Cool Night on MNF

This blog is my confessional. I am not a Saints fan, nor am I someone directly affected by Katrina. And, I did not sports-cry, but I did sports-well-up when Joe Horn was in the tunnel ready to run on the field. That was pretty cool.

Saints 23, Falcons 3 …

When Jimmy and Marilyn Felder walked into the Superdome at 5 p.m. on Monday, they were like anyone else trying to find their seats.

But the Felders were not simply looking for the seats where they would watch the football game. They were also looking for the seats where they lived last August.
On the morning of Aug. 29, 2005, as Hurricane Katrina peeled back the Superdome’s 9.7-acre roof, the Felders were curled up in the field level, trying to sleep with little success. They could not block out the stench or the noise in the stadium.
They could not stay dry with the rainwater dripping through the roof.

They returned Monday, as new Saints season-ticket holders. The Felders, who fled the Superdome one day after the hurricane, wading through knee-high water to escape, were among the first fans rushing into the stadium when it reopened.

“A lot of people who were here are going to be afraid to come back,” Jimmy Felder said. “But we wanted to be here.”

The Falcons never had a chance …

In an earsplitting return to their rebuilt stadium, the Saints gave the Big Easy something to cheer about — an undefeated football team that made it look easy with a 23-3 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night.

This one couldn't have been scripted any better for a team that spent all of last season on the road, and it couldn't have come at a better time for a city that is still struggling to overcome the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

"From the moment I signed with the Saints, I was looking forward to this," said quarterback Drew Brees, who joined New Orleans during the offseason. "It was a great night. It's something we'll never forget."

After a Super Bowl-like pregame show that included a performance by supergroups U2 and Green Day, the Saints wasted no time turning their welcome-home party into Mardi Gras: The Falcons' first drive went three-and-out, and special teams demon Steve Gleason sliced through the middle of the Atlanta line to smother Michael Koenen's punt.

The ball skidded across the goal line, where Curtis Deloatch fell on it for a touchdown — the first given up by the Falcons this season. Just like that, Saints sent an emphatic message to the NFL and the entire country: New Orleans is open for business.

DeLoatch ran over to the stands and pointed at the crowd of 70,003, as if to say, "Take that Katrina!" Undoubtedly, many more were cheering around this still-recovering city, some of them vowing to set up televisions outside government-issued trailers that pass for homes more than a year after the storm blew ashore, the levees broke and the water poured through.

Volquez is off to a very tough start …

Volquez fell to 1-6 for the season, 1-10 for his career, but the really ugly number is his career ERA, which is 9.20 for 14 games (11 starts). Since 1900, no pitcher with at least 10 career starts has finished with an ERA of nine or higher.

The Rangers don't expect Volquez to finish with such unattractive numbers, either. But in two short auditions over the last two seasons, he's seemed to be overwhelmed by major league hitting.

I bet you were wondering how the Dallas Morning News was going to replace its lost columnists…Well, here is your answer: JJ Taylor is now a columnist who may write about potential Rangers targets …

Terry Glenn cut his hand? …Did anyone happen to ask him how he did this?

Cowboys receiver Terry Glenn cut his hand on Monday and his status for practice today and Sunday's game against the Titans is unknown, according to a source. The cut is not believed to be serious. Glenn leads the Cowboys with 10 receptions for 175 yards and a touchdown. The Cowboys already are without receiver Terrell Owens, who broke a bone in his right hand against the Redskins.

Since you know we love Cowboys blogs that don’t suck, Here is Know your Dallas Cowboys.com …



Madden Curse knocks Alexander out with broken foot …

Add Shaun Alexander to the list of athletes injured the year they appear on the cover of the popular "Madden" football video game, as what began as a coincidence has come to be characterized as a curse.

Alexander is the sixth consecutive athlete featured on the cover to suffer an injury that forced him to miss at least one game.

"It's unfortunate," said Chris Erb, who is the director of marketing for EA Sports. "We work so close with these athletes, and we root for them to succeed."
Erb has more than a simple rooting interest in Alexander. Erb is from Seattle, attended Washington, and was at Sunday's game against the New York Giants, having flown here to watch the Huskies on Saturday and the Seahawks on Sunday.

"Both personally and for work," Erb said. "I'm really bummed to see Shaun go down."

And now Matt Leinart will start and begin to make everyone pay for not taking him in the draft…Tennessee, are you listening?

ESPN, citing team sources, reported that Leinart will start.

When asked if he remained committed to Warner, Green said: "I've not thought about who the starting players are right now. Normally, personnel is something we do on Tuesday."

Asked later if he had not ruled out changing quarterbacks, Green said: "I'm not talking about it is what I'm not doing right now."

Avery – Mavs talk continues …

The Mavs didn't go into the off-season looking for a massive overhaul. They didn't need one.

What were needed were tweaks here and upgrades there. Battle-tested veterans Devean George, Greg Buckner, Anthony Johnson and Austin Croshere join the Dirk Nowitzki-Jason Terry-Josh Howard core when camp begins Oct. 3 in Denton.

Johnson may have a new contract in place before the first practice at the University of North Texas, though owner Mark Cuban and Johnson's agent declined to comment on negotiations. Johnson's current deal runs for three more years, and he is among the lowest-paid coaches in the league.

That's hardly his focus now. If all goes to plan in Johnson's second full season as coach, another lengthy run toward the title is ahead.

"We go in it for the long haul," he said. "That's what we said all through the regular season [last year], that we would love to get the best record but we're more concerned with the big picture. That's not an arrogant statement. That's just the vision that we have."

Revo takes the words right out of my mouth …

Hmmmm, seven goals by the Tampa Bay Lightning against Stars goalie Marty Turco on Sunday night. It's good to know that Marty is already rounding into postseason form....

Finally, some college football conference matchups that get us excited! Aggie and Red Raider!

Aggie owned recently by Raider …

If it doesn't, even winning eight non-conference games by a combined 400-0 margin would not have mattered. This is the most important game of the year -Êthe biggest in Franchione's tenure. That's something we've known for months. But now that it's here, the ramifications are magnified.

The winner will be a Top 25 team and have a good chance to win the Big 12 South. The loser will need to reel off a few victories to regain respect, which still might not come in a conference that's not as highly regarded as it was a few weeks ago.

And there's more pressure on A&M than Tech, much more. Tech's program has moved ahead of the Aggies, at least on the field, if not in the minds of A&M faithful.

In the last four years Tech has several signature victories - Oklahoma, California, Texas, Clemson and Nebraska (twice). Texas was ranked third when it lost to Tech, and Cal was fourth.

A&M last beat a ranked team two years ago, a 32-25 overtime victory over the 25th-ranked Red Raiders. That was the Aggies' third victory that season over a ranked foe.
It might be an omen that the Red Raiders, 3-1, re-entered the USA Today Top 25 poll Sunday at No. 24. That just adds national attention to the showdown.

The game is listed as pick 'em by the oddsmakers, thanks to Kyle Field.

That means the Aggies have improved 39 points since last year's 56-17 drubbing when Tech rolled up 627 yards, 433 of them in the air.
Is A&M that much better? It better be.

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Tech has found several ways to win, always frustrating the Aggies:

• In 2002, there were the two missed extra points in a 48-47 overtime loss.

• In 2001, A&M had two costly turnovers in a 12-0 loss.

• In 1999, a holding call wiped out a 20-yard A&M completion to the Tech 10 late in a 21-19 loss when the Aggies were ranked No. 5.

• In 1997, a 47-yard field goal with 19 seconds left gave Tech a 16-13 victory.

• In 1995, Tech linebacker Zach Thomas returned an interception 33 yards with 30 seconds left for a 14-7 victory over the eighth-ranked Aggies.
A&M fans have forgotten the statistics from those losses. What they remember are the losses.

That's why it doesn't matter how A&M beats Tech, just as long as it happens.

Meanwhile, before Longhorn meets Sooner next week, They must play Sam Houston …

If Texas coach Mack Brown has his way, UT's game this week against Sam Houston State will be its last against a Division I-AA team.

When the NCAA officially added a 12th game to the schedule last fall, it left UT scrambling to fill a very specific date — Sept.30. UT officials say Sam Houston State was the only taker the schedule-makers in the Longhorns athletic office could find on short notice.

Brown spent much of his news conference Monday deflecting questions about the game, which will pit the Longhorns against a I-AA foe for the first time in 14 years.
"I didn't schedule it, (the players) didn't schedule it," Brown said. "But we still have to play it."

All Texas out of state team …

Here's the team of former Texas high-school standouts who could challenge for football supremacy if they were linked on the same squad.

QB Chase Daniel, Missouri, 6-1, 220, So., Southlake (Carroll)
RB Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma, 6-2, 218, Jr., Palestine
RB Justin Forsett, California, 5-8, 186, Jr., Arlington (Grace Prep)
WR Terrence Nunn, Nebraska, 6-0, 185, Jr., Houston (Cypress Falls)
WR Malcolm Kelly, Oklahoma, 6-4, 217, So., Longview

Week 5 College Football TV schedule ….

Champions League Football Today:

Manchester United wants revenge …

ALEX FERGUSON has warned Benfica he is after Champions League revenge.

Benfica dumped Manchester United out of the competition at the first stage last season with a 2-1 defeat in Lisbon that left them bottom of their group.

Fergie roared: “It will be a bloody different result this time you can believe me about that.”

United return nine months later on the back of a 3-2 opening game win over Celtic.

Boss Ferguson also believes Portuguese star Ronaldo is ready to make up for that result last December.

Ronaldo had an awful game in the defeat, was jeered by fans and then subbed.
He also gave the Benfica fans a one-finger gesture that earned him a ban for the Celtic game at Old Trafford.

Tue Sep 26 01:30PM Central LIVE
ESPN2 (US)
UEFA Champions League - Match Day 2
Benfica (Portugal) vs Manchester United (England)

Tue Sep 26 01:30PM Central LIVE
Setanta Sports USA
UEFA Champions League - Match Day 2
Arsenal (England) vs Porto (Portugal)

Email:

Matthew Barnaby or "Bam Bam" may very well become a fan favorite in Dallas. A few people I know from one of the Stars message boards were at training camp this weekend and asked Barnaby to send a message to a Wings fan friend of theirs.. This is the result. I'm sure you'll get a
kick out of it.

Thanks,
Brandon

Here it is!



Youtube:

Little Superstar – 1:28





Clemson Fan – 0:51