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/