I rarely, if ever, talk about my love for the New Orleans Saints. I've learned 2 things about discussing such a thing. 1) People laugh--a lot. 2) It is a bittersweet enterprise--heavy on the bitter.
Unlike the Red Sox or the Cubs, the Saints don't just fail each year. They fail miserably. They're in the cellar . . . every year. They don't tease you with what-might-be. You know what will be from the first day of training camp--losing on a near-epic scale.
And yet I still love them. Nay, I still hope. Can you believe that? I hope. Despite 40 years of losing. Despite only a handful of playoff appearances and (before Saturday) ONE playoff win EVER.
When I say I love them, I mean 'I love them.' Not in a 'I've been following them since they signed Aaron Brooks' kind of way. Not in a 'I dig on Deuce McAllister and Joe Horn' kind of way. CERTAINLY not in a 'I love Reggie Bush so I love the Saints' kind of way.
No. No. No. No. No.
We're talking The Dome Patrol (Ricky Jackson, Pat Swilling, Sam Mills, and Vaughn Johnson). Bobby Hebert. Bum Phillips. Dalton Hilliard. Ironhead Heyward. Eric Martin. Hobie Brenner. Reuben Mayes. AND HOKIE FREAKING GAJAN.
Now the Saints stand 60 minutes away from a Super Bowl. Despite Reggie Bush fumbling when he had a chance to ice the game. (I can assure you EVERY Saints fan in the world thought, 'Here we go again,' when Bush dropped the pitch.) Despite doubling their franchise playoff wins on Saturday. Despite a New Orleans that is a looooong way from being rebuilt. Despite the fact that my prayer before the game was, 'God, please don't let us be embarrassed.'
Are we going to beat the Bears this weekend? I have no idea. But here's to hope.
UPDATE: I SWEAR I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP. A mere 10 minutes after finishing this post, my 20 month old son THREW UP all over my Saints hat he had been playing with this morning. Despite the fact that he had not been the least bit sick, he wretched ALL OVER IT. He puked, looked over at me, and said, 'Uh oh.'
I have no idea what to say about that.
I hope the Saints win this weekend. I'll join you in rooting for them, since the Seahawks are not in the running. I hope that hat incident is not an omen!
Posted by: Henriet Schapelhouman | January 15, 2007 at 01:33 PM