In the spirit of former Saints Coach Jim Mora, I say, "Playoffs, uh - uh, playoffs?"  Even more to the point, "Super Bowl, uh - uh, Super Bowl?"  Let's face it, the Saints aren't Super Bowl bound.  Not today they aren't.  Today, the Saints are Super Dome bound.  That's how it shakes out for Saints players and coaches this week as they prepare to face the Carolina Panthers.  Then, after the Panthers game, the Saints have 8 more challenges to face before the 2009 NFL season hits the books.  Then, those teams with the best records have to fight through wild-card and divisional brackets in order to earn the right to play in their respective conference title games.  Then, the two teams left standing can prepare to play in the Super Bowl.  Oh my, that's a lot of football before anyone can crown this year's NFL Champs.

If I were coaching the Saints, or any team for that matter, I would insist my team look at the season exactly as the schedule dictates.  That "one game at a time" stuff is for real and I respect the teams that grind it out one step at a time.  That, sports fans, is the company line.  Think of it like drinking expensive scotch or tugging on a fine Cuban puro.  Do you really want to hurry to taste the last drop of your single malt, or cut your stogie off at the foot, while tossing the rest aside?

Imagine you are in New Orleans.  You're dining at Arnaud's or Commander's Palace.  You are seated behind a white linen tablecloth with a stunning array of silverware fanned out across your place setting.  A menu bound in a soft leather jacket is presented to the table, followed by an equally impressive wine list.  Inside of each, you find the absolute finest offerings these world renowned restaurants have ever provided.  You take the time to go through the steps in tedium, because it is all a part of the experience.  Your waiter places your napkin onto your lap and offers you a cocktail.  Additional wait staff bring piping hot French bread with homemade butters and oils.  Across the way, you observe another party's excitement as their waiters team to prepare a flambé dessert.  The smells are unique to this very special environment.  The sites are sure to provide the kind of memories you'll store as moments of perfect pleasure.  In time, you order your meal, some six courses.  You spend an equal amount of time with the wine steward examining and choosing a series of bottles, each the perfect vintage for the particular course with which it will be served.  Then the appetizers come out.  A light aroma of garlic and rosemary permeate the air.  The sound of cork leaving its confines of some 20 years alerts you to the pouring of your first wine choice.  This undeniably perfect experience is taking shape.  Along with your guests, you begin to discuss the beauty that surrounds you and the awe this environment inspires.  The conversation turns to course presentations to come.  Anticipation begins to build for the Bordeaux that will be opened with your lamb chops.  Choosing a dessert will be next to impossible, and you consider ordering one of each to pass around the table.  Your cocktails and wine have you feeling happier than you'd anticipated.  And then it happens.

Talk of the evening's perfection dominates the conversation.  No longer are you concentrating on the finest table  tossed spinach salad with bacon, the oysters Rockefeller, or turtle soup.  You rifle through your lamb chops before you realize you'd forgotten to taste the mint jelly.  Then, finally, you find yourself wiping a fudge stain from your shirt while the bill is laid down on the corner of your table.  The next morning, you look back in a retrospective glance at the night that was, but without the grandeur and detail you'd anticipated earlier in the evening.  Your beautiful evening, that "perfect" night was but a memory, and a sketchy one at that.  The restaurant may as well have blended your entire meal, drinks and all, and poured it into styrofoam smoothie cups for you to carry through the streets of the French Quarter, where you would be sure to have a night you wouldn't remember.

That's not how I want my life's experiences to play out.  For me, I'm looking forward to the Panthers game, and then the Rams.  Tampa Bay is struggling.  The Patriots will be a great test.  We'll see the Redskins and have to travel to the Georgia Dome for a rematch with the Falcons.  I'm excited for the chance to whip some Cowboy a$$, and close out the division schedule with games against the Buccaneers and Carolina.  I am incredible optimistic for our chances to make the playoffs.  I'd be disappointed if we didn't control our own destiny and earn home-field advantage.  I deeply believe in the makeup of this team going forward.  I've seen plenty of evidence that this Saints team is a true contender for a berth in this season's Super Bowl.  Admittedly, I even think about the possibility of a Lombardi Trophy on Airline Drive.  If those things come to pass, I'll be ready.  I'll be nervous as I always am, but I'll be ready.  Along the way I'll be ready to take in the sights and the sounds.  I'll breathe in the smells and savor all that comes with the gameday experience.  I'll be ready to talk to my father and shed a tear for in place of the celebration hug we'd never had, if that celebration does take place.  In my mind, I believe it can.  I just don't want to miss one bit of the ride along the way.
 
jussayin.....