Originally Posted by SaintsBro (Post 670469)

I think you may be onto something, Dude. We have all been watching the rosy picture of the Benson family empire progressively unravel before our eyes, the past couple of years.

To me the biggest red flag that something was seriously wrong with ownership at the level above the coaches, was that ridiculous 13-and-a-half foot bronze statue of Benson they put in Champions Square outside of the Dome. The statue features a 4-foot tall granite base and a 9-and-a-half foot bronze sculpture of Benson hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. It weighs 1,500 pounds while the granite base is five tons.

And apparently the Saints & Pelicans surprised Benson with this monstrous thing, as a present to him? Using his own money? Oh please. Somebody has got to be using that thing for jockeying for position or currying favor behind the scenes. It just reeks of dysfunction. Even Loomis was surprised by it.

I mean, this is just my opinion. They raised MY ticket prices, then spent it to put that crazy thing up, and then sure enough the team on the field started to slide after that....

In general I think there should be a rule that an owner can't have a giant 13-foot statue of themself at the entrance to the stadium, unless they either (a) built the stadium themselves with their own money, or else (2) they got at least 3 Lombardis in their time. Lots of owners have won several more than Benson, and they don't have statutes of themselves on the grounds put up by goodness knows who, family or underlings from their organization.

Robert Kraft's teams have been to the playoffs 16 times in 21 years. Al Davis won won 13 division championships, one AFL championship, & three Super Bowls. Pat Bowlen owned the Broncos for 30 years, and oversaw just five losing seasons the whole time. The Rooney family has practically got a whole closet full of old Lombardis from over the years.

I like Benson okay, but those are the kinds of owners who really deserve a big freaking statue of themselves, outside the stadium as the fans file in, in my opinion. Not one Saints fan I know is really super "into" that statue being there, the way the family and whoever paid for it, is "into" it being there.

Originally Posted by SaintsBro (Post 670469)

I think you may be onto something, Dude. We have all been watching the rosy picture of the Benson family empire progressively unravel before our eyes, the past couple of years.

To me the biggest red flag that something was seriously wrong with ownership at the level above the coaches, was that ridiculous 13-and-a-half foot bronze statue of Benson they put in Champions Square outside of the Dome. The statue features a 4-foot tall granite base and a 9-and-a-half foot bronze sculpture of Benson hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. It weighs 1,500 pounds while the granite base is five tons.

And apparently the Saints & Pelicans surprised Benson with this monstrous thing, as a present to him? Using his own money? Oh please. Somebody has got to be using that thing for jockeying for position or currying favor behind the scenes. It just reeks of dysfunction. Even Loomis was surprised by it.

I mean, this is just my opinion. They raised MY ticket prices, then spent it to put that crazy thing up, and then sure enough the team on the field started to slide after that....

In general I think there should be a rule that an owner can't have a giant 13-foot statue of themself at the entrance to the stadium, unless they either (a) built the stadium themselves with their own money, or else (2) they got at least 3 Lombardis in their time. Lots of owners have won several more than Benson, and they don't have statutes of themselves on the grounds put up by goodness knows who, family or underlings from their organization.

Robert Kraft's teams have been to the playoffs 16 times in 21 years. Al Davis won won 13 division championships, one AFL championship, & three Super Bowls. Pat Bowlen owned the Broncos for 30 years, and oversaw just five losing seasons the whole time. The Rooney family has practically got a whole closet full of old Lombardis from over the years.

I like Benson okay, but those are the kinds of owners who really deserve a big freaking statue of themselves, outside the stadium as the fans file in, in my opinion. Not one Saints fan I know is really super "into" that statue being there, the way the family and whoever paid for it, is "into" it being there.

Originally Posted by The Dude (Post 670419)

Starting to think it is less than a player issue and more of an organization and FO issue. You have an owner who is being sued by his heirs for ownership of the organization. The future of the Saints in NOLA is questionable weather we want to admit it or not. Loomis being extremely irresponsible with Bensons money does not help his case any. It makes him look like he really might be at the point where he cannot conduct his own business because of his age.I think its bull**** and an old man should be able to do whatever he wants with his money and property no matter what. Up to and including giving it to hookers to wipe their asses with.

Salary cap issues are killing us and there is not much end in sight. Payton seems to have lost it and I think Brees has kind of lost his faith in Payton. Its not every day that a QB even of Brees stature will audible a two point conversion play called by a coach. Something is wrong, I could hear it in Brees voice today during an interview. In the past he had a upbeat and overall jovial personallity EVEN during bad years. Today he just seemed tired and frustrated.Eveything he said was rehearsed and fodder. I think he sees something in Payton that we do not.
I think there is an elephant in the room and people are walking on eggshells

The players are actually improving, which I am fine with. Its better than last year. Last year we just sucked and we werent going to get any better. At least this year we may be able to get to watch the team grow.

We have a QB aging and a coach who we all know wont be around long after, if he even lasts that long. Who is going to want to come in and coach in this nightmare environment? No QB, no cap space to get one, and a franchise with an owner in court battle with an unsure future.

A couple of years ago New Orleans would have been on the top of any coaches list. We probably could have had anyone we wanted not that we needed them, Im not saying that at all, but it looked like the franchise was going to be in great shape for years to come. It looked like we would be a franchise that a former successful head coach would want to be a part of. Now we probably couldnt get a position coach to take the head coaching job.

Anyway hope all is well, but something aint right with the FO

Originally Posted by jlaw8920 (Post 670478)

I have a break off question in regards to Payton. I felt that in the past, I never knew what kind of play call was coming. Whether it would be a run, screen, play action, deep pass, or so on. However, last season especially and for the most part this season, I feel like I can call what type of play he is going to run about 95% of the time.

I think other saints fans feel the same. Is it because we have watched him for so many years now? Has it just become that bland? Or are we just not executing the way we use to? I'm interested in hearing true fans feedback, instead of commentators that just state basic fact (having trouble in redzone, run game struggling, so on).

Originally Posted by CharityMike (Post 670479)

This is what most of us are saying. Let Carmichael call the plays. Payton has lost it for whatever reason. He has become predictable. If us fans can guess what play we are about to run, what do you think the pro's on the other side of the field, who study film, can do?

Originally Posted by skymike (Post 670484)

I would like to add:

-- country club training camp... This needs to end, and we need to move TC
back to Mississippi.