Be A New Orleanian Wherever You Are
This editorial by Richard Campanella is the best explanation I've found of just what last week's and next week's Saints games mean to New Orleans, and why it reaches far beyond just football. We don't necessarily expect to be "America's team" (never having really felt like part of America, especially after 8-29-05, that would be strange and disorienting to us), but we do appreciate that people elsewhere are rooting for us: non-football fans, even Vikings fans (by and large, the classiest bunch of NFL fans I've encountered) and fans of our most hated rivals such as the Atlanta Falcons.
Still, I know the Bless You Boys don't feel we "deserve" to win the Super Bowl because of the federal levee failure, any more than I appreciated the Amazon "reviewer" who didn't care for D*U*C*K but urged readers to "cut [me] some slack" because I'd been through Katrina. Those of us who have stayed to rebuild are strong in our love for the city and have had to develop layers of toughness we never expected; we don't need anybody to cut us any "slack," and I don't believe the Saints do either. Please, just acknowledge our resilience, take a look at why we love this place so much, and if you can bring yourself to do it, cheer us to the win on Super Beauxl Sunday.
[ETA: re: "We don't need anybody to cut us any 'slack'" -- well, nobody except "Bob."]
Still, I know the Bless You Boys don't feel we "deserve" to win the Super Bowl because of the federal levee failure, any more than I appreciated the Amazon "reviewer" who didn't care for D*U*C*K but urged readers to "cut [me] some slack" because I'd been through Katrina. Those of us who have stayed to rebuild are strong in our love for the city and have had to develop layers of toughness we never expected; we don't need anybody to cut us any "slack," and I don't believe the Saints do either. Please, just acknowledge our resilience, take a look at why we love this place so much, and if you can bring yourself to do it, cheer us to the win on Super Beauxl Sunday.
[ETA: re: "We don't need anybody to cut us any 'slack'" -- well, nobody except "Bob."]