Before I go any further, let me just tell you that the game and everything about it was amazing! The NFL really did well to make up for the debacle of last year when they made them play a "HOME" game in NEW YORK! That was seriously a laugh. Giants Stadium on it's best day isn't a place for out of town teams. And altho they gave them a great welcome, when that game started they were all about their NYGiants. And I can't blame them. I would be hard pressed to root for a visiting team in my home stadium.
But last night was phenomenal. The fans were there in droves. ESPN had practically every sports person they have on staff sent down there. They had coverage all day (as they usually do) but this was special. They kept emphasising that, altho this is a great thing to happen to NOLA to have the Saints playing in the Superdome, there is still alot of work to be done. And interspersed with the pics of the happy fans and the full stadium were photos of the devastation caused by Katrina and the failing levees. It was inspiring and sobering and heartwrenching and full of hope all at the same time.
Throughout the live reports you kept hearing people chanting in the background "Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?" I loved it. I could only imagine what the atmosphere was like down on Bourbon Street in the quarter. I'm sure it was electric.
Pregame included performances from Green Day (Wake me when September Ends) and U2 (Beautiful Day). It was nice, but I would have much rather seen NOLA locals like Harry Connick Jr. take the stage. They did good with the National Anthem tho. They had local music legand Alan Toussaint accompany local soul queen Irma Thomas. And George HW Bush was there to do the coin toss. The Saints lost the toss, but it didn't even matter cuz they blocked a punt and recovered it for a TD in the first couple minutes of the game and they just kept on from there.
I'm not gonna bore you with football details. Let's just say it was a great game which ended with a huge Saints victory 23-3 over the Atlanta Falcons. I was happy. And I did eventually get to see Harry Connick Jr. during the game as they spoke with him sometime in the 3rd quarter. He said what we heard the whole time we were down there. "Come down and spend your money here in the local hotels and restaurants" Because that is what will help rebuild their economy and create new jobs and bring people back to their homes.
After the game Kevin went up to bed and I was gonna follow him shortly after. I was so exhausted all day. And then I must have got my 2nd wind. Cuz I'm still not tired and it's close to 6AM. I'm not awake enough to be constructive around the house and do things like dishes or laundry or compile the pics of our NOLA vaca ...just awake enough to not be able to fall asleep when my head hits the pillow. And to top it all off there is nothing on TV at this hour of the day that I want to watch and I'm out of yarn for my current crochet projects (which I need to finish this weekend).
*sigh* I guess I should at least try again to catch some zzzzz. Maybe it will work this time.
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