SAINTS WIN!
| By Bluejacket - Sep 12th, 2005 at 1:50 pm EDT |
Damn, in some ways, it was good to be from Louisiana this weekend. After two weeks of hearing nothing but floods, dislocation, political wrangling and destruction coming out of New Orleans and the Gulf, something good came this weekend.
The Saints and the LSU Tigers both won, both on late, last ditch efforts. Something that people from New Orleans can cheer about happened after two weeks of nothing but bad news.
No, the Saints winning does not remove one drop of water from the flooded city. The Tigers winning did not restore one building or one house. But, for about three hous on Saturday and three hours on Sunday, you could forget what was going on in the city and relax a little. You could forget the confusion about the future and enjoy something that was comfortable about the past. You could watch John Carney kick a field goal with three seconds left, and genuinely have something to cheer about.
If anyone remembers after September 11th, 2001, sports were respectfully held off for a few days. But, when they came back, people showed up. They watched, cheered, booed, and were able to take a break from worrying about terrorists for a few hours, and sometimes that is all you need. People even compared the World Series that year, the Yankees and the Diamondbacks, to the struggle with terrorism, the Yankees being the good guys. Part of the normalcy of sports also comes from the fact that no matter what happened to the city of New York, I will NEVER root for the Yankees.
Sports also offer something that is going to be resolved soon. Saints fans could watch the game and knew, for better or worse, there was going to be a final answer in three hours. People who are familiar with football rooted for the Saints, wanting something good for the city to look at for a few hours. I am hoping that Panther fans were still rooing for their own team, for the sake of normalcy. The actual problems they are facing: homelessness, disease, joblessness, and rebuilding, are ones that could take years, and even then it is uncertain if it will happen.
Hell, sports arenas, familiar landmarks in any city, are being used as makeshift shelters for the displaced and the poor. They are built to service large amounts of people. One of the images that the media kept showing was the crumbling Superdome, something we were all familiar with. Six of the forty Super Bowls were even played there. Two others were played at Tulane.
I am still listening to all of the bad news that keeps streaming out of New Orleans. But, for a few hours yesterday, some good news came to the people of Louisiana.
The Saints and the LSU Tigers both won, both on late, last ditch efforts. Something that people from New Orleans can cheer about happened after two weeks of nothing but bad news.
No, the Saints winning does not remove one drop of water from the flooded city. The Tigers winning did not restore one building or one house. But, for about three hous on Saturday and three hours on Sunday, you could forget what was going on in the city and relax a little. You could forget the confusion about the future and enjoy something that was comfortable about the past. You could watch John Carney kick a field goal with three seconds left, and genuinely have something to cheer about.
If anyone remembers after September 11th, 2001, sports were respectfully held off for a few days. But, when they came back, people showed up. They watched, cheered, booed, and were able to take a break from worrying about terrorists for a few hours, and sometimes that is all you need. People even compared the World Series that year, the Yankees and the Diamondbacks, to the struggle with terrorism, the Yankees being the good guys. Part of the normalcy of sports also comes from the fact that no matter what happened to the city of New York, I will NEVER root for the Yankees.
Sports also offer something that is going to be resolved soon. Saints fans could watch the game and knew, for better or worse, there was going to be a final answer in three hours. People who are familiar with football rooted for the Saints, wanting something good for the city to look at for a few hours. I am hoping that Panther fans were still rooing for their own team, for the sake of normalcy. The actual problems they are facing: homelessness, disease, joblessness, and rebuilding, are ones that could take years, and even then it is uncertain if it will happen.
Hell, sports arenas, familiar landmarks in any city, are being used as makeshift shelters for the displaced and the poor. They are built to service large amounts of people. One of the images that the media kept showing was the crumbling Superdome, something we were all familiar with. Six of the forty Super Bowls were even played there. Two others were played at Tulane.
I am still listening to all of the bad news that keeps streaming out of New Orleans. But, for a few hours yesterday, some good news came to the people of Louisiana.
!
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