Let me address the whole rat issue. The last time the Chinese celebrated the “Year of the Rat� was in 1996, with the next one scheduled in 2008. Other years that the Chinese celebrated the Year of the Rat were 1900, 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, and 1984. Saint players that were born in the Year of the Rat are Joe Horn, Walter Rasby, Ernie Conwell, Todd Bouman, Mitch Berger, and Jay Bellamy (all in 1972). The Saints have “Mousie� who does a dance before the fourth quarter in the Dome every game. Maybe the Saints front office can name the defense the “Rat Pack.� The last two times the Year of the Rat was celebrated (1984, 1996) big changes occurred with the Saints the following year. In 1984, John Mecom announced that the Saints were for sale. The next year, Tom Benson bought the Saints. In 1996, Jim Mora quit in the middle of the season, with Rick Venturi taking over the head coaching duties. The next year, Mike Ditka was hired. What does this have to do with anything? Probably nothing, but since everyone else is talking about the rat, I figured I may as well. Enough of that, let’s talk football. Scott Balot