Dome Sweet Dome

New Orleans Saints 23
Atlanta Falcons 3
0:00

Looking up from my seat, this is what the scoreboard looked like after the game. My permenant ear to ear grin would stay on my face throughout this incredible night.

I'm convinced Rae woke up and saw me sleeping with a smile on my face.

The triumphant return of my New Orleans Saints to the once hurricane Katrina ravaged Superdome was INCREDIBLE. I'm pretty convinced I'll never be able to attend a Superbowl in my lifetime, either because the Saints will never play in one or I'll never be able to secure such hot tickets but that event on Monday night was as close to a Superbowl atmosphere and event than I can imagine or ever get to.

We arrived at 1:00 pm downtown. Rae and I decided to take the kids with us and hang out with my parents in the quarter before my dad and I blended in with the street party that was happening around the dome. We parked and walked the quarter. An incredible 78 degrees, dry air, not a cloud in the sky. Only New Orleanians know the way that first real blast of cool air in late September feels, you feel alive. You could sense the buzz around town. The quarter was bustling, like I haven't seen it since Katrina. We had lunch at Cafe Pontalba at the corner of St. Peters and Chartres overlooking Jackson Square and the St. Louis Cathedral. Enjoyed the open breeze and my killer scrimp po boy. We walked the quarter some more with my girls and then we decided it was time to head over to the festivities at around 3:30 pm.

My dad and I said goodbye to Rae, the kids and my mother after they dropped us off on Poydras and Carondelet, it was as close as we could get, really. The place was absolutely packed!! We checked out Cowboy Mouth perform on the street as the crowds literally blocked traffic, they had to stop the band from playing for a while so they could get traffic through the area and block off the street. There were Saints jerseys EVERYWHERE, black and gold EVERYWHERE. I've never seen Saints fans so dressed up for the game. Falcons fans were ridiculed at every turn. And I had to chuckle every time I heard the phrase "Dirty Turds" uttered to these poor saps, very nyce.

We made our way to the dome and the best way I can describe the crowd on the footsteps of the dome is jubilant sardines in a can because it was PACKED, literally shoulder to shoulder (of course...the sardines are alive but I digress). They had a huge clock that counted down to the opening of the dome, the entire crowed counted it down to zero and the place erupted outside the dome, they dropped a curtain that was hiding a giant pic of Deuce McAllister with the slogan Our Home, Our Team, Be A Saint with ticker tape going off and the Rebirth Brass Band playing, it was crazy! Very cool. Then we waited for 45 min to get in, yikes.

The Superdome was immaculate! I've never seen it so clean, so fresh and new. New paint, new field, new scoreboards, new sound system, new concessions. Beautiful. I couldn't have been more happy with our seats and the people we watched the game with. Very cool people.

The buzz was steady the entire day and it got louder and more palpable by the minute leading up to kickoff. There were media EVERYWHERE, the field was packed with people. Cameras and crews everywhere, I can only liken it to a superbowl. We watched Green Day and U2 play their 3 songs, Wake me Up When September Ends was the highlight actually and got pretty emotional for a lot of people.

Then they introduced the Saints and the place went bananas! The vibe was absolutely electric. The energy was HUGE. Just from the introductions, you knew the Falcons were about to walk into a buzzsaw. And I'm not going to recount the game for you guys but I'll say that when they blocked that punt at the end of the Falcons first series, I have never witnessed the eruption from the crowd and myself I did that night. I've been to many many sporting events and watched a lot of important games, but I have never heard the Superdome as loud as I did that night. I was hugging complete strangers, high fiving everyone I saw, the entire place went absolutely APE S*@#!!!

I tell you the crowd didn't let up the ENTIRE GAME. From friends I've talked to not attending the game, you could sense the feeling through the TV. So the Saints dominated that night if not by talent, by sheer emotion alone. There's no question football is an emotional game and I've heard this by some of the commentators and I completely agree, the '79 Steelers would have been smoked by the Saints on Monday night.

It was an experience I'll NEVER forget, one of the proudest moments I've ever had as a New Orleanian and a Saints fan. It rocked!!

So, my boys are 3-0 sole leaders in the NFC South. Wow, just wow. I hope they can keep the momentum going. Too bad they can't enjoy it longer but now it's back to business, showdown against the Carolina Panthers at their place this Sunday at high noon.

But, what a night!

\mm/

Dogs Get No Respect

I don't know if the 2 people that frequent this blog actually watch his show, but I'm a fan of Duane Chapman. He's featured on a reality show based on apprehending bounties, basically drug addicts and criminals who don't show up for their court dates after they've bonded out of jail, so Dog basically tracks and chases these people down on camera to bring back to jail. Very good stuff actually.

But this real reality story is kinda sad. I actually can't believe that the United States of America would help Mexico with this case. Well, read it and you'll see why. Sometimes there's no justice in this world.

"Reality TV star Duane "Dog" Chapman and two of his family members have been arrested by a team of U.S. marshals for extradition to Mexico. Dog, a TV bounty hunter, along with his son Leland and his brother Tim, is being sent to Mexico in relation to a 2003 case where they went after Max Factor heir, Andrew Luster, who was wanted on rape charges. Bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico"

Who Dat?!?!

So, here we are, just a few short days until opening day for the 2006 New Orleans Saints!! I'm as giddy as a schoolboy, more pumped than Exxon's gas prices in August, willing to scale large sofas in a single bound to get to see my New Orleans Saints play this season!!!

Some observations as the season gets started:

- So, my man crush got crushed, Mike Hass got cut, who cares? He didn't make the grade. I still like him but not nearly as much now that the Bears picked him up. He's garbage now, of course. Would it be any other way?

- 7th round draft pick, 6'4 220lb Wide Receiver from Hofstra, Marques Colston will open the season across from Joe Horn as the #2 receiver for the Saints. This is unheard of stuff coming from a 7th rounder, great work by the rookie, i'm pulling for you, yo. Gotta love tall receivers.

- Picked up a pretty good middle linebacker in Danny Clark from the Oakland Raiders. He's got a mean streak and can play. We can use all the help we can get with our swiss cheese linebackers. I think the defense is going to play better than expected this season.

- Reggie Bush should win the rookie of the year by a landslide. He's got all the tools and skillz. I'm excited to see what he can do this season.

- Drew Brees has looked a tad rusty this pre season. I think professionals know how to turn the dial up come the regular season, I'll be watching our new leader very closely.

- Sean Payton is going to be a good coach in the NFL. He don't take crap from nobody. If you're not his kind of player or fit in with his system, you're out and it doesn't matter who you are or what salary you are (ex. Donte Stallworth(pepper)).

Prediction for this weeks game against the Browns: The Saints will struggle against the pass but will put points on the board with Deuce and Reggie. Joe Horn will have his usual workman game of 6 catches for 100 yards and maybe a score.

Saints 21
Browns 17

Dig it

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