Guess Who Got The Last Laugh Katrina? Saints Are America's Team At Last

Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams,
Telling myself it's not as hard, hard, hard as it seems .

Sure is hard

Forty-three years of frustration faded away in a matter of seconds late Sunday night in Miami thanks to a young cornerback from Louisiana named Tracy Porter. 

Porter jumped a Colts pass route, a slant pass from Peyton Manning to Reggie Wayne, and that's when Bourbon Street literally exploded.

Thousands rushed out into the middle of the street, bear-hugging and dancing and tossing beads from hotel balconies. The pain of a lifetime melted away right then and there.

And the buildings, and the bars, and the Houses of Ill Repute literally swayed and shook on that grand old lady of a street.

The mountains and the canyons started to tremble and shake
as the children of the sun began to awake.

Everything after Porter's interception is a blur to me. Two days later, I'm still in a daze. Maybe it was the hand grenades—New Orleans' most powerful drink. It took me 45 minutes to walk four blocks down Bourbon, as so many childhood memories came flooding back.

I thought of my late father taking me to my first Saints game at old Tulane Stadium when I was only seven years old. The experience seemed larger than life. I didn't realize how bad the team was then. I was too young. I was just thrilled to be there and was sure I had glimpsed the inside of heaven for four hours on that Sunday afternoon.

I thought of my younger brother, who left this earth way too soon, and I knew in my heart that both of them were smiling from ear-to-ear up there in heaven.

I thought about the Atlanta Falcons, and Big Ben, and Ken "The Snake" Stabler stealing one from us on Monday Night Football in 1979, and that snowy day in Chicago three years ago when it all slipped away.

There were some great moments along the way, but far too many painful ones—pain no football fan should have to endure, but ultimately does. But I can't imagine any other NFL town enduring quite as much pain as we have endured.

And I'm not talking just football here.

So, New Orleans, you got the last laugh on that nasty Ms. Katrina after all.

What a long, hard, painful journey it has been.

Sometimes Cinderella is late. Better late than never.

They say Broadway Joe Namath engineered the biggest upset in NFL history 40 years ago. By contrast, the Saints' upset over the Indianapolis Colts was not nearly as big.

Some of the game's brighter minds, like ESPN's Trent Dilfer, saw it coming. Some of the game's dimmer minds, like Dan Fouts and Boomer Esiason, never saw it coming. Poor bastards. 

In the end, the Colts looked over-hyped and out-manned.

Over-hyped by a national media with a ridiculously foolish infatuation with Peyton Manning. Nothing against Manning, but he was the second best quarterback on the field Sunday night and New Orleans fans knew that going in.

Alas, there is a case to be made that the Saints dramatic rise from the dead had its genesis on Broadway, where a young Giants assistant coach, Sean Payton, started making a name for himself.

As I made my way down Bourbon Street Sunday night high-fiving and hugging total strangers and snapping photographs, my mind drifted back to some defining moments that led to this incredible moment in sports history.

George Benson's "On Broadway" blared from one of the nightclubs as I glided—literally floated I think—toward Canal Street where a Jazz band was leading a Mardi Gras parade. I wandered through a throng of celebrating Who Dats. It was sheer bliss.

They say the neon lights are bright
On Broadway
They say there's always magic in the air

PRO FOOTBALL; New York Giants' Offense Purring Under Sean Payton

"Sean Payton was a senior when he walked into Coach J. R. Bishop's office at Naperville Central High School outside Chicago. Bishop started to fume when Payton, his starting quarterback, told him the team had too many plays. Bishop relented, trimmed the playbook, and the Redskins won their next game in a rout."

''I learned to listen to him because he studied the game,'' Bishop said in an interview last week. ''When he said something, he knew what he was talking about.''

"But when you're walkin' down the street
And you ain't had enough to eat
The glitter rubs right off and you're nowhere  

Giants' Sean Payton Spotted a Weakness, And He Went for the Jugular

"New York Giants offensive coordinator Sean Payton decided not to bother with the running game because he detected a fundamental weakness in the Minnesota Vikings' secondary in the National Football Conference championship game."

Oh yeah, But when you're walkin' down the street
And you ain't had enough to eat
The glitter rubs right off and you're nowhere

 Fassel Likely To Take Over Play Calling Duties From Sean Payton

"New York Giants coach Jim Fassel will likely start calling plays again, taking responsibility away from offensive coordinator Sean Payton in the wake of a disappointing offensive performance this season."

They say the chicks are somethin' else
On Broadway
But lookin' at them just gives me the blues

The Saints' First Choice Is Parcells's Top Man—Sean Payton 

"The New Orleans Saints will hire Sean Payton, an assistant with the Dallas Cowboys, for his first N.F.L. head-coaching job, a team official familiar with the decision said yesterday.

Payton was one of five candidates interviewed by the Saints. The others were Donnie Henderson, the Jets' defensive coordinator; Maurice Carthon, the Cleveland offensive coordinator; Mike Sherman, the former Green Bay head coach; and Mike Martz, the former St. Louis coach."

'Cause how ya gonna make some time
When all you got is one thin dime
And one thin dime won't even shine your shoes

FRESH BREES: Saints sign ex-Chargers QB to six-year, $60 million deal

" The New Orleans Saints agreed to terms with free-agent quarterback Drew Brees on a six-year, $60 million dollar deal today, including a guaranteed $10 million in the first year, according to sources.

Only time will tell the impact the 27-year old will have on the franchise's future. But this is arguably the biggest splash the Saints ever made in free agency."

Ah, yes, only time will tell.

They say that I won't last too long
On Broadway
I'll catch a Greyhound bus for home they say

RUSH HOUR; SAINTS SELECT USC'S REGGIE BUSH

The New Orleans Saints wasted little time in selecting USC's Reggie Bush with the number two overall pick in Saturday's NFL Draft. The cellular-telephone rang somewhere between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. Friday, and when Bush said hello the voice of new Saints quarterback Drew Brees was on the other end welcoming him to New Orleans.

"For me," Bush said Saturday, following his selection by the Saints, "that was probably the biggest compliment—without actually saying it—for anybody to give me. For him to call me and just to take the time out of his day to give me a call and tell me he's excited meant a lot to me.

"The pair may prove to be just the right kind of medicine to accelerate the healing process of these New Orleans Saints."

But they're dead wrong, I know they are
'Cause I can play this here guitar
And I won't quit till I'm star
On Broadway

Later this evening, a Saints victory parade will roll through the streets of New Orleans, but it's still all a blur to me in this city of dreams, where the party never seems to end.

In the words of my old friend Manny Chevrolet: Love, Peace and Vodka to all you Who Dats both here and around the country. I bet the bars in Philly and Wisconsin and Cincinnati roared as Porter rambled on into the end zone.

America loves an underdog and, for now, we are the new America's team.

The New Orleans Saints are Super Bowl Champions.

Cinderella is sometimes a little late. Better late than never.