Jason Saul

Ryan Anderson, the New Orleans Pelicans' veteran forward, has been diagnosed with a herniated disc and will be out indefinitely, the team announced today.

Anderson, a central figure in New Orleans' recent success on the court, suffered the injury on Jan. 3 in a collision with Celtics forward Gerald Wallace in the fourth quarter of a game in Boston. Anderson was taken to a Boston-area hospital for tests, and remained there as the team went on to Indianapolis.

Anderson also sat out a few games at the start of the season, due to a broken toe suffered in the preseason.

The New Orleans Saints won their first road playoff game this past Saturday, beating the Philadelphia Eagles 26-24, thanks to a field goal by kicker Shayne Graham with just three seconds to play.

The conventional wisdom — espoused by the NFL’s rotating cast of professional prognosticators — said that the New Orleans Saints couldn’t win a game in the cold, and couldn’t win a playoff game on the road.

The New Orleans Saints overcame a sloppy first-half performance, bitter cold and a litany of injuries to beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 26-24.

It was the first road playoff game win in the history of the franchise — aside from Super Bowl XLIV — and the city erupted in celebration, taking to social media and the streets.

Eagles? What eagles?

Fans of the Black and Gold don't just come in the human variety — Kohl the Penguin, star of the Audubon Aquarium's penguin exhibit, produced his own paean to his favorite football team in advance of the New Orleans Saints' wildcard game Saturday evening against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Saints and the Eagles face off Saturday evening at 7:10 p.m. on WDSU.

Watch Kohl paint his masterpiece here:

Temperatures in Orleans Parish are expected to drop to at or near freezing on Thursday night, prompting the City of New Orleans to put its freeze plan for the homeless into effect.

The freeze plan is enacted whenever the temperature or the wind chill factor is expected to fall to 35 degrees or lower. Temperatures near freezing, combined with the strong winds affecting the region, can cause serious medical problems to people exposed to them for extended periods of time.

The New Orleans Pelicans have waived forward Lou Amundson, the team announced Tuesday evening.

Amundson averaged 2.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 10.2 minutes over the 18 games he played for New Orleans this season.

The Pelicans roster is now at 14 players.

The next Pelicans game will be in Boston on Jan. 3. The game tips off at 6:30 p.m., and can be seen locally on Fox Sports.

The New Orleans Saints beat Tampa Bay on Sunday night, taking the sixth seed in the NFC playoffs, and will face the Philadelphia Eagles this Saturday at 7:10 p.m. on WDSU.

Despite their woes on the road, the Saints continue to dominate opponents at home — this time a 42-17 drubbing of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the final game of the 2013 regular season.

For the third Friday in a row, the New Orleans Police Department will be conducting a sobriety checkpoint.

The NOPD's Traffic Division will conduct the checkpoint at an undisclosed point in Orleans Parish, beginning Friday, Dec. 27, at approximately 9:00 p.m. The checkpoint will last until about 5:00 a.m. the next morning.

The police department says in a press release that motorists encountering the checkpoint should only experience minimal delays, and should have proper documentation on them, including a driver's license and proof of insurance.