WHO DAT

          Yesterday, the New Orleans Saints beat back the St. Louis Rams 31 - 13. While the outcome is no surprise, the Rams are no slouch, and should be commended for their turnaround season to this point. Despite a 6 - 7 record, they're still in contention to win their division and rookie QB Sam Bradford should be a shoe-in for Rookie of the Year. The Rams aren't expected to contend for a title any time soon, but they have hit the ground running in the rebuilding process. Hopefully in their three and a half hours on the field yesterday they were taking notes. Who better to learn from then the Saints? In the last decade they have gone from lovable losers, the 'Aints, and a fan base known for wearing bags on their heads, to Super Bowl champs. More importantly they have gone from a city on the brink of livelihood, to one making strides in picking up the pieces and rallying around itself.
          In 2006, I had the chance to take part in a volunteer day in a neighboring parish to New Orleans while traveling with the Warped Tour. Hurricane Katrina was nearly a year removed but its after effects still loomed large. As we rode in on the bus, every house still showed signs of water damage. Every other house showed structural damage, and every third house was simply deserted, boarded up, or flattened. As I got off the bus with my friends, we were introduced to Jim. Presented with six able bodied 20 something year old guys our job was as follows: mow the lawn, dig a hole and plant a tree. That's it. It took an hour. With five hours left to go it was clear why we were there. Jim signed up for the volunteer day so he would have someone to talk to, plain and simple. He spent money out of his own pocket to buy some beer, and we spent the whole afternoon learning his story and just talking. In comparison some of the other teams spent the day completely rebuilding houses or landscaping, and I left with the feeling that we had accomplished just as much. Fast forward to January 10th of this year, the time is approximately 5PM and the Superdome is rocking. The Arizona Cardinals are headed home while the Saints are moving on. Players are high fiving fans everywhere, standing on benches, and yelling at the top of their lungs. I'm right there. Someone grabs a lineman's hand as he passes by and pleads, "FINISH THIS. WE NEED THIS!" All of the talk about this being the Saints year begins to ring true, as the party spills out on to Bourbon St. Three weeks later the Saints completed their Manifest Destiny at the expense of the Colts, and for at least a night, or ten given the way they party on Bourbon, all of the weight was lifted from the city of New Orleans. We had moved on from New Orleans about three hours west, but the jubilation was no less. Five years later and the city and the team had turned it around, albeit may take another five before a full recovery. (Many of the outlying parishes still show signs of a time when people were more concerned with finding food or water, and search parties, then who won on Sunday.) No less, the Saints have put the city on their back. They have given hope. They have made them winners. They have provided four months of meaningful Sundays, rather then relying on one eventful Tuesday in February.  They have left everyone saying "WHO DAT? ... DAT THEM SAINTS!"