A triumphant return...

...while I never have been a serious Saints fan, even while living in NOLA, I was finally glad to see the players out on the Superdome turf after missing last season. After hearing everything that TV personalities had to say about what the Saints have always meant to the city of New Orleans, I thought I would need to offer my own perspective on things. Maybe a view from someone who has actually lived in the town where dodging a streetcar, two lost tourists and a homeless man on a bicycle, while trying to make a left on St. Charles, was a daily experience.

Pre-K, the city liked the Saints but it's not like they were selling out the Superdome every home game. Everyone was at least a casual fan, but it's not like anyone wanted to shell out some cash to go see them live. Post-K, the Saints were the only thing the city had to rally around. Sure we had the Hornets, which were another pro franchise, but they had just moved there not to long ago and not everyone is a basketball fan in the South. The Saints were something comforting and familiar that you had to look forward to. Like the Roman Candy Cart sitting on St. Charles by Audubon Park every day, a losing season and heartbreak by the Saints were something that everyone could count on and look forward to every fall. Last year, some things changed. This year some things changed. Benson is still a prick when it comes to ownership. The Roman Candy Cart has a new horse (God bless the old nag - she deserved to go in a better way). The Saints are now 3-0. Just like how no one knows what NOLA will be like after this year, we don't know how the Saints will fare the rest of the seaon. But I do know this, regardless of what happens, NOLA and the Saints will find a way to remind us of what makes the city great and break our hearts at the same time.

It's nice to see that a Cat 5 hurricane can't change everything.