L.A. Times calls for NFL to keep Saints in N.O., while S.A. looking into coffers to 'keep' Saints

An editorial in today's Los Angeles Times calls for the NFL to keep the Saints in New Orleans, and indicates that while the city wants a league franchise, it does not want to take the beleaguered city's team.

"A city for the Saints" proclaims that "National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and the NFL owners have to do everything in their power to keep the Saints in New Orleans," and that "NFL owners, eager to protect the league's brand, need to find a way to recommit to New Orleans."

It goes on to call a Saints move from New Orleans "a disaster for the league's image."

Most importantly, the editorial says that L.A. does not want the Saints under these circumstances:

"As for Tagliabue's desire to see a team again in Los Angeles before he retires, the city is happy to welcome an expansion franchise (though not happy enough to subsidize it). But the NFL should know that we do not want any part of the Saints."

Now there's the difference between a city with genuine compassion for another, and San Antonio, which is fast becoming the definition of the opposite end of the spectrum.

In that vein, the San Antonio Express-News reports that local business leaders are checking into stadium financing options to "keep the Saints," as the headline says.

I thought New Orleans was fighting to "keep" the Saints, whereas San Antonio is trying to "get" them. Amazing how nearly four decades is overlooked after one city plays host for a mere two months.

In any event...check out this editorial by Peter Finney of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. It's a call to Tom Benson to sit at the negotiating table and get things right to "keep" (in its proper usage) the team in New Orleans. A good read.

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