New Orleans Saints Fans Pranked By Wikipedia Early Wednesday Morning

Dec 23, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan reacts on the sidelines after the fumble was confirmed in overtime against the New Orleans Saints at Cowboys Stadium. The Saints beat the Cowboys 34-31 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

As I mentioned later at Nola.com it was a good thing I had not yet poured the freshly brewed, and boiling hot pint of coffee I had just made. It definitely would have ended up in my lap at some point.

With the rumors flying around the Internet claiming that Rob Ryan was almost “a sure thing” for the defensive coordinator job with the New Orleans Saints, I went surfing.

I ended up at Wikipedia, because I wanted to check out Rob Ryan a bit, and check the verification of a comment someone had made at Nola.com. It’s fair to say that I was “underwhelmed” by the amount of content documenting Rob Ryan’s career, but then again he hasn’t had much of a career.

This was the line I was looking for, and sure enough I found it:

"“No Ryan-led defense has ever qualified for the postseason.”"

I’ll admit I was a bit disturbed by what I had read earlier this morning at Pro Football talk, but not nearly as much as I was when I glanced over to the right hand column of the Wikipedia page. Right under Rob Ryan’s chubby belly was several lines about his current position. Wikipedia had Rob Ryan listed as the defensive coordinator for the Saints.

Lawdy lawdy, it was panic time. Somehow the news in Wiki didn’t feel right, partly because nothing was listed at the bottom of the “Coaching Career” section. Usually it would be mentioned there, and have a documentation link. I didn’t feel comfortable posting the news here, but what I saw deserved to be noted. I made a post at my place with the original title something like: Weird News: Wikipedia Has Rob Ryan Listed As New Saints Coach

I’ll admit that my post wasn’t very flattering to our “ole buddy” Rob, but what would you expect? If I woke up on Christmas morning and found Rob Ryan under my tree, I’d be waiting on the roof for Santa a year later with my deer rifle and a telescopic scope.

In the mean time I checked the official Saints site to see who they had listed as coaches, no Rob Ryan. I checked the official Saints news feed, no Rob Ryan. I began to feel better until I bounced into twitter and saw that someone said the Saints twitter feed had confirmed the story, and I panicked again. Fortunately the claim wasn’t true, and went back to Wikipedia. By then an editor must have noted the “mistake”, if that’s what it was. The small section showing Ryan’s current position was gone, thank goodness.

All well that ends well, but is it? Does the “Double Jeopardy” law apply here? Will the Saints actually hire Ryan, and force me to go through another upset stomach and migraine headache?

I’m calling my attorney, lol…