I actually covered the Saints a bit this year for NewOrleans.com and I have to admit I didn't see this coming at the start of the season. Due to journalistic integrity, it would have been highly unethical for me to cheer for the Saints but I can't be happier for the organization and more importantly the city. In recent year's past, New Orleans has become synonymous with Hurricane Katrina (as it should be); and although people know about the catastrophic storm only a minute group of individuals can fully comprehend the damaging affects it has caused physically and mentally not only to the citizens of New Orleans but the Gulf Coast as a whole. Some people believe that sports are by nature intrinsically unimportant and have no true meaning. "It's just a game," they might add and it always ends when the clock runs out but I beg to differ. Sometimes, sports transcends its existence as insignificant entertainment and aspires to represent something more meaningful and note-worthy; this is exactly what the Saints have been able to do since returning to New Orleans post Katrina. In a city that is experiencing an agonizingly slow recovery period and has spent less than half the money its received from the federal government, the Saints as well as the Hornets have done their best to represent the city with class, dignity, and courage; and although the Hornets have done a great job since coming to the city the Saints have been here for 43 long, hard years. At times, their fans had to endure people referring to their team as "The Aints" and masked their loyalty to the team by wearing brown paper bags over their heads at games to conceal their identity, all in hopes that one day, their team would hoist the Lombardi trophy in the air as Superbowl champions; that day is here. So today, as the first ever Saints parade is making its way through downtown New Orleans, know that it screams and exemplifies this to the world: the people of New Orleans still do exist; We're still here. We matter and we're still fighting to rebuild our city. And last but certainly not least, the WhoDat Nation loves its Saints.
