Some "sports law expert" by the name of Gary Roberts took a dump on the city of New Orleans this week, with his pessimistic comments regarding the Saints and Hornets being published in Monday's Times-Picayune. A quick excerpt…

"The reality is that unless New Orleans pulls off an absolute miracle and comes back a richer, stronger city than before, the Saints and Hornets will eventually leave. I can't imagine the Hornets being here five years from now."

Ah, hell, here's some more… 

"… the way things are going in pro sports I just can't see New Orleans being a major league city 15 or 20 years from now. The NFL can last longer here than the NBA, and there are more places that the Hornets can go than the Saints can go. You have to have an $800 million facility to justify relocating. In basketball, there's a facility in Oklahoma City and several other places waiting for a team. The Hornets could easily move. This is not a basketball city for the most part, and it's not a rich city."

There seems to be one helluva backlash, as the N.O. faithful weigh in over at the HR boards and at NOLA.com. You get the feeling that Roberts would be pointed at and called "a very bad man" if he were ever to return to the Bayou.

Quite honestly, I know way too little about how it goes in New Orleans to say what's what. As someone who's planning to move down there, all these stories about crime and poverty are indeed worrying. Luckily, I've already begun preparations. Yep, been doing ten push-ups every morning since last Thursday and at last count I had about $140 stuffed under the mattress.

I don't want to suggest that one man's arrival could change the fortunes of an entire city, but I am pretty damn fantastic.