Saints as resilient as the city the represent
Marc MacDonald
Issue date: 2/9/10 Section: Sports
It wasn't too long ago that the city of New Orleans was under water and ravaged by the devastation of an incredibly forceful and shattering hurricane.
But now, the story has been told, the script acted out to perfection.
To some, it's an odd notion to suggest that sports can unite us all, but the reality is that there's a magic component that is found between the sidelines.
Sports, in essence, encapsulates every human emotion; humility, passion, love, anguish, the list goes on.
This year's Super Bowl wasn't just another game; it wasn't just the crowning of another champion.
Rather, this year's Super Bowl proved to be an essential cornerstone to the renewal of hope, the renewal of faith.
The game in and of itself was mildly entertaining and the halftime show lacked the thrill of those that came before it.
But lost in all of it, in all the hype of Super Bowl advertisements and secondary storylines, was the resilience of New Orleans - and not just their football team.
For many circles of long-standing football fans, the Dallas Cowboys have always been dubbed as America's Team.
However, for the past few years, the torch has been passed, without request, to the Saints.
This inspiration proved invaluable to the black and gold, as they managed to overcome a 10-point deficit against the best play-caller in the game, Peyton Manning.
Whether it's accurate to imply that the Saints summoned the resiliency from their fellow statesmen, I can't help but believe somewhere along the way, the inspiration of all those back home in Louisiana trickled through the veins of the Saints defence as they continually came up with timely stops.
New Orleans head coach, Sean Payton, made some of the gutsiest calls of any coach during the biggest game of the year, and further personified the strength, determination and belief that nothing is impossible and nothing is too large to overcome.
If I'm beginning to sound redundant it's because I am.
If you think back, the Superdome, in which the Saints call home during the season, was once used not for football, but as a residence for thousands of displaced residents of the city.
It shouldn't come as any surprise that each game played in that stadium carried with it the aura of the thousands of fans who could no longer afford a ticket into the actual game.
A Super Bowl win won't change the hardships that people are still going through, but it furthers the idea that hope and faith come in many forms, and no matter how bleak things may look - no team had ever come back from a 10-point deficit in the Super Bowl, and the Saints faced just that - giving up is never an option.
New Orleans is still being rebuilt and the process is long from complete, but after this past Sunday, it feels as though the foundation for hope has been reinforced with a strength that cannot be found in any tangible entity.
But now, the story has been told, the script acted out to perfection.
To some, it's an odd notion to suggest that sports can unite us all, but the reality is that there's a magic component that is found between the sidelines.
Sports, in essence, encapsulates every human emotion; humility, passion, love, anguish, the list goes on.
This year's Super Bowl wasn't just another game; it wasn't just the crowning of another champion.
Rather, this year's Super Bowl proved to be an essential cornerstone to the renewal of hope, the renewal of faith.
The game in and of itself was mildly entertaining and the halftime show lacked the thrill of those that came before it.
But lost in all of it, in all the hype of Super Bowl advertisements and secondary storylines, was the resilience of New Orleans - and not just their football team.
For many circles of long-standing football fans, the Dallas Cowboys have always been dubbed as America's Team.
However, for the past few years, the torch has been passed, without request, to the Saints.
This inspiration proved invaluable to the black and gold, as they managed to overcome a 10-point deficit against the best play-caller in the game, Peyton Manning.
Whether it's accurate to imply that the Saints summoned the resiliency from their fellow statesmen, I can't help but believe somewhere along the way, the inspiration of all those back home in Louisiana trickled through the veins of the Saints defence as they continually came up with timely stops.
New Orleans head coach, Sean Payton, made some of the gutsiest calls of any coach during the biggest game of the year, and further personified the strength, determination and belief that nothing is impossible and nothing is too large to overcome.
If I'm beginning to sound redundant it's because I am.
If you think back, the Superdome, in which the Saints call home during the season, was once used not for football, but as a residence for thousands of displaced residents of the city.
It shouldn't come as any surprise that each game played in that stadium carried with it the aura of the thousands of fans who could no longer afford a ticket into the actual game.
A Super Bowl win won't change the hardships that people are still going through, but it furthers the idea that hope and faith come in many forms, and no matter how bleak things may look - no team had ever come back from a 10-point deficit in the Super Bowl, and the Saints faced just that - giving up is never an option.
New Orleans is still being rebuilt and the process is long from complete, but after this past Sunday, it feels as though the foundation for hope has been reinforced with a strength that cannot be found in any tangible entity.
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