When the Saints CAME Marching In

I have to stop for a moment and pay homage to the Super Bowl Champs -- the New Orlean's Saints.  I'm old enough to remember when the Saints were called the Ain'ts and where the fans wore paper bags over their heads to cover their identities.  If the Cowboys were America's team (not mine, as I was a Steeler fan -- due to the fact that the 49ers were not up to par), then the Saints were the team America forgot.

Last night that team, in its first Super Bowl, took the prize from the favored Colts, whose famed QB was the son of the QB of some of those really bad Saints teams.  I know that Archie was rooting for his son, but I expect that he felt at least some solace in the fact that the winning team was his old team.

As to the game itself:   Often Super Bowls are blow outs or just not very exciting.  In normal years, the commercials stand out above the games themselves, but last night a game that early on looked like a Colts blow out, turned out to be quite a game.  The Saints took control of the 2nd quarter, and while only scoring two field goals, they kept Peyton Manning on the bench (the best defense is a ball control offense).  And then, as the second half started, the Saints surprised everyone by kicking an onside kick and getting the ball back -- and scoring!  Of course, the Colts answered with a TD of their own.  That didn't keep the Saints down, for they added a TD of their own (Drew Brees, the QB the Chargers considered expendable, was near perfect).  Finally, its the 4th quarter, the Colts are marching, and just after the commentator says that the Saints shouldn't blitz, but instead hold back, they blitz, force Manning to throw an errant pass, which CB Terry Porter grabs and carries in for a TD that seals the deal.  The second half made this a game to remember.

I should add a coda to this story -- the General Manager of the Saints, Mickey Loomis, was a fellow student at Northwest Christian College (University).  He was a few years a head of me, so we weren't friends or anything, but hey, I can say, I knew him when!  

Now, if only the Lions can follow the Saints' script . . .  

Comments

Anonymous said…
I don't usually watch football, but it was fun to "fast forward" through this game. Congratulations to the Saints. Yes, the game outshone the commercials, even to me. David Mc

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