Looks like the Saints have successfully completed "reconstruction":
nola.com
Fleur de Glee
Saints' success puts a collective smile on the faces of city's beleaguered residents
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
By Jeff Duncan
Staff writer
Once an acute condition, Saints mania officially bloomed to epidemic proportions Monday as fans continued to celebrate the team's stunning 42-17 win against Dallas.
Advertisement
The victory, already considered one of the biggest in the club's mostly futile 40-year history, served as an exclamation point to the Saints' improbable run to the playoffs.
The late-night victory celebration spilled into Monday as fans across the Crescent City replayed the highlights of the exhilarating win and allowed visions of playoff berths to dance in their heads.
The Saints and their surprising 9-4 start were the talk of the town -- and the nation.
"There's not a lot of work that's being done today," joked Saints coach Sean Payton, the architect of the remarkable worst-to-first rebuilding job.
Payton experienced the revelry first-hand. As late Sunday night turned into early Monday morning, Saints officials were greeted by an impromptu pep rally in the parking lot outside the team facility in Metairie.
A group of about 50 fans cheered, chanted and tossed footballs in the crisp night air.
The rally materialized in response to postgame comments by Saints linebacker Scott Fujita. During a televised interview, Fujita offered to donate tickets to the Saints' Dec. 24 game at the New York Giants to the first 25 fans who submitted a letter to the team facility this week.
Vanessa Fernandez, 24, and her boyfriend didn't waste a minute. They immediately grabbed their Saints jerseys and sped from their West Bank home to the team's headquarters.
Still riding the high from the big win, Fernandez arrived at the Saints offices Sunday about 11:30 p.m. and compiled her letter from the front seat of her car. When more fans started to arrive, she started a list that was submitted to Saints executive Jay Romig.
"We were just so excited," said Fernandez, 24, a server at Impastato's Restaurant in Metairie. "The whole city needed this. We needed something to lift our spirits up, to show that New Orleans is not a dead city, to say to people, look at our Saints, New Orleans is coming back."
So many, so late
The party eventually migrated to Kenner, where the group was among hundreds of fans who greeted the team upon its arrival at 2:15 a.m.
"Our players are excited, and our organization is excited for the fans," Payton said Monday. "We've got a great fan base."
Saints quarterback Drew Brees said he was surprised to see all of the fans at the airport.
"That was crazy," he said. "You would think that by 3 a.m. everybody would be sound asleep, but fans were out, and they were excited and they were pumped up. That's a great way to come home."
Conspicuous among the throng cheering and waving signs behind the fences were dozens of children.
"There were some kids out there knowing that they had school, it was just good to see the support," Saints wide receiver Terrance Copper said.
Added Payton: "When we were flying (home early Monday) I thought that surely that at 2:30 in the morning there's not going to be anyone out there. When the plane landed it seemed like there were more people out there. So, I don't know how much work is getting done today, but I'm happy for those people, and I'm happy for the people that follow this team."
Fans later streamed into the ticket office at the team's headquarters on Airline Drive to submit requests for playoff tickets, which were mailed to season-ticket holders Friday.
On the street corner outside, one entrepreneur tried to capitalize on the foot traffic by selling black-and-gold Saints rugs from his van.
Across town, shoppers at Lakeside Shopping Center crowded the aisles and navigated the concourses while dressed in the jerseys of their favorite Saints player. Dozens of No. 9 (Drew Brees), 25 (Reggie Bush), 26 (Deuce McAllister) and 87 (Joe Horn) jerseys were spotted in the crowd
Outside, black-and-gold flags fluttered from the windows of cars and trucks throughout the packed parking lot.
All morning, radio stations flooded the airwaves with "The Saints Are Coming," the catchy collaboration by U2 and Green Day that has quickly become the city's unofficial anthem.
'The best feeling ever'
Even dedicated gym rats tend to drag their Nikes at 6 a.m. on a Monday, but the crowd at Tulane University's Reily Center was standing still for an altogether different reason. They couldn't stop watching Saints replays.
"I watched the game last night, and right after the game I watched the replays on the sports news," Woody White said while standing in front of the TVs near the StairMaster machines. "But it's so good, I just can't get enough."
White said he has been a Saints fan since the team's inception in 1967, which might account for some of the gray hairs peeking from below his Saints cap.
"I followed them since the beginning, but this is the best feeling ever," he said. "Only problem is I can't get anything done because I keep walking over to the TV sets to watch the replays."
It was the same across the University-Riverbend area Monday morning. Anywhere crowds gathered -- health clubs, bus stops, breakfast spots -- talk was about one thing: How 'bout dem Saints?
"That's all they've been talking about since we opened the doors at 7 o'clock," said Celeste Riccobono, owner of Riccobono's Panola Street Cafe. "It's been nonstop Saints."
The buzz was being felt in the River Parishes, as well, where the students weren't the only ones who stayed up past their bed times to watch Sunday night's game.
"We've had quite a few (teachers) come in saying they're tired and exhausted," said Jeanne Hall, the office specialist at Destrehan High School, which requires teachers to sign in by 7 a.m. "A bunch actually had their colors on today. Everybody is just totally excited, saying the Saints really are for real. It's just awesome."
The performance was a little too awesome for Keith Lemonier. The Slidell resident and longtime fan watched the game with his brother at Lacombe Hospital, where his father, Harrell Lemonier, 79, had undergone triple bypass heart surgery two days earlier. Keith Lemonier said he had to leave his still-recovering father's side at halftime.
"I was thinking that it was not a good idea to be jumping and yelling that much," he said.
Putting the past behind
But all was well Monday morning. Not only was his father feeling better, but the Saints had moved within one game of clinching their first division title since 2000, restoring Lemonier's faith in the team.
"You could classify me as a lifelong Saints fan, but after last year, I said I don't care anymore, you can leave," he said. "We're a poor city and (owner Tom Benson) wants a rich city, then, fine, leave. You got from that low point to now. This team is so balanced, there is no doubt anymore. There is no one, even the Bears, that is that much better than us."
Mandeville resident and longtime Saints fan Jerome Venezia compared Sunday's win against the Cowboys to the inaugural game in franchise history, when John Gilliam returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Venezia was at packed Tulane Stadium to witness that historic moment and said Sunday's feeling was similar.
"It's a new thing for me, I don't know if words can express it how I felt," Venezia said of Sunday's victory. "Everyone has been talking about it all day saying, 'We're for real, we are really doing this.' "
The craziness wasn't confined to local ZIP codes.
Jay Coogan, a longtime season-ticket holder and Tulane graduate, enjoyed a dual celebration at his home in Philadelphia. The Saints' victory capped a memorable day that began with the baptism of his 3-month-old daughter, Helen, that afternoon.
"The only productive thing I've been able to do all day is that I called the parish and scheduled to have her christened again next Sunday before we play the Redskins," Coogan said.
. . . . . . .
Staff writers Pierce W. Huff, Lori Lyons, Bob Marshall and Tammy Nunez contributed to this report.
Jeff Duncan can be reached at jduncan@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3452.
|
