Taking on New Adventures

The start of the NFL season is always a good time here in New Orleans. But this year has been a little different. With the Super Bowl coming to the city at the end of the season, there is an excited buzz around town and always small, very very very small, glimmer of hope that the Saints will be playing in that final game.

The Super Bowl is bringing some challenges to the season already. Construction on road projects seem to be at an all time high while “beautification” of various landmarks around the city are in full force, cause traffic back ups like I haven’t seen ever before. But city leadership think it’s all worth it, and I guess the residents will suffer through if the Saints can give us something to cheer about.

Game one came along and fans were excited, but also tempered any true expectations. The past few seasons just haven’t been all that great and with very few changes to those on the field coupled with a few coaching changes that were not flashy to most, the football fans of New Orleans were going to have fun while being skeptical at best.

Lo and behold the Saints came marching into the Superdome on game number 1 on a mission! Yes, it was the Panthers and they aren’t good. But the Saints are known for playing to their competition. But game 1? That didn’t happen. The offense looked outstanding, and with each completed pass, the roars got just a little louder.

Fast forward a week, and the team headed to Dallas for a big game against the Cowboys. I gathered with a bunch of friends and ran into even more at my favorite bar, The Rusty Nail, to watch the game. We were hoping for a good showing but I don’t think anyone in there thought we would witness the beat down we saw.

The common question of the day: “Are we good?”

And yes, dear reader, at least after 2 weeks, the Saints are good. So we head into week 3 against the Eagles with a renewed sense of excitement over a team that is excelling in all phases of the game. The fans around here know football and they know how much their cheers can affect the outcome of a game. So expect the dome to be as loud as possible on Sunday as the Eagles try to bounce back after a heartbreaking loss to the Saints heated rival, the Falcons, this past week.

And yes, the Saints and their devoted fanbase will be marching in with the best outfits you’ve ever seen with a glimmer of hope that the team may be playing in the dome in February. Will it be the Black and Gold to the Super Bowl? Only time will tell.