The day after.....

It was a difficult day yesterday. We took the train south and watched the Saints – Bears N.F.C. Championship game at friend’s loft downtown only four blocks away from Soldier Field. We were offered our regular season seats but opted to skip the conditions and the crowd.

It was established earlier that weather would not be a factor for either team, but that proved to be wrong. Ask the New Orleans Saints and they would have taken the Seahawks and a game in the Superdome any day over the freezing mix of snow and sleet and an unpredictable field in Chicago. It was clear from the start of the game that New Orleans was going to have problems with the elements. And then there was that statistic that dome teams are 0-9 (well now 0-10) in the championship game when facing an opponent that plays outdoors.

Everyone kept repeating that for me, this game was a win – win situation of sorts. When it became obvious that the Saints road to the Super Bowl would come to a halt in Chicago, I couldn’t help but feel bad for the team and all my family friends back in New Orleans. The phone calls started rolling in the fourth quarter. My friend Lisa: “Ya’ll are beating us…..stop it!” My brother David: “Ya’ll kicked our ass.” These calls gave way to the reality that I was: ”Ya’ll” and not “they” No matter who I was rooting for, I was in Chicago and therefore I go.

For me, it’s a couple more weeks of downtown high rises illuminating “Go Bears!” and the towers that line the Chicago River lit up in Bear orange and blue. I’ve never lived in a city with a team headed to the Super Bowl. I only hope one day my family and friends down in New Orleans can say the same. The New Orleans Saints have much of which to be proud. One thing is for sure: It will be another sellout season for the Saints in 2007.