WHO DAT? WE DAT! TWO DAT!

On this evening, the 2010 year of our Lord, the New Orleans Saints commence their journey for the ring... again. Yes, the defending Super Bowl Champions, New Orleans Saints begin the quest for another Lombardi trophy. I stress quest ring for another because all teams are undefeated starting tonight. The Saints have stated in the public that "we are the hunted" this year and its a totally different game in 2010. Last team to repeat was the 2003-2004 New England Patriots and no doubt it's a difficult thing to do. I am biased in saying that I believe that Da' Boyz can repeat, because it will take work and a laser-like focus. As I've heard in the past, it all starts from the top. And with the Saints it starts with coach Sean Payton and quarterback, Drew Brees. After watching America's Game 2009 on the NFL Network I realized that these two men may have that focus. Payton gave the team a list of 10 reasons why they should repeat as champions and 10 reasons why they shouldn't, "the choice is yours". Payton also told the story of being at Saints headquarters on a Sunday during a bye week to find Brees ALONE, at game time, going through the motions of a game. When Payton discovered this he asked Drew "Are we winning?" Brees smiled and replied "Of course". Linebacker Jonathan Vilma spoke of how Payton insisted that he be on the stand to receive the NFC championship trophy because he was such a big part of this journey. As hard as Payton was telling Garret Hartley to "stop ****ing sulking" after missing a field goal against the Bucs, he also told him, before he made the NFC championship kick heard around the world, "you belong here son". Payton's hard but he's fair, which is all you can ask for but not expect in this life because as we all know 'life IS unfair'. During this off-season, the Saints lost only two people from the Super Bowl roster and usually what destroys most Super Bowl teams is the concept of team and "we" becoming about the individual and "me". The Saints have been very steadfast about keeping a vice-like grip on the "we" concept. "We" is an attitude that reflects the people and city of New Orleans and the Saints are a manifestation of that attitude. "We" is slowly (and I do mean slowly) but surely bringing the city of New Orleans back. The Saints are just ahead of the curve with a Lombardi in the glass case. Ergo, I believe the Saints will be playing in Dallas AKA "Jerry's House" on Thanksgiving Day and in early February.

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HIDE YO' KIDS FROM ANTOINE

We have breaking news. Ignorance still reigns supreme. Dating back to deep in the 20th century, we have heard every possible joke about how newscasters find the most ignorant person to interview. I don't think the news media got the memo. Please meet Antoine Dodson, the witness, who deterred a would be rapist atop his sister and the newest internet sensation. He has appeared on TODAY show and other national shows to speak of his new found-- bucoonery (that's how ignorant he is and I have a copyright on the word "bucoonery") I mean new found fame. While I applaud Antoine's deterring of this heinous man, maybe he was speaking in the moment, which would explain his spontaneous and (let me reitterate)ignorant remarks in the interview. But what irks me most is that Antoine is doing every interview possible just to be on television and he has literally become Sleep N Eat and Mantan the Minstrel for these fifteen minutes of fame. These nine hundred seconds of fame are ones that I believe he will regret or maybe not (I'll leave that to Antoine) because the world is mocking him. From the gentlemen, who Auto-Tuned him to over nineteen million hits on YouTube and all the journalists like Matt Lauer and Meredith Vereira, who look at him and just fight back the laughter on this guy. MATT LAUER: "So Antoine, you actually saw your sister's assailant?" ANTOINE: "Yes, I did. Yes, I did, Mr.Today Show. And he better watch out, cause Antoine is on the prowl." Yes, Antoine is receiving half the profits from the sales of "Bed Intruder" on iTunes, but all money isn't good money. He has been turned into a 21st century minstrel and doesn't even know it. I will stop here, but I advise you as Antoine says "Hide yo' kids..... from Antoine."

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CRUNCH TIME

I find myself looking for a subject to write about literally at the 11th hour. It's 11:06pm and I have yet to put an entry in the Bastille. The recent reaching of a watermark in life made me decide to show some discipline in life and my profession of writing by doing daily entries in this blog o' mine. The thing is I have to be short, which for a long winded SOB like myself is like asking Montana Fishburne to not do something embarassing, but alas (you just don't get to use 'alas' as much today), I will. My wheels spin as I try to decide if I should political and talk about political sh** slinging President Obama is enduring while his Dems sit on their hands and testicles. Then I could speak of the exciting first weekend of college football games, but my audience would be whittled down to one, ME. I could do an observation piece on this homeless gentleman, who works outside the pharmacy, but that is so Steve Lopez and even with the book, Robert Downey Jr, Jamie Foxx and accompanying film, The Soloist didn't do well. So as my eardrums ae tickled by the sounds of Steely Dan's Peg, I realize there is not time to hem and haw (a phrasing my elder family members use) and write something interesting. So, I shall leave you with my true feelings (as seen above), since I am pissed at giving you this sham of an entry.

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THE RETURN

Greetings. The gatekeeper of Hades, Donovan Burke is back after a forced vacation, which I could easily blame on many outside factors other than myself, but I won't. I accept my part in "falling off". My feelings are... let's move forward from here. I realized I tuckered myself out in past entries by trying to write War & Peace on a daily basis. It's a blog, not State of the Union address. Now, I shall take a hint from Emmy Award winning writer of THE WIRE, TREME and my blog idol, David Mills AKA Undercover Blackman (R.I.P.). Keep it short, sweet and to the point. Not that he never said that but he led by his actions and his entries we short, sweet, to the point and they kept you coming back. I hope to be as discplined as he was from this point on. And now the Bastille. In my absence, I have been active, so has the world in general. President Obama is not as popular, the largest oil spill in history took place and LeBron ripped the heart out of a city. So what did I focus on? Lebron of course. Somewhere between the 2008 USA team, his mother's indiscretions with one Delonte West and South Beach, my mind came up with the following mock commercials, that I wrote and directed.

I hope you enjoyed it, I know LeBron and his mom probably didn't. But as I said, I hope to be short, sweet and to the point in the future.

Now Follow Me! follow ME to Freedom!