Sitting in my local watering hole watching the Saints beat the 49ers 25-22 on a last second field goal, I noticed something about myself. As the Saints were driving toward the game winning field goal, I was calm. Here were my beloved Saints in a do or die situation in San Francisco and I was cool as Knight from Real World. What up wit dat?
If you know me you know the last thing I am when it comes to watching the Saints is calm. In fact, if I were ever hooked to an EKG during a Saints game, a crash cart would have to be on stand by ready to hit me with the defib. Yet here I was completely at ease.
Can you blame me though? These are not your father's Saints, not even your uncle's Saints. Hell, not even your brother's Saints. These are the new Saints, version 3.0. The Saints 3.0 win games at the end, not blow them. These Saints allow the other team to commit crucial penalties, agonizing turnovers and game ending drives. These Saints close out games not leave the door open.
Remember the phrase "they left to much time on the clock"? That was the phrase most often used for the Saints when they were banging their heads against the Candelstick Park wall in the 80's and 90's as the likes of Joe Montana and Steve Young were stealing victory from the back pockets of the Saints. Shoot, even some guy named Steve Bono got into the act during the Saints 1992 run to the divisional runner up spot. Remember? The Jim Mora coached 12-4 team? Finished second in the division to the 14-2 49ers?
The Saints verion 3.0 are now the team that make the likes of the 49ers players sit in their locker room and ponder the what ifs. Now THEY are the ones sitting in the lockers wondering "how in God's glory did we just lose this game"? Their fans are the ones who must walk the ramps of their home stadium in drunken disgust knowing we HAD the champs in our grasps and let them slip away. They now are the ones who must deal with the sickness in the pits of their stomachs as they watch the visiting fans dancing and celebrating out the stadium. Breaze is not just wind swirling in Candelstick anymore, Brees is now in their heads. Like Montana was to Saints fans. Just ask the folks in Minnesota, Indianapolis, Washington, Phoenix, etc. etc. etc.
So remember Saints fans, the next time you're biting your pillow, pacing the floor or burying your face in your hands as the Saints' game is coming down to the wire, CALM DOWN!
These are the new Saints, version 3.0
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