Seeing off the Saints

Dan with Saints RB Pierre Thomas

Wednesday's practice is over, and with it ends the 2 day joint practices with the New Orleans Saints. Now, I know there is certainly a benefit for the visiting team to be nice to fans on the road, makes the team look good. But I have to say this - when it came to autographs/fan interaction, the Saints absolutely put the Patriots to shame. The Pats should be embarrassed that the other team was THAT MUCH better than them. I thought day one was great for Saints autographs, but today was ridiculous. After practice, as all but about 6 of the Pats players walked off the field without a glance to the stands, literally 80% of the Saints guys headed out to sign. There were so many I couldn't even keep up! I definitely needed an assistant for these 3 joint practices to colelct autographs. Unfortunately for the Banner, I couldn't completely capitalize on all the Saints players because the VIP area was absolutely SWAMPED...I just missed Reggie Bush! But I stood my ground and was still able to get a couple of pictures to finish off the Saints-Pats Joint Practices Adventure. And as you can see, they're not the best pics as there's random people in both of them, couldn't quite get them out of the way of the shot. Today brought a couple of good ones too with RB Pierre Thomas (who added a nice New Orleans style 'Who Dat??' to the back of the banner) and C Matt Tennant, a former BC boy so I had to get a pic. All in all, it was a great couple of days with the Saints in town and I hope in the future the Pats invite teams in for more joint practices, it was awesome to see another team! And who knows, maybe some summer I can take Dan the Banner on a little road trip to some other training camps.

Dan with Saints C (and BC boy) Matt Tennant

Props to the Saints! Dan meets the Wide Receiving Corp

Dan with Marques Colston & Devery Henderson

What a productive day for the Banner at the afternoon practice! First off I have to once again give huge thanks and credit to the New Orleans Saints...they have been a GREAT autograph team thus far at practice, it makes me want to head down to New Orleans to catch some practices. I love the Pats, but they've gotten increasingly worse as a team at autograph signing/fan interaction, and the Saints put them to shame today.
For Dan the Banner news, Dan made 4 new friends at the afternoon session, and they were the top 4 wide receivers with the Saints: Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Lance Moore, and Robert Meachem. All the guys were great, very nice, chatted a little bit, and even were patient enough to wait for a last minute photo-taker change by me when I realized I forgot the memory card in my camera and needed to use my phone. Got a pair of great pics with 2 guys each. Was already a big fan of the Saints, but will certainly be cheering for them even more this coming season!

Lance Moore & Robert Meachem

Looking forward to tomorrows last joint practice, perhaps I'll be lucky enough to get good 'ol #9!!

Dan the Banner meets a Super Bowl Champ

Dan with Saints HC Sean Payton

Big day this morning as the Patriots kicked off the first of 3 joint practices with the Saints. Watching the teams go head-to-head was fun, though it would have been more so if the Pats defense wasn't getting absolutely manhandled by the Saints offense. Then again, that is what happened during the regular season last season, so maybe it wasn't a surprise...it's just disappointing the Pats defense hasn't stepped it up at all since that debacle. But of course, it is only practice, so I'm not gonna get too far ahead of myself.
On to more important things, the post practice autograph session. Well first I'll say this, the Saints were a MUCH better autograph team than the Pats, with more guys hitting up the stands to sign for a longer period of time, and with more big names doing so. It was also certainly a lot more crowded where I was in the VIP section, which made it a little difficult for me to get a good position with the banner. For me, I didn't have a ton of success quantity-wise with the banner (JUST missed Reggie Bush who signed for awhile but was running to get to meetings by the time he even got close to me), but I did get one picture, and a great one at that with Saints Head Coach Sean Payton! He was a really nice guy, the last guy to leave the field after signing autographs for anyone who wanted to stay to get one. He signed for a good 10 minutes after the last player had left the field. I happened to be the absolute last person staying for a pic and autograph, but it was well worth it from the reigning Super Bowl champ.

Headed back in a little bit to the afternoon session, hoping for a little bit more success quantity wise from the Saints, I think there's a great opportunity to get a lot of pics.

Oh, and on a sidenote, Jon Bon Jovi was out watching this morning's practice, but I wasn't able to get close enough to even try to ask for a pic, again WAY more people than usual in the VIP section. Hopefully he'll be at the afternoon session and I can try again, and hopefully there will be less spectators at the afternoon session cramping my style.

Dan meets Pats WR Rod Owens

Little bit of a slow day today at practice, but after either needing to miss practices or practices not being held for about 4 days, it was nice just to be able to get back out to Gillette and see the guys practice. Plus this was the first day Dan the Banner made an appearance at practice as a Captain.
Slow day, but did get one picture with newly signed wideout Rod Owens. Probably a long shot to make the team, but it's always nice to get pics with Dan, and Rod was a really nice guy - he was the last guy to go in and signed for a lot of fans who had to that point been shutout (myself included). And of course, Rod now has the impressive distinction of being the first person to take a picture with Dan the Banner as a Captain. I'll have to look at his signature again a little closer, but at first glance it looks like he added an "S.O.S" after his name...is it possible Coach Bill is running them too hard at practice and he's reaching out to Dan for help?? Dan the Banner to the rescue!

Dan with Pats WR Rod Owens

 Really excited for the next couple days as the Pats are holding joint practices with the World Champion Saints...been looking forward to these practices all training camp, can't wait to see what kind of damage I can do with the Banner!!

Training Camp 2010 Kicks Off!

Well if it isn't my favorite two weeks of the summer as Pats training camp kicked off yesterday morning. I always love getting back to the stadium to see the guys hit the practice field, nothing feels more like summer than that. And of course, training camp is where Dan the Banner does his most damage. Opening Day at Gillette yesterday was a bit uneventful, rain dampened the morning practice a bit and scared off some of the crowd but it was still nice to see.
Team looks good so far, going through the motions at practice. Good news is everyone is there, even if a couple are confined to conditioning drills. Still crazy to see Welker out at practice running through conditioning drills and looking like anything but a guy who tore his ACL 8 months ago. It's looking more and more like he'll be dressed ready to go come opening day - which is insane considering when he got injured. So much for coming back before Thanksgiving being a stretch. 
As far as Dan the Banner stuff goes, I have thus far through 3 practices (2 yesterday and 1 this morning) been shut out, but that is a tad misleading. Through the first couple practices the only people who have come by signing autographs are players I already have pics with, so no sense in trying to get them again. And it generally takes me a couple of days/practices to get warmed up to where I try calling guys over, but I think that will happen soon enough. So on the one hand, gotten a couple good autos after practice - Faulk, Gostkowski, Banta-Cain, Moss - but no one new on the Banner front. Nothing to report as of yet, but I have confidence in the next couple of days that I'll have something to add to the site.

Sidenote - received word that the Super Bowl Champion Saints may be joining the Pats practice for a couple of days around the time of their preseason game. Haven't had a joint practice in a long long time, so I'm really hoping the rumors are true, especially if it's the Saints. And how nice would a picture of Dan the Banner with say Drew Brees or Reggie Bush be??
Wish me and Dan the Banner luck over the next couple of days, feeling confident about the remainder of camp.

Who Dat Nation Champions of the World

The biggest day in sports is over, and the New Orleans Saints are the champions of the world, which I - personally - am pumped about. As expected, it was a great game with a great finish, and I believe Drew Brees officially lost his title of the Most Underrated Player in the NFL. Hey, I respect Peyton Manning, he's one of if not the greatest quarterbacks of all-time, but how great was it to see the old Peyton Manning face, dumbfounded after making a key mistake and once again coming up short in a big game. Ahhh, so nice to see it one last time to close out a decade in which it was so prominently featured in the domination of the Patriots.
Danny only had one friend take part in the game, and though David Thomas' final stats are a forgettable 1 catch for 9 yards, he had some key blocks throughout the game and will end up with a Super Bowl ring for his efforts - I don't think he's complaining.
So alas, the 2009 football season comes to an end...only 5 1/2 months til Training Camp 2010!
Congratulations to the Saints; go crazy Bourbon Street, Mardi Gras has started early this year.

Big Day is Almost Here

So it's Thursday night, which means 3 days from now America will either know who will be crowned Super Bowl XLIV Champion or be glued to a tight game that comes down to the wire - for the record, I'm pulling for the Saints. I expect it to be a good game, and there are a number of former Patriots taking the field Sunday to be of interest in the New England area. The most decorated of course is Adam Vinatieri, though he won't be taking the field...and hey, most Pats fans aren't rooting for the Colts anyway. So to the Saints it is! Heath Evans will be sidelined, but Randall Gay will be one of a number of Saints defenders charged with trying to slow down Peyton & Company.
And you didn't think the biggest sports days of the year would take place with no friends of the banner did you?? Of course not. TE David Thomas will be suiting up in the black and gold, the only man taking the field who can proudly call himself a friend of Dan the Banner. So best of luck to you David - I have no doubts your meeting the banner this summer will lead you to great things in the biggest game of your life.