The school year has come to an end, which means all prep sports have ceased. It’s sad. It’s disheartening. It makes us miss everything.
I should be appreciative of the NBA playoffs, but it seems like the Miami Heat are going to walk their way to another title, so these games aren’t that interesting. I love my Major League Baseball season, though. My favorite team, the San Francisco Giants, are sitting in first place, and that makes me happy.
I miss football, though. Don’t we all??It’s like 150 days until the first game still. That feels like forever.
So, to cheer us all up, I have reports from the Saints. I interviewed several of them last week at the Black & Gold Hoops Challenge II charity basketball game.
“This feels like a whole new season,”?Lance Moore said. “It’s nice to see how excited everyone is about Sean Payton coming back. Our goal is to try and get better. Once you get back on the field, it’s back to football.”
Darren?Sharper, a retired safety who won a Super Bowl with the Saints, said it’s nice being an analyst with the NFL?Network because he can be really honest about what is going on when talking about if Roman Harper and Malcom Jenkins should be concerned about safety Kenny Vaccaro being drafted first by the Saints.
“They (Jenkins and Harper)?better get ready to play. It means something that they drafted Kenny,”?Sharper said.
Part of the Black and Gold game is to benefit Sharper’s charity, and he said the game is something he wants to do every season.
Sharper said he was surprised the Saints didn’t draft a pass-rushing defender.
“Overall, though, I’m impressed with their picks. Whatever positions they select, you just have to go with it,”?Sharper said. “Rob (Ryan) is bringing back some of the ideas Greg (Williams) had last year. You kind of go back two years ago to when the guys were more aggressive.”
Cam Jordan, who is getting ready to start his third year in the NFL, said he is willing to play any position this season.
“With the defense, we are going to stay out of trouble. Our coach is back and it has boosted our moral. The intensity is so much higher — probably 200 percent higher,”?Jordan said.
First-round draft pick Vacarro said he’s looking forward to the competition that this season will bring.
It all sounds like positive things are going to come from this year.
We can only hope.
(Chrissy Smith is Sports Editor of the Slidell Independent, and a former college athlete. She can be reached at chrissycsmith@gmail.com.)