Category Archives: Louisiana

In Time of Lent: A Few Thoughts

Posted on February 18, 2010 | 1 comment

This Lent has begun for me with yesterday’s Ash Wednesday mass at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Abbeville. The modified fast and abstinence from meat which the Church still reqires of it adherents where I live combined with the ashes on my forehead and the foreheads of others helped to make the change into this season more palpable and real for me.

I am not going to write much about these things just now. This year has been a rather Lenten year in many ways over the last twelve months. So the sobering feeling is minimized when one was already in a grim mood. The events that made the carnival season a carnival season for me related a great deal to the success of the New Orleans Saints football team. That is not to to say I did not cut and buy king cakes, follow the Mardi Gras events at a distance and remeber previous seasons. But I did less than usual. My usual observances are not among the most extreme or even the large group of moderately active carnival participants. But Lent has come and brings all its associations of spirituality, seafood, a more somber Catholic liturgy and the slipping away of our Southern U.S. winter.  I am really quite ready to think and emote along Lenten lines.

The Crest of the Carmelite Order which operated the Mount Carmel Elementary School I attended.

 As a Catholic Christian my life is marked with moemories of many other Lents. These seasons define my religious identity over time far more than many other more notable and pronounced ceremonies and holidays somehow. 

My brother Simon Peter is confirmed and my sister and Godchild Mary is his sponsor.

 Whether in school, family or parish life — Lent has been important. Not all of my associations and memories are so clearly defined as Catholic experiences as those shown in these three images. But many countless experiences and are so very Catholic.  

My Sophomore Class Award from the Franciscan University of Steubenville

 

So I head into Lent. That is my only comment really in this post. A definitive transition. One thing I like about my religion and faith is that it provides some transitions.

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Posted in Frank W. Summers, Jesus Christ, Louisiana, New Orleans Saints, Personal Philosophy and Moral Economics, Western civilization

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The Saints Win the Super Bowl and Lombardi Trophy

Posted on February 8, 2010 | Leave a comment
The New Orleans Saints have won the biggest contest in the sport they play. This makes them one in 43 in reaching the Super Bowl and one for one in winning Super Bowl’s played.  The victory in sport will not end all ills and secure all good values but it is a very good day. 

Owner Benson lifts Lombardi Trophy

I have seen that all of us here are affected and are rejoicing. There is goodness in having long endured and seen this achievement. There are many great stories from the season and the game. 

 

Tight End Jeremy Shockey Celebrates the Game’s Highest Achievement

I congratulate all the team and all my fellow fans. It is but another part of our journey towards many good things and out of many bad places. There is hope and joy in this land today.

 

Saints Quarterback Celebrates with his Son After Winning The Super Bowl

It is good for our hearts to see the players and coaches trying to build lives here and help to rebuild a city. They are seeing progress in a region as well.  So do we all. The struggles continue but today is a day to look on the bright side of the situation here and in New Orleans.

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Winning the Super Bowl Part Two: The Organizations

Posted on February 5, 2010 | Leave a comment

The last post I put up was an analysis of the Quarterbacks contending for this championship.  This post relates to the organizations as a whole. Who will prevail and why between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts?

The Saints and the Colts both have defenses whose official ratings are below average. I suppose that to some degree these teams disprove the old adage that “Defense wins championships”.  Of course that is an over simplification. There are a lot of oversimplifications that I will not have time nor energy to decipher in this short analysis. However, since so few people read this blog I suppose you cannot expect much collective bargaining power. I will make a flying passing analysis of the whole organization except the quarterbacks to compliment the first part of my analysis.

2. Comparing the organizations outside of the quarterback position.

I. Lets compare the coaches first. Jim Caldwell is a rookie head coach but has been with the Colts as a coach for eight years. He has the advantage also of having been with Tampa Bay from 93-2000. He should have a great deal of experience with the climate in Florida during this time of year — the human climate as well as the meteorological climate.   Sean Payton did coach at Miami for a year or so but unfortunately it was the wrong Miami — Miami of Ohio. However, when the impressive early season with the Saints in 2006 ended, Payton was chosen the Coach of the Year by the Associated Press, the Maxwell Club,  Pro Football Weekly/Pro Football Writers of America and The Sporting News. He seems to have just kept improving since then.  I think he is up against formidable competition but if there is ever going to be a price to pay for being a rookie head coach then Payton will exact it from the other Payton’s head coach Caldwell. COACH GAME READINESS: ADVANTAGE SAINTS, SLIGHT.

II. The next thing to compare is the Bench. Here I am including the quarterbacks not included in the first part of this analysis as well as all the rest. The Saints have so much variety and diversity on offense that I think it takes the pressure off of any given payer’s relief and therefore strengthen’s the whole Bench. I do not think that Drew Brees’ loss could have been survived in any earlier game and leave them capable of winning this game. However, with Burnell as field marshall I think the Saints could march in to victory if Brees left after a first half lead. It would be hard for them to out gun the Colts but possible to hang on. I think if Dwight Freeny is only in marginal condition and a couple of key Colts (Manning and somebody else) then it will be very hard for the Colts to win.   Saints fans have to hope for Vilma and some others to have big games on defense but even so they are a very brad team. BENCH: SAINTS ADVANTAGE, MODERATE.

III. Special Teams is another area to compare. The Saints totally surpass the Colts in punt returning. In almost every other area their special teams perform comparably. I think that the Colts plan on punting very little. That means that the advantage is not likely to count for a whole lot. If Hartley cracks under pressure as he might it would be a foreseeable cost of the key player being so inexperienced and this further narrows the gap beyond statistics. SPECIAL TEAMS: ADVANTAGE SAINTS, SLIGHT.

IV. The last category is the Super Bowl Culture. There are many small factors which make up playing in and winning a Super Bowl that are distinct from the other games a team could play. In each and all of those factors the Saints have little to put up except Sean Payton’s stint on the winning Giants team. Shockey knows about getting there but did not play the game for his ring. These advantages are hard to quantify but they are real. SUPER BOWL CULTURE: ADVANTAGE COLTS, LARGE.

I think that both for the game as a whole and for the organization besides the QBs the final result is too close to call. I am pulling for the Saints but am not picking anyone.

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Thoughts About Winning the Super Bowl Part One — Quarterbacks

Posted on February 3, 2010 | Leave a comment

I am going to class this post as being one of my most “thinking on-line” posts and one of the least complete essays. I am going to address the question: Who will win the Super Bowl?  I will warn you in advance that the final analysis reached here will be short of a true pick.  I am pulling for the Saints.

1. Compare the quareterbacks:

I. Payton Manning has played in this field several times and has won a Super Bowl here.  However, Both teams have played there this year and the saints won a game there. Both quarterbacks and several key players watched the Pro-Bowl there.  Miami is closer to Louisiana than Indianapolis and there is a bit less travel time. COMFORT: ADVANTAGE PAYTON SLIGHT.

II. Brees led a thirteen game streak. Then he really rested much of the last three games of the regular season. He then won by 31 points and squeaked out a victory over Favre and has positioned himself almost perfectly to win the game in terms of momentum. Not likely to be far off from his best game Brees is coming into this week as ready as anyone gets. The bad news is that Manning’s year and pace are almost as good. YEAR’S MOMENTUM: ADVANTAGE BREES SLIGHT.

III. Over twenty Saints scored this season. Kickers like Hartley, defensive touchdowns on a team that creates takeaways often and random chance must be recognized. However, there are still the capacities of Bush to run, take a screen pass and return a ball. There are still the the power and ferocity of elements like Shcokey and Hamilton doing very different things with the two Thomas players. There are still the varied targets when the colts have to cover Shockey, Colston, Meachem and Henderson when a pass is a foregone conclusion. Drew Brees is a masterful leader for this complete attack.  That means that he will use all the advantages this gives him. This leads to this thought, yesterday I went with family and some friends to see the American tour of the Lipizzaner Stallions doing Dressage. Although the name and animals remind us of the Colts I think the Saints resemble these values of fully developed teamwork best of the two teams. COMPLETENESS OF OFFENSE: ADVANTAGE BREES MODERATE.

IV. The facts are that Payton is taller and has a superior field of view. He is heavier and can complete a pass after receiving more force in the  first fraction of a section of contact behind the line. Both are exceptional skill athletes. PHYSICALITY OF ATHLETE: ADVANTAGE PAYTON MODERATE.

I think the quarterback contest is too close to call.

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Posted in Louisiana, New Orleans Saints

See You Later Alligator, After a While Bobby Charles…

Posted on January 28, 2010 | 1 comment

I attended the funeral of Bobby Charles, who was Robert Charles Guidry to legal record and Bobby Charles Guidry to his community.  Wednesday afternoon at three o’clock in the afternoon in a fairly full church the Roman Catholic “Mass of Christian Burial” was celebrated for Bobby Charles. St. Mary Magdalen Church in Abbeville, Louisiana has just been renovated and it looks great. Bobby Charles was a big deal around here but not in a splashy way.   He was a big deal in a lot of the world without ever achieving that mega star status held by so many in Los Angeles, California and New York. Here is a link to a summary of his reputation in the United Kingdom, Wikipedia is really pretty solid on this as on most things  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Charles  …

Bobby Charles died last week. When I used to give friends and associates from around the world  a tour of the area with a bit of a historical and current events background I often mentioned Bobby Charles the Swamp Pop Pioneer who wrote “See Ya Later Alligator” and had it covered by Bill Haley and the Comets. He wrote “Walking to New Orleans” and Fats Domino made that a hit. Before his funeral some musician friends played a lesser known and more spiritual song he wrote called “I Believe in Angels”. The church was full of musicians, writers, artists and craftsfolk but mostly people from Louisiana or at least the Gulf Coast. Many of them were like him people who have had moments of national and international fame but in the context of a long regional career of not such bright footlights and modest crowds.

My mother and I sat together. She went to high school with Bobby Charles and I worked with his son Bobby Jr. for about fourteen hours a day in making the movie “The Blob” in a square just near the church from which he was remembered and his ashes blessed to be buried. We got to know each other pretty well but have not seen each other since that January and February of 1988     despite both living a good number of those years in the same close-knit Acadiana area. I did not find my old pal at the funeral but later saw him on local television.

In a small place like this our artists seem so irreplaceable. That is because they are. Bye Bobby Charles!

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Posted in Acadians, Louisiana, Vermilion Parish

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The New Orleans Saints Going to the Super Bowl.

Posted on January 26, 2010 | Leave a comment

There is a lot to be said about the Saints going to the Super Bowl. First, I am really happy about it. Secondly,  when they won the NFC Championship Game against the Minnesota Vikings I did feel that moment of euphoria that comes rarely in a lifetime of being a sports fan. Thirdly, I have loved the Saints almost all of their forty-three years and this is their first Super Bowl. I am and should be very happy for the next nearly two weeks watching the build-up to the big game in Miami. I like that they honor the Fleur de Lis, the outline of the State of Louisiana and the name “Saints”.  I like that Devery Henderson is from Oppelousas and played with distinction on the Louisiana State University Football Team. I like the fact that Tom Benson has owned the Saints for a good while and has some history in the area he has built up. I like the fact that recent comers like Reggie Bush and Drew Brees have made a contribution to the local community using their considerable influence in ways that do them credit and are a help to the city, state and region where they play. Jeremy Shockey who is very new is one of my favorite football players and has excelled at tight End. It is a great day and a great occasion and I AM HAPPY!

Unfortunately, I am often a glass half-empty kind of person. There are some glass half-empty aspects of this event for me as well. One of them has a bright side along with its dark side. Payton Manning and Eli Manning are brothers from New Orleans who have deep family roots in Mississippi where the Saints have many fans and they have each taken a team other than the Saints to the Super Bowl. The Team they beat to win the Conference Championship was led by QB Brett Favre who grew up in Kiln Mississippi which follows the Saints and he has taken the distant Green Bay Packers to the Super Bowl. In addition Jake Delhomme ( who may retire) has taken the Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowlis an athlete who once played for the Saints and is from Louisiana’s Acadiana region. He was the QB at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette which along with LSU is also one of the schools I can call my alma mater. There have been great Louisiana players and are still such in many places and while I am glad the NFL has provided them with work I am also aware of something too transitory for my taste about this economy and system. 

I am glad that the New Orleans and Louisiana generation growing up now will have a team that has distinguished itself but that comes after years of social and legal chaos and various oil booms and busts have remade much of the state and city and where storms plow up the eroded coast and wreak endless havoc. Again, it takes some of the shine off of everything for me.  I salute the many achievements of the Saints and rejoice in the Super Bowl contest but many side stories remind me 0f  all the things that are different from I might wish were the case in managing this state — past, present and future. The truth is that sport, football, competition and other things related to this do matter a lot to us here. I just wish that over the long view the context were and had been very different.

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