Cheerleaders

VANCOUVER (AP) -- As Olympians arrive by the day, the Winter Games seem to be missing something. Namely, winter. There's more snow in D.C., as in District of Columbia, than B.C., or British Columbia. Vancouver Olympic officials have touted these as "The Green Games," but Mother Nature might be taking that to an extreme. Some Vancouverites are now referring to them as "The Brown Games," given the muddy conditions at Cypress Mountain. "When I got off the airplane it was like, 'What's this green grass doing here? This is the Winter Olympics,"' U.S. speedskater Trevor Marsicano said Sunday, recalling his reaction after flying in last week from Milwaukee. "For me it's nice, because I'm used to, like, zero-degrees. This is awesome." Trouble is, with opening ceremonies on Friday, the above-freezing temperatures in Vancouver -- it got above 50 on Saturday -- continue to raise concerns for other sports, particularly snowboarding and freestyle skiing, two events being held on the mountain overlooking the city.

Filed under: Saints , Super Bowl FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.-- We saw Drew Brees on Sunday night hold his son Baylen on the field and whisper to him after winning Super Bowl XLIV and the game's most valuable player award. There was a twinkle in his eyes that set everything around him aglow And then on Monday morning in his news conference here, Brees cradled his MVP trophy much like he had his son. The glow from the silver prize illuminated his face. The stars on the trophy reflected to form a line of stars on the ceiling above him Saint Brees. That is how New Orleans Saints fans now regard him. It is how his coach, Sean Payton, in some ways considers him. And for Brees, the feeling is mutual. Brees and Payton reminded every NFL team that if you want to get where they just reached, you had better develop an encompassing head coach/quarterback relationship that colors your team. The head coach and quarterback garner much of the credit and much of the blame in any NFL city. That duo's aura -- or lack of it -- sets the template for the entire roster. You are going nowhere in this league if first you do not have a franchise quarterback. And accompanying it a quarterback/head coach relationship that sets the standard for team-wide relationships. "With Sean, it's like ESP,'' Brees said. ``We have trust, faith and confidence. I feel like I know the play that's going to be called.'' Brees said that this Saints team "will walk together forever'' even though there certainly will be roster changes next season. But this Brees-Payton connection looks solid for the next few seasons. And that is great news for both. And for Saints teams to follow.

Filed under: Saints , NFL Fans , Super Bowl , Super Bowl XLIV Video NEW ORLEANS -- Why wait until Tuesday for a parade? After all, you can create an impromptu one with two simple ingredients -- a mass of people lining each side of the street and moving vehicles. And so New Orleans Saints fans gathered on Veterans Memorial Boulevard by the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, waiting for the team to fly back from Miami in order to give them a champion's welcome. Though the tradition is nothing new; Saints fans have lined this same stretch of road to greet the team after every road game this season. For a mile and a half, bodies lined the street, nulling any other traffic. Some partied through the night and made it to the airport early in the morning to get a good spot, even though the team didn't arrive until about 3 p.m. On an overpass above the road, drivers turned a highway into a parking lot, getting out of their cars and standing on the overpass in order to look down on the action.

Filed under: Saints , Super Bowl MIAMI -- The more the seconds turn into minutes along the way to hours, days and years after the most improbable victory in the history of sports, the more the New Orleans Saints become a living testimony for a higher power. If you haven't gone to church in a while, you might consider it now. For one, there have been more references to God and faith regarding what the Saints did to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday at Sun Life Stadium than during the previous 43 Super Bowls combined. And for another, well, this wasn't supposed to happen. Here's something else to consider: no more alibis, please. Just like that, those in charge of traditionally lousy pro franchises and major college programs -- ranging from the Los Angeles Clippers and Vanderbilt football to the Detroit Lions and any baseball team that dares to play in the nation's capital -- have lost the ability forever to blame this or that while ending another season in purgatory. I mean, the Saints won the Super Bowl .

Filed under: NBA All-Star Game , NBA Injuries Brandon Roy continues to suffer ill effects caused by a hamstring strain, an injury which has kept him out of action since January 20, and which has cost him 12 games in all. As such, there will be no All-Star Game appearance for Portland's best, leaving an empty spot many considered Monta Ellis as the favorite to fill . No dice, as the commissioner's office instead selected beloved guard Chris Kaman . (Note: Kaman is actually neither beloved nor a guard, which means David Stern just started off 0-for-2.) Kaman probably deserves the berth more than does Ellis, at least by my reckoning. Ellis scores a-plenty, but remains among the league's least efficient top scorers . In other words, if you gave Ricky Davis enough shots, he'd score 26 too. (That comparison is considerably unfair; I immediately apologize to Ellis and the entire Golden State Warriors organization for my hurtful words.) Kaman has been just lovely in L.A., rebounding well despite being paired with one of the era's great rebounders (Marcus Camby ). He's also adjusted well to his newly expanded offensive role in his first non-plagued season without Elton Brand , taking far more shots than he's used to and losing little in the way of efficiency. I mean, he hasn't been overwhelmingly brilliant -- Carlos Boozer quite honestly deserves the All-Star nod much more, and I'm not sure Kaman has much of a better case than Roy's bud LaMarcus Aldridge , or even Houston's Luis Scola . But "it is what it is" and you can never curse a man his first All-Star berth, so cheers, Chris Kaman!

Filed under: College Sports , High School Scroll halfway down the athletics page of the web site for Cretin-Derham Hall, a Catholic high school in St. Paul, Minn., that is home to the nation's most highly-touted football recruit. There you will come upon the following note of felicitation: "Congratulations to the following student-athletes that have signed NCAA national letters of intent to play collegiate athletics: Seantrel Henderson -Football-University of Southern California" If only. While the 6-8, 330-pound offensive tackle did appear live on national television last Wednesday to announce that he would attend USC, he is still yet to sign his national letter of intent. Henderson, whose father Sean is heavily invested in his son's choice (the family discussed plans to move to Los Angeles just last week), will wait at least until after the NCAA infractions hearings that USC will be subjected to between February 19-21 in Tempe, Arizona, before scrolling his signature on a letter of intent.

Filed under: Grizzlies , Wizards The Gilbert Arenas scandal may not have been so bad for the Wizards . It allowed them to recognize that, Gil or no Gil, they're no longer outfitted to be taken seriously in the East. Oh wait, they loaded up this summer with Randy Foye and Mike Miller . In the preseason, many important thinkers designated DC and Dallas as teams that could finish anywhere from lottery to home-court. Sometimes, all you can say for sure is that you don't know for sure what's going to happen. Yet now the Wizards are free, free to clean out their high-priced garage by any means necessary and maybe even turn the page on this era. Arenas's contract will likely not be voided, but the rift between the team and its star guard is at this point beyond repair. We've lately heard reputable murmurs about Antawn Jamison and fellow shipwreck victim Caron Butler welcoming trades, with no shortage of suitors burning up the telegraph lines. Today in the Washington Post , Michael Lee suggests that moving Jamison to the hated Cavs, as hard to stomach as it might be, could be the Wiz's Pau Gasol trade. As in, a short-term loss that positions them for for the future in a real way. However, it's worth noting that the hype surrounding the Gasol trade may now have swung too far in the other direction.

Filed under: Colts , Saints , NFL Coaching , Super Bowl , NFL Quarterbacks FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- With confetti and congratulations pouring down on him after Sunday's 31-17 Super Bowl XLIV ambush of the favored Indianapolis Colts , New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton - a guy who likes to celebrate -- said he wasn't sure he would make it to the traditional Monday morning winners' news conference. He showed up, hair uncombed, bleary eyed, looking every bit like someone who had just spent a sleepless night. Except that Payton did get some shut-eye, with some interesting company at his side. Holding the Lombardi Trophy in his hands as he faced the cameras one last time before heading back to the Crescent City for what promises to be an epic "Who Dat" victory parade, Payton doesn't sound like a guy who's eager to let it go anytime soon. "This thing laid in my bed next to me last night," Payton said, holding the NFL 's championship hardware like it was a much-loved teddy bear. "I rolled over a couple of times. I probably drooled on it. But man, there's nothing like it." The sterling silver Lombardi Trophy has a special connection to the Saints ' organization. It is named for Vince Lombardi , the legendary Green Bay Packers coach. And Lombardi's grandson, Joe, is the Saints quarterback coach.

Filed under: NFL Pretty sure those fans who, in the hours and days leading up to the big game, would have gladly welcomed Judgment Day in exchange for a Saints Super Bowl title didn't mean it literally. Got some bad news. Via the As Seen in Shreveport blog , the Shreveport Times, in its Super Bowl preview edition, had a foreshadowing message from the Son of God.

Filed under: NHL Fans , Russian Hockey , Team USA , Team Canada , Olympic Hockey Every Monday during the season two of our hockey writers will debate one topic. It's the 2-on-1. This week, Chris Botta and Adam Gretz talk about the upcoming Olympics, the NHL 's involvement, and who is going to take home the Gold.

Filed under: Daytona Int'l Speedway , Nationwide Series , Danica Patrick DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- After a top-10 taste of stock car racing over the weekend, Danica Patrick has decided to accelerate her learning curve and will enter Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway. Patrick announced her decision Monday, two days after finishing sixth at Daytona in an 80-lap race in the ARCA Series, which is an entry-level, training series for many drivers. The Nationwide Series is NASCAR's version of Triple-A baseball and a significant step up. "Racing in the Nationwide Series race was my goal during this entire two-month preparation process,'' Patrick said, "but we wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do. "The ARCA race was a blast and I'm not ready for my first Daytona Speedweeks to end just yet. I want more racing."

Filed under: Celtics , Kings , NBA Rumors In retrospect, Danny Ainge has executed no trade as brilliant as the one which in essence sent the fifth pick in the 2007 draft and Delonte West to Seattle for Ray Allen . It was a huge risk at the time: Allen had come off double ankle surgery, at age 31. The player the Celtics were purported to be leaning toward in the draft -- Yi Jianlian -- was a highly coveted mystery. It wasn't a no-brainer, like the Kevin Garnett -Al Jefferson deal. Ray has been utterly healthy since coming to Boston, though -- he's played in 94 percent of the Celtics ' games in the 2-1/2 seasons, just two games fewer than ironman Paul Pierce and a full 35 games more than the younger Garnett. And he's been good, too, a key component of the 2008 title run and a stunningly efficient weapon in 2009.

Filed under: Sports Media , NFL The NFL season is officially over. For those of you not willing to embrace that reality, we offer this: a chance to relive Super Bowl week through the magic of the internet and the eyes of Will Brinson . It'll be just like virtual reality, but in two dimensions. Which, upon reflection, is probably for the best.

Filed under: Saints , NFL Coaching , Super Bowl MIAMI -- Contrary to what you'll be hearing for the next few years, Sean Payton isn't that smart. If he were, he would have waited a little longer before dropping a bomb on his kicker. "Hey, we're running it," he told Thomas Morstead . It was the Onside Kick Heard 'Round The World. The only thing wrong with the call was that there were still 20 minutes left in halftime. "I wish he'd told me at the end," Morstead said. Instead, Morstead had an entire performance by The Who to get nervous. But like almost everything else Payton did Sunday night, it worked to near perfection.

Filed under: Super Bowl MIAMI -- It was a convergence of voodoo and love and confetti, all the things a visitor feels walking through New Orleans yet rarely felt by the good people who live there. Finally, on a Sunday night in south Florida that didn't happen unless you believe in marriage and Santa Claus and a world without taxes and war, something beautiful blossomed for a pained city that has experienced too much death and destruction and dearly needed a CARE package. The good people were blessed in the form of the Saints , a team once so rotten that fans called them the Aints and wore bags over their heads, a team once so embarrassing that two young children named Peyton and Eli Manning asked their mother if they could boo with the other fans in the Superdome, a team once so hopeless and pathetic that a local sportscaster named Buddy Diliberto said he'd wear a dress on Bourbon Street if they ever reached the Super Bowl . A good guess is that dresses and all types of clothing were being removed on Bourbon Street until dawn. That's because the Saints, the pride of Who Dat Nation and a team that almost left town after Hurricane Katrina, won the Su ... Sup ... Supe ...