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Although the game meant nothing in the standings, try telling New Orleans’ fans not to get excited over the Saints 19-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans Saturday night.

Former Heisman Trophy winner and second overall pick Reggie Bush rushed for 59-yards on just six carries in the contest. On his second carry of the game, Bush was stuffed for no gain before he bounced outside of a jam of players and raced up the sidelines for a 44-yard gain.

The play raised excitement for a city that suffered through such despair last year in the disaster that was Hurricane Katrina. For just the 15 seconds that the play lasted, it gave the Saints a chance to breathe excitement back into a city that used to pride itself on it.

On the flip side of the rookie showcase that was held in Nashville, TN, Titans quarterback Vince Young also showed signs of why he was drafted in the top five of April’s NFL draft, but also displayed momments that he has a long way to go.

Young, the No. 3 pick overall, showed off his strong arm by throwing a pass 50 yards in the air into the hands of Roydell Williams — who couldn’t hold on. He was 4-of-11 for 56 yards and ran four times for 28 yards.

The star out of Texas also failed to throw away the ball as he scrambled right looking for a receiver and ran out of bounds for a 6-yard loss in the fourth quarter for one of two sacks.

One of the other highlights of the night came when Tennessee’s mascot “T-Rac” slammed into Saints backup quarterback Adrian McPherson with a golf cart when the player was coming out of the tunnel for the second half.

The incident bruised and injured McPherson bad enough where he couldn’t even participate in the game.

Personally, I blame this on McPherson, who alleged once threw a game against N.C. State while he was a player at FSU to apparently pay off gambling debts.

Maybe “T-Rac” had some coin on the Seminoles that day and just wanted a little payback.

As the NFL Preseason is set to open its first full week of games, I’d like to dive into a question that always circles the media wagon this time of year:

Does anyone care about the preseason in the NFL?

I for one, love it.

As a football fan, preseason action signifies that the long wait for another NFL season is almost over. Basketball, baseball and hockey are great sports to play and watch, but there is something about football that beats them all.

Maybe it’s the shorter schedule, fantasy football or the anticipation of that next game starting after a win or loss that gets me, but the game of football being back in the air is just plain exciting.

To me, watching a preseason game is just as good or bad as watching Texas play North Texas in one of two powder-puff games usually found on a Division I’s schedule.

Of course don’t get me wrong, the atmosphere at a college game that means something would crush a meaningless preseason game any day, but we’re talking about viewing games on television.

Preseason football signifies a new beginning where every team is still in the Super Bowl hunt and you get to see what’s been happening in training camp for the past couple of weeks.

Sure, the competition is weak, but it still gives you a chance to catch the rookies and free agent acquisitions in action. I know it can be really long and repetitive, but coaches have said year in and year out that four games is the perfect amount of time to evaluate their roster and make decisions on who they keep and who they cut.

Hey, a night of football, any football, is better than watching whatever lame reality television show is being aired for the third time this week any day.

The former Ohio State star running back, awaiting a court appearance on previous robbery charges, was arrested again after police pulled him over after Clarett did an illegal U-turn. Following a highway chase, police found four loaded guns in his SUV and were forced to use Mace on Maurice because he was not compliant with the officers. They attempted to use a stun gun to subdue Clarett but he was sporting a bullet-proof vest. He was officially charged with carrying a concealed weapon and weaving.

“It took several officers to get him handcuffed,” Sgt. Michael Woods said. “Even after he was placed in the paddy wagon, he was still kicking at the doors and being a problem for the officers.”

After Clarett was placed in a police van, officers discovered a loaded assault rifle on the passenger seat and three handguns in the front of the car, including one in a holster in a backpack on the passenger-side floor.

“We don’t have any idea why he had them or what, if anything, he was going to do with them,” Woods said. Police don’t know where Clarett got the guns or where he was headed or coming from in the SUV. Federal authorities plan to trace the guns’ ownership.

Clarett’s problems just keep coming. Once a promising young athlete destined for stardom, he is now lost and searching for answers. During the short stint he did spend with the Denver Broncos last training camp, several team members tried to reach out and help the kid but Clarett wouldn’t listen.

“He was pretty withdrawn, which is really hard to be being around guys like this in the organization,” Broncos safety Nick Ferguson said. “If you can’t gel with guys on this team, there’s a problem.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been around a bunch of guys reaching out to a guy more than Maurice, trying to help him and a guy not wanting that help,” Shanahan said. “That’s a shame.”

Maurice needs some serious help. With all those weapons stored in his car, you can only imagine what he was planning to do. Clarett certainly hangs out with the wrong crowd and needs to find himself an environment where he is happy and comfortable. Saying he’s in a rough situation is an understatement but fortunately he’s still young and has his whole life ahead of him. Find some guidance and some help now so that the rest of your life doesn’t go down the tubes, because it’s heading in that direction.