Newsmakers: Saints Continue Resurgence In New Orleans
THE DAILY each Friday offers our take on the performances over the past week of some people and entities in sports business. Here are this week’s newsmakers:
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Bush Helping Lead
Saints' Resurgance |
WIN: SAINTS — What a difference a year makes. A year ago, our top story headline read “Saint Elsewhere?,” and Superdome execs were forced to deny reports that the building would have to be demolished. Now, the Saints have smashed their previous record for ticket sales and are on the verge of selling out all eight regular-season games for the first time in franchise history. While some still doubt whether there is enough corporate support to sustain the team’s long-term future in New Orleans, it’s clear the fan base is strong. The buzz from fielding arguably the most marketable rookie in NFL history doesn’t hurt.
LOSE: MARLINS –- Team receives praise from BUD SELIG and several team execs for getting back into the Wild Card hunt despite a league-low $15M payroll, but on-field successes remain overshadowed by low attendance, the hunt for a new ballpark and the supposed feud between Owner JEFFREY LORIA and manager JOE GIRARDI. Even game stories recapping rookie P ANIBAL SANCHEZ’ no-hitter on Wednesday note the paltry number of fans at the ballpark.
DRAW: MARION JONES — Gold Medalist says negative “B” sample proves her insistence that she’s never taken performance-enhancing drugs, but many aren’t buying it. One negative test, they say, does not do enough to exonerate Jones, who will always be linked with people like C.J. HUNTER, TIM MONTGOMERY and TREVOR GRAHAM. As the L.A. Daily News’ Steve Dilbeck writes, “Her cloud remains and it’s never going away.”
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