Who Dat?
A few months ago I didn't know what that meant, and I'm still not sure, but I think I have the gist now. I have to get this off of my chest and out of my head, but I'm ecstatic that the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl this last Sunday. I've never shouted, hooted and hollered more than I did for this Super Bowl, and when Porter took the only turnover of the game in for the Saint's nail-in-the-coffin touchdown I was literally screaming. Mitzy was annoyed with me, and maybe the margaritas had something to do with it, but I haven't enjoyed a professional championship game like that in a long time. You have to give props to the NFL for putting a good product out there.
The game was just flat out good, one of the best games I've seen. For one it was clean with only a few penalties, and the tempo was brisk, and two you a great cast of characters. You had Manning on one side with the Colts, poised to rise to greatness, the clear favorites, and on the other side you had Drew Brees and a cast of misfits and outcasts that no one thought would have a successful season, let alone be in the Super Bowl. We saw Manning's greatness early, his calm and deliberate drives that dominated the first quarter and gave the Colts and early 10-0 lead. I admit I was worried, but I kept thinking that the Saints were just nervous, they needed to calm down and find their legs. Still, as the half wore down and New Orleans turned the ball over on downs instead of kicking the field goal, I wasn't too sure they'd be able to pull this one out. In retrospect, what a smart play that was by the Saints, if they got the seven then great. If not, they had Manning bottled up in the endzone and they took crucial time away from him to do his magic two-minute drill. Could have been 17-6 real easy had they gone the other way, but instead they ended up with good field position a very reasonable score at 10-6.
And of course you know about the kick, the on-side kick. I won't say it was brilliant, because it was only brilliant because it worked. Had the Saints not gotten it back then Peyton looks like a fool, and the Saints probably loose the game. But it was a gutsy call, it had moxy, and I like that, and I think that's one of the intangible things that the Saints had on Sunday that the Colts didn't. The Saints went out there to win the game, and they were willing to take the chances, and roll the dice to put themselves in a place to win it. The Colts were playing it the way so many teams have, they were playing not to loose the game, and they were too conservative. You know though, another thing about that game was that even after the interception returned for a TD, I was still hesitant to call the game for the Saints. That's the skill level that the Colts had, and you have to give it to Manning that he very realistically could have put his team back in the game after a huge disaster. Though, credit where credit is due, the Saints defense played a splendid game, and they bent a bit under the Colt's crisp offense, but they didn't break down. They kept the Saints in the game, and gave Drew Brees and the offense a chance to step in and do their thing.
Like I said, it was just a good game all the way around, and anytime you have the underdog misfits beat the clean-cut favorites, well, you can't loose. The Saints have a good story with what they did this season, and of course it's good for New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, but my co-worker who is from Nawlins said it best when he said that America needed it too. And I think that's a good statement, I think the U.S. needed a good underdog story right about now, needed to see a team and a city overcoming adversity to rise to the occasion and win the big game. I think it all transcends just a football game, and that's why I feel badly for those who think football is beneath them, because they missed out on good drama, good art, it was just a good story with a happy ending.