I live in New Orleans, but I'm from Florida. Florida has enough football for me to have my favorites. As a kid, I didn't connect with any particular team. Actually, I did. My Dad went to Florida State University for one year. Thus he was a Seminoles fan. I don't know why, though, because as a child he lived in closer proximity to Gainsville (where the University of Florida is located). My Dad didn't receive either his Bachelors or Masters degrees from FSU, but he raised my brother and I to pull for them. As I got older and rebellion set in, I found myself going for any other team (UF, University of Miami, even the University of Central Florida) just to oppose him. As far as supporting a team in the NFL, I just flipped back between the Miami Dolphins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I don't even remember when the Jacksonville Jaguars became a franchise because I wasn't interested.
January 2005. I moved to New Orleans, LA for grad school. I didn't quite fall in love with the Saints then because it was the off-season and Katrina gave me the chance to be an adult and get to live with my parents again for another year because my new home was uninhabitable.
August 2006. It wasn't hard to fall in love with the way the boys in Black and Gold played that year. They made it to their first playoff game in some time. Although they lost, I was pulling for them all the way.
The next few years were not so good for the Saints. But since that 2006 season, the Saints have been supported (selling out the Superdome every season since and having a wait list for season tickets that rivals any other NFL team (you wait for years on the waiting list). After Katrina, the Saints have meant more to this city than anyone can imagine. They're a beacon of hope; a light of possibility in a very dark place. Jesus is the light of the world, yes, but the Saints have never shone brighter.
When the Saints beat the better-record Colts, it was a pivotal moment in the city's history. No more were we the Aint's. The Saints, after 43 years as a franchise, became world champs. That's incredible. The city has been nuts ever since the NFC Championship game when we beat the Vikings two and a half weeks ago. It's a historic time to live here. I'm glad I was here. I had nothing to do with the Saints' wins but I get to say, "Yeah, I was there the night they beat a seemingly unbeatable team."
Tuesday there was a giant victory parade. New Orleans does parades a little differently though. It was basically like Mardi Gras with floats and beads-a-flying. It was great. Andrea and I were down on Poydras and S. Peters, next to Harrah's Casino. The clip below is a friend of Andrea who got to high-five Drew Brees.
Sunday night the entire city was in their cars and bikes just honking and waving at everyone passing because the Saints won. Monday a ton of people met the Saints at the airport to welcome the champs home. Tuesday night there was a parade where many hundreds of thousands of people came to see their heroes. Wednesday through next Tuesday we run two or three krewes each night and have parades all the way to Mardi Gras.
Why you wouldn't want to live here is beyond me.
5 comments:
parties are actually the reason why I wouldn't want to live there... lol
Glad you got to experience that craziness. I'm sure it's something that you can't fully describe to someone who's never been there.
What? Why would you want to avoid the parties? You can be a reasonable person and party. I do.
It's how many people would be there... way too many people. And, I'm just not a party kind of person...too much going on.
That makes sense. There's a way around that. If you're early you can get a spot right up front for parades. Then there's only people around you but not in front. It makes a difference.
Oh, I think I'd still experience some anxiety with knowing there's people behind me. ha It's just not something I want to experience. I think I'll be OK with never going to it. lol
Post a Comment