SugarbowlBaby

Every body seems to know why the Saints are mediocre (at best) so I thought I’d chip in my two cents worth. It’s not A,B, or the fact the line backers we have would be lucky to make the practice squad of any other team in the league or that the db’s can’t tackle. It’s because the organization simply is committed to winning the Super Bowl.

Living in California I don’t get much news about the Saints except for what I see on the net. What news I do get in the off season is that so and so signed the Saints star (fill in the position ) through free agency. On the other hand they never sign anybody worth having through that market. Tebuckey Jones! Give me a break. Conwell might be the exception that remains to be seen. Look at the guys that have left. Willie Roaf , Turley, Sammy Knight etc. etc, etc. We basically traded Rickey Williams for Sullivan. The Dolphins must laugh themselves silly every time they think about it.

Why do we have Fenderson as the only backup for Deuce. Did they suddenly wake up last Sunday and say “Hey what if Deuce gets hurt?� Did anyone mention to them that don’t have a legitimate starting linebacker on the squad. Have they noticed that Jay Bellamy couldn’t tackle a girl scout? How do you cut a backup running back who gained 100 yards the day before? Who’s running things down there? Are they saving room on the cap for next year? Screw next year. By then any body who is any good will be playing for the Rams or the Falcons or the 49ers. This Sunday would be a good time for the boo-birds to let Benson know what they think.

Saints Fans are the best in world and deserve so much more than they have ever gotten with the brief exception of the Jim Finks regime.

BlackandBlue

Que?

BillyCarpenter1

I hope you\'re not getting it here on B&G -- Unless you are listening to me..

What we did is get Deuce on the field where he belonged and picked up 1st round draft pick in the process. This has to be considered a good move by the Saints.

Turley and Knight got schooled last week.


SugarbowlBaby -- This board is having a negitive influence on you. Lots of weird things happen in the first game of the season. Some teams still play like it\'s preseason. Usually the good teams that lose (Saints,Dolphins) their first game receive a wake up call and understand that this is no longer preseason. Wait and see !!

canucksaint

Sugarbowlbaby - I understand where you are coming from. I am up in Canada and never hear a thing about the Saint, except through B&G (but I only listen to Billy) And I agree that Benson and the rest just HAVEN\"T been committed to winning the superbowl. Yea, Billy, Knight got schooled last week. But I sure would prefer him in our backfield over Bellemy, hell, I would even take him over Mitchell. Roaf was better than Turley (but with both, weren\'t there lockerroom things?). And yes Turley did get betten last week as well. But from what I heard (as I was unable to see either game) Grandy got beat just as much. Sullivan hasn\'t produced a thing, although I am willing to give him some time as it takes a bit for DT to get used to the NFL. But still... Where is the ambition to win. As I have stated before, and my friends rubbing this fact in my face everyday, if you want to look at a team that is committed to win, look at the Bills and how they changed the team around.
I can\'t wait for the day that the Saints realize that is the path that they have to follow.

SugarbowlBaby

BillyC
I agree we\'re better off with Deuce. But do you think trading Williams for Sullivan sounds like a good deal. Anyway my point is that their were a lot of oppurtunities to improve the team thruogh free agency and even from the waiver lists last week and they just didn\'t do it. I hope you\'re right and actually think the Saints will be a winning team this year.
It\'s just that after watching them for 35 yrs. mediocrity seems be the accepted norm on managements part. They could have done a lot more.

BillyCarpenter1

Agreed -- They could have done more. We did sign Ki Jana Carter today though.

I don\'t look at it as trading Ricky for Sullivan. I look at it as trading Ricky to get Deuce on the field and getting a 1st round draft pick ALSO. I also beleive Sullivan is going to be a good player.

[Edited on 10/9/2003 by BillyCarpenter1]

saint5221

You bring up a good compairison. It will be interesting to see how the Bills defense progresses in relation to ours this year. After last year both the Bills and the Saints were in need of a defensive overhaul, the Bills went out and signed some of the talent I wish we had. There big choices Takeo Spikes,Sam Adams and Lawyer Milloy, sure looked better after one game, with all having key contributions in a big win.

Randy Mueller, while certainly not an unbiased opinion, made an interesting point when asked.\"It appears Jim Haslett is behind most of the Saints\' major personnel moves, i.e. top draft picks, Tebucky Jones acquisition, Kyle Turley trade. Do you think it is better for the general manager to make these decisions and the head coach focus on the on-field play?\"

Muller\'s response,\"I think your assessment of the Saints\' decision-making is correct. Although Jim gets lots of input from others in the personnel department, the buck stops with him. I\'d rather that the head coach focus his efforts on the players and team he is currently dealing with and not necessarily on acquiring talent, but in any case the head coach and the GM must act as a partnership in everything they do and thus communicate continuously.

I also think it\'s a good idea that the players know there is another decision maker on the football side besides the head coach. Never hurts for the coach to have somebody to shuffle certain decisions off on and thus keep his much needed relationship with his players as a coach and let the GM be the bad guy at certain times.

The other issue at stake is, as a head coach under the gun to win every game, his criteria for certain personnel decisions might not have the long-term implications that are best for the team or organization. Sometimes a GM can focus on the longer term a bit better.\"

Maybe Haslett needs a little more input on personel moves.

SugarbowlBaby

Sorry, I type like Jay Bellamy tackles. I meant they are NOT committed.

BillyCarpenter1

A good comparison to prove what point? To prove that the Bills front office is smarter than the Saints? Well -- That\'s a bit of a reach when you really don\'t know if any of those players would have signed with the Saints or not. I know for a fact that we made Milloy a good offer and he just prefered to play with the Bills. There\'s no way to know if we could have signed any of those players. But if your intention was to make the front office look dumb -- then maybe the comparison will accomplish that !! Once the season is over that is..

[Edited on 10/9/2003 by BillyCarpenter1]

saint5221

Billy ,my point was straight forward enough and you seem to have gotten it just fine two organizations had a similar goals, lets see who did the better job reaching that goal. Right now I think Tom Donahoe did the better job, but lets see how it all plays out. Your right Billy there is now way to tell if we could of signed those other players because we did\'nt even try.We have had this discussion before, if you want to again I\'ll gladly do it, it just seems a little redundant.