not sure whether this goes in off topic or sports, anyhoo...
Saints will return to Louisiana complex NFL.com wire reports
SAN ANTONIO (Dec. 30, 2005) -- New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson says his team might be able to play in the hurricane-ravaged Superdome by September. NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue isn't so sure.
The Saints will go back to their Louisiana practice facility next month, Benson said in a memo.
"Today we are very pleased to advise our entire organization -- coaches, players and staff -- that we will be returning to Metairie in January," Benson said. "We are working in Louisiana to play as many games as possible in the Superdome, which may be ready in September."
State officials in Louisiana had estimated the Superdome could be repaired and open by November, and Tagliabue wasn't confident about the September estimate. In fact, he wouldn't rule out more games in San Antonio in 2006.
"It's too early to say whether the games will be played at the dome or in Louisiana," Tagliabue said after meeting with Saints players and coaches for about five hours.
The Saints moved their training camp from the New Orleans suburbs to San Antonio after Katrina swamped New Orleans on Aug. 29, just before the start of the season. Then they played one "home" game in New Jersey, three in San Antonio and four in Baton Rouge, La. The Saints averaged about 40,000 fans at LSU's Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge and more than 60,000 at the Alamodome while stumbling to a 3-12 record.
They will finish the season Jan. 1 at Tampa Bay.
Tagliabue addressed concerns among players at the meeting that they would be returning for 2006, but with no guarantees past that.
"Our goal is to make it a multiyear effort," Tagliabue said. "There are a lot of things yet to be accomplished to make it more than a one-year arrangement. There are a lot of chicken-and-egg decisions. It's a complicated situation."
Asked whether the New Orleans market could support an NFL team long-term, he said, "We think it can, but it's not a slam-dunk."
New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, who criticized Benson in October when San Antonio officials said they were working with the owner to keep the Saints in Texas permanently, offered a measured response to the announcement the team would return.
"After 30-plus years of supporting the Saints, it is somewhat encouraging that the Saints will play the next season in our city and state," Nagin said. "We are happy that New Orleanians who have lost so much will have an NFL team next season to call their own. ... We look forward to the day when the Saints organization will fully commit to this community and be a vital part of our recovery for many years to come."
Asked whether Benson was reluctant to return to Louisiana amid suspicions he really wanted to move the team from New Orleans, Tagliabue said:
"Like everybody else, Mr. Benson has been dealing with things he felt he never would have to deal with. He's been looking at all alternatives, both pros and cons, short-term and long-term."
But Tagliabue also said it was Benson who came to him days before Christmas and urged returning the team to the training facility, which was being used by Federal Emergency Management Agency and National Guard hurricane relief efforts.
"With FEMA about to clear the facility and the National Guard would do the same, he felt (returning) would be a positive thing and a first step," Tagliabue said.
The agreement to move back to Louisiana was finalized late Dec. 29, team officials said. The move was first reported later that night by the San Antonio Express-News.
The players have expressed frustration with their displacement and some have been upset Tagliabue hadn't met with them earlier. Players have had to use locker rooms in separate buildings adjacent to dugouts at a high school baseball field, and they didn't like splitting their home games. Workout sites and schedules often had to be adjusted because of events already scheduled for the Alamodome.
Benson's memo said the team already has reviewed with the NFL the Saints' preliminary 2006 schedule and that it includes "significantly reduced away-game travel."
"Many complex questions still need to be resolved in this area, and we expect to have answers to these scheduling questions early in the offseason," Benson said in the memo.
Benson planned to fly from San Antonio to New Orleans later in the day and scheduled a news conference there.
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
