I was a bit off on the score, but the right team won. The Saints marched in — and over — Indianapolis.

Now the next question: Will Bourbon Street ever recover?

For the record, it was New Orleans Saints 31, Indianapolis Colts 17 and a bad throw by Peyton Manning that will live forever in Louisiana lore.

OK, so I’m not the sports editor, don’t have a bookie with inside knowledge and never played a down except on a sandlot, but I do know a thing or two about karma, and I have a feeling about Sunday night. I can tell you if anybody deserves to win the Super Bowl, it’s the New Orleans Saints.

Actually, it’s New Orleans itself — one of my favorite cities and one I got to see before and after Hurricane Katrina. The people of that town need this win to help put their recent past behind them.

My wife and I were there in the spring before the August hurricane of 2005. We returned last year to look over the damage, which was far from cleaned up. Much of the French Quarter was spared the disaster, so that party never stopped, but there was a vast part of the city that never recovered – and never will. Block after block of the Lower Ninth Ward was destroyed. Trash is still piled up in places.

Despite the TV footage of looting and squalor that followed the storm’s departure, I can tell you that the city is a special place, with special people – interesting ones that represent a mix of cultures unlike any place else I’ve been. They are a friendly lot.

For five years, this city has been in the doldrums and this football team has pulled it up. If the New Orleans Saints can win the Super Bowl, anything is possible, people figure.

And, despite the fact that my oldest son is a diehard Indy fan, I’m going to stick my neck out and make a bold prediction: 34-31, the underdog Saints.

The town is going to win that big game and in some ways already has. The celebration has begun.

Saints are nothing without spirit. And in New Orleans there is plenty to go around.

I guess it stands to reason that when the economy goes down, questions about business practices go up.

People who can barely afford to buy anything are more likely to research the few things they can buy, be they materials or services.

Consumers and businesses turned to the Better Business Bureau in St. Louis more than 4.5 million times last year, which was a 16 percent increase over 2008. Requests for BBB reports on businesses jumped to 888,983, up 13 percent from 2008. The BBB fielded 263,366 telephone calls. The local BBB Web site logged 3.39 million page views for the year.

Oddly enough, individual complaints did not go up. Last year, the BBB took 26,407 complaints compared to the 26,522 in 2008.

I probably prompted a few of those calls myself. I make it a habit of referring people to the BBB when they call the newsroom with a consumer issue.  Seldom do I want to get myself or one of my reporters in the midst of a business complaint story. They are usually no-win, one-person’s-word-against-the-other tales with various versions of the truth.

The BBB, however, is better prepared to react to those situations. If they collect enough negative reports about a particular business they forward a recap to the media, including The Telegraph. It’s up to us to then decide if the information is worth broadcasting to the multitudes. Last year, the BBB issued 101 warnings and press releases.

And how is this for a batting average? The BBB’s dispute resolution service was able to obtain responses for 89 percent of the 26,407 complaints filed in 2009. Around 82

percent were resolved, including many by mediation. Just 81 disputes went to arbitration.

Usually if complaints rise to the level of BBB attention, businesses take them a lot more seriously.

Statistics are statistics, I know, and I’m not a numbers dolt. But even the most hardened skeptic has to appreciate the ability of the Better Business Bureau to help the public.

Among other things, the BBB offers Reliability Reports, with a letter-grade system reflecting customers’ experience over a three-year period.

The agency also offers a Tel-Tips service, an automated telephone service that consumers use to obtain pre-purchase buying tips.

The bureau’s Charity Information Service received 73,671 inquiries from donors seeking information about charities who solicit funds, a 93 percent increase from 2008. (A guide with hundreds of charities listed is available online at stlouis.bbb.org/charity.)

BBB services are free. Reliability Reports are available around the clock by going online to www.bbb.org or by calling (314) 645-3300. To subscribe to the BBB’s free consumer e-newsletter, send your e-mail address to bbbstl@stlouisbbb.org.

Imagine this, a futuristic television set where you have to change the channel by hand.

What a concept!

Word came out of the Consumer Electronics Show last week in Las Vegas that major software and technology corporations are working on TVs that react to hand gestures. Some PC makers are expected to soon begin selling devices that will allow people to flip channels on the TV or move documents on a computer monitor with simple hand gestures.

Kind of a “clap-on, clap-off” for the digital age.

I’m old enough to remember when you actually had to use your hand to change channels. We called those the good old days, when you had to get up from the couch and walk across the room, getting exercise in the process. Now the only time you exert yourself with the TV is when you’ve lost the remote control.

Scientists have actually been working on this “body language TV” concept for many years but could never get it reliable. Testers would wave their hand upward, thinking they were tuning in “Anderson Cooper 360” and instead would find themselves watching a rerun of “Mama’s Family.” Thirty minutes of Vicki Lawrence and they were scrambling to find anything that would change the channel — including a hammer.

The whole idea is kind of fascinating, but I can still foresee some complications. What happens for instance if you’re watching a knee-slapping monologue by Conan O’Brien? You’ll lose the channel after every joke. You’d have to strap your arms down simply to enjoy the show.

I also see a day when other body gestures can be incorporated into channel changing. Arch your eyebrows, for example, and the channel goes up. Drop your jaw and the channel goes down. (And with the lowbrow content on TV these days, your channels would be changing a lot.)

Somebody is going to buy into this technology, believe me. I waited the longest time before I went high definition, but I finally did it. It was peer pressure, especially after my brother-in-law got his big screen.

These TVs will be nice, to be sure. But no matter how clear the picture, no matter how novel the surfing, no matter how many channels are out there, there is still one problem the scientists haven’t been able to figure out.

There’s still nothing on worth watching.

Pope Benedict XVI and I are like this.

For those who can’t see me, I’m locking two of my fingers.

Well, perhaps not that close, but I’m linked to him nonetheless. I’m expecting a call just about any time, with word from the Vatican on the choice for the next bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Springfield.

How do I rate, you ask? A lowly Midwestern newspaperman and a violator just yesterday of five of the Seven Deadly Sins? A guy who tries but doesn’t always make it to church each weekend?

Well, some would say it’s a miracle. And in Catholic church parlance, miracles can’t be overlooked.

It’s actually the miracle of modern technology. (And for that matter, the miracle that allows me to even understand what I’m talking about, since I’m more technophobe than technophile.)

The diocese is offering a crafty way to keep up with what will be its biggest news of the year — the selection of a bishop to replace George Lucas, who the pope appointed on June 3, 2009, as the archbishop of Omaha.

Those interested can sign up to receive a cell phone text message with the announcement.

To receive the message, go to www.dio.org/text and complete the sign-up form for the free service. Subscribers to the on-line version of Catholic Times will also receive an e-mail news alert about the appointment.

“Traditionally, the Vatican Press Office makes announcements of episcopal appointments at noon Rome time (5 a.m. Illinois time). The information is simultaneously released from the office of Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, based in Washington, D.C.,” said Kathie Sass, a spokeswoman for the diocese.

Mere minutes after the announcement is made public, the text will be sent with the new bishop’s name to those who have registered. The same announcement will be posted on the diocesan Web site and Facebook account (www.facebook.com/diospringfield).

In my career I can remember three bishops and the naming of two of them (Bishop Joseph McNicholas, who was named in 1975, was replaced by Daniel Ryan in 1983 and George Lucas in 1999.) None of those announcements ranks with the efficiency of what I’m seeing in 2010.

I salute the diocese for helping keep 150,000 Catholics in a 28-county area in touch.

And I’m going to tell the pope that if he ever calls.

For many years I’ve been the coordinator of The Telegraph’s Top 10 Stories of the Year report, which appears in the last couple of weeks of December. Starting Dec. 23, we have one story a day recounting the most significant news of the year. The top story almost always runs Jan. 1.

The difference between our “top list” and the lists you might see anyplace else is ours is “local.” You might see elements of our list in the Edwardsville, Belleville or St. Louis papers, but ours is the best reflection of what affects people in our own coverage area.

Although it’s time-consuming, I have fun with the project, going back through 365 editions to come up with about 25 nominations that are, in turn, voted on by the newsroom staff. I then assign stories to the individual beat writers, asking them not only to recap what happened but to look forward if possible.

Last year’s top story was the travails of ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who despite his protestations of innocence was convicted on impeachment charges by the State Senate and booted out of office. He now faces a trial in federal court on corruption charges. He’s likely to be a big part of the Top 10 Stories of 2010.

Since 2010 officially brought an end to the first decade of the 2000s, I thought it would be kind of neat to look back on the top stories of the past 10 years. Some may be familiar to you; some not. It’s interesting in retrospect to see how much significance we placed on some topics during the past 10 years:

2000: Alton school district announces plans to close four schools and consolidate others.

2001: Local impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks

2002: Retired school teacher Wilma Bricker drives into Mississippi River, disappears (car and body were recovered in mid-2005)

2003: Alton Steel opens in shuttered Laclede Steel Co. plant.

2004: Doctors flee Madison County in wake of rising malpractice insurance rates.

2005: Doctors begin returning to area after efforts on several fronts.

2006: Powerful storms, lengthy outages show flaws in Ameren infrastructure

2007: Ameren strikes deals on rate increases to help pay for some of that infrastructure; legislators take action to regulate utility industry

2008: Obama elected president.

2009: Bla-gone

I knew there was a big story when I was watching CBS news at 5:30 Monday afternoon and they spent 20 minutes on airliner terrorism. Katie Couric was on vacation. Harry Smith was in charge, and they still spent 20 minutes. This was serious business.

The story, of course, was all about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Underwear Bomber, a guy apparently stupid enough to bring explosives onto a plane, sewn into the fringe of his Fruit of the Loom.

Now there’s a guy who lives by the seat of his pants.

Anyway, Harry Smith was going on about the man’s background, how he was a well-to-do Nigerian who had taken up Arabic study and along the way had turned bad. The signs were everywhere, with accounts of his alleged writings pretty startling in their obviousness. How did we not catch this guy, I wondered.

My wife marched into the TV room to watch the goings-on. After a minute she turned to leave, stopped short and looked at me, the newspaperman who is supposed to know all about this stuff.

“You know where you hide something when you don’t want someone to see it? Right in front of their noses,” she sniffed, marching back out of the room.

Now, there’s a woman who should be in the State Department, I thought.

She was right, with the signs this guy was leaving, the U.S. could have found Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab with a roadmap. (Their first clue was the name. Translated into English it’s “Iwana B. Aterrorist.”)

As I finished watching the news, I was using my laptop, reviewing my checking account.  Suddenly, I noticed a red flag — a $9 purchase at Wal-Mart, popping on the screen even as I sat there. How did that happen? Who had tapped in to my account?

“Hey,” I yelled out of the room. “Did you just buy something at Wal-Mart?”

The wife marched back in. “Yes, I just purchased photos on line,” she said, referring to her own computer in another room. “How did you know?”

“I have my ways,” I responded with a grin. “After all, I am the director of ‘Home’ … Land Security.”

“Yeah, right,” I could have sworn her say as she marched back out.

Political correctness, being what it is (an attempt to avoid upsetting anybody all the time), and newspapers, being

what they are (a breeding ground for upsetting at least somebody every day), can never hope to mesh. I learned that

long ago.

So when Monster.com, the job seeker Web site for today’s pacesetters, sent me this month’s administrative newsletter,

I found myself transfixed by an article, titled “Six Things Never to Say to an Older Coworker.” (Note to boss: Thank

you for the subscription to Monster.com. And, no, I’m not going anywhere.)

The article’s aim, of course, is how not to stir the pot in the office. But since I’m the guy who makes the office

coffee, I don’t mind stirring things up once in a while.

Here are the six things you should never tell an older coworker, followed by my own reaction. I’ll play the older

coworker since, for the most part, I am.

“Do you know how to use email?” Why, yes, I do. By the way have you finished sorting today’s mail yet?

“I didn’t know you were so old!” I know, looking like Cary Grant all my life has had its privileges.

“So are you planning to retire soon?” Yes, about one day after they show you the door.

“My grandpa gave me that same advice!” I know, I gave it to him in our bowling league back in ’79.

“You’re going back to school?” Yes, I am. Somebody’s got to teach those kids something.

“There were some last-minute changes. Will that be too much to handle?” Pal, I work for a newspaper. What do you

think?

You’ll go a long time before you run into a marketing campaign as slickly named as the one being used by the Village of Brighton Parks Committee.

It’s called “Brighten Brighton.”

The sleepy little Macoupin County town stumbled on to an image deluxe this year when its committee came up with the aptly named campaign to light up Schneider Park on Dec. 6 for the 3 p.m. arrival of Santa Claus. Kids can get pictures taken, feed reindeer, grab some cookies — all the stuff they love this time of year.

As a word tinkerer, I’m always trying to come up with something clever, but all too often I fail. I thought about Brighton’s accomplishment, and it got me wondering what other local towns could do to draw attention to themselves.

I pondered Alton for a long time but the best I could come up with was, “All Ways, Alton.”

Equally challenging was Edwardsville. That’s simply too much of a mouthful. How about: “All’s Swell in Edward-sville?”

Here’s some others (hey, it’s Saturday, and I didn’t have much else to do but rake leaves):

For Godfrey: “By Gadfry! It’s Godfrey!”

For Moro: “Here Today. Home To-Moro.”

For Hartford: “Fall in Love with H(e)art-ford.”

For Wood River: “Could it be, Would it be Wood River?”

For Roxana: “Our Town Rox!”

For South Roxana: “The South Rox!”

For Bunker Hill: “Hunker Down in Bunker!” (That’s certainly better than “Head for the Bunker.”)

OK, I’m stretching things a bit. “Brighten Brighton” is still the best one yet.

And for the record, I’m open to nominees. Feel free to write.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. It’s happy for me. I’m writing this column on my new laptop computer.

This would be the laptop that replaces the one I fried last week. With a butter knife.

That would be the same butter knife that I inserted into the mouse port on the side of my laptop, trying to straighten a bent prong so the darned mouse would stay connected. The cord kept falling out, you see …

I admit all this only because most people already know the story. I had to admit it to the tech guys at work, in front of the rest of the newsroom. From there, I was free game. “Why did you do that?” everyone asked.

“I had no idea that was an electrical connection,” I told them. I knew the rule about forks in toasters, but nobody ever told me about butter knives in mouse ports.

Then I had to admit all this to my computer geek son, who I turned to for help. In turn, he told the guy at Best Buy when we went in to buy a new computer.

“Why did you do that?” the Best Buy guy asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “It seemed like the right thing to do at the time.”

Then the Best Buy guy convinced me to buy a laptop with a premium accident replacement policy — and a cordless mouse. The Best Buy guy was my kind of guy.

By the end of the day, the geek son had me up and running and, today, I’m a happy man.

Now, when people ask me to justify what I did, I’m going to come back with one of the best lines ever uttered on  TV (courtesy “WKRP in Cincinnati”). You can use the same line when someone asks you to justify the stupidest things you do in life. And it sure seems appropriate at Thanksgiving. Simply say:

“As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.”