my review of the Saints it has to be said. A big -5 to the Quest Field 12th man for BOOOOING Shaun Alexander and their team from the first half on!! You have a team with all the weapons to at least win the crappy NFC West and you are not supporting but BOOING it?? Saints' fans were getting a bit restless by the time we went 0-4 but at least you have 2 wins to hang your hat on. This is almost the same team that took you to the Superbowl and has resurrected your pathetic program from the DUST!! Grow the hell up.


Anyway, Overall score is +4 for the Gold and Black Attack and a sigh of relief that we may be able to salvage this season yet. We have 'must win' scenarios with a seemingly low calibur but error proof Tampa Bay team piloted by Jeff Garcia and a Vinnie Ballgame Manned squad in Carolina. Final Score 28-17, 367 yrds of offense, 1 turnover (fumble), Breese 25/36 for 2 TDs and no INTs. Bush 19 rushes for 97 yrds and 6 catches for 44 yrs (141 total), Patten 8 for 113, L Moore 1 Rsh TD, Johnson (TE) 1 TD and Marquise Colston on the second try of the same play, one catch to 2 yards and a TD. ROLL SAINTS!!

Those Kansas City CHEATS! (Huh?) I could have sworn this is what the color team called the Chiefs on more than one occasion during this game but the Sea of Red opened up and swallowed the Fuedin' Bengals. Larry Johnson finally got his score (maybe he'll take the diaper off) and Damon Huard posted the second highest passer rating among NFL QBs for the week. New stars D-Bowe and Webb spread the field with their talent and Gonzo went Gonzo 2 TDs and 109 yards for a NFL record setting 63 total career TDs by a Tight End. The big man who never thought he would play pro football continues to shine for his team letting them find themselves and put forth a real shot at winning their turbulent division. Thank you TG, you are the man!!

Jared Allen showed that his suspension had not slowed him down as he dominated the defense, scored two and a half sacks out of three and a forced fumble for the day and mauled the opposition the whole game. God love this kid...KC does. The D as a whole picked pockets (2 INTS) forced a fumble and held the Bengals to one of their lowest scoring totals in a long time -- 20 pts. The game is no where as near as the score might make it seem as desperation plays by the orange and black kitty-cats scored the last touchdown in the 4th Quarter.

Larry Johnson found the endzone TWICE in this game, but fumbled out the back of the endzone on the first go round. I hope he bought Sutain dinner for recovering the ball with a pick right after that allowed him to get that touchdown finally.

Herm Edwards is still playing too safe for ANYONE's comfort -- with or without a lead -- and that will hopefully lessen as the now division leading Chiefs find their voice and thunder on the field.

Game of the week goes to the Saints...it was far more inspiring and impressive to see you dismantle the Seahawks for your first win. Plus, Bob was in a luxury box drinking free beer at Arrowhead and that will make anyone jealous. Consider this my spiteful retort.

A Brief Mention to fallen Mizzou that lost its chance to make the top 10 in the BCS standing by losing in the snake pit. Sorry Tigers, but you are from the MidWest and don't have a legendary name so I don't care WHO you beat, the superflawed BCS won't let you have a top 10 spot now as you have -- shutter -- a loss to another team. Please land in a game with my Gamecocks so I'll have a reason to go to a college bowl game for once in my life. (Meanwhile, Cal and its 'illustrious' victories continue to show the BCS voting retardation for the PAC 10 even after they loose to a team that was Div. I in name only. Jackasses.)

D Day for the Saints!

Sunday at 11am Pacific I will walk OUT of wherever I am an into the "fan zone". Truly, I have waited 22 years for this day...and we are not into the Super Bowl yet. I know they are playing uphill...In Chicago, Outdoors in cold weather, against a killer defense...but I know they can do it.

Manning or Brady in the Superbowl and I think the Saints, playing a such a super-team, can take them down. There is just one hurdle between the Saints and the longest SuperBowl dry streak ever.

I have never felt this freaked out about an upcoming sporting event. Even if you count some of my biggest poker tournaments or games as sports. Roll Saints! Lets knock em dead.