Cam Inman: Saints in heavenly state
But you gotta love that New Orleans is hosting its first NFC Championship game. That eardrum-popping, dome-field advantage could pay off with the franchise’s first Super Bowl trip.
Sure, love this scenario to symbolize the region’s resiliency from Hurricane Katrina’s 2005 wrath.
Also appreciate the overall aura coming out of New Orleans, the little city that could. Leading that renaissance is the Saints, a former paper-bag laughingstock now playing the most exciting brand of football (see: high scoring offense, turnover-forcing defense).
Mesh the city with that team and it’s a bona fide American success story. For this season, at least.
No one knows what the future holds there or in any of our other nearly lost cities. We don’t know what will come of Oakland or its proprietors, including the Raiders, A’s or downtown shops.
We know every town craves being the joyous toast that New Orleans will be this weekend. We know every sports fan craves the atmosphere that will be found inside the Superdome.
Among those rooting for New Orleans is former kicker Doug Brien, a De La Salle High and Cal product who spent half his NFL career with the Saints from 1995-2000.
“It’s great for the city what the team is doing this year,” Brien said by phone Thursday.
There may never have been a louder arena in sports than when a refurbished Superdome opened its doors in 2006. A year earlier, Katrina tore apart its roof, 30,000 residents scurried there for shelter and a few dead bodies even floated up to those doors via the outside floodwaters.
Horrific.
And now: Terrific.
New Orleans’ festive atmosphere is unparalleled, and because sports fans want entertainment: bingo, put this on your sports’ bucket list in terms of future road trips. You can party, dine, revel, get cultured and cheer.
The Superdome holds a special place in the hearts of Bay Area fans. Joe Montana threw five touchdown passes there in leading the 1989 49ers to their fourth Super Bowl title, a 55-10 rout of the Denver Broncos. The Raiders won a Super Bowl there, too — Jim Plunkett throwing three touchdown passes in a 27-10 defeat of the Philadelphia Eagles to cap the 1980 season.
But the Superdome was closed for business in the 2005 season after Katrina struck on Aug. 29. The vagabond Saints went 3-13 and had to play “home” games in San Antonio, Texas; Baton Rouge, La.; and East Rutherford, N.J.
Today’s NFC final is precisely the dream scenario the NFL envisioned when it stood behind New Orleans post-Katrina. Then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue insisted “the Saints are Louisiana’s team” and that every effort (including $15 million for the Superdome makeover) would be made to keep them in New Orleans. Saints owner Tom Benson would not be moving them to Los Angeles or San Antonio.
Yes, the Oakland Coliseum and Candlestick Park need upgrading. But not in the galling fashion the Superdome did.
The Saints are 2-0 in home playoff games since moving back to the Superdome in 2006: divisional-round victories against Philadelphia that season and last weekend against Arizona. A win today would trump the atmosphere of two years ago when Louisiana State won its second national title of the decade in that building.
“It’ll be loud there,” said Brien, co-founder of Oakland-based Golden Bear Property Management, which specializes in short sales and foreclosures. “I know the stadium. I know the city. I’m excited for them, and they’re hot right now.”
Nine years ago, Brien kicked a field goal and made all four extra points in the Saints’ first playoff win — a 31-28 wild-card victory over the St. Louis Rams at the Superdome. Fun side note: Brien kicked for all four franchises in today’s conference finals, in between debuting for the 49ers in 1994 and finishing with the Bears in 2005.
These Saints look worthy of the franchise’s first Super Bowl trip. They have a grade-A quarterback in Drew Brees, a wily coach in Sean Payton and a strong supporting cast, highlighted by safety Darren Sharper, all-purpose threat Reggie Bush and, of course, a vocal home crowd.
In that crowd might be the guy who cleans out abandoned homes in the Lower Ninth Ward, the gal who makes po’boy sandwiches at “Mother’s,” the Bourbon Street bartender who serves up Abita beer or the swamp-tour operator who jumps off his airboat to try catching an alligator — a move he affectionately calls “Cajun football.”
That Superdome scene will make New Orleans a winner. Even if the Saints lose.
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