Hornets Land #1 Pick!

After a tough season, including trading away Chris Paul and being laughed at for being owned by the NBA, the Hornets are finally having the last laugh. Local ownership has been brought in, there's talk of a rebrand and now  New Orleans is set up for the future after landing the top pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. Good days are ahead Hornets (or Pelicans, Brass, Angels, Dukes, etc. whatever the new name turns out to be) fans.

NFL Releases 2012 Schedule

The NFL has released the 2012 schedule and like everything else the NFL does, it was big news. For the Saints, there are lots of interesting take-aways on this year's slate of games.

The first thing that pops out is that the Saints Bye week falls in Week 6. Was this a little "twisting of the knife" by Roger Goodell? What this means is that all the suspended parties (Mickey Loomis, Joe Vitt and players to be named) will have an extra week on their suspensions. The suspensions are for games, so Vitt's six game suspension will now conclude after Week 7 and Loomis' eight game one will conclude after Week 9.

Another interesting note is that even though they'll be playing without their head coach all year and there has been so much negative publicity surrounding the team that didn't stop the NFL from putting the Saints on primetime four times, including one Monday night and one Thursday night game (to be fair, every team gets a Thursday nighter this year).

The Saints open up with the Redskins, and potentially RGIII, at home and close with Carolina in the Superdome. There should be lots of fun game in between and Saints fans can't wait to see their team rise from these offseason ashes and silence all the haters.

Here's the Saints 2012 schedule:

Sun, September 9, Washington Redskins, 12 noon, FOX

Sun, September 16, at Carolina Panthers, 12 noon, FOX

Sun, September 23, Kansas City Chiefs, 12 noon, CBS

Sun, September 30, at Green Bay Packers, 3:15 p.m., FOX

Sun, October 7, San Diego Chargers, 7:30 p.m., NBC

Sun, October 14, BYE WEEK

Sun, October 21, at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 12 noon, FOX

Sun, October 28, at Denver Broncos, 7:30 p.m., NBC

Mon, November 5, Philidelphia Eagles, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Sun, November 11, Atlanta Falcons, 12 noon, FOX

Sun, November 18, at Oakland Raiders, 3:05 p.m., FOX

Sun, November 25, San Francisco 49ers, 3:15 p.m., FOX

Thu, November 29, at Atlanta Falcons, 7:30 p.m., NFL Network

Sun, December 9, at New York Giants, 3:15 p.m., FOX

Sun, December 16, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 12 noon, FOX

Sun, December 23, at Dallas Cowboys, 12 noon, FOX

Sun, December 30, Carolina Panthers, 12 noon, FOX

Bountygate penalties rock the Saints

The Saints have had lots of bad days in their franchise history, but none more uglier than today. The NFL has issued penalties for Bountygate, and they are severe:

• The New Orleans Saints are fined $500,000. In addition, because the violation involves a competitive rule, the Saints will forfeit their selections in the second round of the 2012 and 2013 NFL drafts.

• Saints Head Coach Sean Payton is suspended without pay for the 2012 NFL season, effective April 1.

• Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis is suspended without pay for the first eight regular-season games of the 2012 season.

• Former Saints (and current St. Louis Rams) defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is suspended indefinitely from the NFL, effective immediately. Commissioner Goodell will review Coach Williams’ status at the conclusion of the 2012 season and consider whether to reinstate him, and, if so, on what terms. Commissioner Goodell said he will give close attention to the extent to which Coach Williams cooperates with the NFL in any further proceedings.

• Saints assistant Head Coach Joe Vitt is suspended without pay for the first six regular-season games of the 2012 season.

• The Saints and the individuals disciplined today are expected to participate in efforts led by the league office to develop programs that will instruct players and coaches at all levels of the game on the need for respect for the game and those who participate in it, on principles of fair play, safety and sportsmanship, and to ensure that bounties will not be part of football at any level.

These penalties seem overly harsh, but Roger Goodell has always ruled with a strong hand when it comes to player safety. I feel like these penalties are extreme, but now the Saints have to deal with them.

Losing Coach Payton for the entire year is going to hurt the most. Effective April 1, he won't be around the team. The 2012 Saints will defiantly have a different look and feel than any Saints team we've seen the past few years.

Pete Carmicheal will call the shots on offense and new defensive coordinator (potentially the interim head coach) Steve Spagnuolo will run the defense. Joe Vitt was tabbed to be the interim head coach, but he got a six game suspension himself. It's unclear how Mickey Loomis' suspension will affect the team. Early indications are that he'll be able to run the draft, but no definite answer on that has been given. No matter what, this is a black eye for the franchise.

The issue here is that the Saints were out to hurt their opponents and when asked about the program, multiple people lied multiple times. The league vowed to stop bounty systems from happening again and these harsh penalties should do just that.

But that doesn't make this any easier for Saints fans to swallow.

Will Ferrell Intros Bulls/Hornets

The highlight of the Hornets season?

Kicking us while we're down

Heartbreaking ... Sting ... Agonizing ... Hurt ... Stomach Punch ... Unbelievable ... Finality. Whatever word you want to use to describe the feelings after the Saints last minute loss to the 49ers, none of them sound good to Saints fans. Then, to make matters worse, the Giants destroyed the Packers the next day in a game that would have set up the NFC Championship in New Orleans. Talk about adding insult to injury.

What a week it has been for Louisiana football fans. First LSU no-shows the BCS National Championship game, then the Saints fight back from one of their worse performances with 5 turnovers only to lose with 9 seconds left, and lastly, news broke last night that LSU commitment and #1 QB in the country Gunner Kiel was taking his talents to Notre Dame. Anyone else want to kick us while we're down?

Back to the Saints game. I've never had a loss linger with me for days afterward like this one has. Honestly, it does hurt. This team was posed to do something special and everything was lining up for them, only to have it snatch away, not once but twice. After the Saints defense played admirable for 3 1/2 quarters, their coverage disappeared and Alex Smith and Vernon Davis took over and put the Saints away.

Sure Drew Brees and company wouldn't go down quietly. First Darren Sproles grabbed the lead only to see Alex Smith run untouched for a touchdown minutes later. Then Jimmy Graham went beastmode and seemed to have put the Saints in the NFC Championship. But then the curse of Gregg Williams struck. The curse of putting safeties in single coverage on tight ends bit the Saints defense and a couple of plays later and Vernon Davis is crying on the sidelines. You have to give credit to both Smith and Davis for excellent throws and catches, but the Saints could have put themselves in better position to stop those plays.

With a minute and a half left in the game, the goal is to let the clock run. Keep everything in front of you and tackle in bounds. Sounds hard? Not really. But the Saints stuck by what they did all year and played man on Davis and he burned them for a long gain. When they finally went zone in the red zone (with everyone thinking the 49ers would play for OT), Davis and Smith stuck the dagger in Saints fans hearts and the dream was over.

Looking back, this was an amazing season, but it will always be remembered for what could have been. Could this have been the Saints last chance to get to the promise land? As long as Brees and Coach Payton are around, this team will compete, but they could lose a lot this offseason. They already are losing Gregg Williams, but not many fans will see that as a big loss. Williams changed the defensive culture in New Orleans, but it is a good time for a change.

There are some big decisions to be made this offseason. The core of this team is in place, but with free agents like Drew Brees, Marques Colston, Carl Nicks, Tracy Porter and Robert Meachem, there are some tough decisions to be made. Brees, Colston and Nicks will be priorities, but it will be tough to keep them all. Brees isn't going anywhere, so it will depend how fast his deal gets done and what money is left for the rest of the free agents. I'd like to see both Colston and Nicks stay, but if I had to guess, I'd imagine Nicks has played his last game in the black and gold. They already invested a lot of money in Jahri Evans and do you need big money tied up in your two guards. Nicks may be the better of the two, but it's easier to replace a guard than some of the other positions.

This will be a long offseason, but an important one. The Saints don't have a 1st round pick thanks to the Mark Ingram trade, so free agency is that much more important. With Brees now 33, the window of opportunity will be closing soon, so the team needs to reload and get right back to work to make another Super Bowl run. It will be hard, but fans need to forget the "what could have been" season and get ready for next year. The Super Bowl is in New Orleans, so the Saints will have even more motivation to become the first home team in the big game.

NFL Divisional Round Predictions

Some big games this week in the NFL's 2nd round, most notably the Saints at 49ers. A lot is being made of the Saints 0-4 road playoff record and the notion that the Saints can't win outdoors. Are people forgetting their Super Bowl victory, which the last time I checked wasn't in New Orleans and was outside?

The tougher test will be the 49ers defense. They may be able to slow down the Saints power offense, but even then, the 49ers offense won't be able to keep up.

Predictions:

Saints 31

49ers 20

Broncos 21

Patriots 34

Texans 10

Ravens 24

Giants 27

Packers 23