I don't have an elaborate Saints season preview this week

There's a lot to talk about and I'd be happy to do that in the Week 1 recap (Yes, I fully intend to blog every game this year. I know I took most of last season off. But so did Sean Payton so.. whatever.) To get the nastiness out of the way now, I think the Saints are a 9-7 team in 2013.  I'll address the reasons for that after the Falcons game.

I'm holding off on that stuff because opening the season with #FalconsHateWeek is proving to be a stupid distraction. A football season is supposed to be a long arch drama. Why would anyone put the big showdown in Chapter One?

It only makes sense if the writers mean for this to be a prelude to the real climax in Atlanta in Week 12. But for that to be the case, then clearly this is supposed to be a story about the Falcons. They're meant to lose an early one in New Orleans but redeem themselves at home later when it counts. The whole thing is disgustingly formulaic. It feels like a set-up.  I'm nervous.

But enough of that. Falcon Week means many things to many people. When it falls the same week as Gleason Gras it means fans are thinking and talking about this a lot.



And, inevitably, we are reminded.

The Superdome statue commemorating Steve Gleason's famous blocked punt has a curious omission: only the figure of Gleason, flying through the air and touching the ball with his outstretched fingers has a name and a team a viewer can determine.

The reason: the Atlanta Falcons refused to grant the Saints and sculptor Brian Hanlon permission to use the Falcons' symbol or the punter's name in the piece, titled 'Rebirth,' according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

They can be all weird about it if they want to.  It's a shame their pettiness caused the statue to go unfinished.  But people seem to remember what happened anyway.