Halo

By David Marks


Recently Saints head coach, Jim Haslett was interviewed by the
Times-Picayune. He seemed to dance around the "hot" questions and answered the rest with responses that just don't add up. So I have just one question for Haslett, "Does he really expect us to buy this?" Does he really think Saints fans are that moronic? Believe me, after 35 years of watching the Saints, their fans are probably the most knowledgeable of any. After all, if any fan in the NFL that knows what NOT to do as a team, it's Saints fans.

Here's a little excerpt of that interview with coach Haslett. However, I
decided to answer him with my own responses since no one seems to have the
nerve to tell him what Saints fans really think.

Haslett: (On if this season was more disappointing then last season) "Every
game in this league is hard. It's not like you're a Division I-A team
playing a I-AA team."

Saints fan: Uh yeah Haz. Do you really expect us to believe that's why you
lost to the Lions and Bengals? No one else seemed to have any problems with
the Bengals. As a matter of fact didn't the lowly Panthers put up 50+ points
on them? The only team the Bengals competed with was the expansion Texans.
So I guess that puts the Saints, Texans, and Bengals all in the same boat
then huh?

Haslett: (On the 2nd half collapse two years in a row) "I think both
finishes were two totally different situations. I don't they are related at
all. They're two totally different situations."

Saints Fan: Yeah, you're right Haz. Last year we collapsed against decent
teams. This year we collapsed against the bottom feeders of the NFL.

Haslett: (On if he had any regrets) "Personally, I don't have any regrets."

Saints Fan: No regrets?!? I can think of plenty that you should have
regretted. Here, why don't I just give you a list of my regrets? I regret
wasting money on Saints merchandise, I regret wasting money on Tickets, I
regret wasting my Sundays watching this team when I could've just watched
the films from last season, and lastly I regret thinking that the Saints
were actually going to not only win their division but make it to the
playoffs.

Haslett: "I think our coaches did a great job."

Saints Fan: Apparently you didn't watch your defense at all last season. Nor
your offense - starting with about week ten.

Haslett: (On if you could have any one play back from the season) "Probably
the two-point play against Minnesota. If you could rewind it and give me 15
minutes to stop and figure out how to stop that quarterback draw."

Saints Fan: Or you could've just used one of your remaining timeouts to
prepare for that quarterback draw. But maybe you thought you'd need them
during that last 10 seconds? Apparently you and Venturi were the only ones
who didn't know that draw was coming.

Haslett: (On how Mike McCarthy did) "Mike did an outstanding job. He calls a
good game. He knows the strengths and weaknesses of, not just the opponent
we're playing, but of our offense.

Saints Fan: Knows the strengths and weaknesses of opposing defenses?!?!? Is
that why when facing a Minnesota defense that ranked 30th against the pass,
he chose to run for his first 6 plays? Matter of fact he didn't even attempt
a run (With the leading rusher in the NFC, mind you) until the 2nd quarter.
Or how about when you faced a Bengals defense that was ranked 30th against
the run? Oh I'll give you credit, you tried at first but that "Stellar"
Bengals defense shut Deuce down didn't they? No problem, you'll just open it
up with the pass right? Uh..no. You attempted to run a total of 5 times in
the whole 2nd half. I can understand this if you are down by a lot of points
but you were actually up 13-7. Yeah, he really "attacked" the weaknesses of
opposing defenses didn't he coach?

Haslett: (On how Venturi did) "I think Rick does a great job. His defense
set the tone in the first two games. The numbers -- No. 27 in the league --
weren't where you want to be."

Saints Fan: If you think Rick did a great job then you probably would've
loved Carl Smith. Yes Venturi's defense did set the tone those first two
games. Unfortunately there were 14 more games left. And no, you don't want
to be 27th in the league - especially when there are only 32 teams in the
whole league.

Haslett: "I understand what everybody has gone through here since '67. But I
hope they understand that we're trying to win games, that we're trying to
win a championship. We're the only staff that has won a playoff game here.

Saints Fan: Trying to win games? Oh is that what you were doing? It was
really hard to tell the past 7 games just what in the hell you were trying
to do. Actually I'll give you the Bucs game - you did look like you were
trying to win that one. And I really can't believe that you just played the
"We're-the-only-staff-that-has-won-a-playoff-game-here" card. Yes we are so
grateful for that one win (at least we got that monkey off our backs) but
since then it has been downhill. So don't try to play on our "fear" of never
making the playoffs - we're used to that.

The truth is that Haslett has no clue what Saints fans have been through
since 1967. He doesn't understand that we've watched the same choking act
regardless of who is the head coach, GM, or players for this team. How could
he know? He's been here a total of three years. Do me a favor Haz, watch
about 32 more seasons of what you just put on the field last season and then
you might start to understand what it's like to be a Saints fan.

Oh and Haslett, if you think you got no support from Saints fans this year,
just wait until next season.


[Edited on 1/6/2003 by Halo]