New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com

POSTED 9:05 a.m. EDT, September 5, 2005

BENSON'S BUFFOONS RUN FOR COVER

Less than a day after word broke that Saints exec Arnold Fielkow had told Louisiana state senator Mike Michot that owner Tom Benson wants to move the team permanently to San Antonio, the Saints pushed the spin cycle into high gear.

And the "real" media has swallowed the hook.

The Associated Press didn't pick up the shocking Saturday afternoon story from The New Orleans Time-Picayune regarding the intended move, even though the story wasn't based on unnamed sources who had spoken to unnamed members of the organization but on an on-the-record quote from a politician who attributed the statement directly to Fielkow.

Instead, The AP story that will appear in dozens-if-not-hundreds of newspapers on Labor Day contains fluff and puff from the team, including this quote from G.M. Mickey Loomis.

"We are still the New Orleans Saints. Our commitment to our city is stronger than ever. We want to be on the forefront of rebuilding our city. We'll play this season with the same toughness and resiliency of the people of New Orleans."

The AP story also curiously omits the fact that Loomis was asked on Sunday about the report regarding the intended move to San Antonio, and Loomis refused to address it.

So where's Fielkow to deny that he told Michot that Benson plans on a permanent move to the Superdome? And where's the "real" media to push Fielkow to answer the question -- or at a minimum to cough up an ominous "no comment"?

The answer, unfortunately, appears to be one of access. With the situation facing the Saints poised to be one of the hot topics throughout the NFL season, and with the team in a position to become a media darling if it performs well under dire circumstances, our guess is that none of the reporters who hope to have a seat at the grown-ups' table as the info flows are going to risk alienating the organization by making a big deal out of a story that is a big deal, and that should be a big deal.

Or maybe the "real" media doesn't want to do anything to smash Cinderella's slipper until it gets a look at whether she'll become the belle of the ball. If, after all, word gets out that the Saints are looking to bolt from New Orleans at a time when the city and its residents need the team the most, folks around the country will be less taken by stories of efforts of the organization to overcome the mountain of adversity that it faces, less interested in watching the team's games, less inclined to pour more money into the oversized cash monster that feeds the NFL and the satellite industries it nurtures.

Such as the "real" media.

And maybe that's why the "real" media also has ignored a report from WSDU-TV in New Orleans that Benson intends to play the team's home games this year in San Antonio -- and to not pay refunds to the Superdome season-ticket holders.

That's right folks. A television station in New Orleans reports that a high-ranking official contacted one of its reporters to say that Benson is going to stiff the 30,000 or so folks who already plunked down money to watch the team's games.

Unlike the report from The Times-Picayune, the "no-refund" story is based on an unnamed source. But its content is sufficiently powerful to compel further work by the folks who get paid to get at the truth for a living.

Let's see if anyone has the nerve to do it.