A bad week for the Saints

The Louisiana Superdome, home of the world champion New Orleans Saints

It's been a bad week for the Saints. Yes, the Who Dat Nation was definitely fired up for the first pre-season game against the New England Patriots and their quarterback Tom Brady last night. But it was not to be a final victory. They made several mistakes on the field, some of which might have resulted in a different outcome than the 27-24 win the Pats enjoyed at game's end. Down 24-7 at one point in the third quarter, the Saints second and third teams showed real depth in battling back. The highlight reel will show Larry Beaver's 97-yard return run for a touchdown, but it should also show his muffed fair catch that almost resulted in a turnover. The fact is Drew Brees and the first team looked a little hesitant, but when it counted they put points on the board. The defense swarmed over New England in the second half, accounting for the fact that New England was unable to put any more points on the board in the final quarter until the final minute of play. The fact is a loss is a loss, whether it's in pre-season or in the regular season. If this serves as a wake-up call to the world champions about where they need to apply fixes, then this close game will have had a positive impact on future games. Aside from the game's outcome, the loss of running back Lynell Hamilton for the season due to a torn ACL in his right knee will be another hit for the team that had such high hopes for him. With the departure of Mike Bell, the running back position will now need to be decided between Chris Ivory and P. J. Hill. Another hit that the team took was a spiritual one. Earlier this week Dave Dixon, the "father of the Superdome" and a figure instrumental in securing the NFL Saints franchise back in 1966 died after a long battle. Dixon was a legendary figure whose impact on the local scene has never been truly acknowledged by people outside of New Orleans, but his legacy in the form of the Louisiana Superdome, the nine Superbowls played there and other sports events like the BCS Championship Bowl and NCAA Final Four played there, will forever remain as to his import to the local economy and the spirit of the city.

Dome field advantage

After two disappointing straight losses at the hands of Dallas on a Thursday night and Tampa Bay this past Sunday, many Saints fans were beginning to believe that their team had peaked too soon. Frankly, a couple of plays late in each game might have made the difference to have helped the Saints maintain a perfect season. But perfection is not everything as Indianapolis learned this past Sunday. After all, it is far more important to keep fixed on the goal of getting to the Superbowl and to play the very best games possible in the playoffs. Frankly, the last game of the season against the Carolina Panthers on January 3 doesn't count for anything other than bragging rights about whether the Saints can defeat them twice in one season or split the two decisions. I would not be surprised to see Coach Sean Payton keep Drew Brees out of a portion of the game in order to keep him rested and out of danger of a possible injury prior to the start of the playoff season. So, surprise of all surprises last night when I tuned in to the Chicago Bears game against the Minnesota Vikings. The score in the third quarter was Chicago 16, Minnesota 0. What? I gulped hard and thought to myself "Be still my heart." The Minnesota Vikings with the fabulous Brett Favre (almost a local boy from Kiln, Mississippi) should have been way ahead of the Bears. Indeed, it didn't take long for Favre to play catchup in the remainder of the third and fourth quarters. The score was evened at 23 each and then again at 30 a piece. Then the game went into sudden death overtime. The Bears won the coin toss and elected to receive. They got down to within potential field goal range, but the kick was errant. Then the Vikings took over and they took their shot, but were denied by the tenacious Bears defense. After the Bears failed to capitalize on the following drive, Favre looked like he was about to put the game away. He tossed a short pass off to one of his receivers who added nearly ten yards on the carry when the ball was punched out of his arm by a crafty Bear defender. The ball popped out as a fumble and was jumped on by the Bears, setting up a near perfect touchdown pass into the endzone by Bear quarterback Jeff Cutler. In this case Cutler, the student, taught Favre, the master, a lesson from the playbooks. It was an incredible see-saw battle, but in the end the winner turned out to be the New Orleans Saints. Based on their 13-2 record and Minnesota's unbelievable third loss in the last four weeks, New Orleans secured home field advantage at the Superdome for what Saints fans hope will be the next two games played there before a shot at the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Miami. Nothing good ever comes from something easily obtained, but the Saints have achieved one of their major season goals by the most unlikely of friends, the same Chicago Bears team that denied them a shot at the Superbowl a couple of years back. Politics and football make strange bedfellows, it would seem.

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Theta Theta chapter of Sigma Alpha Rho fraternity right here in New Orleans. Many of my contemporaries will recall that this high school fraternity reached its height in the late Sixties and early Seventies. After that time the relevance of high school fraternities became lessened and many Jewish students gravitated towards AZA, a B'nai Brith Youth Organization. Sadly, the local chapter lost much support from the local community and quietly died sometime in the late Seventies, as best I can tell. It's a shame because some of my best memories from high school revolved about many of the events sponsored by S.A.R. Some of my earliest writing can be found in some of the old newspapers we printed on a mimeograph machine owned by the fraternity. I learned much about putting together a newspaper as well as the necessity of selling advertising for much of the more upscale publications such as the program printed for the White Orchid Formal, held each December 29. There are no such opportunities for Jewish youth these days. The high school sorority, Sigma Theta Pi, also shut down around the same time. High school fraternities are indeed dinosaurs and have lost out to organized sports and other school-related activities. I still feel the loss, even though most of today's kids don't really know what they're missing. Many of my closest friends today were S.A.R. fraternity brothers and given the fact that I never did pledge a college fraternity, those friendships are still dear to my heart.

Am I blue?

A pall has been cast over the city. Even though I have not ventured outside since last night, I can somehow feel a diminishment of the ardor of that collective spirit of Saints fever that reached its zenith yesterday. The "Bless You Boys" have been vanquished by "America's Team" and there seems no solace in the recognition that on any given Sunday, Monday, Thursday or Saturday one NFL team can overpower another. On reflection it may well have been overly optimistic to think that the 2009 Saints could be talked about in the same breath as the 1972 Miami Dolphins or the 2007 New England Patriots, both of whom had posted perfect regular seasons. Had New Orleans won last night, the team would have tied the regular season record Miami had enjoyed. New England, of course, won every game with the exception of the one that mattered, the Super Bowl, where they were defeated by the upstart New York Giants. I suppose any reasonable sportsfan would understand the disappointment attached to seeing a dream - no matter how impossible - vanish before one's eyes. But the Who Dat Nation has never been so close to perfection and it was reassuring to think that all of those past seasons where we let opponents run ramshackle over us or, for me, the nadir of hopelessness when the Saints went 1-15 in 1981, would be redeemed this year. That's not to say the Saints didn't manage to play good catch up ball last night. They almost pulled off yet another amazing comeback. This time, though, they had trouble pulling even with Dallas, which came out in their first two possessions with two touchdowns. Given the advantage of a Superdome filled to overflowing with diehard Saints fans, it seems hard to rationalize they couldn't get one score out of their first two possessions. Dallas controlled the clock and their destiny last night. By going 9-5, they kept themselves in the playoff picture. The Saints are already assured a first-round bye, but home field advantage is now up for grabs. Given the loss in the Superdome last night and the terrific way the team has played in away stadiums, perhaps home field advantage won't be necessary for the team to do well in the playoffs. Some analysts have suggested the Saints needed a loss in order to psychologically prepare them for the challenges ahead of having to win the rest of their remaining games and keep an eye on the prize, which is the Super Bowl. Frankly, I would have preferred a perfect season, but I will take what I can get. There is only one other team out there, Indianapolis, that has achieved 14-0 and they did it this past Thursday night. If the Saints can get through Minnesota and any other NFC teams that stand in their way, they may yet have an opportunity to have it out with our own Peyton Manning and his fabulous Colts team. The loss to the Cowboys is not as important as other factors that have affected the city like Hurricane Katrina and the related flooding four years ago. We have many challenges for this city and the people who live here. The Saints have provided amazing moments of commonality in spirit for many culturally diverse people. I suppose it was inevitable that they could and would lose. I keep telling myself that statement over and over. It has yet to sink in for I have drunk the dregs of defeat and they are indeed bitter.