saintz08

Saints hopeful for gratifying news



For four months, Tony Bryant and his New Orleans Saints teammates have endured countless repetitions of the same routine.

First, a player is confronted by his wife. Or his girlfriend. Or a parent, or a cousin, or a former high school buddy.

No matter who it is, each has the same questions. And Bryant, a Saints defensive end, hears the same reaction when he doesn't have an answer.

"It's always, 'You know what's going on � you're just not telling me,'" Bryant said, shaking his head. "They won't believe that we don't know any more than they do."

After today, Bryant and the rest of the Saints finally should have some information that would satisfy their information-hungry friends and family.

When NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue meets with the Saints at their temporary downtown headquarters this morning, he is expected to announce they will move their operations back to Louisiana after this weekend's season finale at Tampa Bay.

For the players, who have been more frustrated by their uncertain future than their makeshift facilities this season, it figures to be a welcome announcement. Most of the team members said they didn't have a preference for where they played and practiced next season. They simply wanted to know the location as soon as possible.

"The relief for all of us will come when somebody tells us where we're going," offensive tackle Wayne Gandy said. "That's from the guy who washes towels to the man who types up the media guides. That's how it goes. It goes that deep.

"Everybody will have a sigh of relief when they actually know where to enroll their kids in school. Where to ship their clothes. What to put down for their offseason address. Right now, we don't know. There's a big hope that that's the information we're going to get (today)."

If some players are disappointed by Tagliabue's announcement, it only would be because their dream scenario was to practice and play all of their games in the same city in 2006. By moving back to their multimillion-dollar practice facility in suburban New Orleans, that would be impossible, because the hurricane-damaged Louisiana Superdome is not expected to be ready for NFL games until Nov.1 at the earliest.

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http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/s....1c8eabe9.html

\"Americans play to win at all times. I wouldn\'t give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed.\" - George S. Patton
On another note, I\'ll take a bite of that crow 08. - Saintfan
Brooks is a moron!! - Halo