Why the Saints Belong in N.O.

Katrina was an absolute Catastrophe.

There is no doubt about the capital C.

The big C came to the Big Easy and in a matter of days, turned it into a big wasteland.

Add up the billions of dollars in damage, the lives lost, the families separated, the houses destroyed, the memories washed away, the communities displaced, and the degrading, humiliating, and lowly conditions survivors had to endure as they waited for rescue and you have, perhaps, the single greatest natural disaster of the last century.

Many more eloquent and educated writers have tried to do justice to the impact of Hurricane Katrina before, and the fact that even they cannot do justice to what residents of Louisiana must have endured means that I should stop trying at the moment.

Instead, I would like to momentarily ponder the role the NFL, the Saints, and specifically Tom Benson have had, and will have on the city of New Orleans.

Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Superdome, and the fact that the site was used as a makeshift refugee camp for thousands of survivors has made the idea of playing football in the Superdome a non-reality for the foreseeable future.

Enter Tom Benson.

Citing falling revenue, a soiled Superdome, and a laundry list of other excuses (pardon me, "reasons"), owner Tom Benson has publicly made known his intention of eventually moving the New Orleans Saints franchise to another city. Among the prospects, San Antonio, where the Saints will play some of their home games this year and next, and Los Angeles, the big American city without an NFL team.

Just a couple of weeks ago in Baton Rouge, where the Saints also play a portion of their home games, Benson argued with and attempted to strike a cameraman following a game. He also screamed obscenities at a fan, and then had the gall to chastise the city, and tell the commissioner in an e-mail that he would not return for any future Saints home games in fear of safety for himself and his family.

Yes, tell the people of Louisiana about the fear of a threatening fan and a cameraman. I'm sure they will understand.

Forget all of the surrounding circumstances for one second, and answer this...

If the Giants or the Jets was a "failing" franchise like the Saints, in the year after 9/11, would anyone have even breathed a hint that either team leave New York?

The answer, of course, is no.

Would there be a more fundamental way to further damage the psyche and emotional base of the New Orleans community than to take their NFL franchise and move it to another city in the next two years?

Sure, they've sustained all of the physical damage they can possibly take, and many of them endured the furthest bounds of psychological punishment, but they still have a couple of things to look forward to — a couple of things to give them hope. And sixteen Sundays a year have to be part of it.

The country has reached out to them, through donations and volunteering, in an effort to rebuild a great and prosperous community. After allegations of racism, and discrimination based on class, and governmental lack of response, and poor planning, and poor response, we now seem to be set on rectifying the wrong, no matter the source.

The one further wrong that could be done is to allow Tom Benson to move the New Orleans Saints out of the city.

Yes, there are times, some of them recent, when sports can represent all that is wrong in society. However, there are multitudes of times when sports can be representative of everything that is good and decent and kind and fair in our country.

If charity and goodwill are the codes of our civic duty, then surely the responsibility of the athletic world, and specifically the NFL, is to ensure that we remain loyal and dedicated to the citizens of New Orleans.

If MLB can plaster the number for donations to the Red Cross on the backstop of every ballpark for every game in an effort to raise money for the victims and the community, then shouldn't the NFL make a strong move to keep the team from the city from moving?

I'm not saying nearly enough donations have been made, and I'm not saying nearly enough time has been put into even beginning to organize the rebuilding, but I am saying that the NFL and Tom Benson are in a unique position to do for the city that which no one else can do.

Every one of the sixteen Sundays that the Saints play representing the city of New Orleans can heal, unite, rally, uplift, and any other positive verb that has any emotional impact.

Every name for a professional team has two parts: 1) a name, logo, nickname, etc., and 2) a city, state, or region that the team represents.

What could be more detrimental, after all the region has gone through, than to take away the organization that bears its name?

It's time for Tom Benson to play the role of the namesake of his team to the city that so desperately needs it.