VOICES CARRY

Who dat trying in vain to hear audibles today amid stadium noise levels better suited for The Who?

If you guessed the New Orleans Saints, you’re half right. They are the latest to risk tinnitus by stepping into the Din of Inequity, also known as the Metrodome, which sounds like the tarmac at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport but is in fact the place where the Minnesota Vikings play their home games.

Vocal home support is all well and good--the Saints needed more than a few rousing choruses of “Who Dat?” to quiet the St. Louis Rams last weekend at the Superdome--but there is growing sentiment throughout the NFL that the Metrodome is pushing the envelope to the point of permanent ear damage.

Included among that group: the Minnesota Vikings.

Earlier this week, as the Vikings prepared for today’s second-round playoff game against the Saints, Minnesota wide receiver Cris Carter, tackle Todd Steussie and several other teammates went to team management to complain about the Metrodome noise, which has risen as high as 130 decibels for Viking games.

Their request: to see if team officials could do anything about turning down the volume at least when the Vikings have the ball, so players on the Viking offense can hear calls and signals at the line of scrimmage. Carter taped an announcement to be played during the game, thanking fans for their support while asking them to give it a rest whenever quarterback Daunte Culpepper lines up under center.

Team executive vice president Mike Kelly agreed to borrow an idea from the Indianapolis Colts, who also play their home games in a dome, and periodically flash a scoreboard message: “Quiet--Offense At Work.”

But that was before Viking owner Red McCombs caught wind of the noise-reduction strategy.

McCombs, seeking every conceivable edge for a team that lost its last three regular-season games, would hear none of it.

Thursday, McCombs issued a statement inciting local fans “to be the most enthusiastic in stadium history from start to finish.”

McCombs: “We need fans to help vault us to the NFC championship game, which we hope to also have at the Metrodome. We want all the fans to show up early in their purple and cheer louder than they ever have before. Our fans will have the opportunity to help determine the outcome of the game by creating an atmosphere that will make the Metrodome the loudest stadium in the history of the NFL playoffs.”

Still to be determined: Will the Vikings sell ear plugs at concession stands today?

And if so, what is McCombs’ cut of the profits?

Not to suggest that McCombs is panicking or anything, but his memory still stings from the false promise of 1998, when the Vikings went 15-1, broke the league record for points scored and squandered a “gimme” trip to the Super Bowl--losing the NFC title game, at home, to the Atlanta Falcons.

These Vikings haven’t won since Nov. 30, losing their last three regular-season games to St. Louis, Green Bay and Indianapolis. Culpepper is nursing a high ankle sprain that limited him to 10 passes in the season finale against the Colts. And all-pro wide receiver Randy Moss has been suffering back spasms this week.

Today, they face the most unlikely challenger left in the playoffs--a battered Saint team that seems to lose a key player every week yet grows stronger with each injury, a team with the league’s best road record (7-1).

With top quarterback Jeff Blake out and wide receiver Joe Horn doubtful because of injury, New Orleans will send out 1999 draftee Aaron Brooks to quarterback the Saints in their first-ever second-round playoff game. Running back Ricky Williams is listed as questionable, so the Saints might need to go with former Viking Terry Allen, signed as an emergency replacement in late November. And among Brooks’ passing targets: Cincinnati castoff Willie Jackson, who couldn’t start for the Bengals but caught three scoring passes against the Rams in the first round.

So bring on the noise, the Saints say.

“We thrive on playing on the road,” New Orleans defensive tackle Norman Hand says. “We like to see people leave the stadium.”