N.O. Saints list relocation options

[gosioux76]

The Albuquerque Journal today has a story quoting lawyers for New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson indicating that Los Angeles, San Antonio and Albuquerque are the top cities being considered for the Saints should they leave the Big Easy.

I didn't post the link because the paper has a subscription only site.

The most likely of these, believe it or not, is San Antonio because Benson apparently has a home there. LA, though, would be hard to pass up.

Folks around here in New Mexico are absolutely baffled that we'd even be mentioned. The biggest stadium here doesn't even hold 40,000 and we were recently told by the Arena Football League that we could handle AF2 but not the big league.

Personally, I think this is Benson and Gov. Bill Richardson are working together on a marketing ploy. The Guv here has been pushing sports as an economic development tool, trying to lure sports franchises to the city. Even getting mentioned as a possible NFL location is likely to raise New Mexico's stock for future consideration.

[yh]

Albuquerque would certainly be a good regional rival for the Cards, however if the largest stadium they have only holds 40,000 that's going to put a big dent in any quick relocation scenario. Seems more likely to me that Albuquerque could grab the Hornets from N.O. than the Saints. Personally, I hope the Saints stay put. If they were to move, however, I guess that means no more Super Bowls in the Big Easy. That'd be a shame.

[gosioux76]

Some local public officials have told me they consider Albuquerque now where Phoenix was maybe 15-20 years before they got the Suns. This metro area is growing fast enough to maybe support a major league team within that time span, but now we're simply minor league. Now -- besides the UNM Lobos -- it's home to the Pacific Coast League Isotopes, the yet-to-be-named NBDL expansion team, and the CHL New Mexico Scorpions which are taking a year off to wait for the construction of a new arena in nearby Rio Rancho. (I'm purposely not mentioning the state's two ABA expansion teams for reasons that don't need stating.)

[Roger Clemente]

I found this article at NFL.com:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/8461359

I wish they had pictures.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[slapshot]

Ahhhh.......Albuquerque

Way back when I was just a little bitty boy living in a box under the stairs in the corner of the basement of the house half a block down the street from Jerry's Bait shop

You know the place

well anyway, back then life was going swell and everything was just peachy

Except, of course, for the undeniable fact that every single morning

My mother would make me a big bowl of sauerkraut for breakfast

Awww - Big bowl of sauerkraut

Every single mornin

It was driving me crazy

I said to my mom

I said "Hey, mom, what's with all the sauerkraut?"

And my dear, sweet mother

She just looked at my like a cow looks at an oncoming train

And she leaned right down next to me

And she said "IT'S GOOD FOR YOU"

And then she tied me to the wall and stuck a funnel in my mouth

And force fed me nothing but sauerkraut until I was twenty six and a half years old

That's when I swore that someday

Someday I would get outta that basement and travel to a magical, far away place

Where the sun is always shining and the air smells like warm root beer

And the towels are oh so fluffy

Where the shriners and the lepers play their ukuleles all day long

And anyone on the street will glady shave your back for a nickel

Wacka wacka doodoo yeah

Well, let me tell you, people, it wasn't long at all before my dream came true

Because the very next day, a local radio station had this contest

To see who could correctly guess the number of molecules in Leonard Nimoy's butt

I was off by three, but I still won the grand prize

That's right, a first class one-way ticket to

Albuquerque

Albuquerque

Oh yeah

You know, I'd never been on a real airplane before

And I gotta tell ya, it was really great

Except that I had to sit between two large Albanian women with excruciatingly severe body odor

And the little kid in back of me kept throwin' up the whole time

The flight attendants ran out of Dr. Pepper and salted peanuts

And the in-flight movie was Bio-Dome with Pauly Shore

And, oh yeah, three of the airplane engines burned out

And we went into a tailspin and crashed into a hillside

And the plane exploded in a giant fireball and everybody died

Except for me

You know why?

'Cause I had my tray table up

And my seat back in the full upright position

Had my tray table up

And my seat back in the full upright position

Had my tray table up

And my seat back in the full upright position

Ah ha ha ha

Ah ha ha

Ahhhh

So I crawled from the twisted, burnin' wreckage

I crawled on my hands and knees for three full days

Draggin' along my big leather suitcase and my garment bag

And my tenor saxophone and my twelve-pound bowling ball

And my lucky, lucky autographed glow-in-the-dark snorkel

But finally I arived at the world famous Albuquerque Holiday Inn

Where the towels are oh so fluffy

And you can eat your soup right out of the ashtrays if you wanna

It's OK, they're clean

Well, I checked into my room and I turned down the A/C

And I turned on the SpectraVision

And I'm just about to eat that little chocolate mint on my pillow

That I love so very, very much when suddenly, there's a knock on the door

Well now, who could that be?

I say "Who is it?"

No answer

"Who is it?"

There's no answer

"WHO IS IT?"

They're not sayin' anything

So, finally I go over and I open the door and just as I suspected

It's some big fat hermaphrodite with a Flock-Of-Seagulls haircut and only one nostril

Oh man, I hate it when I'm right

So anyway, he bursts into my room and he grabs my lucky snorkel

And I'm like "Hey, you can't have that"

"That snorkel's been just like a snorkel to me"

And he's like "Tough"

And I'm like "Give it"

And he's like "Make me"

And I'm like "'Kay"

So I grabbed his leg and he grabbed my esophagus

And I bit off his ear and he chewed off my eyebrows

And I took out his appendix and he gave me a colonic irrigation

Yes indeed, you better believe it

And somehow in the middle of it all, the phone got knocked off the hook

And twenty seconds later, I heard a farmiliar voice

And you know what it said?

I'll tell you what it said

It said

"If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again"

"If you need help, hang up and then dial your operator"

"If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again"

"If you need help, hang up and then dial your operator"

In Albuquerque

Albuquerque

Well, to cut a long story short, he got away with my snorkel

But I made a a solemn vow right then and there that I would not rest

I would not sleep for an instant until the one-nostrilled man was brought to justice

But first, I decided to buy some donuts

So I got in my car and I drove over to the donut shop

And I walked on up to the guy behind the counter

And he says "Yeah, what do ya want?"

I said "You got any glazed donuts?"

He said "No, we're outta glazed donuts"

I said "Well, you got any jelly donuts?"

He said "No, we're outta jelly donuts"

I said "You got any Bavarian cream-filled donuts?"

He said "No, we're outta Bavarian cream-filled donuts"

I said "You got any cinnamon rolls?"

He said "No, we're outta cinnamon rolls"

I said "You got any apple fritters?"

He said "No, we're outta apple fritters"

I said "You got any bear claws?"

He said "Wait a minute, I'll go check"

"No, we're outta bear claws"

I said "Well, in that case - in that case, what do you have?"

He says "All I got right now is this box of one dozen starving, crazed weasels"

I said "OK, I'll take that"

So he hands me the box and I open up the lid and the weasels jump out

And they immediately latch onto my face and start bitin' me all over

(rabid gnawing sounds)

Oh man, they were just going nuts

They were tearin' me apart

You know, I think it was just about that time that a little ditty started goin' through my head"

I believe it went a little something like this . . .

Doh

Get 'em off me

Get 'em off me

Oh

No, get 'em off, get 'em off

Oh, oh God, oh God

Oh, get 'em off me

Oh, oh God

Ah, (more screaming)

I ran out into the street with these flesh-eating weasels all over my face

Wavin' my arms all around and just runnin', runnin', runnin'

Like a constipated weiner dog

And as luck would have it, that's exactly when I ran into the girl of my dreams

Her name was Zelda

She was a caligraphy enthusiast with a slight overbite and hair the color of strained peaches

I'll never forget the first thing she said to me.

She said "Hey, you've got weasels on your face"

That's when I knew it was true love

We were inseperable after that

Aw, we ate together, we bathed together

We even shared the same piece of mint-flavored dental floss

The world was our burrito

So we got married and we bought us a house

And had two beautiful children - Nathaniel and Superfly

Oh, we were so very very very happy, aw yeah

But then one fateful night, Zelda said to me

She said "Sweetie pumpkin? Do you wanna join the Columbia Record Club?"

I said "Woah, hold on now, baby"

"I'm just not ready for that kinda commitment"

So we broke up and I never saw her again

But that's just the way things go

In Albuquerque

Albuquerque

Anyway, things really started lookin' up for me

Because about a week later, I finally achieved my lifelong dream

That's right, I got me a part-time job at The Sizzler

I even made employee of the month after I put that grease fire out with my face

Aw yeah, everybody was pretty jealous of me after that

I was gettin' a lot of attitude

OK, like one time, I was out in the parking lot

Tryin' to remove my excess earwax with a golf pencil

When I see this guy Marty tryin' to carry a big ol' sofa up the stairs all by himself

So I, I say to him, I say "Hey, you want me to help you with that?"

And Marty, he just rolls his eyes and goes

"No, I want you to cut off my arms and legs with a chainsaw"

So I did

And then he gets all indignant on me

He's like "Hey man, I was just being sarcastic"

Well, that's just great

How was I supposed to know that?

I'm not a mind reader for cryin' out loud

Besides, now he's got a really cute nickname - Torso-Boy

So what's he complaining about?

Say, that reminds me of another amusing anecdote

This guy comes up to me on the street and says he hasn't had a bit in three days

Well, I knew what he meant

But just to be funny, I took a big bite out of his jugular vein

And he's yellin' and screamin' and bleeding all over

And I'm like "Hey, come on, don'tcha get it?"

But he just keeps rolling around on the sidewalk, bleeding, and screaming

(screaming sounds)

You know, just completely missing the irony of the whole situation

Man, some people just can't take a joke, you know?

Anyway, um, um, where was I?

Kinda lost my train of thought

Uh, well, uh, OK

Anyway I, I know it's kinda been a roundabout way of saying it

But I guess the whole point I'm tryin' to make here is

I hate sauerkraut

That's all I'm really tryin' to say

And, by the way, if one day you happen to wake up

And find yourself in an existential quandry

Full of loathing and self-doubt

And wracked with the pain and isolation of your pitiful meaningless existence

At least you can take a small bit of comfort in knowing that

Somewhere out there in this crazy mixed-up universe of ours

There's still a little place called

Albuquerque

Albuquerque

Albuquerque, Albuquerque

Albuquerque, Albuquerque

Albuquerque, Albuquerque

Albuquerque, Albuquerque

I said "A" (A)

"L" (L)

"B" (

"U" (U)

"querque" (querque)

Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque

Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque

Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque

Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque

Albuquerque

[officeglenn]

Like a lot of things in life, this too reminds me of a bit from The Simpsons:

Albuquerque Mayor: Looks like we'll have to steal some other baseball team. See what Dallas wants for the Cowboys.

Assistant: Uh, that's a football team, sir.

Albuquerque Mayor: They'll play what I tell them to play... for I am the MAYOR OF ALBUQUERQUE!

[Joshawaggie]

San Antonio still wants a team, but they need at least 200 million in renovations to the stadium that was supposed to get them a team years ago...

[Gary]

I found this article at NFL.com:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/8461359

I wish they had pictures.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

So it would possibly be the Los Angeles Saints of Anaheim

[Plaid Paint]

I find it quite interesting that no one has yet mentioned how utterly apathetic the entire Los Angeles area is to the idea of having a pro football team.

When the Rams moved from the LA Coliseum to Anaheim Stadium, no one raised an eyebrow, and nobody gave a rats ass when the Rams moved to St. Louis in 1994, and from what I've read and heard, people in the LA area are apathetic at best and more often openly disdainful about having an NFL team there.

[gosioux76]

I find it quite interesting that no one has yet mentioned how utterly apathetic the entire Los Angeles area is to the idea of having a pro football team.

When the Rams moved from the LA Coliseum to Anaheim Stadium, no one raised an eyebrow, and nobody gave a rats ass when the Rams moved to St. Louis in 1994, and from what I've read and heard, people in the LA area are apathetic at best and more often openly disdainful about having an NFL team there.

They may be apathetic, but like someone mentioned in a different thread here, it would be hard for a franchise NOT to survive in a market that size.

The region may not be on par with Green Bay or Pittsburgh or Buffalo in terms of unlimited love the team, but I would highly doubt they'd be unable to have a sellout for every game with that many people around there.

And really, what do they want more than filled seats and a large TV market?

[Plaid Paint]

They may be apathetic, but like someone mentioned in a different thread here, it would be hard for a franchise NOT to survive in a market that size.

Apathetic = very strong opposition to having to use public funds to build yet another $300,000,000 stadium, as if California doesn't already have enough budget problems.

And if it would be hard for a team not to survive there, then please explain why both the Rams and the Raiders got the hell out of the area, and there was nothing resembling even a modest outcry either time.

Hell, I don't recall that there was jubilation and dancing in the streets when the Raiders moved to LA, in fact there was probably more good feeling when they announced they were leaving.

[Brian in Boston]

The Coliseum site remains the front-runner to play host to a Los Angeles-based NFL franchise. They're clearly the furthest along with their plan. They've already filed an environmental impact report for their site with the league... they've already filed an initial stadium design plan with the league... hell, they're now at the point where they're working out the details of a lease proposal. None of the other proposed sites is even close to having as many details addressed.

In Pasadena, the city council is still trying to determine whether or not it makes sense to go forward with filing an environmental impact report for the Rose Bowl site. A significant portion of the community does not want the Rose Bowl to become home to an NFL franchise. They site the negative impact that a major renovation will have on the historic nature of the Rose Bowl, as well as the negative environmental impact playing host to an NFL franchise will have on the Arroyo Seco region of Pasadena.

In Anaheim, opposition is already rising to building a stadium for the NFL, primarily because the city could reportedly generate much more revenue with other development on the same site (i.e. housing, business, retail, etc).

The proposal in Carson is a joke. The site is contaminated with industrial waste that would need to be cleaned up. The earliest that an environmental impact report could be filed would be the end of the year. It's a non-starter.

However the National Football League returns to Los Angeles, expansion or relocation, the team will be playing at a radically renovated Coliseum.

[Plaid Paint]

The Coliseum site remains the front-runner to play host to a Los Angeles-based NFL franchise. They're clearly the furthest along with their plan. They've already filed an environmental impact report for their site with the league... they've already filed an initial stadium design plan with the league... hell, they're now at the point where they're working out the details of a lease proposal. None of the other proposed sites is even close to having as many details addressed.

However the National Football League returns to Los Angeles, expansion or relocation, the team will be playing at a radically renovated Coliseum.

What sort of radical renovations are we talking about? The forced removal of the approximately 30,000 Bloods gang members who live in the area surrounding the Coliseum?

It seems to be in good enough shape for the USC Trojans to play there, so what, besides the dreaded luxury boxes have they been thinking of doing? Are there any plans for where the Trojans would be playing during these renovations? I believe I heard some noises about them sharing the Rose Bowl with UCLA.

[WJMorris3]

Oh, when the 'aints... go marching out... oh, when the 'aints go marching out (of New Orleans), well, I'd hate to be in that number... when the 'aints go marching out....

[Brian in Boston]

What sort of radical renovations are we talking about?

They're planning on maintaining and sprucing up as much of the Coliseum's outer shell as possible, while building a brand-new stadium structure inside (as well as out and over) the shell. Think of the Soldier Field renovation in Chicago.

[WSU151]

So it would possibly be the Los Angeles Saints of Anaheim

Ooohhh, somebody must see it...

Saints...Angels...Saints...Angels...

[Frylock]

Ahhhh.......Albuquerque

Thank you for the Al tribute. That just made my day!

As for this whole Saints to Albuquerque thing, it kind of sounds like a pipe dream to me. The day the NFL allows a team to move there is when Portland will have an NFL team -- i.e. never.

I can see LA being a strong possibility. Is that Office Depot center where the MLS squads play designed to meet NFL standards?

[EagleFan344]

I found this article at NFL.com:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/8461359

I wish they had pictures.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

So it would possibly be the Los Angeles Saints of Anaheim

I heard its gonna be "California Saints of Los Angeles-Anaheim"

[gosioux76]

Here's a story link:

Albuquerque Tribune

[Cujo]

An NFL team in The A-B-Q?? I'd be down with that.

However, I truly doubt it happens. If they did move, they'd probably name the team after another Simpsons episode.