Actively hoping for the New Orleans Saints to generate a productive, successful football season is just about as American as you can get.
From the complete destruction of their city, and the lives and homes lost to everything else depicted on CNN in the days and weeks after Hurricane Katrina, Saints fandom is a wonderful thing.
Here are two more words that should make everyone in New York a Saints fan this Sunday night: Reggie. Bush.
If the Jets can do the job right and lose to the Saints, they can remain in a tie for second place in the NFL Draft standings.
Let those Colts chase perfection. And those teams in the NFC East can hammer each other into submission. Jets fans have Ludacris goals -- they cannot slip up or get got because they're coming for that No.1 spot.
With a season this awful, the only thing Jets fans can do is look to the future and pray for the No. 1 pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. On that April Saturday, Paul Tagliabue can stroll to the podium and announce, "With the No. 1 pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, the New York Jets select Reggie Bush from Southern California."
How can this happen? We begin with a look at the inverted standings:
TEAM REC GB Opp %
Houston 1-9 -- .350
Jets 2-8 1 .417
Green Bay 2-8 1 .550
New Orleans 2-8 1 .550
Tennessee 2-8 1 .517
San Fran 2-8 1 .417
Arizona 3-7 2 .483
Baltimore 3-7 2 .450
Miami 3-7 2 .400
All these teams have six games left this season, none of which includes Texans vs. Jets in the football equivalent of an "I quit" match.
However, there is hope for the tortured green souls.
Four of the Texans' six remaining games are against teams on this list: Ravens, Titans, Cardinals and 49ers.
Three reasons to send the NFL scheduling guru a holiday fruitcake:
1) Surely the Texans can win one of these games. They've been playing better of late and Andre Johnson is healthy again.
2) Another win for Houston is good for New York.
3) Should the Texans lose all four of those games, the Ravens, Titans, Cardinals and 49ers plummet on the inverted standings, rendering their seasons just plain awful rather than building for next year.
The Jets host the Saints then travel to New England. Back home for ever-improving Oakland, down to Miami for some Jason Taylor and Ronnie Brown (and, sadly, Gus Frerotte), home for the Patriots and Bills.
No gimmes in that group, especially when the Jets must choose their quarterback from a list that reads as such: Brooks Bollinger, Vinny Testaverde and Kliff Kingsbury.
Hmmm, the words "Gus" and "Frerotte" don't sound so bad anymore.
The Saints are hampered by no home field, a coach named Jim Haslett and a collective 33-27 record for its opponents. A win this weekend against the Jets is a must. Otherwise, don't even bother watching USC in the Rose Bowl. A colonoscopy followed by root canal would be more comforting.
Green Bay must deal with injuries to every skill position player who ever heard of Wisconsin and an old Brett Favre. That gaudy 33-27 record for its opponents is indeed imposing, but one of those opponents is 4-6 Detroit. Plus, Favre will not lose his last two games of the season at Lambeau Field. One maybe, but not two.
The Titans and 49ers play three teams on this list. The bad news: The Titans and 49ers stink equally. The good news: Nov. 27, 1 p.m, 49ers at Titans. Oh lord, please don't let there be a tie.
Will the Cardinals be the ones to spoil the Colts' perfect season in Week 17? Not a chance. But Dennis Green will bring another win to the tradition-rich desert.
Kyle Boller might not even be able to start for the Jets. He's that bad. But one of the Ravens' games is at home against Mike Tice's Vikings in Week 16, so that's a guaranteed win.
Miami has the second easiest schedule. There is every reason to believe the Dolphins can squeeze out at least one more victory. Then comes Dec. 18, 2005.
This is where the NFL schedule delivers a two-handed stomach punch followed by a 55-yard groin kick. The Jets host the Dolphins. Two bad teams, two bad records, one Reggie Bush.
It may be impossible to openly root against the Jets that day. But we must think of the bigger picture here. Wow, great, we beat the Dolphins but we lose Reggie Bush. Not a trade Jets fans should be willing to make. We need to lose games, not draft slots.
So, lift your glasses, raise your leftover turkey sandwich and join me in cheering for the Saints on Sunday night.