Saints

Today at 1 p.m. At the Superdome, New Orleans TV: Fox29 Radio: WYSP-FM (94.1) Line: Saints by 3 How They Match Up Eagles offense vs. Saints defense As well as the Eagles played in beating the Dallas Cowboys, they still managed just 10 points, and even if you give them that Brian Westbrook touchdown, the total would have been 17. Until the Eagles figure out how to score inside the 20-yard line, they're going to be condemned to...

For the first time since he took over as head coach at Archbishop Kennedy in 1985, Jim Schaffer must contemplate life without Chris Kaufmann. Kaufmann, a 6-foot-2 guard who scored more than 1,700 points in his four seasons as a starter, graduated in June and is now a freshman at Shippensburg University. Schaffer must find some way to replace the two-time Bicentennial League Most Valuable Player and the 27 points and 11 rebounds per game he averaged as a senior. "There's no question we're going to miss him," Schaffer said.

Theirs has been a miserable, rotten-luck season of the sort that was the norm in New Orleans for the first 20 years of their NFL existence. Indeed, 1989 has been that bad for the Saints (7-7), who will go marching in against the Eagles (10-4) Monday night in the Superdome, hoping to prove they are a playoff-quality club, even if they are no longer a playoff contender. If that doesn't make the Saints worth worrying about, perhaps the mere law of averages should. In a season that has been devoid of good fortune, the Saints certainly are due for some.

Archbishop Kennedy jumped out to an early lead against host Upper Merion Saturday night, but the Saints fell victim to scoring inconsistency and lost the nonleague game, 54-44. "We've played seven games and have yet to play four good quarters," said Kennedy coach Jim Shaffer. The Saints (1-6) received two field goals apiece from junior forward Sean Flanagan and senior forward Tom Blomstrom to take a 12-8 first-quarter lead. But the offense fell apart in the second quarter, and the Vikings (5-5)

Friends and families of SS. Cosmas and Damian Church on Fifth Avenue and Maple Street in Conshohocken celebrated its 76th annual festival honoring its two namesake saints Sunday. After a 12:15 p.m. Mass was offered, a procession of saints was held, including the statue of St. Clementine, borne by (from left) Josette Gourdain, Retala S. Jour, Marily St. Ellen and Annesly Orbuthnott, all of Brooklyn. People came from as far away as Canada and the Caribbean to take part in the festivities.

It should have been easy, but the Archbishop Kennedy basketball team made it extremely difficult. The Saints, up by as many as 11 points in the second half, had to sweat out a 48-42 victory over Upper Merion in the consolation game of the Wayne Rotary tourney Monday night. "We were terrible from the foul line in the fourth quarter," said head coach Jim Shaffer. "We missed 11 free throws in the fourth quarter to let them back in the game. " The Saints (3-4) were ahead 20-15 at halftime but stretched that lead to 11 points in the opening minutes of the third quarter.

The Saints have Bountygate and are without their head coach this season. The Eagles can't finish 8-8 or they'll be without their coach beyond next season. Both teams are not living up to recent heights. The Saints are 2-5 and have shown how vital coaches are in the NFL, with their leader  Sean Payton  suspended for the season. The Eagles are 3-4, and some may wonder if  Andy Reid  has been suspended because the team has often been a rudderless ship. Reid has already fired his defensive coordinator.

NEW ORLEANS head coach Sean Payton, general manager Mickey Loomis and assistant head coach Joe Vitt are set to have their NFL appeals heard Thursday regarding the punishment they've received for their roles in the Saints' bounty system. League spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed the hearing schedule in an email to the Associated Press on Tuesday afternoon. Aiello also said former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who has since taken a job as defensive coordinator with the St. Louis Rams, did not appeal his indefinite suspension.

New Orleans coach Jim Mora doesn't need films to recall what happened the last time his team played the Eagles. The image of Herschel Walker breaking through the Saints' line and shaking off tacklers like so many droplets of water still is fresh, very fresh, in Mora's mind. "They just ripped us running the football," Mora said yesterday as the 12-4 Saints began preparing for Sunday's NFC wild-card date with the 11-5 Eagles at the Louisiana Superdome. "It's as bad as we've been ripped around here in some time (with an opponent)

Academy Park football coach Sal Oropollo is breathing a lot easier these days. After starting the season with two losses, the veteran Knights coach has seen his team bounce back for two straight victories, including Friday night's 15-8 triumph over nonleague foe Archbishop Kennedy at the Garthwaite Field in Conshohocken. "The kids played well . . . and they had to," said Oropollo. "Because this (Kennedy) is a good football team. . . . We've been really improving a lot, and everybody is coming through now no matter what their role may be. " The coach cited the fact that the offense came together against the Saints, who are 1-3, despite the absence of a set backfield.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis on Sunday gave the Catholic Church new saints, including hundreds of 15th-century martyrs who were beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam, as he led his first canonization ceremony Sunday in a packed St. Peter's Square. The "Martyrs of Otranto" were 813 Italians who were slain in the southern Italian city in 1480 for defying demands by Turkish invaders who overran the citadel to renounce Christianity. Their approval for sainthood was decided upon by Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI, in a decree read at the ceremony in February where the former pontiff announced his retirement.

By Andrea Camilleri Translated from the Italian by Stephen Sartarelli Penguin, 288 pp., $15 Reviewed by Peter Rozovsky Fifteen books into his Inspector Salvo Montalbano series (with several titles yet to be translated from Italian/Sicilian/Camillerian into English), Andrea Camilleri manages both to offer readers the pleasures they've come to expect, and to vary the ingredients and add enough emotional depth to keep the series from growing tired. In book 14 ( The Age of Doubt )

DARRELLE REVIS walked into the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' weight room and received a round of applause from some of his new teammates. The three-time All-Pro may have left the New York Jets feeling underappreciated, but he's a welcome addition to a defense that ranked last in the NFL last season and is expected to help transform the Bucs into a playoff team. And, the well-paid Revis is confident he's up to the task. "We're going to make a lot of noise. Don't worry about that," the seventh-year pro said Monday.

SUNDAY was Easter for most Christians in Philadelphia, but at Eastern Orthodox churches it was the second Sunday of Lent. At congregations like St. Stephen Orthodox Cathedral in Northeast Philly, Easter falls on May 5. To outsiders, these out-of-sync Easters are probably what the Orthodox church is best known for - that and red Easter eggs. We asked Father Victor Gorodenchuk to tell us more about the Orthodox faith and his historical parish. (They used to be in Northern Liberties, before it was cool.)

C.J. Aiken has decided that 3 years at Saint Joseph's is enough. He will not return for his senior season. There are no issues with his coaches. They wanted him back. "After lengthy meetings with C.J. Aiken and his family, C.J. has decided to pursue a career in professional basketball," SJU coach Phil Martelli said in a statement. "There will always be a place in my heart for C.J. I wish him well in all his future endeavors. " From his early days at La Salle High, through his time at Plymouth Whitemarsh and finally on Hawk Hill, Aiken has always been a player with a unique skill set. He blocks shots like a center but plays offense like a small forward, staying mostly away from the basket, except when finishing spectacular lob dunks.

It probably has been a long time since anyone was thrilled with an NIT bid. The NCAA tournament is a national institution and anything less than a bid is a disappointment for a team. But St. Joseph's problem in its gut-wrenching 63-61 loss to St. John's in an NIT opener Tuesday night before a surprisingly small crowd of 3,148 at Hagan Arena wasn't about emotion, coach Phil Martelli insisted, it was about talent. "I was very emphatic with my team about the excitement level," he said afterward.

THE SAINT JOSEPH'S women's basketball team is going dancing for the first time since 2000. The Hawks (23-8), who captured the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship on Saturday by beating Fordham, are seeded ninth in the Bridgeport Regional of the Women's NCAA Tournament, where they will face eighth-seeded Vanderbilt (20-11) on Saturday at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn. The game tips off at 11:05 a.m. and will be shown on ESPN2. The winner will meet the winner of No. 1-seeded Connecticut vs. 16th-seeded Idaho on Monday.

SAINT JOSEPH'S will play St. John's in an NIT game at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Hagan Arena. It is the second consecutive postseason for the Hawks (18-13). Saint Joseph's, the fourth seed, lost in the Atlantic 10 Tournament quarterfinals to VCU. St. John's (16-15) is the fifth seed. The game will be on ESPNU. The winner plays the winner of Virginia-Norfolk State. Defending national champion Kentucky headlines the list of teams set to compete in this year's NIT. The Wildcats aren't the only SEC team snubbed by the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

For the first time since 2009, coach Carl Arrigale and the Neumann-Goretti boys' basketball team will not be celebrating in March with the PIAA Class AAA championship trophy. The athletic, attacking Saints went cold down the stretch and fell to Donegal of Mount Joy, 55-50, in a state quarterfinal Friday night at Coatesville. "We shot ourselves in the foot, and couldn't make the shots we usually do," Arrigale said. "That's how you stop runs - by scoring - and we didn't get it done.