The Saint's loosing season is finally over and the Saint's organization, the team, the players, the fans and the sports journalists are still in denial. They all denied and failed to understand the real story prior to the start of the season and are still in denial at the end.
Sean Payton's irresponsible action of allowing bounty gate to happen which resulted in the Saints not having a head coach was and is the sad story of the 7-9 season record. Drew Brees spent more time ranting against the NFL when his rants should have been directed against Payton for putting the Saints in the position they were in. And of course Benson rewarded Payton with a big raise and a new contract despite Payton's irresponsible act when he should have fired him for allowing bounty gate to happen and the harm done to the team and the fans.
But money is what the NFL is all about, not sports, not leadership, not responsibility or accountability. Players, coaches and owners feel they are above it all because they are given idol status and wealth beyond what they deserve.
As reported in a previous commentary the city's sports journalists and players played fairy tale games prior to the start of the season. They said every thing was fine because they were professionals, they knew what had to be done, they have been there and done that, they were focused and all they had to do was do their jobs. In the end the players did not do their jobs and did not earn their salary. Especially Brees.
Now sports journalists and the players are saying every thing will be ok now for next year because Payton will be back and they learned some things along the way. I also wrote a previous commentary dated May 17, four months before the season started concerning Brees and Peyton Manning. I pointed out that no one could predict what kind of season Manning and Denver would have until the season was over since he missed the previous year with a neck injury. Well Manning did a much better job for his team even after sitting out over a year than Brees did for his team and also beat the Saints and Brees in their regular season game this year.
In that same commentary I wrote that no one should be surprised if the Saints had a break even record or would finish 9-7. My predictions were much closer than the city's sports journalists who are incapable of being objective in their reporting. That includes those journalists in radio, TV and the print media. Their comments were typical after the Saints beat Tampa Bay a few weeks ago when they said the Saints were back on their game and playing like champions. They even talked about how the defense played great. Some where along the way they forgot that Tampa Bay was a team with a loosing record and played with just an average quarterback.
Hype, spin and con games describe the Saints this season. Benson, Brees, Payton and Saints players are laughing all the way to the bank. The fans are still loyal and sports journalists are still trying to protect their jobs by fairy tale reporting on the Saints. Objectivity is not a requirement when you live in dreamland.
Note: This commentary was written by John Lucia
