Mon. Night Football/New Orleans (Was anyone else bothered by some of this?)

I watched the full TiVo-d MNF football this morning, and was a little disturbed by some of the things that I heard.

First off, I rooted for the Saints. I like their team, and they are a classic "underdog" story. I hope they win every game until they lose to my Cowboys in the NFC Championship.

BUT . . . the message that seemed to come across---I could be wrong---was that football "was" the future of NO, that it was all the city had. Having Spike Lee in the booth didn't help, but beyond that, it seemed like the reconstruction of the SuperDome, which, I'm guessing, was done overwhelmingly with tax dollars was kind of the wrong message to be sending.

I could have missed it, but I didn't see the "success stories" being featured of the private companies that had come back (have any?) or the private-sector's successful rebuilding of communities. (They did mention Harry Connick, Jr.'s program, but didn't really focus on its success.

I guess my concern is that the underlying feeling was that if ALL a city has is a football team---no political leaders who can rally the public, no civic leaders who can create an atmosphere of confidence, and no entrepreneurs (aside from Emeril, who has done a whale of a job) who are creating jobs---then you don't have much.

Now, I do think it could be a reasonable business strategy to re-build from the "inside out," and bring back tourism, sports teams, restaurants, hotels, etc. But that would require something the MNF team didn't want to touch: the incredible corruption of Nagin and the LA scene, and the necessity of having a strong, reliable police force that will make tourists feel safe. (Last couple of times I was in NO, I did not feel safe.)

I'm a local, and I agree with you 1000%.
Fixing the Dome, and fixating on a football team, when a city is in ruins, is like giving a winning lottery ticket to to prisoners of war. The thrill isn't changing a damned thing about their situation!
The obsession with football here is postively repulsive. It really IS all many care about! I have news for you, some of those people with destroyed houses, living in FEMA trailers, shelled out big $$ to buy season tickets!
Now how the hell does it look to the rest of the country to be asking for recovery $$ when there's enough money around to sell out the Dome ?
Yes- people need diversions, especially now, but the prevailing mentality in N.O. is that reality IS a diversion from pleasure. The Thing did little to permanently change priorities here.
But-hey! The Saints won, everything is better now! They have a fancy Domed stadium centering a destroyed and decaying city ,behind unstable levees! Pay no attention to the miles of empty neighborhoods and a city that went from deteriorating and populated, to festering and depopulated!
Focus on the fantasy-ignore the ugly reality.
That's how it is in the Twilight Zone.

Actually New Orleans ranks #2 all time behind only Cleveland in attendance per victory. We are far more loyal than fans of the Cowboys, Falcons, Bengals, etc. I suppose I'd give you the Packers but other areas have their tickets scooped up by corporations. New Orleans has far too little corporate involvement and therefore it's the people who support the team.

"The media hype is acting like the Saints fans are as loyal as the Cheeseheads or Raider-maniacs."

I don't know about the Cheeseheads or the Raider-maniacs, but through thick and thin (lots of thin), the Saints fans have been amazingly loyal and steadfast.

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