Saints Season Side Bet Winner: Doug

Posted by Benson

We have a winner! 

...Doug

Yes, Doug Green is the winner of the Saints Season Side Bet.  The Saints absolutely crushed the Buccaneers in the last game of the season with a final score of 42 to 17, utterly dashing my hopes.  The Saints managed to play just well enough to get into the playoffs, also eking out a win over the Eagles in a 26-24 game this past Saturday, but not well enough to win 12 games and not well enough to keep Hartley on the roster.  

So with a final record of 11 wins and 5 losses,  Doug takes the pot.  Congratulations Doug!

Lay off man!  Don't you know DOUG is going to win!

When it comes to the playoffs, I have little enough hope that the Saints will be able to pull out a win over the Seahawks this coming Saturday in what will easily be the most difficult game the Saints will have.  If the Saints manage to beat the Seahawks on the road in an open stadium in the dead of winter with record low temperatures...I think we will have a sporting chance at a second Superbowl victory.

One wonders what team will show up in Seattle this week, the team that gave Doug the victory in the Saints Season Side Bet with ridiculous, avoidable losses or the team that we all know they can be; the team that should have given us at least 12 wins this season.  The Saints absolutely have a shot at the Superbowl this year, but they'll have to bring their A game from here on out.

That's right Jimmy, you're going to have to BRING IT this Saturday!

Though as Matt sees it, this is not the year for the Saints to be going to the Superbowl; too many cold, outdoor games on the road.  But we'll have to see.  At the very least, the Saints are always interesting to watch.

Saints Season Side Bet Update

Posted by Benson

Looks like I am out.  

The Saints lost to the Panthers this week in a disheartening 17-13 game that was a series of back and forth three and out drives until the Panthers managed to slam home a touchdown in a blitzkrieg two minute drill after having accomplished...little and nothing for most of the game.

So, so sad.  Hey Sean Payton, I guess firing Hartley didn't motivate the troops well enough, eh?

The other sad part is that now I'm definitely out my money, and Doug might actually win, which speaking for all of us would be a real shame.  My only consolation would be that if the Saints lose to Tampa Bay in a startling failure of a game, Matt and Jamie would split the pot and Payton would get his karmic comeuppance for getting rid of Garrett Hartley.

So, keep on sucking at football Saints!  Drew Brees, I hope you get a cold, no offense.  Not a bad cold, just some niggling annoyance that induces you to throw a few picks and clears up on the way home to NOLA.  You're a right fine guy, but I would very much prefer that the Saints lose to Tampa Bay.

Sorry Jimmy, but ya'll kinda deserve it.

NO NO GARRETT HARTLEY!

Posted by Benson

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

NO!

Sean dead-to-me Payton released Garrett Hartley!

Hartley is gone.  He's gone!  Sean Payton released Hartley after the incredibly poor performance by the Saints in their recent game against the St. Louis Rams.  Payton had put Hartley on notice before, but COME ON!  Why cut Hartley?  Why now?

As I have said JUST RECENTLY, Garrett Hartley is a pretty darn awesome kicker.  At the very least he's certainly not cutting floor material.  He's the 23rd best kicker in NFL history with more than an 82% accuracy rate.  And the kicks he misses are almost always completely inconsequential.

Sean what-the-Hell-were-you-thinking Payton cut the man who kicked the Saints into their only Superbowl victory in history!  He cut this fine, though admittedly sometimes, situationally, when it doesn't matter unreliable kicker with two games left in the regular season and no decent free agent kickers sitting around looking for a job.  He cut Garrett Hartley when the Saints need to come away with a victory over the Panthers on Sunday!

The only reason I can fathom is that Sean abuse-the-whipping-boy Payton cut poor Hartley to send a message to the rest of the team: "I will cut of my *&^%$#@ nose to spite my face!"  That's the only message it sends.  I'm angry with y'all, so I'm getting rid of the guy everyone knows I've been thinking about replacing because even though he's made all of his critical, game-winning kicks this season, he played just as poorly as the rest of you imbeciles did today.

Nobody looks at Drew Brees and says, "Well, he threw two picks today and coughed up a fumble, so obviously the Saints need a new quarterback."  They look at his performance and say, "It looks like he had an off day.  He's a very good quarterback who rarely throws picks.  And the offensive line has been weak, and the play calling wasn't great, and the defense was reading the plays well..."  But a kicker is apparently only as good as his last kick.

Sean choke-on-your-Juicy-Fruit Payton, you deserve to lose out the rest of the season.  Forget my Saints Season Side Bet, forget my hopes for a comeback Superbowl win this year, you didn't believe in Garrett Hartley.  If you find yourself missing his magic, there's only one person to blame, and it isn't Garrett Hartley.

Thank you Garrett for your hard work and gracious attitude in spite of the poor hand you've been dealt by Sean I-don't-believe Payton.  We'll miss you Hartley, probably more than some folks will realize until it is too late.

“I would like to start off by saying I have been blessed with the opportunity that the @Saints & ownership have given me. The memories that were made with this team will live in my heart forever! I can't say enough for my teammates and their support. And finally the Who Dat Nation. Y'all's passion for the game and this team are second to none. It's been an honor to wear the Black & Gold."

Saints Season Side Bet Update

Posted by Benson

Well...well........well....................

So...whether or not you follow the Saints, you have probably heard about their abysmal performance against the St. Louis Rams this past Sunday.  And I do mean abysmal.  It was a tragedy that harkened back to the incredible failure that was the Seahawks game.

Yea, I see where this game is headed...

Except the Rams aren't the Seahawks.  The Rams don't even have a winning record, sitting at 6-8 after having their way with the Saints.  The Rams were playing their backup quarterback with no hopes of getting into the playoffs (though the young QB was doing a very nice job).

The Saints went into that game knowing they could lock in a playoff spot by beating the Rams; knowing that if they lost they would be neck and neck with the Panthers facing an upcoming game against them, this time on the road.

First pass of the game...come on!

And...the Saints played like they forgot how to win a football game.  Brees threw two picks, one on the first throw of the friggin' game, and coughed up a fumble for a third turnover.  He threw a fair few more passes that should have been picks, and was lucky enough to recover another one of his fumbles.  It was a comedy of errors with my beloved Garrett Hartley having two blocked kicks (again, not that making those kicks would have mattered at all.  Mind you he did kick a recovered onsides kick...that we failed to score off of, but that's not his fault.  He did his job...the one that mattered at any rate.).

"Doesn't Drew realize I'm triple covered..."

This at least makes the Saints Season Side Bet a little more interesting.  The Saints now have a 10-4 record with two games left to go, and with the way they have been playing I think it is fair to say that anything could happen.  At the very least we KNOW that one of us will win, but Doug is looking good at 11 wins.

"Yea, I deserve this don't I"

If the Saints lose out, Jamie and Matt come away winners, if they beat the Panthers, pop themselves into the playoffs, and take it easy against the Bucks, Doug will come out a winner.  Alternatively, if they get clobbered by the Panthers and make up for it with a Pyrrhic victory over the Bucks, Doug also comes out on top.  If the Saints buckle down, play tightly, and maybe get a little lucky, I'll be taking home the cash.

Too little too late Drew...

Saints Season Side Bet

Posted by Benson

Before the regular NFL season started this year, Matt and I were having a little discussion about how well the New Orleans Saints would play this season.  Matt is fond of football (and a skeptical curmudgeon), so not only did he predict that the Saints would not play amazing this year, he also felt that his opinion carried some authority.

I am an ardent Saints fan only pseudo-knowledgeable about the actual game, and so I took umbrage at Matt's remarks and pressed him for his opinion about how many games he thought the Saints would win this season.  Matt predicted that they would win 10, which I took to be sacrilegious, for how could they go to the playoffs with a 10-6 record?!?

I said ardent, not "insane"

Now, this conversation happened while were all walking to dinner, and as is sometimes our want when not working, the DGA team had a few drinks over dinner, during which I brought up Matt's sacrilegious Saints prediction and immediately declared that the Saints would win 12 games this season!  This I declared not remembering how many games there actually are in the regular season, but it seemed like a good number: more than Matt's prediction, but still conservative enough to not sound crazy?

Now the game was afoot!  As the discussion roiled around the table I, happening to have some cash on me, put whatever money was in my wallet where my mouth was ($50).  Lubricated by libations, everyone threw in, making their own predictions.

We do have God on our side...

Bill: 9-7 (even worse!)
Jamie/Matt: 10-6
Doug: 11-5
Benson: 12-4

Now that the regular season is drawing to a close, things have become very interesting!  So interesting, in fact, that I felt you should all be tuned in.

Right now, Bill is out, as the Saints just trounced the Panthers 31-13 last night, but once we had seen the Saints play three games we all figured he was done anyway.  The Saints have three more games to go and are sitting on a 10-3 record, so anything can happen aside from Bill winning.  

If the Saints win out, we're all done as none of us were passionate enough to bet on a 13-3 record.  As of now the Saints have the Rams, the Panthers (again), and the Buccaneers left to play.  We just clobbered the Panthers, we already clobbered the Bucs, and the Rams..well, we should be able to beat the Rams.  But anything can happen, of course, and if we clinch a playoff spot we may take it easy the last couple of games... 

So stay tuned!

Edit: AND the Seahawks lost last night, which is fantastic!  The Superbowl is looking that much closer!

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Tolkien

Posted by Benson

So the next installment of the Hobbit trilogy is hitting theaters this holiday season.  I wasn't a particularly big fan of the first one, and I expect that I will really dislike The Desolation of Smaug.

Now, before you think I am just a movie curmudgeon, I really do like movies.  I like a lot of movies.  I also enjoy very many film adaptations of my favorite books.  I absolutely love the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and although creative choices had to be made in order to adapt the books, I think those choices were understandable, made sense, and made for good movies.  I did not agree with all of them, but no one can really say those those were not good movies and beautiful adaptations of Tolkien's work.  And my wife says that the new Hunger Games movie is a wonderful adaptation.

I also think The Hobbit is great material for a film adaptation, and Warner Brothers did an excellent job of it with its The Hobbit animated film adaptation back in 1977.  The Hobbit has a trim, focused story told with a brevity that allows plenty of room for artistic interpretation.  It is a clean story for children with sophisticated subject matter that captures the imagination of adults as well.

The Hobbit can be a light children's movie, a dark and chilling film, or a swords and sorcery adventure tale, depending on how you want to treat the material, and you can easily do any of that with a faithful adaptation that preserves the essence and character of the story.

Without going into much detail, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey failed to deliver, and it looks  like The Desolation of Smaug will be even worse.  Why you ask?  Well when I saw the trailer I noticed something that encapsulates the essence of why these movies are terrible adaptations.

You see that?  Look closely.  Why are there arrows in that barrel?  Forget that the dwarves are sticking out of the barrels for a minute.  Why are there arrows in that barrel?

Apparently the arrows are the reason why Thorin is also rising out of his barrel swinging his sword like a madman.  Chapter 9 of The Hobbit is titled Barrels out of Bond.  It describes how Thorin and company escape from the clutches of the elf king of Mirkwood by hiding themselves in empty barrels and floating down the river to the men of Laketown.

Now, when I saw the trailer I hoped that maybe what I saw was just some creative editing to make it look like a cool fight scene.  But today I saw Games Workshop's December product list, which has a box set called Barrels out of Bond.  Games Workshop makes wargames and releases products that allows you to recreate the 'iconic' battle scenes from the Tolkien movies.  In other words, not only is Barrels Out of Bond a fight scene in The Desolation of Smaug, it is a long, drawn out, iconic, and probably climatic battle scene...

You can read the text of the relevant chapter from The Hobbit here.  In a race against time, Bilbo collects all thirteen of the dwarves from separate prison cells scattered around the elf king's palace, sneaks round and round about the palace all the while his train of grumpy and incredulous dwarves grows louder and more difficult to manage, and stuffs them all into empty barrels just barely before a bunch of servants come down to toss the barrels into the river.  Bilbo, being the one doing the stuffing, has no barrel himself, and nearly drowns trying to stay afloat as the barrels bob, spin, roll, bounce about and crash together as they course down the river.  The dwarves are bashed, bruised, tossed about, nearly drowned, and finally emerge from the barrels sodden, shivering, aching, bedraggled, and destitute.

Now that could be a scene packed with suspense, humor, and action aplenty without having to throw in anything that doesn't fit with the story. Three paragraphs of text could easily become 20 minutes of romping fun screen time with nary an arrow loosed nor sword drawn.

Instead, they decided to go with this:

Mardi Gras 2014 - Same Week as the Crawfish Boil!

Posted by Benson

The 7th annual DGA Crawfish boil is Saturday, March 8th.  That's the second Saturday in March.  The crawfish boil is on the second Saturday of March every year, for those of you who like to plan ahead.

Easter, and consequently Lent, also has a moving date, though it has to do with theoretical lunar cycles based on inaccurate calculations made hundreds of years ago, as opposed to March Madness.  As a result, Ash Wednesday can be as late as March 10th, so sometimes, just sometimes, Mardi Gras falls late the same year that the Crawfish Boil is early.

This is one of those years.  Mardi Gras 2014 is on Tuesday, March 4th, which is fantastic news because it means that Fat Tuesday is the same week as the crawfish boil!

So those of you planning on coming to the crawfish boil can get a chance to see Mardi Gras in New Orleans if you extend the trip just a bit. It also means that if you're not looking to go to Mardi Gras, travel should be relatively easy as the city tends to empty out of tourists on or immediately after Fat Tuesday.

If you want to come to carnival, think about making your travel plans early because Mardi Gras week is the most hopping time in New Orleans.  Take a look at some of our hotel suggestions to get you started.  The city tends to book pretty solid during Mardi Gras, but we have suggested some nice places to stay on the Northshore, like Annadele Plantation, where it might be easier to find a good room.  If you are just coming for the boil, you should not have much trouble finding a hotel room in the city.

If you have never been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, it really is an amazing experience and I can't recommend it enough.  Most of us are going to be enjoying the carnival festivities ourselves, but that means we will be on hand to help you get the most out of the Mardi Gras experience.  We can give you the inside info on how to experience Mardi Gras like a real New Orleanian from choice spots on parade routes to pointers on how to navigate the city when the krewes are rolling.

This is an excellent opportunity to really soak in New Orleans culture and have an absolutely fantastic time in the crescent city!