Chris Bickford

History is in the making today. The town of New Orleans, having risen from the tragedy of Katrina, is on a comeback roll, and tonight it will celebrate as its home team makes its first ever appearance defending the NFC championship. Having hosted 7 Super Bowls in its home stadium, New Orleans has never played in one. Until tonight.

Last Wednesday I was sitting in Buzzard’s Hall, the collective man-cave of New Orleans’ oldest Mardi Gras marching society, drinking beer and eating fried flounder with some of the Buzzards. One of the guys, decked out in a Saints T-shirt, a Saints Jacket, and a Saints medallion, was saying to me, “Do you feel what’s going on here? Do you get how huge this is?” I told him, yeah, there’s a huge buzz in the air, everybody’s running around yelling “who dat!”…But he kept going, he was on a roll. “This isn’t just about football, my friend. And it’s not just about Katrina either. This is about this town. This is about this town coming together like never before. The whites, the blacks, the gays, everybody’s together on this one. This is about all of us, man, the pride we’ve always had, but now the whole world can see what we can do!”

Later he added, “Man, I wish the Colts would just give us this one, you know? Because it means so much to us.”

And it’s true. The Town that Care forgot is having its moment in the sun, and everybody–EVERYBODY–is waving the black and gold and greeting each other with the Saints’ battle cry. “Who Dat!”

Even people who don’t give a rat’s ass about football are joining in the spirit. The Mistick Krewe of Satyricon, a gay carnival society, moved the date of its annual Mardi Gras ball back from Sunday to Friday, because, as the emcee, in drag, said, “If we held it on Super Bowl Sunday, I don’t think anybody would show up. Hell, I wouldn’t even be here…and, well, you know I don’t exactly follow football…”

Well, today is the day, my friends. In the entire history of the New Orleans Saints’ franchise, the team has never even had a winning season. And today, after rampaging nearly undefeated through the NFC lineup, they are gearing up for their first Super Bowl ever. And they’ve got the Pride of New Orleans squarely behind them…many are making the trek to Miami to spook the Colts with their infamous stadium-shaking “Who Dat” chant, which, the more you hear it, sounds like some ancient African battle cry…the rest will be watching all over town at Super Bowl parties, or downtown where a large outdoor screen will be set up for public viewing, or at their favorite bar with all their neighborhood friends. Make no mistake, the soft swampy ground of New Orleans will be trembling tonight, and if the Saints win, there will be mayhem in the streets.

Win or lose, the Saints will return home as heroes, and on Tuesday there will be a victory parade, win or lose, through the streets. For a town that loves a parade, its’ only natural.

Following are a few snapshots from around town of Saints’ pride…I’m trying to get them up as fast as I can so I can go out and enjoy the festivities myself…and find a good spot to watch the game.

‘Cause it’s not just about football, right? It’s about history being made. GO SAINTS!!!!

Oh, and please don’t tell the NFL about the title of this post…I can’t afford to get sued:)