New Orleans is probably waking up with the biggest hangover ever. With Mardi Gras still a little over a week away, they got their party on a little early last night as the last few seconds of Super Bow XLIV ticked away, leaving the New Orleans Saints – the Team Formerly Known As The Aints – victorious. I wasn’t there, but just about every news network had a live camera on Bourbon Street, where the scene looked more like Mardi Gras than a post-game celebration. But then, this wasn’t just any game.
I made a little bit of a production of it at home. In honor of the Saints, I wanted to make something New Orleans for dinner, so I bopped over to Rainbow Foods and picked up the supplies to make my shrimp creole. Authentic French bread would have been nice, but you just don’t find it here in Minnesota. Then I settled down to watch the game while Jim hid back in his room. He wasn’t as into it as I was.
The city needed this boost. Almost five years after Hurricane Katrina, people are still hurting pretty bad down there. No, winning the Super Bowl isn’t going to rebuild any houses or patch any failing levees. But after all they’ve been through, the people there need a moment of happiness. Later they will channel this pride into a renewed effort to rebuild. I know these people: I am one of them.
The rest of my family is beside themselves. I could swear I heard them screaming down there when the game was won. I almost called my brother Johnny and told him to “keep it down; I’m trying to sleep up here.”
Now for the important part: My Favorite Commercial. I liked the Doritos commercial with the dog collar.
I can imagine that back in my hometown New Orleans, things are getting pretty crazy right about now. For one thing, it’s the season. Carnival is in full swing, leading up to Mardi Gras, which is next Tuesday (February 16). The bars are hopping, the hotels are packed, and the streets are full of revellers in a city where you can drink in the streets. But this year there’s something different in the air. It’s not the gloom and doom felt by those residents still shell-shocked from Hurricane Katrina. No, this year the Mardi Gras is inflused with the excitement of a city full of football fans as their underdog team closes in on the brass ring within its reach. After today, carnival will probably seem anti-climactic.
