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Mayor ass clown speaks again

this is a discussion within the Saints Community Forum; Tom Orsborn: Mayor: Take Tagliabue to court Web Posted: 12/27/2005 12:00 AM CST San Antonio Express-News Mayor Phil Hardberger says he would fight. Other confidants, associates and friends of New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson say they would do the ...

 
 
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Old 12-28-2005, 08:50 AM   #1
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Mayor ass clown speaks again

Tom Orsborn: Mayor: Take Tagliabue to court

Web Posted: 12/27/2005 12:00 AM CST

San Antonio Express-News

Mayor Phil Hardberger says he would fight.

Other confidants, associates and friends of New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson say they would do the same. They want Benson to take the NFL to court to block efforts by league commissioner Paul Tagliabue to return the team to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans.

But during a rare exchange with reporters Saturday after the Saints' 13-12 loss to Detroit, Benson sounded docile rather than determined.

"(Tagliabue) sets the schedule, and the league, you know, so I don't have a lot of say-so in that," Benson said when asked where he wanted his team to play its home games next season.

And this from a man who days before had received a show of support from the city's corporate giants in the form of the purchase of 17,000 tickets for the Saints' season finale at the Alamodome.

Meanwhile, Hardberger and others suggested Benson should dig in his heels and tell Tagliabue he's staying in San Antonio, where the Saints have practiced since Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans four months ago.

"I don't know if (Benson) is prepared to fight, but I would if I was in his shoes," said Hardberger, a former chief justice of the state's 4th Court of Appeals.

"There is a precedent of a team saying, 'We aren't going to do what the NFL wants us to do,' and I think that team won, not the NFL," Hardberger said.

He's right. Al Davis twice bested the NFL in court battles over whether he could move his Raiders.

But Benson isn't Davis, a maverick who relished the opportunity to stick it to the league.

Hardberger knows this. Although he reiterated Saturday his plans to discuss with Benson the permanent relocation of the Saints to San Antonio, Hardberger added this caveat: "We do have to keep in mind, those conversations are kind of contingent on the league and what Tom himself is willing to do."

For now, Benson seems to lack the stomach for a fight. But Saints insiders say he could take action after he meets with Tagliabue here this week.

Tagliabue insists the Saints should try to make a go of it in Louisiana and be part of the Gulf Coast recovery effort. But Benson is said to believe he can't make money in post-Katrina New Orleans.

"Mr. Benson is energized to protect an asset he has cared for for 20 years, an asset he would one day like to pass on to his granddaughter (Saints owner/executive Rita Benson LeBlanc)," said T.J. Connolly, former director of corporate relations for Benson Management Company, Benson's holding company.

"Prior to Katrina," Connolly added, "Mr. Benson planned on finishing his life in New Orleans with the Saints. But Katrina devastated that city beyond belief. Now, he has to look at what he needs to do as an owner to fill a stadium and keep the Saints financially viable. If that can be done in New Orleans, you can bet that is where he will be. But if it cannot economically be achieved there, Mr. Benson has a responsibility to find a location where he can be viable."

Hardberger and other city leaders say that location is San Antonio. Sources say Benson agrees. What they don't know is whether he's willing to stand up to Tagliabue.



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