Laissez Les Bontemps Roulez!

There hasn't been a lot to celebrate in New Orleans over the last 13 months. Hurricane Katrina did her best to destroy the Crescent City in August 2005. And while the city is doing her best to come back, New Orleans remains a long way from being back to normal. Most of that is bad. Inside the Louisiana Superdome last night, not being back to normal was exactly what football fans wanted. Normal would have meant going to see the Aints play on Monday night.

Ask any Atlanta Falcons fan who suffered through last night's game and they will likely tell you the New Orleans Saints are for real. New Orleans reopened the Superdome with a convincingly strong performance against Atlanta. ATL 3 NO 23. The only thing that seemed to go the Falcons' way in this game was the opening coin toss. They called tails and that's what came up after former President George H. W. Bush flipped the coin. But, almost immediately, it was clear the Falcons talons were not sharp. A Michael Vick fumble went out of bounds which was a break for the Falcons. But a few plays later, the Saints blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone for the first score of the game. They never looked back.

Everyone knows my heart belongs to my beloved, although victory starved, Detroit Lions. My secondary NFL favorite is the Atlanta Falcons so the loss is a bit painful. But there was a time when the Saints occupied that #2 spot for me. I finished college at Southern University in Baton Rouge and also spent more than four years living in Jackson, Mississippi. New Orleans was the closest NFL city to both. So, seeing the Saints return home to a Superdome full of cheering fans with much of America watching on ESPN Monday Night Football and produce a convincing win over an Atlanta team that was looking like one of the best in the league through Week 2, was inspiring.

Now-- if I can just keep my dear friend, fellow football lover and rabid Atlanta Falcons fan, Angela Robinson from trying choke me for writing this the next time I see her.

Oh, Good Evening!