While Archie Manning was the most effective quarterback in New Orleans Saints franchise history, the worst starting quarterback for the Saints - no easy task - was Heath Shuler, arguably one of the biggest busts in NFL Draft History.

Shuler came to New Orleans in a trade with The Washington Redskins, where Shuler, the Redskins 1st round pick and No.3 overall pick, was languishing behind 7th round pick and journeyman quarterback Gus Frerotte on the depth chart.

The Saints new coach Mike Ditka believed a change of scenery would benefit Shuler, and along with Ricky "I'm Worth 10 Draft Picks" Williams, Ditka envisioned the two becoming the most dynamic qb/running back tandem since Jim McMahon and Walter Payton.

But Ricky was far some sweet, and Shuler couldn't come close to matching McMahon on any qualities but fragility.

After throwing a bundle of interceptions and a scattered touchdown here and there, Shuler's general ineffectiveness and injury problems forced him from the NFL.

He has rebounded from the failed NFL career, and is now thriving as a REALTOR in Knoxville, the origin of the celebrity, where he dazzled Tennessee Volunteers fan as a mobile, electrifying, record-setting QB and paved the way for another Volunteers great named Peyton Manning.

So Saints fan, while you are griping next season after Aaron Brooks throws for 400 yards, 4 TDs, and a game-ending interception, take solace in the positive -- at least the Saints are in contention. In the Heath Shuler era, they weren't even in the game.

Fresh off his special guest appearance on Southern Sports Tonight, Sam 'Tangy' Wells was enjoying his newfound celebrity at The Pinnacle Club, one of Natchitoches's most upscale clubs (picture a trashier version of Crazy 8's).

He spotted a recognizable face and asked the man his name. The familiar face turned out to be none other than New Orleans Saints legendary quarterback Bobby Hebert.

Hebert, arguably the second greatest quarterback in Saints franchise history (Archie Manning is the first), was judging the club's bikini contest.

While not judging pageants in North Louisiana dives, Hebert is a commentator on Atlanta Falcons Radio.


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Bobby Hebert was one the icons of my youth. For 16 Sundays every fall, he entered my living room, a battered hero bravely but hopelessly guiding the hapless hometown football team.

Occasionally, Hebert would go down to injury, replaced by Dave Wilson or John Fourcade or that awful Steve Walsh.

But much like when the Bo and Luke Duke were replaced by the scab dukes Coy and Vance, the Saints were just not the same team without Hebert behind center.

So, congratulations are in order for Tangy, a budding radio personality who is rubbing elbows with the greats.

Governor Haley Barbour has been excoriated by the media, Democrats, recipients of discounted medicine, and half the free world for the state legislature's decision to switch 65,000 Mississippians from Medicaid to Medicare a year before the federal government mandates Mississippi to do so.

This issue has caused a gigantic uproar around the state and remains the primary news item for state government.

This is a complicated health care issue, and I will not to pretend to understand what is going on. I am not alone. The majority of Mississippians have no idea what is happening and are relying on soundbites from demagogues in the state legislator, media reports, and press releases from The Governor's Office.

Not knowing the policy details, I cannot accurately pontificate on the merits of the decision to move people from Medicaid to Medicare. But here's what I do know

-- Legislators who voted for the bill, most notably Rep. Steve Holland of Plantersville -- are now denouncing the Governor. This tells me 1) that our state legislators don't understand the legislation they vote on or 2) that many of our state legislators don't have a backbone. I'm not quite sure how lawmakers who supported a measure can justify lambasting another elected official for the consequences of that same measure.

-- The news media is preying on the public's ignorance to sensationalize the issue. One of the stations interviewed a hysterical woman called Governor Barbour an executioner because she would now have to pay extra for her $600 dollars a month in prescription drugs. From the stories on print and broadcast, one would think Governor Barbour alone was trying to starve and slowly kill every elderly and impoverished person in Mississippi.

-- People have seemed to forget neglect the fact that Medicaid is a social service, not an entitlement. Governor Musgrove added thousands of Mississippians to Medicaid early in his term. People with incomes that were 135% of the federally-established poverty line began qualifying for medicaid. While we all want every living person to have access to quality health care, it can be argued that people living above this standard of living should not have qualified for medicaid in the first place, and should purchase medicine under through their insurance plan like other working-class, non-poverty stricken Mississippians.

-- If the federal government has mandated that these people be switched from Medicaid to Medicare in 2005, why are people acting as if Governor Barbour is trying to plot the abolishment of medical services for so many Mississippians. If they want to complain, go after Congress and the President. They're used to criticism anyway.

-- This brouhaha is a microcosm for a bigger problem -- the skyrocketing cost of healthcare. Health care has become a state and national crisis that will require serious action by lawmakers. The ballooning cost of healthcare, coupled with the public's reliance on government to cover many of the public's health care expenses, will bankrupt Mississippi and America over the next generation if we fail to take the proper steps to rectify this colossal problem. The public needs to be better informed on healthcare, and realize that affordable healthcare for all will not happen without a substantial tax increase and more governmental control of the health care system, and could lead to other significant societal problems.

As the top official of our state, Barbour is the victim of the public's expectation of social services and their reticence for any form of tax increases.

I've rambled long enough. If any of you have insight, please provide it.