So why not do just that- convert an obsession into a livelihood; gain access by joining the Saints payroll and becoming a "newsmaker"?

Well, let's quickly set aside my boyhood fantasies of catching winning TD passes- I have nothing to contribute on the field. I'd also be of little help on the sideline- as low an opinion I had of Ditka's coaching staff, I know that my X & O knowledge is trivial compared to that of the worst NFL assistant.

So, helping the team directly has been ruled out, but what about having an indirect impact? One need not don a helmet to make a contribution- filling the stands via a successful marketing campaign can also lead to wins.

Being a member of the Saints organization is a worthy pursuit, but it's not for me- it would conflict with my prime directive of keeping fans informed about the goings-on of the team. In an ideal scenario, everything's peachy, and there's no disincentive to hold back info, but in reality the aforementioned "newsmaker's unwillingness" presents itself all too often.

Being part of the franchise would maximize access to team info, but likely wouldn't help shrink much of what I termed the "information gap." For example, for a few years now, I've been maintaining a spreadsheet of the Saints' player payroll, in an attempt to compute salary cap numbers by taking into account base money, signing bonuses, etc. The spreadsheet is incomplete (and thus of little utility) for a reason- it's not in the team's interest to emphasize the business aspects of football; though sometimes contract terms are announced, often they're not. This information gap is a function of the team's unwillingness to inform the public, not a result of ignorance of what news the public wants.

Most importantly, becoming a newsmaker means forfeiting your ability to editorialize. In the past few years, I've looked back at the Mora Era, ahead to the '97 season, at a year of Ditka, and towards the '99 offseason in order to give my thoughts on the state of the franchise (sorry to disappoint anyone who thought Fleur & Aintny were independent entities; they're simply a product of my own Saints schizophrenia). Though my independent streak prevents me from promoting or defending bankrupt coaching/management regimes, as a representative of the team my job description would require such activity.

Perhaps I'm creating an overly-dramatic ethical dilemma here. Still, how's this for a bold, paradoxical assertion- in order to claim true allegiance to a franchise, you must not be part of it. To explain myself, I point to the Cleveland Browns.

What is the essence of a franchise- its city? Mascot? Stadium? Owner? Coaching staff? Players? Uniform? Every sports franchise has undergone changes in one or more of the above to different degrees. A few years back, the NFL seemed to acknowledge that there was some ethereal Platonic ideal called "The Cleveland Browns" that separated itself from Art Modell and his employees when they moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens. After a hiatus, the Browns returned.

I submit that a franchise's critical human element is its fan base, not its players, coaches, or administrators. Though fans can take rather little credit for a team's on-field success (players, coaches, etc. make that happen), they are the keepers of a team's soul. I believe it is a fan's duty to keep his or her team honest; to morally veto any wrongheaded actions by the franchise's caretakers.