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re: If Benson would have moved the Saints to San Antonio permanently...
Posted on 5/20/14 at 7:45 pm to SammyTiger
Posted on 5/20/14 at 7:45 pm to SammyTiger
0
Posted on 5/20/14 at 7:56 pm to SammyTiger
quote:
I think we forget how shitty an owner Benson was pre2006
bullshite , the shitty politicians mostly from north Louisiana that was constantly up his arse and even belittling him for wanting to bring the saints organization up to par with the rest of the nfl ....
now I will say having the opinion that they were not worth spending the $$$$$ on when the state didn't have it or really could have spent it on other needs is one thing , but they treated him like shite and were trying to clown the man ......
btw in my opinion the state made a damn good investment....
Posted on 5/20/14 at 8:16 pm to Giantkiller
On a side note: Would you still be a fan if the team was moved?
Posted on 5/20/14 at 8:49 pm to SmellslikeKevinBacon
hell no. Had the Saints left, I wouldn't even watch the NFL until NOLA got another team.
Posted on 5/20/14 at 11:46 pm to SammyTiger
quote:I think people who say this forget John Mecom
I think we forget how shitty an owner Benson was pre2006
Benson's one frickup was hiring Ditka. Otherwise he's been competent.
Posted on 5/20/14 at 11:49 pm to touchdownjeebus
quote:NO will never get another NFL team. The Saints only exist b/c Russell Long and Hale Boggs shook down Pete Rozelle over the TV antitrust exemption.
I wouldn't even watch the NFL until NOLA got another team
Posted on 5/21/14 at 12:40 am to SmellslikeKevinBacon
quote:
On a side note: Would you still be a fan if the team was moved?
Of the Saints? Not if they moved. If Benson would have left in the aftermath of the storm, I would hate him with every fiber of my being and probably would have just given up. I really couldn't imagine it. But I think we all forget sometimes about how close it came to almost happening.
Posted on 5/21/14 at 3:07 am to Giantkiller
quote:
Of the Saints? Not if they moved. If Benson would have left in the aftermath of the storm, I would hate him with every fiber of my being and probably would have just given up. I really couldn't imagine it. But I think we all forget sometimes about how close it came to almost happening
if it weren't for Katrina imo they would be in San Antonio .....
and it would all be Blancos fault .....
Posted on 5/21/14 at 10:25 am to tigerswin03
quote:
if it weren't for Katrina imo they would be in San Antonio
I remember sitting in my truck and listening to the press conference with Mike Foster and Tom Benson, when they signed that apparent back breaking deal. I assumed they'd be here forever, but things started getting dicey between him and Blanco. You're probably right. There was some standoffs going on back then. The future was looking bleak that season before Katrina. Looking back now, that shite was weird.
Posted on 5/21/14 at 10:59 am to touchdownjeebus
I agree. That would have ripped my heart out. No way I could pull for them if Benson moved them.
Posted on 5/21/14 at 11:14 am to Peazey
The Saints last blacked out game was in 2000.
They were selling out for YEARS before "they drafted Reggie".
They were selling out for YEARS before "they drafted Reggie".
This post was edited on 5/21/14 at 11:15 am
Posted on 5/21/14 at 2:16 pm to lsutigers1992
quote:
Benson said before the hurricane that he was offered a billion dollars to move the team to L.A. I believe him. That's where he was going.
interesting, i didn't know that.
turns out that staying has been pretty profitable, though, because the total team value is just about $1 billion and he brings in $392 million per year, which means that he recoups that value in earnings over a span of less than three years. pretty good deal for him.
New Orleans Saints Value
Posted on 5/21/14 at 2:19 pm to SportsGuyNOLA
quote:
The Saints last blacked out game was in 2000.
2002 actually.
As far as Benson, we all need to remember why it was he got so pissed off. This was the conversation that occured between the Saints and the State after Katrina:
Saints: How is the Dome?
State: Bad.
Saints: How bad?
State: It will need to be demolished.
Saints: Will you build another one?
State: No.
Saints: What about us?
State: Not our problem.
This is what Kathleen Blanco tried to do to this city and this state. She just nonchalanetly and arbitrarily decided to condemn the dome let benson and the Saints fend for themselves. It was no wonder that Benson wanted to leave..because Blanco basically told him to get lost.
It took leadership from guys like Doug Thornton and Paul Tagliabue to set this right. It wasn't so much Benson that Tagiabue had to stong arm but Blanco, reminding her that the Saints had a lease and the state had an obligation to live up to that lease and they had an obligation to have a serious look at the Dome and use whatever federal assistance was available to fix it. He also had to remind Benson that things worked out best when he kept his mouth shut to the cameras.
This post was edited on 5/21/14 at 2:20 pm
Posted on 5/21/14 at 2:21 pm to Kafka
quote:
I think people who say this forget John Mecom
If Mecom had his way, the Saints would have moved to Jacksonville in 1985.
Tom Benson SAVED the Saints. And from what I remember Edwin Edwards had to beg Benson to do it. All part of the screwed up history of this team.
Posted on 5/21/14 at 2:53 pm to Giantkiller
quote:
I honestly wonder if the city would've come back.
It's an eerie thought. I'd imagine there'd be this faction of Saints diehards who'd be pulling for the team in San Antonio, and then a smattering of Texans fans throughout. But the city as a whole may have really never gotten back. Even non-football fans in the city rallied around them. Still, I think there would have been this urge to put a team back here. True that LA doesn't have a team yet, but that's based on economics. There would have been a pretty public clamoring here for a team.
the only people who wonder if the city of NOLA would have come back if the Saints had not are obsessive NFL fans or Saints fans. The city was coming back one way or the other. And who do we have to thank? George Bush. His colossal screw up in the first days after the storm assured that he had to go above and beyond what he would have done otherwise. He was the one who pushed $125 billion through Congress for the rebuilding of the city.
The Saints were a rallying point and offered relief, but don't for a second delude yourself with some sentimental saccharin story about the Saints saving the city. The $125 billion from the US govt did that.
Posted on 5/22/14 at 1:56 am to runningTiger
If the Saints left, I would have hated Benson and the team. Given the success they have had since Katrina and presuming it to have happened elsewhere, I would have complete, total, bitter hatred for the Saints and the NFL.
No, we would not have gotten another team, and likely the Hornets would have moved to OKC.
The loss of major pro sports would have doomed the city. I think the conventions and tourism industry waited to see what was going to happen; had the franchises skipped town, NOLA was gonna be out of the rotation for most other things.
No, we would not have gotten another team, and likely the Hornets would have moved to OKC.
The loss of major pro sports would have doomed the city. I think the conventions and tourism industry waited to see what was going to happen; had the franchises skipped town, NOLA was gonna be out of the rotation for most other things.
Posted on 5/22/14 at 7:09 am to Kafka
Once again, Kafka puts the whole situation in perspective!
My first thought after reading the OP was, New Orleans is lucky to have gotten a team in the first place. The NFL probably wouldn't have expanded here, if they hadn't been extorted into doing so by our congressional delegation.
While it's easy for some people to hate Tom Benson over past state subsidies, threats to move the team and his ocassional PR mistake; he's made quite the contribution to New Orleans and Louisiana. He's also done very well for himself, but if he hadn't put together an ownership group and forked over $75 or $80 million, the Saints would have been gone 30 years ago. Tom Benson has done more for N.O. than most people have in it's near 300 year history.
My first thought after reading the OP was, New Orleans is lucky to have gotten a team in the first place. The NFL probably wouldn't have expanded here, if they hadn't been extorted into doing so by our congressional delegation.
While it's easy for some people to hate Tom Benson over past state subsidies, threats to move the team and his ocassional PR mistake; he's made quite the contribution to New Orleans and Louisiana. He's also done very well for himself, but if he hadn't put together an ownership group and forked over $75 or $80 million, the Saints would have been gone 30 years ago. Tom Benson has done more for N.O. than most people have in it's near 300 year history.
Posted on 5/22/14 at 12:49 pm to Kafka
quote:
I think people who say this forget John Mecom
No shite. Dude was way in over his head.
Posted on 5/24/14 at 7:48 pm to Peazey
quote:
Games weren't regularly selling out until the Saints drafted Reggie
Reggie was not the reason. State-pride post-Katrina plus Brees' arrival had more to do with that.
Posted on 5/26/14 at 2:14 am to JabarkusRussell
quote:late post, just back from the beach; but nope. That's hindsight speaking.
Games weren't regularly selling out until the Saints drafted Reggie
Reggie was not the reason. State-pride post-Katrina plus Brees' arrival had more to do with that.
Reggie Bush was the imminent savior of the Saints, the next Barry Sanders, only better. People saw the fact that he wasn't picked #1 overall as a sign of NFL conspiracy to help New Orleans. Hell, I had a subscription to The Sporting News then, and they had an official 2 page section devoted to Reggie for each game of his rookie season, regardless of any other NFL feature they might publish.
Brees was seen as a serviceable QB, but a lot of people wanted Culpepper or a rookie.
Needless to say, public perception was wrong on both counts.
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