The New Orleans Saints have released a statement in response to the absurd report that the Saints are a potential candidate to move to Toronto.

“Reports about the Saints as a potential team moving to Toronto are completely false. The New Orleans Saints are committed to the city of New Orleans,” said Greg Bensel, Vice President of Communications.

The team’s statement comes in response to a story from thescore.com. In the story, Doug Ford, brother of Toronto mayor Rob Ford, claimed that the Jaguars and Saints were teams that could be on the move. The ludicrous statement suggests complete ignorance on the part of Ford. Either that, or he’s just stupid.

Ford released a statement  in response to the criticism, saying, “We all think New Orleans is a great city and taking away the Saints is the last thing we want to do.” What? Taking the Saints away. It’s almost as if he’s implying that Toronto could actually take the Saints, but won’t because it would upset New Orleans. What is this guy smoking? Doug Ford claimed to hear from “a very good source” that Toronto could be a landing spot for the Saints. Either Ford has the worst “very good source” of all-time, or he’s lying to cover his back.

Let’s examine the facts. The Saints signed a new agreement with the state of Louisiana after the Super Bowl season of 2009. The agreement runs through 2025. Tom Benson recently purchased two buildings next to the Superdome. Champions Square was just built next to the dome.  Do I need to go on? Probably not, but I will. A $300 million Superdome renovation is entering its final stages. Every home game since 2006 has soldout. Season tickets are soldout and have a waiting list of over 60,000. The NFL Super Bowl is set for the Crescent City in 2013.

Today, the Saints are as embedded in the state of Louisiana and the Gulf South as they’ve ever been. I would tell Saints fans not to worry, but I don’t have too. They already know the obvious. The Saints aren’t going anywhere.

From ESPN

Not surprisingly, Atlanta’s Matt Ryan defeated Carolina’s Jordan Gross and New Orleans’ Drew Brees got by Tampa Bay’s Josh Freeman in the first round of the “Madden NFL 12 Cover Vote’’.

Gross is one of the best offensive tackles in the league and truly one of the nicest people in the NFC South. But did anyone think a tackle from a 2-14 team had a chance against Ryan? A few years down the road, Freeman might have had a chance against Brees, but he’s not quite there yet.

Anyway, we’re onto the next round and you can cast your vote here. Ryan, a No. 2 seed, has a pretty good draw against Cleveland’s Peyton Hillis, a No. 2 seed. But I’d urge New Orleans fans to vote early and often if you want Brees on the cover for the second straight year. He’s got a tough opponent, New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez.

I’d say there’s no real comparison between Brees and Sanchez on the field. But those of us in the NFC South are familiar with how small markets sometimes can get overshadowed by the big ones and Sanchez plays in the league’s biggest market.

From ESPN

NEW ORELANS – A giant excavator on Wednesday demolished metal risers that had supported the second-tier seating inside the Louisiana Superdome since the huge stadium’s opening in 1975, part of the last phase of an $85 million renovation to spruce up the arena and add more concession stands and thousands of new seats.

Workers with huge saws and crowbars busily reduced the risers into piles of debris to be hauled away.

The Superdome will present a totally new look to those attending the 2012 BCS Championship game, the men’s NCAA Final Four in 2012, and the Super Bowl in 2013, said Doug Thornton, vice president of SMG, the company that manages the Superdome.

“There is definitely going to be a wow-factor,” Thornton said. “When you come in the door you are going to see a completely different Dome. The entire configuration on the lower bowl will be changed from an oval to a rectangle.”

The first phase of the upgrade added 16 new private box suites and a new press box.

The work – part of the 15-year lease extension between the Saints and the state – completes the Superdome’s renovation project for the 36-year-old building that was wrecked by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

That new configuration will allow the addition of 3,500 new seats on the ground level, and allow the building of a new “club area,” with 4,500 larger leather seats with cup-holders, and a private club for the use of those ticketholders.

The plan also calls for the remodeling of 137 suites and four club lounges, widening the plaza concourse from 18 feet to 60 feet and additional concession stands.

The current work is being done as part of the 2009 agreement between the state and New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson that extends his lease through 2025. The upgrades will increase the income Benson is able to generate in the Superdome and reduce the state’s obligations to the club.

The renovation is scheduled to be completed by June 20. The Essence Musical Festival is scheduled to open in the Superdome on July 1.

“We’ll have it done,” Thornton said. “We unfortunately picked up a couple of weeks we didn’t think we’d have.”

The bonus time came when the Saints were knocked out of the playoffs. Work was not scheduled to begin until Jan. 24.

With the $225 million spent to restore the Superdome from damage left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana will have spent $305 million on the building since 2005.

From the Miami Herald

The victories continue to pile up for New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, both on and off the field.

The reigning Super Bowl MVP was selected The Associated Press’ Male Athlete of the Year on Friday, based on a vote of AP members.

Brees is the fourth quarterback to receive the honor in the past four decades, along with the Patriots’ Tom Brady in 2007, the 49ers’ Joe Montana in 1989 and 1990, and the Raiders’ George Blanda in 1970.

Brees received 48 of 176 votes from U.S. news organizations that make up the AP’s membership. NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, who won the honor in 2009, finished second with 31 votes. Boxer Manny Pacquiao was third with 21 votes. Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay had 17 and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick 10.

“I’m extremely honored by it,” said Brees, who was recently selected Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, among several other accolades in 2010. “I feel like I’m representing our team and our city for the accomplishments and the Super Bowl championship. When you look at the list of prior winners of Male Athlete of the Year, it’s a very esteemed list. I’m very humbled to be a part of it.”

Continue at the TP

The Cvitanoviches are going to the Super Bowl.

Two of them, in fact. Drago’s proprietor Tommy Cvitanovich, his son Josh and his brother Gerry, and their friend former LSU quarterback Jeff Wickersham, will be in Dallas for Super Bowl XLV and also to compete in the super bowl of tailgating.

Four teams of Saints fans battled it out near the Superdome on Sunday in a tailgating competition, and the winners got the chance to compete in a national championship during the week of the Super Bowl.

“We got our team there,” Tommy Cvitanovich said. “Now we’ve got to get the Saints there.”

The competition, a combination of a promotional event for Microsoft search engine Bing and ideas from New Orleans native and self-proclaimed “Commissioner of Tailgating” Joe Cahn, involves five other cities across the nation. The Cvitanoviches and Wickersham will have to compete against the tailgating winners from those cities when they go to Dallas in February.

Drago’s has used an old New York City Fire Department firetruck — refurbished with Jagermeister taps and television screens — to tailgate for two years, Tommy Cvitanovich said.

With the help of the New Orleans Fire Department, which Drago’s cooks for on Thanksgiving, Cvitanovich brought the truck with him Sunday and cooked up several dishes for anyone who asked for a plate.

The event was open to the public, and people poured in to see what the huge trucks, TV screens and noise were all about.

Chris Henkhaus of Slidell and his team set up an entire old-fashioned saloon-themed area.

It was complete with a wooden gate and swinging doors that invited tailgaters to tables, a mobile home turned into a bar and a selection of barbecue cooked from their recipes that had just won at the Wild Game Cookoff in Slidell, Henkhaus said. He said he and his friends always use the mobile home to tailgate.

Members of each team said they brought the vehicles, food and friends they always tailgate with to the competition Sunday.

Scott Sparks brought his black-and-gold tailgating school bus and his recipe that won him a tailgating competition on Food Network, and Kristen Preau brought the truck from her newly created company, Cook Me Somethin’ Mister.

From TP