FROM THE REAL ART SPORTS DESK
Big Easy in Superdome: Triumphant homecoming for Saints

From ESPN:

The Superdome got a new roof after Hurricane Katrina. The New Orleans Saints did their best to blow it off again.

In an earsplitting return to their rebuilt stadium, the Saints gave the Big Easy something to cheer about -- an undefeated football team that made it look easy with a 23-3 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night.

This one couldn't have been scripted any better for a team that spent all of last season on the road, and it couldn't have come at a better time for a city that is still struggling to overcome the devastation of Katrina.

After a Super Bowl-like pregame show that included a performance by supergroups U2 and Green Day, the Saints wasted no time turning their welcome-home party into Mardi Gras: The Falcons' first drive stalled, and special teams demon Steve Gleason sliced through the middle of the Atlanta line to smother Michael Koenen's punt.

The ball skidded across the goal line, where Curtis Deloatch fell on it for a touchdown -- the first given up by the Falcons this season. Just 1½ minutes into a homecoming that was over a year in the making, the Saints sent an emphatic message to the NFL and the entire country.

New Orleans is back.

Click here for the rest.

Well, I don't even get ESPN, so I was unable to watch, although I did listen for a bit on the radio, but I just had to post on this. I was in New Orleans Saturday night, and the whole city was extraordinarily excited about the Saints' return to the Superdome. You've got to understand that huge numbers of people there continue to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and other emotional illnesses, fully half of the population has yet to return, and some two thirds of the area still lie in ruins. New Orleans needs good things to happen to it. Just reopening the Superdome for business would have sufficed, but this win, which brings the Saints to 3-0, against their division rival, and by a hefty margin, is the right kind of mojo to charge the Big Easy's spirits.

I bet they're partying down on Bourbon right now, which is especially grand because the street was decidedly not hopping when I was there only a couple of nights ago. Hell, if New Orleans makes the playoffs this year, I'd bet a hundred bucks that the city eventually comes back as good as new. Seriously. The Big Easy is a town where symbolism goes a long, long way.

I'd better get in on some of this action myself: my home team looks like it may be the worst in the NFL at the moment. Go Saints!



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