This is the best news I’ve heard all week.
In the News
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[VIDEO] Today’s Saints Developments
WDSU sports anchor Fletcher Mackel and I discuss the likelihood of Bill Parcells coaching the Saints.
Parcells to Saints?
ESPN is reporting that Saints head coach Sean Payton has approached former NFL head coach Bill Parcells about serving as the Saints’ interim coach during his year-long suspension.
Payton’s suspension begins April 1.
Some may argue that the Saints have perfectly capable in-house candidates to serve in the interim head coach role (offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and offensive line coach Aaron Kromer), but I can see Payton’s thinking here.
Parcells could oversee the program, administer the day-to-day operations and deal with any in-season player transactions. Not only has Parcells been a head coach, but he has also served as a general manager and executive vice president of NFL clubs. Parcells could replace Payton for a year and, as a bonus, he could fill GM Mickey Loomis’ shoes for half the season while he serves his suspension.
Parcells presence would allow Carmichael, Spagnuolo and Kromer to focus on their respective positions without distraction. He would also command immediate respect in the locker room because of his lengthy and successful resume’.
Parcells’ last coaching stop was in Dallas with the Cowboys. In four seasons (2003-2006), he was 34-30 and 0-2 in the postseason. His career record is 172-130-1 with an 11-8 record in the playoffs. He won two Super Bowl rings as head coach of the New York Giants (1986, 1990) and led the New England Patriots to a Super Bowl appearance (1996).
Tagged bill parcells, bounty, new orleans saints, sean payton
Sean Payton Releases Statement
[5:05 pm] Saints spokesperson Greg Bensel released a statement from head coach Sean Payton moments ago…
Shockey, Payton Exchange Texts
Maybe this will clear up whether former Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey is the person who blew the whistle on the Saints’ bounty program. Shockey tweeted this screen grab of an exchange with Saints coach Sean Payton last night. Shockey said, “The truth shall set u free!!”
Saints’ Bounty Scandal: My Thoughts
When NFL commissioner Roger Goodell dropped the hammer on the Saints on Wednesday, I was about to eat lunch with my 6-year-old at his school. I had been waiting for the decision to come down all morning and was constantly checking Twitter for the first sliver of news. As I was waiting at the cafeteria, the news finally appeared in a tweet from ESPN’s Adam Schefter:
Sean Payton suspended one year. Mickey Loomis 8 game and $500,000 fine. Saints fined $500,000 and a second round pick in 2012 and 2012.
My stomach sank.
I had to tell someone, so I targeted a random person walking by.
“Oh no,” the random person said somewhat indifferently. And that was that. No one else in sight.
Here I am, a news guy, who would go on to yap about this incessantly on TV all day, hearing about the biggest punishment ever handed down by the NFL, and I’m in a cafeteria filled with kindergartners.
Posted in saints
Tagged bounty, bounty gate, gregg williams, mickey loomis, new orleans saints, sean payton
[VIDEO] When Anchors Attack
An hard-working and unsuspecting Travers Mackel is ambushed in the newsroom by a rogue news anchor (me).
NFL’s Statement on Saints’ Bounty Punishment
Commissioner Roger Goodell notified the New Orleans Saints today of the discipline that will be imposed on team management for violations of the NFL’s long-standing “bounty” rule that endangered player safety over a three-year period.
[VIDEO] Reporter Upstaged by Rooster
WJAR-TV (Providence, RI) reporter Katie Davis was recording a standup when a rogue rooster charged her and nipped at her leg. Funny stuff.
In the News: Half Marathon ‘Run for Tripp’
Extremely generous donors — at least 700 of them — have helped raise nearly $45,000 (so far) for EB research in memory of Tripp Roth, the two-year-old from Ponchatoula who died in January after a brave battle with the rare skin disease.
Last week, the Times-Picayune threw out another assist by featuring me on the cover of its “Fit” newspaper insert. My sincere thanks to Features Editor Mark Lorando and TV writer Dave Walker. Here’s an excerpt from the accompanying article:
“We’ve done some stories at WDSU about his battle (with epidermolysis bullosa). I have a 2-year-old who was just a few months younger than Tripp when Tripp passed away, so the story hit really close to home for me. My previous long road race was the Crescent City Classic, which is 6.2 miles. I said, let me try the (Rock’n’ Roll New Orleans) half-marathon … let me use my outlet as a news anchor to raise some money for awareness for EB and in memory of Tripp.”
Click through for the rest of the article, including a “fitness role model” reference. Ha.
Like this:
[PICS] Mobile Leprechaun Celebrated
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The Mobile Leprechaun: Six Years Later
Believe it or not, six years have passed since one of the first YouTube viral videos was born. There are kindergartners who weren’t even a thought in their parents’ minds when the story first aired.
With around 25 million combined views (more than 20 million on the original video from 2006), the Mobile Leprechaun video is one of the most-viewed all-time on YouTube. And every year around St. Patrick’s Day more and more people see it for the first time.
I’m forever linked to the story because I’m one of the anchors who introduced it on camera. As a result, I’m peppered with questions about it several times a year. One question is often repeated: ”Was that a real news story?” The answer is yes and no…
