Blah, Blah, Blogging... about the SAINTS

The Saints being poised to make it into Superbowl XLI is surreal news for what’s now an equally surreal world.

This thing is starting to make me question reality. I’m sure part of The Matrix got miscoded a few months ago, and this is the result.

I’ll call Keanu Reeves and see what he can do about sending a heat wave over Chicago Sunday afternoon.

On to the hits and misses...


Please, leave the trash-talk on the Senate floor — Illinois Senator Barack Obama said Monday that the Saints should be prepared for their “fairytale ride” to come to an end Sunday. For someone who’s toying with running for the Democratic presidential nomination, he sure doesn’t know how to get or keep support in the Deep South.

Personally I think Obama should give his free playoff ticket to a New Orleans storm victim and pay for his or her travel expenses.

Where Y’at, FCC? — If you noticed the blond Saints fan with the offensive T-shirt broadcast during the game Saturday night, you’re not alone. Apparently her name is Heather, and she’s become a minor celebrity on YouTube.com.

Tuesday evening a local radio station was attempting to interview her, all because a FOX producer couldn’t see the F-word right in front of his face.

According to an e-mail from FOX spokesman Lou D’Ermilio, the scene was not live. It was recorded during a play and aired during a replay.

Nice going. But in a world where those words can fly fast and free after 11 p.m. on Comedy Central, is a second’s worth of profanity really that big of a deal? You tell me.


Angelina Jolie, Southern soccer mom — The biggest celebrity news coming out of New Orleans is that actress Angelina Jolie and her boyfriend/fiance/babydaddy Brad Pitt have bought a $3.5 million home in the French Quarter. Jolie says she wants to befriend “normal moms” and send her three children (two adopted, one not) to school in the city.

The other reason for the move — to escape the paparazzi — has pretty much been neutralized by the fact that everyone knows where she’s moving. The best way to avoid stalkers is, of course, to announce your move in US Weekly magazine.

Pitt has been doing some charity work in the city while filming another movie, so it’s probably convenient for them to be here right now. But I’m sure when the novelty wears off, they’ll go back to La La Land.

Then again, if there’s any celebrity who’s experienced the gamut of primitive, Third World conditions, it’s Jolie, who adopts children from impoverished countries and travels the world for the United Nations. And there’s that dark side of hers, the one prone to gothic dress and wearing vials of blood as jewelry.

At least the city will collect taxes on the property and rent some hotel rooms to paparazzi. And I’m sure they’ll grab a bite to eat while they’re in town. So thanks, Angelina and Brad, for improving New Orleans’ tourism outlook.


I’ll leave the Golden Globes up to you — Due to an interruption in my cable service Monday night, I missed the Golden Globe Awards. But I don’t feel like I missed out on much, not when I can tune into “The Insider” and get all the silly coverage I need.

“American Idol” alum Jennifer Hudson took home an award for “Dreamgirls” (never seen it), “Babel” won for best picture (never seen it) and America Ferrera won as TV’s “Ugly Betty” (never seen it).

Maybe Charter Communications did me a favor by forcing me to spend the night working on my computer.

The full list of winners can be found here. Is it just me, or is Hollywood once again proving that it’s out of touch with the likes and dislikes of the American public?

Tangipahoa School Board colors outside the lines

The Tangipahoa School Board is beginning its search for a new superintendent, but it might not want an educator to fill the position.

It is asking the state BESE board to grant an exemption to its policy that public school superintendents be certified educators.

Would the school board be doing the right thing by hiring a non-educator, or should it follow the rules?

Read the full story here.

"God Warrior" strikes again

Ponchatoula's Marguerite Perrin is set to appear on FOX reality show "Trading Spouses" once again next week. Daily Star staff writer Libby Haydel found out she was the only former guest to be asked to do another episode.

Her last appearance was marked by an angry rant against her Wiccan host family that has been parodied by many, including one drag queen. Perrin wants to show America she is not as closed-minded as she appeared the first time around.

Will Perrin improve her image by appearing on "Trading Spouses" again, or has the damage already been done?

Read the full story here.

Smoking a no-no on campus?

New smoking restrictions on the Southeastern Louisiana University campus are being implemented to “clear the air” near entrances to academic buildings.

The restrictions coincide with the Louisiana Smoke-Free Air Act that went into effect Jan. 1, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs John Crain said.

The policy expands SLU’s efforts initiated in 2003 that allowed smoking only in designated areas around certain buildings, he said. Designated smoking areas have been created near D Vickers Hall, Garrett Hall, Fayard Hall and Sims Memorial Library.

Smoking will be banned at the entrances to Mims Hall, the Biology Building, certain areas on the north campus and in the mall of the War Memorial Student Union.

Should smoking be banned at other locations on campus? Or is SLU overdoing the new smoking ban by making even outside areas smoke-free?

Blog note

In 2007, the regular blog column will be published in monthly editions of Downtown. Look for the next blog right here on Thursday, Jan. 18.

Sugarbowl 2007

NEW ORLEANS—They say Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn is the best quarterback coming into the NFL Draft, a possible No. 1 overall pick even.

“They” almost certainly are re-evaluating that assessment today — especially if LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell’s tour de force performance in the Sugar Bowl Wednesday night was indeed his collegiate swan song.

Russell’s MVP showing — 21-for-34 (62 percent) passing for 332 yards and two TDs and one interception — produced a double blowout in the Superdome. One was the final score, a 41-14 LSU victory that was just as one-sided as most observers who questioned Notre Dame’s BCS worthiness expected.

The other laugher was the highly touted matchup of quarterbacks, which most saw as perhaps the best quarterback duel on offer this bowl season. To be sure, it certainly helped that Russell didn’t have to play against an LSU defense which was ranked among the nation’s elite and played like it against the fighting Irish.

Still, those pro scouts who questioned Quinn’s accuracy saw plenty of ammunition to back up that claim. He finished just 15-for-35, hitting just 43 percent of his throws, and many of the ones he did hit were hardly the crisp, sure throws you look for from No. 1 pick-type quarterbacks.

Russell, on the other hand, played a game that might even have been good enough to quiet the LSU fans who still nitpick his every move. Ditto for Tigers coach Les Miles, whose coaching accumen has also been questioned by LSU’s semi-faithful.

But on this night Miles dominated his matchup as well with Notre Dame’s Super Bowl ring-laden Charlie Weis. It was expected that, given weeks to prepare and dissect LSU’s schemes, Weis’s Irish ingenuity would confuse the supposedly confusable Russell.

Didn’t happen — just like Weis’s call for a fake punt from his own 34 on the game’s first series against one of the nation’s top defenses wasn’t happening.

And then there was this Weis witticism after watching LSU jump his team for a 14-0 lead in the first eight minutes, and after Weis was duped by the Irish rally to tie it at 14-14:

“I saw no signs (at halftime) that we’d play a complimentary crummy second half,” said Weis, before conceding his error. “For the rest of the game they really laid the wood on us.”

Chalk that up to Weis whistling past the alleged ancient Indian burial ground beneath his feet in the Superdome, with Notre Dame safety Tom Zbikowski providing backup vocals.

“We didn’t make the plays, but I didn’t see any speed that we haven’t seen before,” Zbikowski sniffed.

Of course, Zbikowski — we were able to identify him on the postgame interview dais only via dental records — didn’t mention that the Irish DBs were burned beyond recognition all those other times they saw LSU’s brand of speed this season, too.

Those forced to watch the game bereft of Irish eyes saw the mismatch in the making.

“You saw big, strong men imposing their will on the defense,” said Miles, whose coaches made it easy for the Tigers. LSU must have been feeling a little deja vu when what they saw on the field looked eerily similar to what they had watched in the meeting room cinema.

“We have a month to prepare for something, you go zoom in and key on certain things,” Tigers receiver Chris Davis said. “Exactly what we saw on film was exactly what they played.”

“Give credit to our coaches for scouting so good and doing their job,” Russell said. “It made it easy for us.”

If anything, perhaps a little too easy, Russell said.

“It was too good, too fast,” he said of the Tigers’ jump to a quick 14-0 lead, then the inevitable lax before ripping off the last 27 points of the game.

And most of it was Russell taking advantage of the mismatches his receivers offered against the Notre Dame secondary. And for once, maybe it will be OK for LSU fans to give Russell his props. A guy who supposedly can’t read defenses very well did a pretty good job of dissecting the schemes the highly respected Weis came up with.

“What people don’t understand about JaMarcus is how smart he is,” Miles said. “He’s a very bright quarterback, understands what he’s looking at. If there’s a characteristic that a great quarterback has, I suspect JaMarcus has it.”

That’s something a lot of LSU fans and Heisman Trophy-voting media types haven’t always seen eye-to-eye with Miles on. But can there be any doubt left now as to who the No. 1 quarterback in the NFL Draft would be if Russell goes ahead and opts to come out after his junior year?

And why not, after Wednesday’s performance, one which left me feeling like Miles might secretly be hoping Russell does go ahead and pull that trigger. After all, it’s not like LSU’s QB cupboard is bare, and Russell’s departure would clear the decks for the Tigers to get highly touted freshman Ryan Perrilloux into the lineup and keep him from, say, jumping to some nearby, quarterback-needy I-AA team that could offer him a platform for his skills right away.

I mean, if there were such a team somewhere that fits that description.

Still, Miles can dream.

“I don’t know why he wasn’t mentioned for the Heisman,” Miles said. “I can tell you this, in short order he has to make a very difficult decision. Certainly he will be offered a pile of money. But if he returns, he’ll certainly be a Heisman Trophy candidate. And (LSU SID) Michael Bonnette, he’d better get the (Heisman campaign) mockups ready.”

– Commentary by John Lenz, Daily Star Sports Editor