Today is Cajun Groundhog Day, and Pierre C. Shadeaux, the nutria who does duty as our version of a Cajun groundhog, made his appearance at Bouligny Plaza this morning.

There was no shadow, so it was good news, meaning a longer spring and a slower return of summer's heat and humidity.

I don't have time to get too much in about today’s program and still make my deadline. There are more details in the regular news for today, and I’ll have more to say about it all in my Friday Sweet Talk.

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I think the hurrah over the National Football League’s efforts to license the use of “Who Dat” is interesting.

Clearly the NFL would have a hard time enforcing copyright or trademark restrictions on the use of “Who Dat” or the fleur-de-lis, if there were no clear tie-in to the New Orleans Saints.

For example, if you printed up white shirts with green lettering that simply said “Who Dat” you’d not likely have much of a problem. Or if you use a gold fleur-de-lis, but don’t otherwise have any wording or emblems representing the Saints, you’d probably be OK.

The problem comes when there is an obvious tie-in to the NFL football team, meaning the average person seeing your design sees a tie to the team.

While some say it’s not fair to restrict the efforts of small business people just trying to make a few bucks, what about fairness to the companies that have paid a licensing fee to sell products related to the Saints? It’s similar to companies that pay to build a brand, like Gucci, who then see people making purses that look just like their products, sometimes even sporting fake Gucci logos.

Isn’t it wrong to sell “counterfeit” products?

There are a number of fleur-de-lis products I’ve seen featuring a purple and gold color scheme, with an “eye” prominently centered. I look at those and don’t think about New Orleans but instead immediately think of LSU and “eye of the Tiger.”

I’m not suggesting those products are illegal as I have no idea of whether they are licensed or not, but it sure seems as if this flap over licensing Who Dat and the fleur-de-lis is being way over-hyped.

Not over-hyped is the interest in the Saints and the enthusiasm our area has for this team making it to the Super Bowl. I think there’s even more of a buzz about this than LSU making it to that first BCS National Championship against Oklahoma a few years back.

The Saints were so pitiful, such losers for so many years, it was hard to consider they’d ever get decent, much less put together enough wins in a season to make the Super Bowl.

Be sure to check out a special section about the Saints and this special season, in Wednesday’s Daily Iberian. Our newsroom has put together a special look at this year’s incredible run by the Saints, including the thoughts and reactions of lots of locals on what it means.

Check it out, and maybe save it, to show you were in that number when the Saints won their first Super Bowl.

Will Chapman is publisher of The Daily Iberian.