Sean Payton reinstated to NFL, not interested in hollering at Gregg Williams

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton was reinstated by the NFL this week, just days before the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
When asked if he had spoken about former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, Payton told reporters: "I have no interest in talking to Gregg."
OUCH. This is a guy you won a ring with...
Anyway, Payton's season-long suspension due to Bountygate was hard to take, he said.
"It was more or less something you can't control. To dwell on it with the time that I had ... the first week or so, it was difficult," Payton said. "You felt a lot of different emotions. At that point, you have to move on from it. Regardless of how you felt, knowing there were eight months. You'd drive yourself crazy if you just continue to hold those thoughts, whether you thought it was fair or not."
The coach is looking forward to evaluating players at the Senior Bowl.
Will the Saints make a Super Bowl run next year?

Saints beat Vikes in opener, 14 -9

The New Orleans Saints shook the rust off last Thursday in the 2010 season opener for the NFL. The Vikings had revenge on their minds after a horrendous NFC championship game that lifted the Saints to the Super Bowl and then on to victory.
As Week 1 came to a close around the NFL, the New Orleans victory was big because the Falcons and Carolina lost, giving the Saints an early 1-game lead. The Bucs also won their opener.
While the score was only 14-9, the Saints were pleased to get the win, as the city basically shut down and kids got out of school early for a Saints parade and banner unfolding.
Ah, the big easy.

Memorable Quotes 2 Days Before Gustav Hits Louisiana

“I am strongly, strongly encouraging everyone in the city to evacuate,” New Orleans mayor Nagin said. “Start the process now. Go north if you can because the storm may continue to turn a little bit west.”

"If it's like Katrina, they might not let us back," says N.O. resident Beth Basile, 52, a Wal-Mart cashier. "They might put a fence around the whole parish and say, `Go away.'"

"I'm trying to be optimistic," said Gary Sass, 46, a construction worker. "But Kentucky's looking better and better."

"We've got floors — beautiful brand-new floors," said Maria DiMaggio, who is 42, disabled and sleeps in a cot in her kitchen. "I mean, my house is not even finished and, then, what? It's going to float away again?"
"I was hoping to get all the way right at least before another hurricane came and ate up my world," said DiMaggio, who lost $22,000 to unscrupulous contractors. "If I would have been in my house for a day it would have been OK. Then I could have dealt with it. ... But I can't do this again."

“I don’t want to be stuck like I was in Katrina,” said N.O. resident Janice McElveen, recalling being stranded on the Interstate 10 bridge for five days in 2005.


Declared a Category 4 storm Saturday afternoon, Hurricane Gustav continues to strengthen and will soon reach Category 5 status—the highest—according to U.S. officials. - National Weather Service


“After going through Katrina, that ain’t no joke,” said Jody Anderson, who spent seven days in the Superdome. “It’s not worth it, trying to stay.”


“We can save everybody this time,” Jackie Clarkson, the president of the City Council, said.

Don’t write off N.O. as ‘ghost town’

Quite as kept, the recent BCS Championship game in New Orleans was an ultimatum of sorts or the city: “If New Orleans can’t show it can handle the game,” said one Bowl Championship Series administrator, “we have to move on.”
This article does a great job of explaining how Nola came through big time.

New Orleans Hard Heads Murdering City's Image

New Orleans police have identified an 18-year-old man they think is responsible for killing at least one person in a Christmas night shooting that left two dead and four wounded in Central City.
Also 27 months after Hurricane Katrina, a crime wave is creating headaches for tourism officials.
Just over half of respondents to a University of New Orleans poll released Dec. 10 rated the city a 1, 2 or 3 in crime on a scale of 10, with 1 being “the worst city in the U.S.” The poll of 775 people was taken Nov. 29-Dec. 4 and gauged the impressions of Americans outside Louisiana. Its margin of error was plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
Roughly one-third of respondents to the UNO poll said they were “extremely unlikely” to visit the city for “business or pleasure” in the next two years.
The country is getting another look at New Orleans with college bowl games, Mardi Gras coming up in February and then the National Basketball Association All-Star game.
In the Christmas murders, a warrant for has been issued for Eldrin George, 18, according to a news release issued late Friday by police spokeswoman Shereese Harper. Police are continuing to gather information to identify other suspects.
Police earlier this week identified George as one of a trio of young men behind a rash of armed robberies that gripped Uptown last month. Police working that case said George has a scar on his forehead and a mole under his right ear, and most recently lived in the 3000 block of Touro Street. They said he is known to frequent the University area.
On Dec. 25, police responded around 6:30 p.m. to the 2400 block of Josephine Street near Freret Street, where they found dozens of bullets from an assault rifle scattered on the ground.
One man was dead at the scene, slumped to the ground against the house, his chin on his chest. Another man was also pronounced dead with gunshot wounds. The victims have been identified as James Jones, 17, and Wendell Millro, 18.
Four others, including a 19-year-old woman, a 17-year-old man, an 18-year-old man and a man in his late teens, were wounded. Their names have not been released.

YEY! LSU WINS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!

After falling behind 10-0 early in the first quarter, LSU scored 24 consecutive points to lead by two touchdowns at the half. Ohio State never quit, but the Buckeyes couldn't really threaten the lead against LSU's vaunted defense. The Tigers turned up the heat on Ohio State quarterback Todd Boeckman and forced him to hurry too many throws. The Tigers also did a good job of containing Beanie Wells after the tailback ran for 119 yards in the first half. Once Ohio State fell behind by three touchdowns early in the third quarter, the Buckeyes couldn't use Wells much to get them back into the game. LSU forced Ohio State into a couple of costly mistakes -- the Tigers blocked a field goal and intercepted a pass down the left sideline to set up touchdowns in the first half.
What didn't reserve safety Harry Coleman do for LSU's defense? In the first quarter, the sophomore from Baldwin, La., recovered a muffed punt return by LSU's Chad Jones at the Tigers' 16. In the second quarter, Coleman blitzed and hit Boeckman, forcing him to underthrow a pass down the left sideline. Cornerback Chevis Jackson intercepted the pass and returned it 34 yards to the Ohio State 24, setting up the touchdown that put LSU ahead 24-10 at the half. Coleman added another fumble recovery early in the fourth quarter, after linebacker Ali Highsmith drilled Boeckman on a fourth-down play. "To go to a national-championship game two years in a row and lose like this is incredible. It hurts tremendously," Ohio State running back Beanie Wells said.As much as they might have wanted to, the Buckeyes couldn't even escape the memory of the Gators here in New Orleans. By chance, Florida Coach Urban Meyer was one of the analysts on the Fox broadcast crew Monday night. At one point during the halftime show, Ohio State legend Eddie George, another one of the Fox commentators, turned to Meyer and said, "This feels like déjà vu all over again. Are we still in Arizona? This game has the same feel as last year."

Too easy. No. 2 LSU danced, dodged and darted its way into the end zone Monday night, turning the BCS national championship game into a horrible replay for No. 1 Ohio State. It was over early, with Matt Flynn throwing four touchdown passes in a 38-24 win.
Playing at their home-away-from-home in the Big Easy, the Tigers (12-2) became the first two-loss team to play for the title.
Shouts of "SEC! SEC!" bounced around the Superdome as the Tigers won their second BCS crown in five seasons. They are the first school to win a second title since BCS rankings began with the 1998 season.
"My team is the No. 1 team in the land," said All-American defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, who passed up the NFL draft to return for his senior season.
And in a season of surprises, this was hardly an upset: Ohio State once again fell apart in college football's biggest game. A year after the Buckeyes were routed by Tim Tebow and Florida 41-14 in the Arizona desert, they barely did better.
"We just didn't do the things you need to do to win a ballgame of this nature. We're very aware that LSU's a deserving champion," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said.
Jacob Hester bulled for a short touchdown, Early Doucet wiggled loose for a touchdown and Dorsey led a unit that outplayed the top-ranked defense in the nation.
Ohio State (11-2) had little to celebrate after Chris "Beanie" Wells broke loose for a 65-yard TD run on the fourth play of the game.
Yet while LSU coach Les Miles got to hoist the $30,000 crystal trophy, certainly many fans around the country were peering into their crystal balls, wondering if someone else was worthy of the title. Southern California, Georgia, West Virginia, Kansas and Missouri all put on impressive shows in bowl games, and will be among the favorites in 2008.
The final Associated Press poll was to be released early Tuesday.
LSU, whose two losses both came in triple overtime, became just the fourth favorite to win in 10 BCS championship games. The Tigers added to the crown they won in 2003 — their other title came in 1958.
Miles probably got a little extra satisfaction, too. Though he turned down a chance to return home to Michigan, he did something his alma mater hasn't done recently — beat the Buckeyes.
The loss left Ohio State at 0-9 overall in bowl games against teams from the Southeastern Conference. The SEC delights in whipping Big Ten teams in what's become a rivalry that steams up fans on both sides.
The Tigers rallied from an early 10-0 deficit, taking a 24-10 halftime lead that held up. Two big plays on special teams kept them ahead — they blocked a field goal, and later took advantage of a roughing-the-kicker penalty.

Hawaii, Georgia Players Take Sip Of New Orleans

"This is a great group of kids and I am not worried we are going to do anything we would be ashamed of," Hawaii coach June Jones said Thursday.
And with that his Hawaii Warriors, set to take on the up-the-street Georgia Bulldogs on Jan. 1, descended on the Crescent City. "It's OK with me to let them experience something they may never get to experience again," Jones said.

Curfew had been established, but so had rites of passage during the season. The players know that nothing stupid must take place - even on Bourbon Street.
"I've been trying to prepare these players for the media and the hype surrounding a game of this magnitude," Jones said after arriving at Louis S. Armstrong International Airport. "It's going to be a Super Bowl-like atmosphere. I don't think they have any idea what they're getting into."
Jones' team got a bit of a taste when they were greeted by a brass band, per Sugar Bowl tradition, as they disembarked from the plane.
Wide receiver Ryan Grice-Mullen said he's been to New Orleans once - when he was in first grade.
"I've heard about Bourbon Street, so maybe we'll check it out," Grice-Mullen said. "I don't think my parents took me there. We went to see some of the Mardi Gras, but it was during the day. I guess that's the kiddie Mardi Gras."
"To be able to go to the Sugar Bowl every other year would be pretty exciting," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said. "We've been able to do that the last six years. It's so good to be back here and see the city up and running again.
"We probably have more coaches' kids here than we have players. The families will have plenty of opportunities to enjoy themselves."

How Could Pro Bowl Voters Sleep On Colston?

Saints wide receiver Marques Colston is not going to the Pro Bowl.
How that could happen is like trying to figure out that reverse two weeks ago against Tampa Bay with less than 4 minutes remaining in the game.
Colston didn't just have a good season, he's had, like,a MONSTER season. He leads the NFC in catches; even though the other teams have big-time quarterbacks like Brett Favre, and Tony Romo.
Colston was bypassed by Arizona receiver Larry Fitzgerald, Dallas' Terrell Owens, St. Louis' Tory Holt and Green Bay's Donald Driver.
Donald Driver? He's got only 2 touchdowns.
Tory Holt?
But I digress, Chad JOhnson and Brandon Marshall didn't make it either, despit being No. 4 and No. 7 in the league in receiving yards. How can Chad Johnson NOT make it?
Sounds like the fix to me.

Brad Pitt Gets Mad Love From New Orleans, Making It Right

We just can't get over The Storm.
We just can't.
Brad Pitt: "These are people who did everything right, according to the American dream. They got jobs and they saved their money. They bought homes. They raised their kids in these communities. And it's all been wiped out, wiped out, and they are in this state of limbo and it is dismal."
The pink houses, the art installation, right now symbolically represents the destruction and the chaos after the storm and which continues today. ... We chose pink because it screams loud. We want to get attention and to say that we can actually turn this around.
And we're asking people to join in with us on this "Adopt a House" campaign. We're asking foundations, corporations. I would love to see church groups, individuals, come in and adopt a house, adopt 10 houses, adopt 100 houses, adopt a corner of a house, adopt a solar panel, adopt a tree -- whatever you're comfortable with.
For every $150,000 that comes in, I guarantee a family will be returning to their home, and not just any affordable home, but a home that's intelligent, that respects your hard-earned money, that respects your health and respects the health of the environment.
Mr. Pitt said he had been attached to New Orleans for more than a decade. “I’ve always had a fondness for this place — it’s like no other,” he said. “Seeing the frustration firsthand made me want to return the kindness this city has shown me.”
Rather than bemoan the slow pace of redevelopment in the Ninth Ward, Mr. Pitt said he decided to address the problem directly by teaming with William McDonough, the green design expert; Graft, a Los Angeles architecture firm; and Cherokee, an investment firm based in Raleigh, N.C., that specializes in sustainable redevelopment. John Williams of New Orleans is the executive architect for the project.
“If you have this blank slate and this great technology out there, what better test than low-income housing?” Mr. Pitt said. “It’s got to work at all levels to really be viable.”

When Make It Right was announced at the meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in September, Mr. Pitt pledged to match $5 million in contributions to the project, as did Steve Bing, the philanthropist. Nine other firms — all of whom donated their services — are involved, including Adjaye Associates; Billes Architecture; BNIM Architects; Constructs; Eskew & Dumez & Ripple; MVRDV; Pugh and Scarpa Architecture; Shigeru Ban Architects; and Trahan Architects. “We wanted to have a mixture of voices,” Mr. Pitt said.
Beyond serving a public need, Mr. Pitt — who has a longstanding interest in architecture — was eager to see what the designers came up with. “I was most curious about advancing the discussion further,” he said. “That was certainly one of the benefits of this exercise. There is no other reason to call on these great minds if you’re just going to shackle them.”
The green building elements will reduce upkeep costs by at least 75 percent, Mr. Pitt said, and reduce some of the problems that devastated the Lower Ninth Ward during Katrina, when multiple levee breaks forced thousands of people from their homes.
The architects were each asked to design a 1,200-square-foot house for about $150,000, with Make It Right to help with the financing. The houses had to be built five to eight feet off the ground, with a front porch and three bedrooms.
To learn more about CLICK HERE.Make It Right,

N.O. Rapper Uses Housing Rally As Mixtape Release Party

Some things, even the most creative writers, just can't make up.
Protesters blocked the entrance to the federal courthouse building in downtown New Orleans on Thursday, chanting criticism of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's plans to demolish 4,000 public housing apartments.
While all this is going on, one individual named "Sess 4-5" steps in front of the crowd and busts into a free-style rap as elementary as "Mary Had A Little Lamb."
What's surreal about the whole thing is that TV news cameras and media quite focusing on the protesters, who are steady chanting: "HUD says cut back, we say fight back!" while mobbing the glass entrance to the building, with several people tapping on the glass windows as if they were drums.
No, instead the media seems mesmorized by Sess 4-5, a small rapper with a golden grill and a bullhorn.
This nugget of informative news taken from the Times-Picayune:
During the rally, rap artist "Sess 4-5" took command of the bullhorn, while a film crew taped his performance. The artist, who grew up in the Desire housing development, said he will play his mix tape of the protest and host a hip-hop performance under the I-10 overpass at 2 p.m.
Dag. That's all. Just dag. And for all you Sess 4-5 fans, buy the album why don't cha.

It's Bayou Classic Weekend (video)!

You've heard of Mecca in the Middle East?
Well, this weekend is the football equivalent in Louisiana.
In Baton Rouge every year, the Friday after Thanksgiving,, we'll kick it off with LSU beating up on the Razorbacks. It's extra special this year because LSU is No. 1 in the nation, and the Razorbacks have two diesel running backs, especially the Heisman-hyped Darren McFadden. But the other guy, Felix Jones, is just as good and will run for 180 yards on your tail if you're not careful. Then on Saturday we'll enjoy the Southern Jaguars against the Grambling State Tigers in the Bayou Classic in New Orleans. It's the biggest tradition in Louisiana from two of the biggest black schools in the country, as far as brand recognition is concerned. Grambling was coached by the late, great Eddie Robinson for more than half a century. He never had a losing season until the 1990s, when the AD took most of his power, and clout with it. When I think about the Bayou Classic, I think about him, mostly, even though I root for the Jaguars, who have never had a quarterback and offensive line in the same season. Their coach, Pete Richardson, is probably the best coach in black college football, and he's wrapping up his 13th season in Baton Rouge.
The Bayou Classic has been broadcast live on NBC for over 15 years now and is the only black college football game to get that type of exposure.
NBC has had to talk to its advertisers about it though because a black college football game is a lot longer than any other kind of college football game: It's a lot more sloppy, with penalties, a fair share of bad calls by the referees, not to mention that the halftime bands will not be rushed off the field, but will use all 15 minutes of their time. As a matter of fact, the longest broadcast in the history of network television? You guessed it, a Bayou Classic broadcast from the early 1990s (I forget which year). NBC didn't like that too well, and they kind of got on the game's organizers. If you watch the game closely, you can see in the fourth quarter, the refs will let a lot of stuff go just to keep the clock moving. A player could probably slap somebody and they'd let it go, because NBC wants the game to conform to the length of its other college broadcasts. But the problem is, the Bayou Classic is not like any other broadcast. It's a unique institution in Americana.
After the game, people "hit Bourbon Street" It's a tradition. You could "hit Canal" as well, but it's not as fun. Actually you'll have to "hit Canal" before you "hit Bourbon" because Bourbon is off of Canal Street. But, then again, if your hotel is on Bourbon or just off Bourbon then you don't necessarily have to hit Canal, but ... you understand.

Horn comin back to the N.O.

I'm going to say it: Joe Horn was New Orleans' favorite son.
We miss him. The receiving corps is not the same without him.
He feels the same way.
"I miss New Orleans. I miss the fans. I miss the people that were real there with Joe Horn," said the outspoken receiver with the predilection for referring to himself in the third person. "I love New Orleans. I get chills when I think about coming to New Orleans."
Horn was one of the best receivers ever to play in a black-and-gold uniform, and the most popular. He was a part of the Saints' last two playoff teams in 2000 and 2006, had his own radio show, and was among the first to show up at shelters to cheer up evacuees after Hurricane Katrina.
In the offseason, the Saints went out and picked up a couple of receivers to join the audition for Horn's vacant spot -- one of which was three-time Super Bowl champion David Patten. The other was Tennessee standout Robert Meachem, whom the Saints selected with their first pick in April's NFL draft.
"They made it pretty clear that they were bringing me in to replace Joe Horn," Patten said. "They wanted a veteran, someone who had been around a while and could kind of help the younger guys out.
"I understood my role and I accepted the challenge. It doesn't matter where I go, my goal is the same. I want to help the team win."
But something happened on the way to replacing Horn.
Meachem and Patten both missed parts of training camp for various reasons. To make matters worse, Henderson opened the 2007 season with a case of the drops.
He said bitterly that New Orleans apparently wasn't big enough for him and new Saints coach Sean Payton.
The Saints and Falcons have one win apiece.
This week, Payton downplayed any animosity, speaking only of his admiration for the receiver who had 679 yards receiving and four touchdowns in 10 games for the Saints last season. Because of a nagging groin injury, Horn missed six regular-season games and both Saints playoff games, although Horn contended he was healthy enough to play in the NFC championship game against Chicago.
"He's someone that's been a great competitor, has had a great career and has worked his tail off," Payton said. "Through determination and hard work, he's someone that persevered and made himself a special player in our league. I was fortunate ... to have been able to coach him for a year and have the success we had with him. Now it becomes about two teams playing in a game that is important for both teams because both teams are sitting here at this time of the year with just one win. Both teams are trying to get something going and not dig themselves into too deep a hole."
Horn also resisted any temptation to take a shot at the Saints. He said he went to Atlanta because his wife's family lives in the Southeast, not because the Falcons are historically the Saints' oldest and biggest divisional rivals.
"I know you guys think I'm probably trying to play it down," Horn said. "I'm going to try to do my best and do my job as far as playing for the Atlanta Falcons because that's my new team now, but I'm not coming back for hurrah or trying to embarrass somebody or make somebody feel bad. That's not where I'm at right now. We're 1-5 right now."
Horn, 35, has struggled a bit himself. Lining up as the Falcons' third wide receiver, he has 11 catches for 117 yards and no touchdowns. Atlanta has yet to profit from the type of game-breaking performance Horn provided New Orleans on numerous occasions.

HBCU video game features Southern U. (move over, Madden)

Leave it up to a Baton Rouge company to lead the way in creating the black college football experience for video games.
Nerjyzed Entertainment, a privately held, African American-owned digital entertainment company, will debut "Black College Football the Xperience" featuring more than 40 HBCU football teams in November.
The game will feature exclusively HBCUs and will be different from the Madden franchise, EA Sports' cash cow football game.
BCFx will show off the schools' marching bands as well as the dancers and cheering squads, something Madden includes only in cursory detail.
The game will build on the experiences of Nerjyzed Entertainment's staff.
A black-owned company based in Baton Rouge, La., Nerjyzed is staffed by HBCU alumni, including a Howard grad and a Southern University grad.
It's a niche that's a long time coming, according to Nerjyzed.
"Madden forgot about us, so we [are] doing it ourselves," said Jerry Perkins, promoter for BCFx.
Jacqueline Beauchamp, Nerjyzed Entertainment's chief executive officer, is an aluma of Southern University. Brian "B-Jax" Jackson, the creative design director who said he came up with the idea, is a Howard alumnus.

Southern University played a large part in the game's characters.
"We wanted the game to be as realistic as possible, so we held a contest for motion-capture participants," Jackson said. "All of the in-game animations for the band and cheerleaders came from [students] at Southern University. We also went to 30 schools to record different bands playing."
Set to hit stores on Nov. 23 for PCs, the game's creators expect it to be available on Microsoft's XBox 360 and Sony's Playstation 3 in February.
Ashley Patton, Nerjyzed's marketing director, said the company has a five-year contract with three HBCU athletic conferences — SWAC, CIAA and SIAC — as well as the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and several schools within the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and independent HBCUs, such as Tennessee State.
It has not received clearance from all the MEAC schools to use their teams, but hopes to have Howard on the game in time for the release, according to BCFx.
Jackson, the creative design director and a former employee of EA Sports, said BCFx has been nearly two years in the making.

Jackson said he came up with game's concept four years ago and is working to ensure that a new version of the game will be released annually, much like NCAA Football and Madden.
When players pick a school, a brief history of the institution appears on the screen. For Fisk University, a short story of the Fisk Jubilee Singers materializes.
Beauchamp said, "We plan on making a huge presence at the Bayou Classic," the annual matchup between Southern and Grambling universities, "but we will also be at the Southern Homecoming and we have big plans that include live music and more."
A planned "jukebox" feature allows gamers to watch the halftime sequences or listen to the bands' music whenever they wish.

It can be argued that no segment of video game consumers play as much as black males age 18 - 36. That represents a huge pie of market share.
"The gaming industry is worth $30 billion," Patton continued. "And black consumers outnumber other groups nearly 2 to 1. Yet there [is] no game out there that truly represents us."
"We're currently looking for interns," Patton said. "Our staff is composed of individuals from various prestigious HBCUs and we're always looking to give back to our communities."

Soledad O'Brien's Katrina Video