Monday, February 8, 2010

Believe Dat...Superbowl Champions

The result of last night super bowl sums up the spirit of the city - New Orleans, the party, the camaraderie and strength of a people's determination and persistence to overcome.

A week before the game, many New Orleans natives began to arrive from all over the nation, to partake in what many of the foresaw as a resurrection of some sorts of their peoples. the were a people long forgotten by their brethren, a people who were told they could not overcome. They were told in many ways that they needed to move on, that hope was not that on hand, they could not resurface from the buried ashes of loss, from the neglect of "big government" that turned attention to them only for the minutes that spotlight brought along with it.

The convergence of many people on this city, brought with it a new life and opportunity for a rebirth, including change for improved brisk business.I did not understand at first why the dome was in far away Miami, but the convergence to watch the game was in New Orleans. The game will be played elsewhere, I reminded returnees and former residents of this lovely city. They were quick to suggest that the after party was in their city New Orleans. "What after party?" I chided these super optimistic natives. To which dem all replied " Who da Nation. da gone beat da Saints?" "Colt-nation", I would sometimes reply jocularly.

When the game began, I prayed silently for the Saints, but I figured the Lombardi trophy belonged to the Colts. I had friends over at my place to watch the game, about 20 persons were there to watch the game, only 4 of us thought the Colts had it. 3 in 4 people supported the Saints. I am glad they did, because we all had fun after all. I am glad my heart was with the Saints as I would have felt bad had they lost.

My wife even commented that the night was one of best evenings spent entertaining friends. I was elated to hear her tell me, my children friends were well behaved and had fun, my family friends who came to join us in the joy of the day were all happy to have been there. When the Saints trailed, they were silent, humble and at times looked subdued. I however misread their resolve when at one point I did comment that the Saints appear to be going down with honor, to which a loud shout of rejected echo around the house, "what do you mean? Saints are going to win this one for sure..Who dat?" rented the air.

That reaction thousands of miles away in my living room echoed the spirit of a people.