Who Dat?

I can't believe the day has finally arrived! The day I've been waiting for since I was just a little boy: The Saints are going to the Super Bowl! No more jokes about Hell freezing over and signs of the Apocalypse! The boys in black and gold are for real!

You have to realize, this has been forty-three years in the making and I've witnessed it all: The early days with Archie Manning that had moments of greatness, but just never could quite get us there. (Isn't it ironic that the Saints first Super Bowl appearance will be against Archie's son Payton? No sentimental feelings here - drive him in the dirt!)

Then there were the long, embarrassing years of sack-wearing misery as the home team lost game after game. In the eighties; Ricky Jackson, Bobby Hebert and the boys gave us a glimmer of hope - getting us into the post season, but still - No Super Bowl. The Benson Boogie would always end a few yards short of the big game! We began to think the team was cursed. We began to think that the New Orleans French Quarter voodoo stood in the way of any hope of victory!

Then it happened: Katrina washed the curse on down the Mississippi River and fate brought us the likes of Sean Payton, Reggie Bush, Drew Brees, Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Jeremy Shockey, Darren Sharper and so many more!

Last night, I screamed myself hoarse as our New Orleans Saints won a hard-fought battle in the Louisiana Super Dome against Brett Farve and The Minnesota Vikings, advancing to Miami to play in Super Bowl XLIV!

The days of watching through the eye-holes of our brown paper bags as those dynasties emerge in Pittsburgh, Dallas, San Francisco and New England while our beloved Saints remain the laughing stock of the NFL are officially over! Perhaps we are watching the emergence of a new dynasty right here in New Orleans? Who dat?