North: Drew Brees deserves more support from Saints

• Drew Brees might be 37 years old, but if the New Orleans Saints quarterback was a free agent, there would still be takers.

I watched the Saints lose to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 16-11 and if they would give Brees a professional receiver and a couple of lineman, they would be pertinent. The Saints are just wasting his talent.

• So, accomplished football executive Bill Polian could come to the Chicago Bears.

It would be nice for a man with his knowledge and expertise to come here, but what will that say for the general manager Ryan Pace? It tells us if Polian is brought in, Pace will be getting coffee like he did when he worked the front office in New Orleans.

And if Polian does come to Chicago, why not keep it going and have him bring his sidekick, Marv Levy, who coached for him during their string of Super Bowl runs in Buffalo?

Maybe it's all smoke, but at age 74, Pollian would be called kid by owner Virginia McCaskey, who is 93.

• Be honest Cubs fans, you are ready for baseball season to start today!

• The Army-Navy game was entertaining on Saturday, and having President-elect Donald Trump in house and in the booth was a coup. Plus watching the iconic Verne Lundquist say his emotional goodbye to college football was great TV. It was well done and Army finally beat Navy (21-17) for the first time in 15 years.

• Who wears the Smokey Bear hat best - Cam Newton, singer Pharrell Williams or Smokey?

• Happy birthday to Frank Sinatra, who would have been 101 years old Monday. I was in Las Vegas in the early 1990s and was fortunate enough to sit in Sinatra's booth at the Desert Inn as he performed. It was an outstanding show, and afterward my wife and I were invited to the Forum lounge, where he held court for several hours. The great Keely Smith was playing the lounge and we enjoyed his company along with several others.

I had a chance to speak with the legend and he professed his love for Chicago and his sadness that so many of the great songwriters were gone.

He was drinking Jack Daniels and Coke and smoking like a man half his age. As the party broke up, he gave me a pack of Camels, telling me to say Frank Sinatra gave them to me. I asked him to sign them and he he asked why. I told him I wanted people to know it was him. He said who else would give you a pack of smokes - especially Camels. Plus, he said, "You'll know."

• We had some great numbers for my first week of "Sticks and Stones" podcasts. Check us out on iTunes or podcastarena.com with new shows Monday through Friday.

• Follow Mike North on Twitter @north2north. His column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.