Football Digest
 

Yeah that was hard to DIGEST. It\'s virtually impossible to get the national medias respect when you have an annual meltdown and a defense that had more holes in it last year than Saddams sons do today. The unknowns allow the doubters to cast shallow opinions upon the Saints. Even as we lead the league this year into the month of December the doubt will surface again. When you prove you can do something it is easier to be believed by the masses that you can do it again. The great thing about this time of year is that every team is undefeated. All 32 teams have hope. The separation of class normally starts to take shape after week eight. Even then, nothing is a sure thing. The Saints are now loaded with above average athletes with several potential stars. When several of these players have their breakout year this year the Saints will begin to get the attention and respect around the league and nationwide within the media circles. You first have to do it! Then comes the respect.

Football Digest
 

Willie Whitehead and Jerry Fontenot and I guess your counting Ashley Ambrose as well.

Football Digest
 

Happy Hour? It\'s the next morning dude!! Can I get the name of that bar?

[Edited on 23/7/2003 by BillyCarpenter1]

Football Digest
 

After Zook left the team, our defense has spiralled downward in performance. Can you blame that on the players? Sure, you can, but the parallels would target the defensive coordinator and the head coach. It\'s not like we had an erosion of talent on the defensive side. I\'d say he\'s an average coach with good talent, because he neither got the team motivated, nor did he run the right schemes to compliment his players\' strengths. You would have seen a huge difference if Zook was still around or if these players were playing for someone like Dave Campo.
Oh, and BC, I made that post last night, not this morning. I\'m not THAT much of an alcoholic.

[Edited on 23/7/2003 by BlackandBlue]

Football Digest
 

Yeah, I know. But was expecting you to come back right after happy hour and go into one of your classic rages. Nothing like a little buzz to really make you tell it like it is.

Football Digest
 

I thought about logging on last night after I got home, but thought it would be best to wait until the morning :D

Football Digest
 

We\'ve beat this to death before. Venturi in\'t as bad as some have claimed. If Hand and Jackson played only to 1/2 their ability, we\'d have been a middle of the pack Defense at worst. Before last season Haz and Venturi stated that they had a lot of holes and would have to work very hard to hide some of their weaknesses. And that was before Carter was suspended and Thomas broke his arm. Venturi is NOT our Defensive Coordinator.
Here\'s a hint as to who is: He won\'t be invited to Kyle Turleys house anytime soon, and was the DC for the Steelers a few years back.

Football Digest
 

Tweeky,

Your doing a lot of speculating about Venturi not being the D coordinator. Do you actually think that he would be on the coaching staff under false pretenses? Who do you think wil be making substitutions and doing the play calling during the games?

It might be fair to say that Haslett will not let Venturi cost him his job. Haslett isn\'t going to have Venturi on the staff as a figurehead.

You guys keep talking about how bad Venturi is and really have no idea what the guy does or does not know. Yeah I know you think you do. I\'ll wait and see.

Football Digest
 

I don\'t buy what you are selling. Fact- Venturi is the defensive coordinator. Even if he is the figure head for Haslett, he is the one that must answer the questions as to why the defense brought their A-game or why not. It\'s part of the job description. Being in the position that he is, he is the one that is more responsible for everything that involves the defense, than any other person on the coaching staff, Haslett excluded. Fact- best way to judge a coach is by the performance of his players. Do I really need to spell this out? You are correct- \"If Hand and Jackson played only to 1/2 their ability, we\'d have been a middle of the pack Defense at worst.\" Hand and Jackson were two good players that either A) weren\'t correctly coached, which falls on the shoulders of Venturi or B) weren\'t motivated, which falls on the shoulders of Venturi. Zook was a helluva defensive coordinator. There is no other explanation that I can see that would negate the fact that our once good defense degraded right after Zook left and Venturi took over the position.

Football Digest
 

Zook was a great defensive coordinator. Venturi has dropped the ball during his stint as defensive coordinator. We could argue the talent hasn\'t been there. We could argue that Some players haven\'t played to potential. You know what? If Venturi had half the passion as say a Bobby April had he could have motivated his slugs. He is their direct contact. Their weight soared and they lost their quickness. He is there to make sure that stuff doesn\'t happen. There are alot of guys who would kill to play. Desire and passion are a major part of the sport.