“What’s special teams?” What a cute question. Now, if only this girl wasn’t wearing a Reggie Bush jersey. Was this a concious decision by the people over at Electronic Arts? If so, are they saying that young Saints fans don’t know about football (or that their parents are unwilling to properly teach them)? Or are they merely saying that Reggie Bush is so popular even clueless 8-year-old girls wear his jersey?

I’ve made an inquiry to the folks at Madden. Let’s hope they get back to me.

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By now you’ve probably spent half your workday goofing off your coffee break exploring the latest creepy-cool feature of Google Maps: the New Orleans street view. Lieutenant Gov. Mitch Landrieu cut the virtual ribbon this morning:

I recently had the opportunity to visit the Googleplex and I expressed my interest in seeing Street View come to Louisiana, so I’m excited to see the launch of Street View imagery for Greater New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport. This remarkable tool allows us to share with the world life as we see it, here on the ground in my home state.

In this time of recovery and rebuilding, it is important that we share real images of life in Louisiana and on the Gulf Coast. As you explore the streets of New Orleans, you will discover a city marked by extremes. You will see some areas spared the worst of Katrina’s fury which have quickly recovered, and you will find other neighborhoods that remain flattened by the floodwaters that broke the levees. You will see that our residents call both FEMA trailers and antebellum mansions home.

Here’s what some people have found so far:

- Varg at The Chicory conducts his own personal tour of the town…

- Richard at New Orleans Metblogs says “Based on the view of my house, I’m guessing they’ve been working on this for a while–at least since last year. But whatevs: we’ve arrived.* (* Insofar as a vaguely creepy invasion of privacy counts as “arrived”.)”

- And Jeffrey at Library Chronicles features some festive “virtual disaster tourism”!

Have you found anything funny/good on the maps yet? Some drunk tourist passed out on a stoop in the Lower Quarter? Slipper ladies in curlers and housedresses trudging home from the supermarket?

Angelina Jolie? Drew Brees? Jackie Clarkson? If so, leave the location in the comments…

Perhaps due to the growing concern of fan behavior and that NFL games were no longer “family friendly” or that fans were putting way too much emphasis on getting completely trashed before noon, the NFL has released a fan conduct policy to be implemented this season. Actions that fans are ban from partaking in this season:

– Behavior that is unruly, disruptive, or illegal.

– Drunkenness and signs of alcohol impairment that result in irresponsible behavior.

– Foul or abusive language or obscene gestures.

– Interference with the progress of the game, including throwing objects onto the field.

– Failing to follow instructions of stadium personnel.

– Verbal or physical harassment of fans from the opposing team.

You hear that? The days of dressing up, eating and drinking too much and generally acting like an ass at NFL games are over. The NFL is a family business, you hear? It’s no place for senseless violence or general nihilistic behavior.

Seriously.

“My brother understood how important is was to show young people that they have options and opportunities as they grow up,” writes Nakita Shavers, sister of slain musician and educator Dinerral Shavers. With that simple mission statement, the local nonviolence awareness group SilenceIsViolence and the Dinerral Shavers Educational Fund have teamed to present Speak Up Part III, an annual community event featuring performances and readings by students from the Teen Center for Non-Violence and SilenceIsViolence’s Programs for Peace. Adds Nakita, “We want to make sure that [Dinerral's] legacy continues to provide opportunities to the young people of New Orleans.”

     Speak Up III will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8, at the Sound Café (2700 Chartres St.).

The New Orleans Hornets will open the 2008-09 regular season on the road on Wednesday, Oct. 29, when they take on the Golden State Warriors. The Hornets will battle Shaquille O’Neal, Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns on the road the following night on Thursday, Oct. 30 in a nationally televised game on TNT. The Hornets first home game comes on Saturday, Nov. 1 against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers….

Get all the dates and the deets here.

Republican nominee John McCain’s campaign has been going after Hollywood, but not in the way that the GOP typically does. He dropped the celebrity bomb on Obama, comparing him in ads to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. And now Paris is fighting back (or here) — sort of. Aside from comparing the “white haired dude” to Yoda and Colonel Sanders from KFC, she’s announcing that she’s ready for the debates.  Read the rest of this entry »

Just imagine this scene in 2-3 years, but with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers logo in the background. Trippy, right? Well reports are suggesting that the saga that is Brett Farve might end with the Buccaneers, the Saints Week 1 opponent. That certainly would shake things up in the NFC South, wouldn’t it?

(The following is a guest blogpost by Walter Williams, native New Orleanian, Louisiana wetlands activist [and, of course, creator of the immortal Mr. Bill].)

YouTube and the city of New Orleans are trying to stage a debate here on September 18. What better place to hold a debate about the state of our country? Massive infrastructure failure, catastrophic environmental damage, economic chaos…sure sounds like the US of A to me. Here is a question from 18-year-old super talent Amanda Shaw for the candidates that I filmed Saturday night for the YouTube debate:

And please read the letter below to the candidates endorsed by concerned musicians including R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Dr. John…check out the list of who is pushing the candidates for answers to our plight.

But neither candidate has committed yet. That’s how you can help. Please contact Obama and McCain and ask them why they are afraid to come and face us. Have they written us off? Are we an embarrassment? This link allows you to just push a button to send a message to both campaigns to commit to this debate. We’ve got to make them feel like they’ll look bad if they do snub us…again. We were supposed to be awarded one of the three official debates.

Also, can anyone explain why the huge environmental disaster which dumped a half a million gallons of heavy thick crude on our river and shut down all traffic, cut off drinking water, made everyone sick from the fumes and is a huge danger to wildlife, can’t get any press? Why did McCain cancel his trip here to tout the non impact of oil drilling on the very day the oil spill occurred? Why did our Governor keep quiet about the disaster for four days?

Generally with a disaster of such magnitude, the governor would be on the phone to the president begging for federal help. Two weeks later, the split open barge is still pinned against the Mississippi River Bridge spewing oil as we speak. This was not a barge of powdered sugar, otherwise the tourists would be out dunking their beignets in the river. No it was a barge full of heavy crude headed north to help keep people warm this winter. This is further proof that New Orleans and southern LA have borne the environmental impact in order to fuel the rest of the nation. Now these activities have put our very existence into question. Please read the release and letter below from the concerned musicians asking the candidates to explain their plan to save the birthplace of jazz, rock and roll, hip hop and who knows what next in the future. And please help us.

Peace all,
Walter
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Former U.S. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) says that his taskforce is not looking into allegations of ethical breaches by the American Society of Civil Engineers hired to review the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force (IPET), which is the U.S. Corps of Engineer’s investigation into the levee failures. Boehlert says that Levees.org, the local Corps watchdog group, might have misunderstood his group’s mission.

     “If [Levees.org] is looking for responses to allegations of ethical shortcomings and if they’re looking toward the taskforce, they’re looking in the wrong direction,” Boehlert says.

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Though Deuce and Shockey will sit during Thursday’s pre-season opener, the rest of the first-team offense is expected to play the first quarter. Deuce, for one, “can’t wait to get loose.” On the field, Jonathan Vilma is “pleased with his new start” and Jonathan Goodwin feels “at home.” All the new additions should help help “correct mistakes from 2007,” but the most important thing is that they’re ready this season. Part of that means preparing for Arizona, and finding ways to stay fresh in the training camp tedium. Meanwhile, I’m wondering if it’s really fair to grade offensive lines this early in the preseason.