…a continuation from my previous post…

My plane ride from Atlanta
to New Orleans on Saturday might as well have been a charter flight
to be landed on top of the Superdome.  The plane, mostly filled with
Falcons fans, was a raucous ride of trash talking.  Even the flight attendants
were having fun with it.  The attendant on the PA was from Atlanta and
didn’t care one lick about football, which was eveident by her reference
to Bobby Herbert (she said HER-BERT instead of A-BEAR), who was sitting
in first class on his way down for his weekly radio show.  After being
teased about her mis-pronunciation, she welcome us to the flight by
introducing the pilots.  "I’d like to introduce you to the captain…Michael
Vick."  That was immediately followed by a large favorable applause. 
The attendant giggled, "And his co-pilot…Drew Brees."  That
comment was initially followed by cheers and quickly drowned out by
boos.  Everyone was laughing so it was a good time.  Somewhere on the
plane chants of, "Who Dat?!" had found their way onto the
plane.  I haven’t really heard those cheers in abundance since Jim Mora,
Sr was the coach.

Monday…game day.  I knew the city was going to be busy so I made a
point to meet with my best client early in the morning for breakfast. 
Under a tree titled, "Branche Du Bois," we sat outside and
sipped our frozen coffee conconctions in the courtyard of CC’s on Magazine. 
It’s those moments in the crisp, air of a New Orleans fall day that
can’t be found anywhere else.  Those are the little moments I really
treasure about the city.  My client was wearing jeans with her Deuce
McAllister Saints jersey.  I made the mistake of thinking that it was
Friday because everyone in the city was so laid back and calm.

I dropped off my client and drove past the Dome on my way back home. 
The first thing I noticed was the buildings to the left of me that had
their windows blown out.  Plastic still covered the open spaces where
glass had once been.  "Progress," I thought.  One block further
ahead from Poydras Street, I looked up to the massive structure that
is the Dome and saw the stages set up, the Coors Light Train and props
for the NFL Experience.  "Game time," I thought with a big
grin.  I raced home to get my dad so we could race right back for the
game.

My Mom drove my Dad and I to S. Claiborne at Earhardt (about 5 blocks
from the Dome).  Cars were lined up for blocks preceeding that intersection. 
A line of fans were making their way like a pilgrimagge to the Dome. 
We walked and passed trucks blaring music and grills cooking various
meats.  The loud chants of Who Dat?!! rang through the air.  All of this
was normal except that it was 330…a good 4 hours before kickoff.  This
is largely atypical for a Saints game as most of those fans tailgate
for the LSU games and just show up to watch the Saints.  We met up with my brother-in-law and his friend Billy.  The four of us ventured the sights around the Dome.

Every corner of the Dome had a vinyl on it, welcoming the fans back alongside the proud Fleurs-De-Lis.  Across from the vinyls were screens that showed the main stage in front of Gate C.  The gate The Goo Goo Dolls were performing in front of.  We tried to get close to that actual stage but were turned away by police officers.  The show was completely jammed with people.

530…Doug and I decided to enter the Dome for the first time in over a year.  The experience of entering the Dome was a familiar one.  Nothing immediate had changed.  As we took our seats, I noticed that all of the seats had been refinished.  The new dark green surface of the field now stretched from side to side. Previously, it simply ran about 10 yards past the sidelines.  The biggest and best change I noticed were the new video screens.  These babies were long overdue.  They put two new replay screens up at both end zones as well as 4 new ad/scoreboards in each corner.  Finally, they had new ad ribbon boards alongside the lower level of the Dome.  It was like looking at a restored 1967 Corvette.  She’s old but she’s got character.  And the bottom line, is that she’s all yours.

Pre-game…I’m not quite sure how to describe what was going on.  There was so much positive energy flowing at once.  It was like a perfectly planned night.  Usually, I hear these hyped events and something always seems to be missing.  That night, I think my initial shock came from how perfect things ran from beginning to end.  To begin with, Robin Roberts was on the field as the emcee for the opening festivities.  She is a huge Gulf Coast favorite as she is from Mississippi.  She is one of our own; and she took us through the intro of what the region has been through and why the New Orleans Saints mean so much to the entire area. And then, the show began.  Escorted by cultural favorites of New Orleans, U2 and Green Day made their way on stage. Billy Joe started and finished on the mike with The Edge.  The opening number was fittingly, "Wake Me Up When September Ends."  I could feel the energy growing within the crowd.  It was as if the crowd was ready to explode but waiting for the perfect time.  Then, Bono came out of nowhere and took stage next to Billy Joe.  They sang a rendition of, "It’s a Beautiful Day."  They changed words to make it relevant to New Orleans and when they said the name of the city the crowd screamed out mercilessly.  They were still built up but I could tell they hadn’t busted through yet.  The rapid light show combined with the two bands’ rhythm and

the idea that 10 million households were watching was just awe inspiring .  The emotion created was freeing and uplifting.  Billy Joe at one point randomly yelled out, "NEW ORLEANS!!"  The decibel of level created rivaled that of a 4th and 1 from the goaline in an overtime game.

The bands exited quickly for President Bush was making his way to the field for the coin toss.  Joe Horn was the first to make contact with the President.  Every game they have two kids (around the age of 9) nominated to be captains on the field.  I mentioned to Doug that they were a shoo-in to win show and tell the next day at school.  How can another 9 year-old compete with. "I met the President last night.  What did you do?"  I digress.  Doug mentioned that he wanted us to receive.  Can you imagine how freaking loud it will be in here if we return the opening kick-off?"  Before I could respond, the Falcons had won the toss and elected to receive. 

Kick-off…the initial series for the Falcons was what I expected.  Pure emotion on defense fueling a three and out series.  I never expected that 90 seconds into the game we would be up 7-0.  Steve Gleason, who along with Fred McAfee has won the hearts of Saints fans with his hard work and pure heart on special teams, broke through untouched and blocked the punt.  Doug and I were already standing.  We both saw Gleason coming through at the same time because we both jumped at the same time even though he was a good 9 yards from the ball.  Steve wanted it bad because he didn’t just block it, he smothered the ball.  Curtis Deloatch blazed to the goal line and rolled over the ball in the end zone for the touch down.  Ten black shirts had already made their way back to the end zone.  The white shirts were flat no where to be found.  For a second, I thought they would have to buy a new roof because it was about to come off.  It was a year’s worth of excitement, emotion and adrenaline released onto the field.  Doug was standing 2 inches to my left.  Honestly, had I tried to speak to him, I would have had more success text messaging him because it was so loud.  Deloatch took the ball and did a double-pump reverse jam over the goal posts.  The man has mad hops.  Hi-fives were flying all over the place.  I don’t think Doug and I could have hit each other harder, but no one was feeling any pain.

The tone had been set.  The Falcons next drive was their best and only real threat.  Vick got into the red zone and hit Crumpler for a sure touch down, but he dropped it.  An immediate sigh was followed by immediate cheers.  The entire Falcons team was off all night.  I haven’t seen an all around defensive performance by the Saints like that since the early-90′s when they employed the ‘Dome Patrol.’  We are by far one of the slowest defenses on paper; but like I said in my post prior to this one, the game isn’t decided on paper. 

Watching from an elevated position, I could clearly see our DBs blanketing their receivers causing Vick to check-off several times before making a decision.  Charles Grant and Brian Young worked hard all game to penetrate the pocket.  The linebackers stayed home on the outside rarely over pursuing.  This combination forced Vick to check all receivers and gain minimal yardage on the ground.  I wasn’t surprised that they did it, but I was surprised that they were able to execute all night long.  That is truly impressive.  The entire night was 360 degrees of domination.  The last time a special teams unit blocked a punt and a field goal in the same game was the 2003 Houston Texans.  For years, there was an ongoing joke that everyone in the stands knew what play was coming next because they always lacked offensive creativity.  Doug and I agreed that we had no clue what would be coming next.  Payton pulled a double-reverse with Devery Henderson (who has a special place in our hearts for his time at LSU…he even won an ESPY for his catch).  On top of the play, Drew Brees threw a killer block to propel Henderson into the end zone.  It was the ultimate team effort that illustrated to me that for the first time since 2000, our Saints had no primdonnas and were totally accepting of their responsibility to the fans.  Joe Horn, Drew Brees, Deuce McAllister, Charles Grant, Steve Gleason and even young Mr. Bush understand what it’s about. 

I’m not drinking any Kool-Aid saying the Saints are going to the Super Bowl, but they are very reminiscent of the 2000 team.  Many new faces and no big heads.  It was just a bunch of guys trying to prove themselves on a common mission.   That team took out the supposedly invincible St. Louis Rams 2 out of 3 times that year including once in the play-offs.

Some myths:
1) The game was fixed.
    a) Have you ever talked to or been an athlete?  We don’t just throw games.  Our pride would never allow it.
    b) Have you ever seen a pro player’s game check?  Um, few people have the resources it would take to buy their key players.
    c) All of the ‘experts’ agreed that the Saints came to play on all cylinders.

2) The field was rigged.
    a) Ok, let’s say it was.  The Saints still have to play on it, so it’s apples to apples.  If Vick is slower on it, so is our defense.
    b) You were dumb enough to gamble on an unprecedented event and you lost.
    c) All of the ‘experts’ agreed that the Saints came to play on all cylinders.

A note to the people that think reopening the Dome was a waste…I was fortunate enough to see Tony Kornheiser’s ‘editorial’ after the game.  The best part was at the end and along the lines of, "What we think is irrelevant.  If it’s important to people of New Orleans, then it should be important to all of us."

It was a wonderful experience.  For the Falcons that night, as usual in the NFL, it was about business.  For the Saints, it was about having fun.  That was the competitive edge that set them apart.

Some side sports notes…Jim Mora is a class act as evident in his post-game press conference…Marques Colston and Devery Henderson are emerging as go to  McAllister must love Bush there because he has no pressure on him and less abuse…He will have a great year and injury free.