The Saints Came Marching In

I saw part of the pre-show for tonight's football game. It was the first game to be played in the New Orleans Superdome since the horrors of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, the first time in almost two years that the Saints played a home game *at home*. The New Orleans Saints vs. the Atlanta Falcons. Last time I looked the Saints were winning.

I watched Greenday and U2 performing along with some of the city's musicians. The performance was phenomenal. I was all goosebumpy and eventually just started crying.

It felt so strange to see the Superdome, such a symbol of the nightmare endured by New Orleans, now rocking and rolling and cheering on good music and good football. The fans were ecstatic as the Saints came onto the field. So many signs celebrating the rebuilding of the Superdome and the return of the Saints. But I was ambivalent.

The coverage also talked about the Lower 9th Ward and other areas of the city still destroyed and abandoned - ghost towns. It seemed wrong that people were playing football, it felt wrong so much money was spent to rebuild a place that had housed such horrific situations.

The whole time my husband and the TV announcers were telling me how good it was for the city that the stadium was back...that football was back. And I understand that, completely. And to a degree I agree and am happy for that.

But still...my gut reaction was that the Superdome should not have been rebuilt, that it should have been razed and a new stadium built somewhere else. That's probably not practical, I know.

Well, tonight I'm a New Orleans Saints fan. Tonight I want them to win - for the fans, for the city and for hope.

But...so close to the stadium, a ghost town still waits for the saints to come marching down its abandoned streets.