Saints

Troy Duffy went from a bartending screenwriter to Harvey Weinstein's golden boy in the '90s with his calling-card script "The Boondock Saints" -- a brash action comedy about twin vigilantes. His resulting bad-behavior flameout in Hollywood was humiliatingly turned into a cautionary documentary ("Overnight"). But the best revenge is a fan base. "Saints" took off on home video. Now, 10 years later, Duffy has reemerged with a sequel, "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day," reuniting Connor (Sean Patrick Flanery)

Suspended New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma filed a defamation lawsuit Thursday against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell , claiming the league's top executive made false statements that tarnished Vilma's reputation and hindered his ability to earn a living playing football. The suit in U.S. District Court in New Orleans claims Goodell, "relied on, at best, hearsay, circumstantial evidence and lies" in making comments about Vilma while discussing the NFL's bounty investigation of the New Orleans Saints.

Key: New Orleans' Drew Brees didn't throw an interception for the first time in five games, and the Saints also didn't give up a sack for the first time since Oct. 18 against the Giants. Saints said: "Every team we face would love to give us that first loss." -- Brees Buccaneers said: "It's just one of those days. An off day. . . . I don't see it as a problem going forward." -- Josh Freeman, quarterback

The NFL Players Assn. is continuing its fight on behalf of four current and former New Orleans Saints players suspended by the league, challenging NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's authority to sanction them. The suspensions are for the players' involvement in the Saints' bounty scandal. Linebacker and team captain Jonathan Vilma has been suspended for the entire 2012 season, defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove for eight games, defensive end Will Smith for four, and linebacker Scott Fujita three.

When you write a play called "100 Saints You Should Know," you're going to get questions about religion, and Kate Fodor — whose play premiered Off-Broadway in 2007 at Playwrights Horizons and opened this week at Hollywood's Elephant Theatre — is by no means wary of the subject, even as she attempts to broaden the inquiry. Over breakfast in Manhattan, Fodor identifies herself as "an instinctually spiritual person who doesn't believe in either God or Tarot cards," partly crediting her upbringing by secular academics, though she seems sincerely curious about faiths she can't bring herself to share.

Now that they've put the Super Bowl hangover on hiatus, New Orleans and Indianapolis just want to hang around. For the first time since 2000, both of the Super Bowl participants from the previous season have qualified for the playoffs. But neither the Saints nor the Colts are shoo-ins to get past the opening round. The Saints have to do something the franchise has never done: win a playoff game on the road. The Colts, meanwhile, will open the postseason at home Saturday night against the New York Jets ?

The Santa Monica strip dotted with record studios and upscale condos looks nothing like the home they left behind. No fields abundant with agave. No central plaza. No prehistoric ruins. Still, on a recent weekend Oaxacans traveled here from as far away as Washington and Utah to celebrate. They marched down Colorado Boulevard, blew their trumpets, balanced giant baskets of chrysanthemums on their heads and danced in gold brocade and velvet. "We're supposed to have fireworks, too, but the city's safety code won't allow it," said Cindy Cruz, 26, as she followed the small procession.

They don't pick 'em, they just play 'em. So there's no sense in knocking the New York Giants for their recent string of pushover opponents -- Tampa Bay (0-5), Kansas City (0-5) and Oakland (1-4) -- that surely have left their statistics artificially inflated. The Giants (5-0) are ranked second in offense and first in defense, outgaining their last three foes by a combined 1,309 yards to 403. That's what makes Sunday's game at New Orleans such a significant measuring stick. The Saints (4-0)

Saints' run offense vs. Colts' run defense The Saints had the sixth-ranked ground game this season, and the Colts finished 24th against the run. Still, this isn't the mismatch those numbers suggest. The Colts improved dramatically in that department as the season went on, and their numbers only got worse again when they mailed in games at the end of the season. Edge: Colts. Saints' pass offense vs. Colts' pass defense It all starts with Drew Brees, and he has so many weapons and ways to get them the ball.

After three real estate agents, two price reductions and nearly a year with no offers on their town house in Las Vegas, George and Katherine Grodin turned to a higher power for help. They bought a 4-inch plastic figurine of St. Joseph -- the patron saint of home and employment -- and placed it upside down in their patio with hopes of breaking their home-selling slump. "I just felt so helpless," said Katherine Grodin, 47. "I needed to do something."

The NFL Players Assn. is continuing its fight on behalf of two current and two former New Orleans Saints players suspended by the league, challenging NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's authority to sanction them. The suspensions are for the players' involvement in the Saints' bounty scandal. Linebacker and team captain Jonathan Vilma has been suspended for the entire 2012 season, defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove for eight games, defensive end Will Smith for four, and linebacker Scott Fujita three.

Another shoe drop, another shock wave. The NFL dropped the hammer on the New Orleans Saints again Wednesday, punishing four players for their role in the bounty scandal, including a full-season suspension of linebacker and defensive captain Jonathan Vilma. Defensive linemen Anthony Hargrove and Will Smith got eight- and four-game suspensions, respectively, and linebacker Scott Fujita was suspended for three games. Hargrove now plays for Green Bay and Fujita for Cleveland.

The head of the NFL players' union said Wednesday that the NFLPA still has not received any details or specific evidence about the New Orleans Saints' "alleged pay-to-injure program" and that it will fight the suspensions of four sanctioned players. “We have made it clear that punishment without evidence is not fair,” said DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFLPA. “We have spoken with our players and their representatives and we will vigorously protect and pursue all options on their behalf.” The NFLPA is in a difficult position, because it represents all NFL players, among them those who were allegedly targeted by the Saints.

An ESPN report has alleged that New Orleans Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis had a device in his Superdome suite that allowed him to listen in on the game-day communications of opposing coaching staffs from 2002 through 2004. The Saints have vigorously denied the report, with team spokesman Greg Bensel calling it "1,000% false. " Writers from around the Tribune Co. will discuss which side they think is telling the truth, the Saints or ESPN's sources. Check back throughout the day for their responses and join the conversation by voting in the poll and leaving a comment of your own. Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times I believe ESPN.

While Louisiana state police and the FBI started a wiretapping probe into the New Orleans Saints and General Manager Mickey Loomis , assistant head coach Joe Vitt called allegations that Loomis had his Superdome booth wired so he could listen to opposing coaches "ludicrous. " "It's absolutely ludicrous. It's impossible," Vitt said Tuesday. "I've never heard of it before. That's something from 'Star Wars.' When I first heard something about it being a wiretap, I thought they were talking about Sammy 'the Bull' Gravano or something.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday he plans to announce punishments soon for the New Orleans Saints players involved in the improper pay-for-performance bounty program, and rejected the notion those players were simply doing what their coaches told them. "I don't buy that, because the evidence is quite clear that the players embraced this," Goodell said in an interview with NFL Network's Rich Eisen. "They enthusiastically embraced it. They put the vast majority of the money into the program and they actually are the ones playing the game.

New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton carefully avoided superlatives, even as his team chased perfection in bolting to a 13-0 record. As the New England Patriots learned two years ago, it's not about pursuing 19-0, it's about pursuing victory in the final game. Maybe when this season is over, a three-game skid to end the regular season, including home losses to the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will turn out to be the springboard the Saints needed for the playoffs. Momentum can be a fleeting thing, but the Saints grabbed firm control of it Saturday with a 45-14 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

"This exiled 'saint' seems to be the embodiment of simplicity, and to look into her mysterious dark eyes one would never think her capable of instigating an insurrection." Los Angeles Times August 1896 * Teresa Urrea was born into impoverished obscurity, the daughter of an unwed 14-year-old Tehueco Indian girl in northern Mexico.

The New Orleans Saints could be facing an explosive new scandal, one that has nothing to do with bounties. According to ESPN, Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis had a device in his Superdome suite that allowed him to listen in on the game-day communications of opposing coaching staffs and did so in his first three seasons in New Orleans - 2002-04 - before the device was dismantled in 2005. The Saints have denied that they eavesdropped, with spokesman Greg Bensel saying the report is "1,000% false.

The New Orleans Saints, already reeling from the bounty scandal, were confronted Monday with a different type of explosive allegation. According to ESPN, Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis had a device in his Superdome suite that allowed him to listen in on the game-day communications of opposing coaching staffs and did so in his first three seasons in New Orleans, from 2002 through 2004, before the device was dismantled in 2005. Loomis is suspended through the first eight games of next season for his role in another debacle, the club's improper pay-for-performance program and cover-up, in which players were offered cash bonuses for injuring opponents.