The New Orleans Saints' Monday News and Views

Good morning, sweet KSR readers, and welcome to your post-Super Bowl Monday News and Views.  Much to the surprise of Nostradungy and to the delight of corny newspaper columnists everywhere, The Saints Came Marching Back to win Super Bowl XLIV in Miami, allowing New Orleans residents to finally get over the pain they endured when the Cats beat LSU Saturday.  In a disappointing twist, I fell asleep shortly after The Who took the stage and woke up with 45 seconds remaining so I won't pretend to know how great the game was.  But, from what I can tell, it was a story book finish as the hometown guy who showed up sporting Super Bowl graffiti shaved in his hair iced the game with a 74-yard interception return for a touchdown.  Good thing his mom didn't have an abortion.  That ball might still be floating in the air and the Super Bowl might still be going on. Now onto some UK notes on a pretty news-less day...  - Just as John Wall stole so many headlines through the first 19 games of the year, the DeMarcus Cousins love is now hitting its stride as national media outlets are catching on to the big man's increasingly dominant performances.  On ESPN GameDay Saturday, Hubert Davis picked Cousins as one of the most dominant players in the country and his name is starting to be tossed around by writers and talking heads as possibly being the best big man in the nation.  Plus, a certain site claiming to be the Worldwide Leader linked a certain ex-favorite blogger's piece on DeMarcus Cousins as a National Player of the Year candidate late last wek.  And, if he continues the rapid development he's shown on the offensive end so far this season, we could only be scratching the surface.  - I think we also learned that the eyes of the SEC are on Boogie too, but in a much different way.  Early in the LSU game, the officials went to the sideline to review a possible elbow thrown after a rebound.  Not that reviewing elbows is anything new with Cousins, it's just that reviewing one that  - even in live action - didn't seem to be much more than grabbing a rebound probably means that the officials have been made aware of Boogie's history.  He may or may not have gotten away with one or two already this season.  From this point forward, though, it seems like he's on a tight leash and any breakdown in his concentration could cost him serious money.  - The new rankings will be released Monday and, barring a massive brain lapse by writers and coaches, the Cats will be ranked #2.  I plan on spending the afternoon celebrating and reminiscing on the last time they reached #2 in the polls.   - For those of you putting the final touches on your GameDay signs, take note that Bob Knight will not appear at Rupp for the festivities Saturday.  ESPN cited travel issues but I question the integrity of that excuse.  - As a house keeping note, Matt would like to again note that he did not say UK was not the leader for Brandon Knight.  You can scroll down below for the full explanation of the confusion and the likely nerdfight (I didn't read the comments), but it seems to be a bit of a miscommunication.  I'm sure it remains a fluid situation.  - Just a few days removed from his first signing day, Joker Phillips expects continued positivity on the football recruiting front.  In the story by the always well dressed Chip Cosby, Phillips talks of hopes of turning Stephenson High School in Georgia into a LaGrange-like pipeline and Cosby highlights some big-time recruiting possibilities for the next couple of classes. - Let's throw out another quick shoutout to the UK women's team for winning their 20th game Sunday, beating Arkansas 71-57.  The women (ranked #18 and 20) are now 8-2 in conference and only a half game away from catching #5 Tennessee for first place in the conference.  They get their shot at the Lady Vols in Knoxville on the 25th.  - One final note on the Super Bowl.  If you're telling me the musical lineup is Jay-Z, Queen Latifah, Carrie Underwood and The Who, how do you determine the order we saw Sunday night?  If Queen Latifah singing "America the Beautiful" isn't the biggest letdown on your show lineup, you have serious problems.  I can't wait to see Lady Gaga in 2060.  - When I awoke from my slumber, I was just in time to catch Undercover Boss, which turned out to be awesome....with the possibility of legendary television next week when they go inside Hooters.  It also inspired me to challenge Matt Jones to step inside my world for one day.  Try throwing your job, family and friends to the side and to blog non-stop for no money, no high fives at Molly Malone's and no invitations to the podcasts.  I challenge you to do my job, Matt Jones!!!!!!!!!  That's it for now.  Stay tuned throughout the day as we put some stuff on the site about UK.  In the meantime, enjoy the latest KSR podcast and don't forget to subscribe on iTunes to get them automatically downloaded to your choice of Apple electronic equipment that will be outdated in six months.  See you in a few... [podcast]/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/DragonPodcast.mp3[/podcast]