It's time for a "Second Line" to the Super Bowl

Saint's quarterback Drew Brees after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles


I received an email this morning from my brother David in New Orleans declaring: “Who dat say they gonna beat dem Saints? Who dat? Who dat?” this would be the “neighborhood” battle cry of the “New Orleans Saints.” The team is in the N.F.C. Championship game for a chance to play in the Super Bowl. Wait… did I just say Saints and Super Bowl? Ya’ got dat right. The Black and Gold of New Orleans head to Chicago to face- who dat: Da’ Bears.

One cannot look at the incredible story of this New Orleans team without looking at the city itself. It’s only been a little over a year since New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region were literally brought to their knees by a devastating hurricane. The images of the days that followed the landfall of Katrina broke the hearts of a nation. The Louisiana Superdome, home of the Saints, lay battered with parts of its roof torn away and evacuees trapped in the subsequent flooding. A stadium that had seen so many good times was quickly becoming a tragic icon of the storm. There was even talk that the building would be destroyed, but that was then.

Since I moved to Chicago, I’ve noticed a similar character of New Orleans in the Windy City. Bears fans have the same hearts and enthusiasm as Saints fans. This is a city that lives for sports. But New Orleans is a city that has found new life and some hope with their winning Saints. These long suffering fans and residents deserve a Super Bowl because they’ve downright earned it. No, we’ve earned it. I’ll be rooting for the Black and Gold come Sunday. What a story for a city that has been limping its way back to normalcy. This team has now become an American comeback story and America could use a really good one in the shadows of the mess in Iraq and the horrendous debacle of the U.S. Government’s failures before and after Katrina.

In the reply to my brother I wrote that: ”I may live in Chicago now, but New Orleans will always be my home.”