Did Katrina save the Saints for New Orleans?

And some of us can grow up without giving up the parts of being a fan that we love. Sorry you haven't figured out how to do that.

Yes, I realize most pro sports franchise owners are greedy bastards who couldn't care less about the fans. Not all, but most. I'd say two out of three in Pittsburgh, the owners I know the most about, fit the greedy asshole description. Might be 3-for-3 Sunday if somebody not named Rooney ever owns the Steelers.

And you know what? I don't give a shit. I can still be a fan of all three teams and I can still be happy that the Pirates and Penguins stayed. I understand what that means to Pittsburgh. You don't. Just like I understand what the Saints mean to New Orleans. You don't.

We can go 'round and 'round on this one, but I guarantee we'll never agree on it. Because from a practical point of view, you are right. But sometimes, you have to ignore the practical. And when you can do that, I'm right.

Ok...way too deep for message board posting.

 

I realize my politics have pretty much been established on this board, and that as far as Yawn and his ilk are concerned, I be the Anti-Christ.

(You know what I'm sayin' ...)

Anyway, all y'all who haven't been down this way, to see things for your own selves, but insist on shooting your mouths off, on account of the fact that Fox News ....

Ah, shit.

STFU.

 

Well, that contributed almost nothing.

 

Yeah, I know JD. Not picking at you, just taking a handy quotable post to make my point. You as much as anyone knows what the true scope of things was around here, but there's still a tendency to lump a bunch of folks in surrounding areas while NOLA gets the headlines.

 

I'm curious about a few things regarding Mississippi. Did Haley Barbour's presence in the governor's mansion help things move along better in your state? Because I know from having been in Gulfport the week after the storm, things were already moving, whereas New Orleans sat around dead for months, and parts of it are still that way. Also, what is the return rate in Mississippi? At this point, it seems to me a good chunk of New Orleans residents are just never coming back, but I don't get that feeling about Mississippi so much.

 

I don't think there's any doubt that having former RNC chairman Haley Barbour in the governor's mansion, along with former majority leader Trent Lott and backroom-master Thad Cochran in the Senate helped Mississippi along greatly. That's a pretty powerful, plugged-in triumphirate to help lead the way.

Census numbers are really shaky right now with the ever-shifting sands, but we're down a significant chunk in the latest round of estimates. I think some more have come back since those numbers, but there's been a redistribution in South Mississippi with more folks living in the second tier of counties from the beach. I think there's a feeling that the engine that will power our recover (casinos and condos) is in better shape than New Orleans. And in some bizarre way, they may benefit from the lack of coverage we're getting in the recovery.

The thing that will decide the ultimate fate of our recovery is insurance, however. If that situation doesn't stabilize at some significantly lower level, it's going to make it very hard for the workingman to live here. And by "workingman," I mean well up into teachers, firemen, policemen, journalists and the middle class. It's going to make affordable housing impossible to obtain unless premiums come down.

 

New Orleans with pro sports and Katrina

OR

New Orleans without pro sports and Katrina never happening.

Yeah, nice tradeoff.

 

The problem with "quantifying these things in dollars and sense" is that they are whopping losers in that context, Studies from the Brookings to the Cato Institutes have proven that pumping public money into private sports enterprises is an awful waste of public investment. What to make folks feel better? Get them drinking water and a home.

 

Perspective at the 5 year mark...

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2010/08/new_orleans_saints_success_sup.html

 

The Mets' Triple-A team is in Buffalo. The Marlins are in New Orleans. And as we know from recent reports, the Marlins have no money to do anything.

 

Who cares? Is the Chucky fellatio of Sean Payton and Drew Brees done already? Geeeezus. With Chuck's detailed analytical breakdown of the Aints' 2009 season, you wonder why he doesn't have an NFL gig.

Christ, that shit was barely better than this Tebow fellating previously.

 

And RACK fenian's take from 3 years ago. If any of you idiots vote for public funds for a professional ballpark, you deserve to get your ass kicked.