Super Bowl 2010

| SAINTS SUPER BOWL PART I | SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2010

SAINTS SUPER BOWL PART I | SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2010 | PAGE 3

WHO DAT NATION WEEK

ProclamationWHEREAS, yesterday was a magical moment for the

city of New Orleans. It was 43 years in the making andserved as a resounding statement for a recovering city,region and fanbase; and

WHEREAS, coming off last night’s NFC Championship,Coach Payton, Drew Brees and the rest of the team will befocused for the next two weeks on accomplishing theirmission since day one of training camp - a world champi-onship; and

WHEREAS, the team will be the first to tell you theirwork is not yet done, however, there was one champi-onship won last night; and

WHEREAS, with no home games left in the season, theWho Dat Nation won the championship last night for mostloyal, compassionate, dedicated, passionate, outrageousand downright loud-as-heck fanbase in the league; and

WHEREAS, the Who Dat Nation has served as a 12thman on the field for the defense all year long, making theSuperdome one of the most intimidating places to play; and

WHEREAS, through victory or defeat, the Who DatNation has stood behind this team in a way no one has everseen; and

WHEREAS, whether you attended every home gamethis year, some of the games or simply rooted on the Saintsin your living room, the fans of the Saints deserve praise atthe conclusion of their “Superdome Season.”

NOW THEREFORE, I proclaim this week, the week ofJan. 25, 2010, as “Who Dat Nation Week” in the State ofLouisiana to commemorate the season-long performanceby the New Orleans Saints’ fanbase at the conclusion of theSuperdome Season. I also challenge the Who Dat Nation tomake an encore performance in Miami at the Super Bowlso that South Florida can see firsthand how amazing ourfanbase is. This special team deserves to be surrounded byWho Dats on Feb. 7.

Gov. Bobby Jindal proclaimed the week of Jan. 25, 2010, as “Who Dat Nation Week” inthe state of Louisiana.

Governor proclaims‘Who Dat Nation Week’


Local businesses, schoolsaffected by Super Bowl

By Debbie GloverSt. Tammany News

“At this time, we aremonitoring what others aredoing but thus far, it is noour intention to closeschools the day after theSuper Bowl,” said St. Tam-many Parish School Super-intendent Gayle Sloan.

Speculations as to whe-ther businesses or schoolswill be open after The BigGame have been runningrampant over the parish.

Sloan dispelled rumorsof school closings Wednes-day afternoon by issuing theabove statement throughCommunications DirectorMeredith Mendez. Mendezsaid that the absenteeismMonday was greater thannormal with 3,518 or 9.7percent of students absent.The average absentee rate isabout 2,015 students or 5.5percent. The 57 percentincrease for the day afterthe NFC Championship ishigher than usual, but withthe school system closed fora week-long holiday MardiGras week, another day offwould be academically dis-

ruptive.Mendez also said the

office has also sponsoredsome black and gold days.The festive Saints’ attirewas allowed Jan. 22 with a$1 donation going to theAmerican Red Cross forHaitian earthquake relief.Some schools continuedthat on Friday. The schoolsystem’s students and em-ployees raised $85,000 forthe relief effort.

Some pre-schools in thearea have announced a holi-day that day and businessesare considering it. In fact,the question of the monthfor the online poll conduct-ed by the West St. Tam-many Chamber of Com-merce is “Will your busi-ness close the day after theSuper Bowl?”

One announced closingcomes from Coastal WasteServices. In a fax addressedto city officials in Coving-ton, “We at Coastal WasteServices would like to par-ticipate in history beingmade as our New OrleansSaints play in the SuperBowl game on Sunday, Feb.7, 2010. Therefore, we will

recognize Monday, Feb. 8,2010, as an historical eventand will be closed for busi-ness.”

The document contin-ued, “Garbage collectionwill go as follows: Monday’sgarbage will be picked upon Tuesday. Tuesday’s gar-bage will be picked up onWednesday. Wednesday’sgarbage will be picked upon Thursday. Thursday’sgarbage will be picked upon Friday. Friday’s garbagewill be picked up onSaturday. Thank you foryour cooperation and un-derstanding. Coastal WasteServices Geaux Saints!!!”

At Wednesday’s WestChamber luncheon, spiritswere high as people talkedof nothing but the team’schances and who wasattending the game in per-son. Few talked about aMonday holiday, althoughrumors about which schoolswill be closed were ram-pant.

Although some schoolsmay be taking a holiday,thus far no official notifica-tion of closures has beenreceived.

The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff ’s Office tookadvantage of the hype surrounding the Saints suc-cessful season as a means to encourage its employeesto give back.

On Friday’s during the football season, Sheriff’Office employees were allowed to dress in black andgold in exchange for charitable donations.

“We’re obviously excited about the Saints going tothe Super Bowl,” Sheriff Jack Strain said, “but we arealso verypleased this season gave up an opportunityto match that excitement with some very worthwhilecharitable efforts.”

George Bonnett, public information officer for theSheriff’s Office, said he was very excited when theSaints won the NFC Championship Game and conse-quently locked in their spot in the Super Bowl. Heand his new fiancée are going to go to the FrenchQuarter for the Super Bowl Sunday.

“We are going to celebrate the Super Bowl will thousands of others in the quarter,”he said.

St. Tammany leaders react

JACK STRAIN


Mike’s Memorabilia

Shown is a Saints trollcollected by St. TammanyNews Sports Editor MikePervel. He has collectedseveral pieces of Saintsmemorabilia through theyears. The majority of hiscollections was courtesyof his mother, Jenny, andhis sister, Diana, whomailed him various itemswhile Pervel was sta-tioned overseas servinghis country during a 30-year career as a militarybroadcaster.


Patience is ‘black and gold’ says Saints sign manBy Debbie Glover

St. Tammany News

If all goes as planned,local business man, Larry“The Sign Man” Rolling,will be hoisting a sign at theSuper Bowl that will read “Pa-tience is Black and Gold.”

From “Home SweetDome” to LaBreesyana, hissigns at Saints games havebecome so famous, theyhave appeared in publica-tions all over the country,including Sports Illustra-ted. His proudest momentcame, however, when hispicture, with one of hissigns, graced the cover ofthe season ticket holderpacket in 2007.

“I am FATED to go to thegame,” Rolling said. “FATEwill allow me to be in thestadium to represent thefans that can’t be there andgive them a voice.”

He was, of course, in theseason ticket holder lottery,hoping to be able to buy a“cheap” ticket at $800.“That would be a gift,”Rolling said. “But if I don’tget the call, I’ll go through abroker and pay what I haveto. With this much moneyon the line, I can’t chancegetting a counterfeit, so Iwill definitely go throughthe NFL ticket exchange ora broker.”

Well, Rolling was right.

His signs were answered,so to speak, when a friendgot the lottery call, so “I’min,” he said. He now has histicket in hand, his dreamdestination for the past 31years.

The divorced father oftwo has been a season tick-

et holder for 31 years.That’s a huge investment inmoney, time, effort, emo-tions and lots of loyalty.From his fleur-de-lis door-bell to his collection ofmedia guides from 1980onward (1980’s season 1-15and this year 13-3), this is

one Saints fan determinedto make it to the Big Game.

He attended his firstgame while still in highschool at East Jefferson inMetairie and has gone toevery home game since. Hefeels his signs say some-thing to everyone. He

speaks for the fans thatcan’t be there, and plans tocontinue that at the SuperBowl.

His enthusiasm for theteam is contagious and hisoptimism was evident inthis year’s Christmas cardwhich read, “Merry Christ-mas and Happy New Year.See you at the Super Bowl.”

“I have to go to the gameand represent all the otherpeople who can’t get there,”he said. Having the sameseat in the Dome for allthese years, in fact, most ofhis life, he knows his neigh-bors pretty well. And heknows his audience.

Sometimes outspoken inhis signage, he has broughta variety of signs to gamesto express his, and otherfans’ sentiments, depend-ing upon how the gameprogresses. One of themproudly proclaims “TheSaints are Marching,” “TheBig Breesy” and “Winningis a Brees.”

Rolling said that “HomeSweet Dome” was a symbolof the city coming backafter Katrina. He still hashis “mint” package of sea-son tickets, unused, for the2005 season, when every-thing was moved to BatonRouge.

One piece of rare Saintsmemorabilia in his posses-sion is a record album, or

“vinyl” as they say, of Saintssongs. Entitled “The SaintsGo Marching in March,”the album features a num-ber of songs and on theback is a picture of the teamseated on high-school-typebleachers autographed bythe team. Rolling is unsurewhere he got the record orthe date it was released. Nodate appears on the coveror on the album itself.

Songs include, “SaintsBoogaloo at Halftime;”“Muskrat Ramble;” “GoSaints Go;” “T Formation;”“Saints Go Marching inMarch;” “Down by theRiverside;” and “Jazz MeBlues.”

He even has two un-opened cans and one emptycan of Who Dat? root beerfrom the Acadiana BottlingCompany in Lafayette, aswell as an old green Cokebottle adorned with aSaints helmet.

He has the usual para-phernalia as well-flags,afghans, pillows, a signedhelmet and autographs.

With all of his experi-ences and lifelong commit-ment to the team, he shouldwrite a book.

“I’d love to, but I can’t.The journey’s not over. Thejourney will continuebecause the fans are soloyal,” he ended. “The jour-ney will never end.”

Larry Rolling Jr. with some of his memorabilia as “The Sign Man” for the NewOrleans Saints, a life-long fan who through his signs has voiced everything fromhope to frustration for 31 years. (Staff Photos by Debbie Glover)


What was your initial reaction to the Saints’ NFCChampionship win?

“I jumped in the airand screamed. Isn’t

that what mosteveryone did?”

JEAN INTRAVIAMandeville

» voices views from the northshore

“I was excited. I started jumping up

and down.”

JEREME SCOTTMandeville

“My initial reactionwas tears. After 42

years I couldn’tbelieve it. I just started crying.”

KAREN CALLAWAYCovington

“I cried and I startedjumping up and

down like a crazyperson.”

KATIE GARRITYMandeville

“I was really excitedand happy for them

because theydeserve it and so did

the city.”

MEGHAN ROGERSCovington

“Just like everyoneelse I was just

excited.”

STEVEN POUNDSCovington

By Erik SanzenbachSt. Tammany News

Sunday night, right afterthe Saints beat the Vikingsfor the NFC championship,there was a line outsideAcademy Sports on AirportDrive in Slidell thatstretched all the way to theTarget store at the end ofthe mall.

Over at the Geaux for theGold store in east Slidell,there was also a line ofeager Saints that snakedthrough the parking lot. Atthe Who Dat Shoppe inOlde Towne, owner RonnieDunaway was doing paperwork, getting ready for thecrush of customers onMonday.

Instead, fans were bang-ing on his door at 11 p.m.and Dunaway had to relentand let them in.

“It’s just been Who Datcrazy,” said Academy storedirector Darryl Fletcher. “Itwas just awesome.”

What the customerswanted was all the T-shirts,hats and other memorabiliathat stated the Saints werethe 2009 NFC Champions,and the fans were eager toput down their dollars foranything that said NewOrleans Saints.

Fletcher said he sold outof women and children T-shirts Sunday night and hadto order more.

Dunaway said that whenhe opened his store

Monday morning, he sold1,200 T-shirts in less than45 minutes, and he had toorder more.

Dunaway is a very happybusinessman right now.

“I thought that Christ-mas was good this year, butthis makes Christmas looklike a walk in the park,”Dunaway said, a big smileon his face.

By Monday afternoonGeaux for the Gold owner,Melissa Richier had senther husband to NewOrleans three times to getmore T-shirts and hats.Richier said her businesspartner was in Gretna try-ing to find more Saints NFCChampionship gear.

“Business has been fan-tastic,” she said ringing upsales at the counter.

Customers at all threestores were not only walk-ing on air with the knowl-edge that the Saints weregoing to the Super Bowl,but were more than happyto plunk down money forofficial NFL Saint’s gear.

Pamela Boyd had a cartfilled with T-shirts and hatsat Academy.

“I’m buying for my foursons, and also for family andfriends around the coun-try,” Boyd said. She said thatsince Sunday night, friendsand family from all over hadbeen calling asking to buythem some Saints’ memora-bilia.

“I had a feeling they were

going to win,” said Saintsseason ticket holder LouJacobsen of Slidell as hegrabbed up some hats withhis friend Tim Hartwell atAcademy.

There were also cus-tomers who wanted aSaints shirt that was small-er than normal.

“I’m trying to find a shirtfor my dog, Trudy,” saidGeraldine Goss as she car-ried Trudy aroundAcademy. “I’m also going tobuy hats to save and hats towear.”

Richier said that theSunday’s win was great forher store, but to her thatwasn’t the important thing.She said the win has putpeople in the right frame ofmind.

“Everybody is in a goodmood,” she said. “Every-body comes in saying howlong they have been waitingfor this.”

When she openedSunday night, she quicklysold out, and the crowd outin the parking lot formed animpromptu party instead ofgetting upset.

There are televisionmonitors mounted on thestore’s walls, and Richier isreplaying Sunday’s gamefor her customers, but theyseem more intent on theracks of T-shirts, jerseysand hats.

“This couldn’t happen ata better time,” Richier said.“This is so due.”

PAGE 8 | SAINTS SUPER BOWL PART I | SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2010

Saints big win means big bucks in Slidell

Customers look over the official NFL T-shirts at Academy Sports in Slidell thatproclaim the Saints the new NFC Champions. (Staff Photo by Erik Sanzenbach)


Road to Super BowlAfter a promising presea-

son, the Saints started regu-lar play on the right footwith a convincing win inWeek 1 — albeit against oneof the league’s perennialcellar dwellers.

The Detroit Lions werewinless throughout the pre-vious season and would notbreak that losing streakagainst the Black-and-Gold.

The Saints offense put onquite a show for the fans inattaining their first win ofthe season. Saints quarter-back Drew Brees tied afranchise record by throw-

ing for six touchdowns inthe game. It is a record henow shares with BillyKilmer, who also notchedsix in a 1969 match up withthe St. Louis Cardinals.

“I had a lot of opportuni-ties out there. A lot of guysmade some big plays in thisgame. Unfortunately, youalways think about the onesthat got away,” said Brees.

The Saints set anotherrecord that week, scoring45 points — the most in aWeek 1 game in franchisehistory.

Another milestone that

was reached in the openinggame of a record-breakingseason was Jeremy Shock-ey, who was traded to NewOrleans from the New YorkGiants last season, scoredhis first touchdown in agold helmet.

“It’s good to get thatasterisk off my name,”remarked Shockey, whohad two TDs in the game.

In all, five differentSaints had receiving touch-downs, and Brees passedfor 358 yards on the way toa 45-27 win over the hap-less Lions.

Game 1 (vs. Lions)

Lake Castle cheering on the Saints

The teachers and staff at Lake Castle Private School in Madisonvillehonored and cheered the Saints on to victory last Friday before the big NFCchampionship game. Adorned in their eye black and various Saints clothingare, from left, Jamie McHugh, Brittany Butera, Cammie Huff, Colette Boyd,Jill Bauer, Regina Harvey, Lesley Loewe, Kathie Stein and the little fan isHailey Ogden.


Road to Super BowlThe game billed as the

Saints’ first real test of theseason lost some of its lus-ter when PhiladelphiaEagles quarterback Dono-van McNabb went downwith an injury in Week 1.Still, the Eagles, billed asone of the premier teams inthe NFC this season, wereexpected to put up a bit of afight against a Saints teamthat dominated in Week 1.

A top-notch showingfrom the Saints offenseagain in Week 2, however,put to rest any fear on thepart of the Who Dat nationas the Saints dismantled theEagles in Philadelphia 48-22.

Picking up where he leftoff in Week 1, Saints quar-terback Drew Brees hadthree touchdown passes ina 25 for 34, 311-yard per-

formance.“If you look at our skill

group, each game no guyever knows whose day it’sgonna be,” said Brees. “Eachguy knows it’s their job toopen things up for everyoneelse.”

The Saints went intohalftime with a four-pointlead but quickly openedthings up in the openingminutes of the third quar-ter, capitalizing on a fumblerecovery and interceptionto take the score to 31-13.

Although the Eagles’Jason Avant made a divingcatch in the end zone onfourth-and-goal late in thethird, the Saints quicklyanswered with a 19-yardReggie Bush touchdownrun.

All told, the Saints racked

up 421 yards against anEagles defense that domi-nated the Carolina Panthersin Week 1.

Although the perform-ance would have Saints fansdancing in the streets andtalking Super Bowl in justthe second week of regularplay, members of the organ-ization were much moremeasured in their responseto the convincing victory.

“You like starting 2-0, butit doesn’t promise you any-thing,” said Saints coachSean Payton.

Darren Sharper added,“It looked like they wereclicking on all cylinders attimes, but Donovan is oneof the top quarterbacks inthe league. He would’vemade the game look a littledifferent.”

Game 2 (vs. Eagles)

Rep. Tim Burns said he was ecstatic when the Saints won theNFC championship.

“I’ve been a fan of the Saints since I was a kid,” he said. He said having the Saints in the Super Bowl is just the shot in

the arm South Louisiana needs right now.“The exposure the community is going to get is priceless,” he

said, “especially after everyone has seen the pictures fromKatrina.”

Burns said he will spend Super Bowl Sunday with friends,cheering the black and gold on.

“Win or lose, it is just tremendous for this area.”


TIM BURNS


Road to Super BowlAlthough the Saints

would raise their record to3-0 in Week 3, the face ofthe game had a very differ-ent look than the team’s twoprevious performances.

Games against the Lionsand Eagles were high scor-ing affairs, driven by a highflying Saints offense andnine total touchdown pass-es by saints quarterbackDrew Brees.

Playing the Bills in Orch-ard Park, N.Y., however,Brees failed to connect for asingle touchdown, but theSaints defense more thanmade up for any offensiveshortcomings.

Will Smith led the Saintsdefense with one sack and

one interception, and theteam handed Terrell Owenshis first reception-lessgame since his rookie sea-son in 1996.

“Our defense played out-standing,” said Brees, whowas held to under 200 yardsfor the first time in 23games. “Every time theystepped on the field, theyjust felt like they were goingto shut them down.”

Leading by only threegoing into halftime, theSaints really turned it onlate in the game. The Black-and-Gold prevented theBills from registering a firstdown in the team’s final fivepossessions while theSaints racked up 17 points

on their final three posses-sions, including two touch-downs by running backPierre Thomas.

The Bills only score ofthe day came off a fake fieldgoal when punter BrianMoorman hit a wide-opendefensive end Ryan Denneyfor a 25-yard TD.

At the end of the day, theSaints notched their thirdwin in as many tries with a27-7 victory.

Said Brees, “This is agame that in the past wouldnot have gone our way. It’sthe attitude. Once we got inthe fourth quarter, offen-sively our attitude wasevery time we touch theball, we’re getting points.”

Game 3 (vs. Bills)

More Mike’s Memorabilia

Shown is a Saints’wooden plaqueadorned withSaints’ stickersfrom St. TammanyNews Sports EditorMike Pervel’smemorabilia col-lection.


Coaches, players hyped about Super Bowl

By Mike Pervel and Chris Kinkaid

St. Tammany News

In just one week, whatseemed like only a dreamfor many New OrleansSaints’ fans would becomereality in Miami, a SuperBowl XLIV appearance.

The Saints (15-3)punched their ticket to thebig game in overtime whenkicker Garrett Hartleyboomed a 40-yard fieldthrough the Girard Streetend zone uprights, cappinga 31-28 victory over theMinnesota Vikings.

Locally, high schoolplayers and coaches areexcited about what hap-pened Sunday.

Earlier this season, threeSaints including TracyPorter, Malcolm Jenkinsand Usama Young visitedPope John Paul II. Porterhad an interception withthe Vikings driving downfor a potential game-win-ning field goal.

PJP defensive end TravisBrink talked about how itfelt when Porter made thepick.

“I know those threeSaints’ numbers,” Brinksaid. “It was great to seePorter’s interception after Iwas standing two-feet awayfrom him. That was anoth-er get up and put your armsin the air moment.”

Brink, who has been aSaints’ fan since they cameback from HurricaneKatrina, said he watchedthe game from his homewith 15-other people. Hetalked about the reactionwhen Hartley’s kick splitthe uprights.

“When that happened,the 15 people in the housesimultaneously threw theirhands in the air and

screamed and hugged eachother,” Brink said.

PJP defensive coordina-tor Joe Schiro attended thefirst Saints’ game ever inTulane Stadium when JohnGilliam returned the fran-chise’s opening kickoff 94yards for a touchdown.Schiro said the initial gamewas exciting because it wasthe first time New Orleansput an NFL team on thefield.

“Then Gilliam’s kickoffreturn. Tulane Stadiumwent crazy. You couldn’thear yourself talk,” Schirosaid.

Fast-forward to Hartley’ssuccessful kick, Schiro saidhe’s never seen reactionlike it.

“You walk outside,neighbors were screaming,shooting fireworks and set-ting off car alarms. It wasthe Fourth of July, Christ-mas and New Year’s allrolled into one,” Schirosaid.

Over at Slidell High,wide receiver Armand Will-iams, who watched thegame at home with hismom Minnette, talked ab-out his reaction when hesaw the ball splitting theuprights.

“I’m looking and it’sgoing straight through theuprights. I’m looking andI’m like, ‘are the Saints real-ly about to go to the SuperBowl?’ Then I looked at thetop of the screen to see ifthere were any penalties oranything like that.”Williams said he was think-ing about the historical per-spective of the moment.

“I was like, I just saw his-tory just happening. I washighly excited and I actual-ly tried to call somebody.Nobody could get any callsthrough because so many

people were trying to call atthe same time. I was reallyexcited for the Saints,”Williams said.

Slidell coach ArtieLiuzza said it was unbeliev-able how things played out.

“The opportunities theVikings had and couldn’tcapitalize, it was like it wasmeant to be,” Liuzza said.“It’s like something youread in a book. It was likesomebody was watchingover them like Buddy D.”

St. Paul’s head footballcoach Ken Sears led hisWolves to a 10-2 record lastseason and captured theDistrict 7-5A title with a 7-0record. It was the Wolves’fourth district title in thelast five years.

Sears feels the SuperBowl will be anothershootout like the NFCChampionship game was.Sears picks the Saints toprevail 35-31 in a high scor-ing affair.

When asked to name hisfavorite Saint, the coachdidn’t hesitate, saying itwas Drew Brees.

“I think Drew will be theSuper Bowl MVP. It’s histime and it’s his moment.He is always unbelievablyprepared and focused. He isextremely accurate. It’ssomething he’s been work-ing for and preparing forhis entire football life,”Sears said.

Defensively, Sears saidhe likes the mentality oflinebacker Jonathan Vilmaand the hitting of safetyDarren Sharper.

“They have so many tal-ented players to admire.”

Sears, who just finishedhis 11th season as theWolves’ head coach, is a 20-year resident of Covington.

Sears jokingly said heshould probably visit a casi-

no because he accuratelypredicted the Saints victoryover the Minnesota Vikings31-28, albeit he didn’t pre-dict it would be in overtime.

Sears said he and hiswife watched his friendsGene and Christine Knob-lach’s children so theycould attend the NFCChampionship game.

“When Gene dropped offhis kids, I made the predic-tion. I guess there should bea casino visit at somepoint,” Sears added.

Sears said the whole St.Paul’s campus in general iscaught up in this reallyexciting time.

“It’s a fantastic time forthe city of New Orleans andthe entire region. It’s fun tosee the kids enjoy this. I’msure their parents andgrand parents, who havebeen longtime Saints fans,have been instrumental inthe enthusiasm tricklingdown to their children,”Sears said.

Sears said the Saints’organization definitelymade the right choice inhiring Sean Payton.

“Coach Payton is theright guy. He and his play-

ers are focused. The Saints’coaching staff knows howto prepare for their oppo-nents strengths and weak-nesses,” Sears said.

“He is an outstandingoffensive mind and empha-sizes character and workethic. It has paid off for himand the franchise.”

St. Paul’s senior defen-sive end Houston Bates (6-3, 235) the Defensive Playerof the Year in District 7-5A,talked about the Saintsmaking it to the big dance.

“I think I’ve been aSaints fan since I was born.Them winning so manygames this season was areal feat. Living close toNew Orleans it’s importantto support the team.

Everywhere you go hereon the Northshore you herefans talking about theSaints,” Bates said.

St. Paul’s held a SaintsSpirit Day Jan. 22 wherestudents could wear Saintsapparel.

“I wore a DeuceMcAllister jersey, but DrewBrees definitely was wornthe most that day. I’vealways enjoyed followingDeuce, but now I’m a Will

Smith fan. He turned it upthis season and is a leaderalong the defensive front,”Bates added.

The verbal commitmentto LSU picks the Saints togo all the way by a score of35-28.

Bates’ teammate, MickeyJohnson, (6-2, 305), theWolves’ starting defensivetackle, who was named tothe District 7-5A first teamall-district squad, goesalong with his defensivemate, predicting the Saintswould take the Super Bowl21-14.

“I consider myself a real-ly big Saints fan. AfterHurricane Katrina I reallystarted to follow them,”Johnson said.

Johnson named defen-sive tackle Sedrick Ellis hisfavorite Saint.

“I started following himwhen he played at USC. Weare kind of the same sizeand play the same position,”Johnson added.

Johnson summed it upby saying “Who Dat!”

Northlake Christian Schoolfirst-year head coach and

Who Dat fans continue to dreamin fulfillment of team’s destiny

Three members of the Saints secondary visited Pope John Paul II lastNovember as the Jaguars were presented the Catholic Cup, symbolizing theirvictory over the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons. Pictured at right is Saints defen-sive back Malcolm Jenkins (27), the 14th overall pick in the 2009 draft out ofOhio State. Jenkins along with Usama Young (28) and Tracy Porter (22)addressed the PJP II student body during a pep rally held in the school’s gym.(File Photo by Chris Kinkaid)

SEE HYPED, PAGE 13


athletic director TonyAgresta said he would betorn watching two qualityfootball teams.

“It’s going to be interest-ing. Being a football coach,my gut tells me to go withthe experience level of aPeyton Manning and a teamthat has been there before.But, since moving downhere from northeast Ohiothree years ago, I have madea number of close friends,and it will be very difficultfor me to root against theSaints,” Agresta said.

Agresta, feels Indy underthe guidance of Manning,will prevail 30-21.

“I think Manning’s expe-rience coupled with theColts’ unheralded defensemight be a factor that not awhole lot of people havetalked about,” Agresta said.

Agresta named Brees andrunning back Pierre Thom-as as his two favorite Saints.

After thinking about thequestion, the Wolverines’mentor, who led his club toa 6-4 record and a berth inthe playoffs, recalled thathe should also include firstround draft pick MalcolmJenkins and defensive endWill Smith, who are alumniof “The” Ohio State Uni-versity, located in Colum-bus, Ohio, which is aboutthree hours away fromAgresta’s home town ofYoungstown.

Grant McGovern, a sen-ior two-sport athlete for theWolverines (offensive tack-le and third baseman),shared his thoughts on thebig game.

“I definitely think theSaints are going to win.They have really provedthey can win the big gamelike taking the NFC cham-pionship. They wereinvolved in a close gamewith the Vikings and wereable to pull it out,”McGovern said.

The 18-year-old said hefigures he’s been a Saintsfan since birth because hisparents George and Rhon-da, who now live inGoodbee, are long-timeloyal Saints backer.

“I’ve learned a lot frommy parents about how badthe teams used to be yearsago. Seeing what the Saintshave accomplished this sea-son playing with heart anddetermination it’s theiryear. The Benson’s (own-ers) and the general man-agers have never given uphope,” McGovern said.

McGovern tabbed Vilmaas his top Saints’ player.

McGovern, who wasborn and raised in Chal-mette, before moving toGoodbee after HurricaneKatrina, said he thinks it’sgreat what the Saints andtheir organization havedone for the city and sur-rounding communities overthe years, especially sinceKatrina.

» FROM PAGE 12

HYPED:


Road to Super Bowl

Week 4 featured a matchup between two of theleague’s remaining unde-feated teams as the NewYork Jets, led by rookiequarterback Mark Sanchez,faced the Saints and a fired-up Superdome crowd.

While Sanchez lookedimpressive in his team’sfirst three wins, anotheroutstanding performanceby the Saints defense quick-ly quieted the young upstartas the saints handed theJets their first loss of theseason, 24-10.

The Saints defense pro-duced four sacks and fourturnovers against the rook-ie. Darren Sharper had twointerceptions on the day,

returning one for a 99-yardscore, a club record. Shar-per had tied the club recordtwo weeks prior with a 97-yard interception.

“Sharper’s been a greataddition,” Saints quarter-back Drew Brees said of the12-year veteran. “You lookat his productivity hereover the first four games …that’s pretty impressive.”

This sudden surge by theSaints defense, which hadbeen seen as a major factorin New Orleans’ missingthe playoffs for the previ-ous two seasons, could nothave come at a better timeas Brees was held to zerotouchdown passes andunder 200 total yards for

the second week in a row.In fact, the Saints did notscore an offensive touch-down until Pierre Thomassmashed his way into theend zone from one yard outwith 6:07 left to play.

For the second game in arow, Thomas was theSaints’ offensive leader,with 86 rushing yards and46 yards on four receptions.

Although Sanchez blamedhimself for the loss, saying“My mistakes killed us.They absolutely killed us,”Jets coach Rex Ryan gavethe Saints their due.

“The Saints outplayed ustoday,” he said. “Theyforced a lot of turnoversand scored with them.

You’ve got to give them a lotof credit. They ran the ballpretty effectively against usas well.”

Game 4 (vs. Jets)


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What effect has the Saints’ winning been on this area?

“The effect is dynamic. I own a

store here, and saleshave been great. It’s

dynamite.”

BECKY NEERSlidell


“It’s made everybody’s spiritsgo up. Nobody isworried about the

economy, just football.”

CHRISTY HIMELPearl River

“I haven’t seen people join togetherlike this since 9/11. Itdoesn’t matter yourrace, sex or color, it’s

just one big celebration.”

DET. DANIELSEUZENEAU

Slidell

“It’s picked up theeconomy really well. I

never realized howmuch a football teamcould improve local

business.”

JULES BAUMANNSlidell

“I like the emotionaluplift – that is the

best thing.”

LOIS STEPHENSONSlidell

“The effect has beenphenomenal. All the

togetherness isunbelievable, and

everybody has greatexpectations.”

TARA REHAGEMandeville


Pep rallies set for SaintsBy Erik Sanzenbach

St. Tammany News

By the time Friday getshere, there are going to be alot of Saints fans that areedgy, tense and having ahard time waiting for SuperSunday to finally get here.

Well, there is somethingthese hyper-active mem-bers of the Who Dat Nationcan do to let off some of thatsteam, and that is go to apep rally to yell, scream forthe Bless You Boys.

Starting at 1:30 p.m.Friday, the students at St.Paul’s Catholic School willhold a Saints Super BowlPep Rally.

If you still have a lot ofenergy to burn after that,then drive east across theparish to the NorthshoreHarbor Center in Slidell fora really big Saints pep rallythat will root, root, root forthe Saints from 4-9 p.m.

This rally is sponsored bythe Brian Harris Autoplexcar dealership and theNorthshore Harbor Center.

Brian Harris AutoplexGeneral Manager JackFrancioni wants everybodyin the parish to come outand show their support forthe Saints.

“We want to do this tobring the community toge-ther and show how muchwe support the team,” Fran-cioni said.

He urges everybody tocome dressed in the finestSaints attire. There will be acontest for Best Dressed

Saints Fan, plus othergames and contests, withprizes supplied by Nathan’sRestaurant, Silver SlipperCasino, The Purple Arma-dillo and many other localbusinesses.

There will be live musicand videos of games duringthe past season.

Former Saint quarter-back, Bobby “Cajun Can-non” Hebert will be therebroadcasting a live show onWWL radio. He will beanswering questions aboutthe Saints and football fromthe audience at the HarborCenter.

Fans will not only be ableto root for their belovedSaints, but they can alsohelp the people in Haiti.The East St. TammanyChamber of Commerce andEast St. Tammany Habitat

for Humanity have startedFleur-de-lis Relief and willbe taking monetary dona-tions for the earthquake-ravaged country. Francionisaid 100 percent of themoney collected will besent to Haiti to buy water,food and medicine. Thelocal sports shop, Geaux forthe Gold will have a boothat the rally, and they haveagreed to donate a portionof their profits that night tothe Haitian cause.

Besides Saints memora-bilia for sale, there will alsobe food and drink vendorsat the rally to feed the fansand quench their thirsts.

Francioni was still organ-izing the rally, and said thatwe should stay tuned,because plans call for a fewmore surprises for Saintsfans.

Pictured is Covington Elementary School first grad-er Madelyn Berges-Gurtner leading her classmatesin a Saints cheer.


Road to Super BowlFollowing a bye week,

the New Orleans Saintsfaced another unbeatenNew York team in theSuperdome in the Giants,led by New Orleans nativeEli Manning.

Only the Saints wouldcome away with their per-fect record intact, though,as the Black-and-Goldadministered a 48-27 throt-tling and moved to 5-0 onthe year.

Coming off of two gamesin which he was held to notouchdown passes and lessthan 200 yards, Saints quar-terback Drew Brees camebarreling back with a stellarperformance that included369 yards on 23-for-30passing and four scores.With that showing, Breesjoined an elite group ofSaints quarterbacks who

have thrown for at least 100touchdowns and 15,000yards. The only others whocan make that claim areAaron Brooks and EliManning’s father, Archie.

At one point in the game,Brees had connected on 15straight throws, two shortof the franchise record,which he also holds.

The Saints started thegame as they had each ofthe previous four — with ascoring drive. It was just thebeginning of a powerhouseperformance that wouldsee seven different Saintsplayers make it into the endzone. This was against aGiants defense that hadpreviously held opponentsto an average 210.6 yardsand 14.2 points. By the endof the first half, the Saintshad racked up 34 points and

315 yards.On the defensive end, the

Saints looked just as good,holding the Giants to a sea-son-low 84 yards rushing.

But even as the finalwhistle blew, and chants of“Who Dat!” rained downfrom the stands, Saintscoaches and players alreadyhad their eyes on the nextweek’s challenge.

Said Marques Colston,“This group has beentogether long enough to seesome of the great times, andthe last two years have beenpretty difficult for us, sostaying grounded is defi-nitely not an issue in thislocker room.”

Head coach Sean Paytonechoed his sentiments. “Idon’t think you can talkabout big pictures after(game) five.”

Game 5 (vs. Giants)


Former New Orleans Saints place kicker Tom Dempsey (19), autographed thephoto for St. Tammany News Sports Editor Mike Pervel after making a guestappearance at Covington Rotary Club meeting. Dempsey, who resides in NewOrleans, is pictured kicking his 63-yard field goal with two seconds remain-ing as the Saints defeated the Detroit Lions 19-17 November 8, 1970 at TulaneStadium. Dempsey is currently tied with Jason Elam for the longest NFLfield goal (63 yards).


SAINTS GO ALL THE WAY!1400 Gause Blvd. • Slidell, LA 70458

(985)) 641-1000WWW.latter-blum.com

SINCE 1916

Abita Springs mayorwas in that number

By Suzanne Le BretonSt. Tammany News

When the New Orleans Saints made his-tory and won the NFC ChampionshipSunday night, Louis Fitzmorris, AbitaSprings mayor and dedicated Saints fan,was in that number.

When asked if he had attended the game,Fitzmorris said, “Oh, gee wiz, I was there.Where else would I have been?”Fitzmorris and his wife, Tawyna, have beenseason ticket holders for some years now,but he said there was something specialabout Sunday night’s game.

That something special was bigger thanthe fact that the win declared the Saintschampions in their conference; it alsosecured the Saint’s place in Super BowlXLIV.

A true “Who Dat” at heart, Fitzmorrissaid he never gave up faith that he wouldone day see a black-and-gold Super Bowl.

“For us that truly believe, this is a daywe’ve been waiting on for years,” he said.

He said he always knew the Saints wouldmake it to the “promised land.”

Fitzmorris, who has never been shyabout wearing his black and gold and sport-ing fleur de lis ties and other Saints para-phernalia, made his, and his town’s, sup-port official last week when the AbitaSprings Board of Aldermen approved a res-olution he had prepared supporting theSaints and declaring Abita Springs as a“proud member of the Who Dat Nation.”

He described the atmosphere in theSuperdome during the game as “electric.”

“I have been there for a lot of good gamesand this one was right there with the best ofthem,” Fitzmorris said, adding that the onlycomparison would be the day the Saintsplayed for the first time in the Dome afterHurricane Katrina against the AtlantaFalcons in 2006.

He said the game was also very specialfor New Orleans because it gave many thehope needed to move past the storm. Sun-day night’s win, rejuvenated that hope andbrought the once-torn city and its neigh-boring Northshore even closer together.

Fitzmorris said he fully expected to crywhen the Saints beat the MinnesotaVikings Sunday night but somehow hemanaged to keep his eyes dry.

However, he said, many did not.The mayor said the man who has sat

behind him for years broke down andsobbed when Garrett Hartley kicked the40-yard field goal in overtime that won thegame.

He compared the people who own theseats around his as his “neighbors,” andsaid they cheered together and when it wasover they hugged.

“These were no ‘Hi, how are you’ hugs.These were full-body bear hugs,” he said.“Everyone was ecstatic.”

And what about Miami?“I’m trying to get tickets,” the mayor said.

He had hoped to secure tickets via the NFLlottery Tuesday afternoon, but alas that wasnot meant to be. Wednesday he was stillsearching out other venues to obtain ticketsand was not finding much luck.

“I can’t afford to pay black market priceson my mayor’s salary,” he said.

He and his wife were still undecided ifthey would travel to Miami without ticketsjust to be in the same city as the big gamewhen the Saints Go Marching In to the SunLife Stadium on Feb. 7.

Fitzmorris hoping to secure Super Bowl tickets

Abita Springs Mayor Louis Fitzmorrisshows his Saints spirit while handlingtown business Monday afternoon.(Staff Photo by Suzanne Le Breton)


Road to Super BowlA 2-3 Miami Dolphins

team gave the Saints theirfirst real scare of the season,but another breathtakingperformance by DrewBrees and company in thesecond half gave the Saintstheir sixth, and perhapsmost confidence-building,win of the season.

A pair of touchdownruns by former Saint RickyWilliams gave the Dolphinsa lead of 14-3 at the end ofthe first quarter. Through-out most of the secondquarter, New Orleans con-tinued to struggle as theDolphins added 10 morepoints on a field goal and atouchdown to bring thescore to 24-3.

Then, as the final sec-onds of the first half tickedaway, the momentum beganto swing. With the Saints on

the half-yard line and fiveseconds left, Saints coachSean Payton sent the fieldgoal unit onto the field.When the Dolphins subse-quently called a timeout,however, Brees convincedthe coach to go for it. Backon the field, Brees lungedover the pile, giving theSaints their first TD of theday. “I just told him I’d getit,” Brees said.

It wouldn’t be the lasttime Brees would make itinto the end zone that day.From two yards out, Breesagain scored, this time giv-ing the Saints the lead forgood. Brees was so elatedfollowing his second touch-down he dunked the ballover the crossbar.

“There are times in thegame when a team justneeds an emotional lift,”

said Brees. “I felt like I hadto do something to geteverybody hyped. The firstthing that came to mindwas to dunk it.”

Although the Saints trailedby three going into thefourth quarter, they out-scored the Dolphins 22-0 inthe final 15 minutes of play.

“There was no doubt onour sideline we would comeback and win,” said Breeswho threw for 298 yards.

The significance of aSaints team coming backfrom such a huge deficit tocome away with a win wasnot lost on linebacker ScottShanle.

“It can be a season-defin-ing win. This was a test wehadn’t faced yet, and wecouldn’t be happier withthe way we responded,” hesaid.

Game 6 (vs. Dolphins)

Who Dat! graphMandeville

MiddleSchool stu-

dents arepart of thatnumber —

the WhoDat Nation,

that is!Studentsand staffwore thejersey of

theirfavorite

Saintsplayer and

created ahuman

graphbased on

their jerseynumbers.


Road to Super BowlDespite sloppy play from

both offense and defense,the Saints opened up athree-game lead overAtlanta in the NFC Southstandings with a 35-27 vic-tory over the Falcons in aMonday night battle at theLouisiana Superdome.

The victory put theSaints at 7-0 for the season,the team’s best start sincebeginning the 1991 seasonwith seven straight wins.

The Saints overcamefour turnovers by forcingthree of their own and turn-ing one, an interception bycornerback Jabari Greer,into the team’s fifth defen-sive score of the season.

“We did a lot of thingswell, and yet we did a lot ofthings that made it close atthe end,” said head coachSean Payton. “I’m excited towin though. I’m excited towin this game and get to 7-0. It was an important gameagainst a division team, and

I’m proud of our players.They fought.”

The Falcons opened thescoring with a 13-yardtouchdown run by runningback Michael Turner, whofinished the day with 151rushing yards.

The Saints quickly an-swered with a 22-yard scor-ing scamper by runningback Pierre Thomas, whoracked up 91 yards on 14carries.

After forcing a punt onthe next Falcons’ drive, theSaints offense stalled.Quarterback Drew Breeswas sacked deep in his ownterritory, and the hitknocked the ball loose.Defensive end Kroy Bier-man picked up the fumbleand rambled four yards toput the Falcons up 14-7.

The Saints tied the gameon an 18-yard connectionfrom Brees to wide receiverMarques Colston, then tookthe lead with a 1-yard

touchdown run by runningback Reggie Bush.

The lead was furtherincreased by Greer’s 48-yard interception return fora score.

The Falcons would battleback in the second half witha 68-yard touchdown strikefrom quarterback MattRyan and a pair of fieldgoals from kicker JasonElam sandwiched betweenanother score by Thomas.

Following Elam’s secondfield goal, the Falcons,down eight with only 28seconds left, successfullyconverted an onside kick attheir own 37. Ryan complet-ed a 14-yard pass to widereceiver Michael Jenkinsand quickly spiked the ballwith 11 seconds to go in thegame.

Ryan then attempted a“hail mary” pass to theSaints goal line, which wasintercepted by Saints safetyDarren Sharper.

Game 7 (vs. Falcons)

Sen. David Vitter will watch the game at homein Metairie. His son Jack will wear his Brees jerseyand he will wear the Reggie jersey. He and Sen.Mary Landrieu are going to work together on mak-ing a friendly wager with the Indiana senators.

Vitter said he joins the state and the entire WhoDat Nation in wishing the Saints all the best for theSuper Bowl.

“Everybody I know has so many stories aboutgrowing up with the Siants. I’m one of those. I was6 years old, sitting in Tulane Stadium for the firstregular season Saints game kickoff when JohnGillium ran it back for a touchdown. I was 9 yearsold in the same stadium watching Tom Dempsey’s63 yard field goal to beat the Lions – still a record.I was in high school watching Archie Manning inthe height of his career and the more successfulpart of the Saints history since then, so I knoweverybody is really excited about this crowningachievement and I’m certainly with the rest of my family and friends and everyonearound the state saying, ‘WHO DAT?’”


DAVID VITTER


Road to Super BowlThe Saints overcame two

early turnovers and a 17-3deficit to move to 8-0 on theseason by beating theCarolina Panthers 30-20 inthe Louisiana Superdome.

The defense gave up 149yards and two touchdownsto Panthers running backDeAngelo Williams but alsoforced three fumbles – oneof which led to the team’sseventh defensive touch-down on the year.

The opening score of thegame came on a 66-yarddash by Williams on thesecond play of the game.After both defenses forcedpunts, the Panthers in-creased their lead to 14-0when Panthers linebackerJohn Beason picked up afumble by Saints quarter-back Drew Brees at theSaints 11 yard line. Thatturnover would lead to a 7-yard touchdown run byWilliams.

The Saints first score ofthe game came on a 23-yard

field goal by John Carney,following a 15-play drivethat stalled at the Panthers7 yard line. The Panthersanswered with a 32-yardfield goal from kicker JohnKasay and increased theirlead to 17-3.

The Saints closed out thefirst half with an 11-play, 76-yard drive that again stalledat the Panthers 7 yard line.The Saints settled for a sec-ond Carney field goal andwent into halftime down 17-6.

For the first time all sea-son, the Saints failed toscore a touchdown in thefirst half but only neededfour plays at the beginningof the third quarter to gettheir first of the game. A 63-yard completion from Breesto wide receiver DeveryHenderson would set up a10-yard scoring scamper byrunning back Pierre Thom-as to cut the Panther lead to17-13.

After a second Panthers’field goal made the score

20-13, the Saints tied thescore with a 54-yard catch-and-run by wide receiverRobert Meachem and tooktheir first lead of the daywith a 40-yard field goal byCarney.

The Saints defense wouldadd an exclamation pointon the day when defensivetackle Anthony Hargrovesacked Panthers quarter-back Jake Delhomme andforced a fumble at the 1-yard line, which he pickedup and advanced into theend zone for a score.

“The more that you wingames like this, the moreconfidence that you gain,the more that you feel likeno matter what situationthat you are in, you’re goingto be able to win the game,”Brees said after the game.“No matter what the deficit,no matter how bad thingsmight have gone, you justfeel like you’re going tocome back, and you’re go-ing to do it.”

Game 8 (vs. Panthers)


Shown is a Saints’ metal airplane from St. Tammany News Sports EditorMike Pervel’s memorabilia collection.


Wee neverr stopp moving.National Exposure, Local Expertise

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What are your Super Bowl plans?

“We’re having a bigblowout party at our

house.”

DENISE STANLEYCovington


“I’d love to be in Mia-mi, but I’ll watch at

home.”

JEWEL CUEVASPass Christian, Miss.

“I’m watching at myhouse.”

JOANNE THOMASSlidell

“I’m watching at myhouse with my

family.”

MEAGAN JOHNSONSlidell

“We’re having a party at my house.”

MICHAEL MCKEITHENSlidell

“I’m watching in myliving room. We’ll dosome cooking and

watch.”

ROBERT R. BROWNSR.

Slidell

| SAINTS SUPER BOWL PART II | WEDNESDAY, FEB. 3, 2010


With the Who Dat crazehitting an all-time peak justdays before New OrleansSaints play in the SuperBowl, musicians around theNew Orleans area areexpressing their excite-ment in the best way theyknow how – through theirmusic.

In an area known for itsoriginal music, it comes asno surprise that hundreds,if not thousands, of newSaints songs have beenwritten and recorded afterthe New Orleans team wonthe NFC Championshipgame.

But the song “In da SupaBeauxl,” written andrecorded by Bernie Cyrus,Misty Marshall and RogerKennedy, was not createdafter the Saints securedtheir place in the big game.It wasn’t even created afterthe team won a bid to thechampionship game.

A true testament to faiththese three people have inthe team they have sup-ported through many trials,this song was written andrecorded before the teameven made the playoffs.

“We kind of bet the farmand won,” Marshall said.

The song was posted onYouTube, and as of Mondaymorning, with nearly aweek to go before the biggame, the song hadreceived nearly 11,000 hitsand was rated with four

and a half stars.When asked why on

Earth would someonewrite a song about a foot-ball team playing in theSuper Bowl even before theteam had made it to theplayoffs; especially whenthat team is the Saints, whoin 43 years of being a fran-chise history had never beento the big game, Marshallsaid “we just had faith.”

“It’s kinda’ like thewhole city knew we weregoing to the Super Bowl,”she said. “It is destiny thatwe win the Super Bowl. Itwas meant to be.”

As a musician, Marshallsaid, the way she bestexpresses herself isthrough song.

“We are so excited andwe show that through ourmusic.”

Marshall said she andCyrus and Kennedy, whotogether form Misty andthe Moon Pie King, wereenergized by watching theSaints play this year, andrecording a song was thebest way they knew of bot-tling up that energy.

“We wanted to show ourlove for the Saints,”Marshall said.

The album, which is alsotitled “In Da Supa Beauxl,”also includes three othersongs written and pro-duced by the group includ-ing former Song of the Year,“Fall From Grace.”

Cyrus said they original-ly only produced a few

copies of the album to beused for marketing, butthanks to the Saints’ contin-ued success, their demandhas increased, and he ishaving many, many morecreated for sale.

They are currently onlyavailable for purchase atfleaurdilismusic.com, butthey will soon be for sale atlocal music stores.

Just this past week, thegroup was working on itssecond Super Bowl song incollaboration with ABC 26news reporter Glynn Boyd.Marshall said Boyd ap-proached them with hisdesire to produce his ownSuper Bowl song as a way toexpress his excitementwhen “his team” made it tothe big game.

While Marshall andCyrus’ song is of a rocknature, Boyd opted for abluesy number that workedwell with his voice and hispersonality.

Cyrus, Marshall andKennedy also performed inthat song.

Both songs were record-ed at Sound Landing Studioon Columbia Street inCovington.

“We all have black andgold in our blood,” Cyrussaid, as he rattled off someof his most exciting Saintsmemories.

“We’ve always had thosegreat moments with theSaints,” he said, explainingthat true Saints’ fans lovethem when they lose, love

them with they win andthey cherish every littleaccomplishment for theteam.

He said the Saints haveenabled him to maintain acloser relationship with hissons, who have both movedto Tennessee.

“The Saints have broughtus together as a family,” hesaid. “The Saints have beenthe glue that has held ustogether.”

He said even as his rela-tionship with his sonsgrows and changes, theystill have one thing in com-mon and one thing thatthey can talk openly about –the Saints, good or bad,they love them and good orbad, musicians are going tosing about them.

When asked what theSaints being in the SuperBowl means for the NewOrleans area as a whole,Cyrus said, “We have need-ed this for so long.”

SAINTS SUPER BOWL PART II | WEDNESDAY, FEB. 3, 2010 | PAGE 3

Local musicians record Saints’ songs

Misty and the Moon Pie King rehearses their song“In Da Supa’ Beauxl” during a recording session atSound Landing Studio in Covington.


Abita handy man, Black-and-Gold to the coreBy Mike PervelSt. Tammany News

Faith, prayer and beliefare key words in relation totrue, loyal New OrleansSaints’ fans. Sim Strain, anAbita Springs residentsince 1981, is a long-timedie-hard fan, who is bask-ing in the glory of the Black-and-Gold run to the SuperBowl.

Strain is one of the fortu-nate and lucky ones whowas able to fork over thebread to purchase a coupleof coveted Super BowlXLIV tickets and will makethe trek down to Miami tobe in that Who Dat number.

“I went to the Cardinalsgame and to the Vikingsgame. We’ve just got on aroll with the Who DatNation. I bought my SuperBowl tickets between theCardinals and the Vikingsgame. I had faith that theywere going to the biggame,” Strain said.

In an earlier discussion,Strain said his wife Annactually bought the SuperBowl tickets so I just want-ed to set the record straightto avoid any potential prob-lems on the Strain homefront before the biggestgame in Saints’ history.

“My wife bought thetickets. Before I left for theCardinals game she boughtme the Vikings ticket andthen she started talkingabout the Super Bowl andhow great it is going to bewhen they go. I didn’t wantto not be in that number soshe said okay you are goingto be in that number. I’mblessed to have Ann for awife,” Strain added.

Strain jokingly said shegot the tickets fairly cheap($2,250) including thehotel.

“The package gives you asouvenir, Super Bowl Partyand transportation to andfrom the stadium on gameday.”

Strain (50) said he hasbeen a Saints fan from theirexistence as a youngster atage seven saying he’s been aSaints fan his entire life, Heand his oldest son Sim (27)will be driving down toMiami to partake of the fes-tivities and cheer on thehome town boys.

Sim’s son is the offensiveline coach for the JohnEhret Patriots so he knowsabout X’s and O’s.

“My son’s head coachsaid to give a shot out toIndianapolis Colts’ widereceiver Reggie Wayne, aJohn Ehret graduate.”

Daddy Strain said HokieGajan was his favoriteSaints player, but now helikes free safety DarrenSharper.

“Because of the 43 yearsof the Saints existence, Ifigured I would go with oldschool,” Strain added.

Strain made an earliertrip to Homestead, Fla., toattend the Nascar

Championship so he islooking for a return trip toFlorida.

“I look at this SuperBowl trip as getting a 10-point deer since we don’thunt.”

Strain is also a big Nascarfan, but he lives andbreathes New OrleansSaints football.

He loves the cama-raderie of Nascar andnamed Richard Petty handsdown as his all-timefavorite driver, but he hasalso come to respect JeffGordon and Tony Stewartalong with some of thenewer drivers.

Strain related a greatstory from the past recall-ing the wonderful memoryof Tom Dempsey’s leg-endary 63-yard field goalagainst the Detroit LionsNov. 8, 1970, which gave theSaints a 19-17 victory withtwo seconds left at Tulane

SEE HANDYMAN, PAGE 5

Sim Strain, owner of Honey Do Home Service inAbita Springs, shows off his Who Dat Towel. Strainand his oldest son are a couple lucky Saints fans,who will be attending the Super Bowl as representa-tives of the Who Dat Nation. (Staff Photo by MikePervel)


Stadium.“That kick will be

remembered for all time.We had one of the greatestkickers in NFL historyMorten Anderson thatnever brought us to wherethis young kid GarrettHartley did. When he cameonto the field I thought itwas the way fate goes thatthe kick would bring us tothe Super Bowl. The kick-ers have kept us famous allthese years and now ‘TheKick’ has brought us to theSuper Bowl.”

“When Hartley’s kickwent through it was like an8,000 pound gorilla that Icarried a whole lifetimewas gone. Win, lose or drawthe monkey was gone andthat is what I loved mostabout the game,” the long-time fan said.

“I thought when the refshands went up for all thefans before me that guesswhat y’all, its over and we

are on our way to the SuperBowl,” Strain said.

“My seat was section602, row 15, seat 11 in theopposite end zone from thekick and I had the sameview Hartley had. It wasbeautiful. When TracyPorter made the intercep-tion of Brett Favre to bringus to overtime I prayed.”

Strain said before attend-ing the game he stopped bySt. Louis Cathedral in theFrench Quarter.

“The priest blessed meoutside the Cathedral so Iknew we were going tobring it home. My chantwas to bring it fromuptown, from downtownand I don’t give a damn ifyou bring it from out oftown, just bring it!” Strainemphasized.

He keeps the faith andcontinues to pray for somedivine intervention as theSaints continue their ulti-mate journey.

Strain said the Lordblessed him with strong

lungs in support of hisSaints. He said he is theMambo Man, but he wasn’tasked to grade himself outas a dancer.

He coached Pee Weefootball in Abita Springsback in the day (1985-86),

saying his teams weren’tvery good, but the young-sters had fun learning.

Strain, the owner ofHoney Do Home Servicefor the last 15 years, is in hiswords the handy man thatcan handle all odd jobs fromcarpentry to painting.

“I consider myself aproblem solver for otherpeople when it comes totheir homes’ or businesses.”

Strain’s customers willhave to wait a few days forhis services until he returnsfrom his Super Bowl pil-grimage to pull for hisbeloved Saints.

Strain is originally fromNew Orleans and graduatedfrom St. Bernard HighSchool in 1976.

» FROM PAGE 4

HANDYMAN:

What? You’re not goingto Miami to see our Saintsclobber the Colts? Well, Idon’t know about you all,but as for me and mine, thetrip east just isn’t going tohappen. But never mind,we’ll be glued to the tubein our ring side seats withthe added advantage ofinstant playback, and lotsof great stuff to munch. Nomuss, no fuss, no hassle;what could be better thanthat? So who needs a Mi-ami trip, anyway? (SOB!)

Well, let’s forget aboutbeing disappointed, and geton with the important stuff– the food.

Whether the party is tobe at your place, or you’llbe hauling your tidbits to aparty elsewhere, you’llwant to come up with thekind of super fare that’sworthy of that once-in-forty-year’s sports event. (Ialmost said, “once- in- a-lifetime,” but let’s not gothere!)

A family favorite for pic-nics and tail gating, GatorTails would be a splendidfinger food that can bedevoured without takingyour eyes away from theaction. (Get it? Gator Tails-tail gater – duh!) They’renot real alligator tails, butcooked boudin or alligator-pork sausage fillingwrapped in wontons tolook like mini gator tailsand then deep fried. Theycan be made in advanceand kept warm in the oven.

Do keep in mind that noone should be deprived ofTHE GAME because he orshe (usually Peggy, butNOT this time) is busy inthe kitchen. So, try toarrange for snacks that canbe made in advance.

How do Pizza Footballsand Sloppy Jocks sound?Add to this the more sub-stantial Hungry FanJambalaya, and an assort-ment of crackers to servewith Celebration Caviar,and don’t forget to buyyour Saints King Cake! Toguarantee that you’ll haveone, be sure to get yourorder in beforehand.

So what are you waitingfor? Bring in the keg, andthe ice chest of soft drinks,and LET’S PARTY!!

Gator Tails (pictured)

1 package (16ounces) wonton or eggroll wrappers

1 package (16 ounces,3 sausages) Boudin orAlligator Pork sausages

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup cornstarchPeanut oil for deep

fryingMustard Dip (recipe

follows)

In a large saucepan,cover the sausages withwater and bring to a boil.As water starts to boil,prick the sausages with thetip of a sharp knife to allowstream to escape and pre-vent bursting. Cook overlow heat for 15 minutes.Cool. Carefully removeskins without crumblingthe sausages.

Cut large 8-inch squarewonton or egg roll wrap-pers into 4 squares. Somewrappers can be obtainedalready cut into 4-inchsquares. Brush the won-tons 2 at a time with thecornstarch mixture.

To form tails: placeabout 1 tablespoon ofcooked boudin diagonallyin the middle of a wrapper.(You’ll need to cut the alli-gator-pork sausage intochunks, about 1- inch longand 1/2-inch in thick.) Foldthe first corner over thesausage. Fold in and stickdown the adjacent corner.Roll the wrapper com-pletely , sticking down theopposite corner with morecornstarch mixture to forma roll with one cornersticking out straight. Withmore cornstarch mixtureclose that fourth corner bypinching lengthwise into apoint to complete the tail.

Deep fry, 3 to 5 at atime, until golden brown,about two minutes; turnover, if necessary, to brownother side. Drain on papertowels. Serve with CreoleMustard Dip. Makes 48 to64 Gator Tails.

Creole MustardDip

1/4 cup EACH mayon-naise, sour cream, andCreole mustard

Tabasco to taste

In a small bowl, thor-oughly mix all ingredients.Makes 3/4 cup dip.

Pizza FootballsFrozen bread dough

to make 2 loaves, 1pound each

Olive oil1 jar or can (14

ounces) pizza sauce1 teaspoon dried

oregano1 teaspoon dried

basil 8 ounce package

shredded Mozzarellacheese

1/4 cup Parmesancheese

3 ounces pepperoni,finely chopped

1 small green pepper,finely chopped

1 egg, lightly beatenwith 1 teaspoon water(optional)

Thaw frozen breaddough at room tempera-ture for 2 to 3 hours. Pat orroll with a rolling pin eachloaf into a rectangle 5 inch-es wide, and at least 16inches long. With a pizzacutter, cut each rectangleinto 8 smaller rectangles, 2x 5 inches. Pat each towiden to 2 1/2 inches.

In a small bowl, mixtogether the pizza sauce,oregano and basil. Laydough rectangles on alightly floured surface.Brush surface with oil.Generously spread surfaceof each with pizza saucemixture, leaving about 1/4inch margin on each side,and 1/2 inch at the end.

Combine cheeses,chopped pepperoni, andchopped pepper. Sprinklesome mixture down thelength of each rectangle.Roll each starting at oneend. Taper the ends bypinching to make themlook like footballs, thechubbier the better. If theylook a bit lumpy or mis-shapen, don’t worry; theyeven out as they bake.

Place footballs on lightlygreased baking sheet.

Brush surface with eggmixture, if used. Bake at450 degrees for about 15minutes or until goldenbrown. Makes about 16.

Sloppy Jocks1/2 pound lean

ground beef1 large onion,

chopped2 tablespoons flour1 teaspoon garlic salt2 teaspoons

Worcestershire sauce1/2 teaspoon Tabasco

Sauce or to taste1 1/2 cups chili sauce1/2 cup water2 cans (1 pound each)

pork and beans8 hamburger buns,

split and toastedChopped fresh toma-

toes and red onions forgarnish

Shredded cheese forgarnish

8 hamburger buns

Crumble meat into askillet. Add onion andsauté until meat is nolonger pink and onion islimp. Stir in flour and sea-sonings. Add chili sauce,water, and beans. Bring toa boil. Cover and simmerfor 10 minutes. Keep warmover very low heat or on aheating plate.

Let the jocks slop theirown stuff on the buns.Have bowls of garnishesavailable. Makes 8.

Hungry FanJambalaya

2 whole chickens(about 2 pounds each),cut up

1/2 cup cooking oil1 pound lean pork,

cut into chunks2 large onions,

chopped2 cloves garlic,

minced1 teaspoon pepper2 teaspoons dried

PAGE 6 | SAINTS SUPER BOWL PART II | WEDNESDAY, FEB. 3, 2010

Super fare for your upcoming Super Bowl party

PEGGY STANFORDOne Bayou Kitchen

GATOR TAILS

SEE PARTY, PAGE 8


What is on your Super Bowl menu?

“Barbecue ribs.”

AMANDA LOSCHLacombe


“Black bean salsadip, hot mushroom

dip and some sort ofgilled sausage.”

CALA BARTONAbita Springs

“Well there will probably be deepfried turkey and

beer.”

GAIL GULLANGMandeville

“Buffalo wild wings,jambalaya, mini muffulettas and

kings cake and thatis as far as I know.”

JACKIE REILEYCovington

“Probably some jambalaya and

barbecue and maybesome gumbo. Stuff

that goes a longway.”

LISA LUCIDPonchatoula

“Crawfish!”

WAYLON GROVESMandeville


basil2 teaspoons salt2 cups uncooked

white rice1 pound andouille,

cut into chunks2 large fresh toma-

toes1 bay leaf3 cans condensed

chicken broth, undilut-ed

1 1/2 pound largeshrimp, shelled

Tabasco Sauce totaste

2 lemons cut intowedges

In large skillet in hot oil,brown chicken pieces untilgolden. Remove pieces asthey brown. Add cubedpork to skillet; brown wellon all sides. Remove. Todrippings in skillet, addonion, garlic, and season-ings. Sauté, stirring, until

onion is limp and golden.Add rice and cook, stirring,for another 10 minutes.

Place chicken, andouille,and pork in a roasting pan.Add tomatoes, bay leaf, andchicken broth, to rice mix-ture in skillet. Bring to aboil. Add shrimp. Spoonmixture evenly over chick-en, pork, and andouille inpan. Cover tightly with foil.

Bake at 375 degrees for 1hour. If mixture is too dry,add 1/2 cup boiling water.Cover again and bakeanother 15 to 20 minutes.Serve with lemon wedges.Serves 10 to 12.

Celebration(Eggplant) Caviar

1/4 cup butter ormargarine (1/2 stick)

1 large onion,chopped

1 clove garlic, minced1 large eggplant, peel

and cut into 1/2-inch

chunks1 can (8 ounces)

tomato sauce1/2 teaspoon EACH

salt and pepperTabasco sauce to

taste2 teaspoons lemon

juice

In skillet, melt butter.Add onion, garlic, and egg-plant and sauté over lowheat until onion is limp.Add tomato sauce. Coverand simmer over very lowheat for 45 minutes, stir-ring occasionally. If mix-ture strats to stick or getstoo thick, add water, 1tablespoon at a time untilof desired consistency.

When mixture is thick,remove from heat and addremaining ingredients.Chill until ready to serve.Use as a dip or to spread oncrackers. Makes about 3cups.

GEAUX SAINTS!!!!

» FROM PAGE 6

PARTY:


Game 9In a game that was once

again littered with mistakesand defensive breakdowns,the New Orleans Saintsescaped their first potentialloss of the season with a 28-23 victory over the 1-8 St.Louis Rams at the EdwardJones Dome in St. Louis.

With the win, the Saintsextended their seasonrecord to 9-0, matching thelongest winning streak infranchise history.

Saints running backReggie Bush scored twice,and quarterback DrewBrees compensated for twointerceptions by throwingfor two scores of his own.Kick returner CourtneyRoby also added a scorewith a 97-yard kickoffreturn to begin the secondhalf.

“You’re not going to bloweveryone out,” said Saintscornerback Randal Gayafter the tight ballgame.“It’s a lot harder to blowteams out when, for a lot ofteams, this is like their play-off game.”

Neither team scoreduntil the second quarter,when the Rams and Saintseach traded off a pair oftouchdowns. Bush scoredfirst with a 3-yard run, butthe Rams quickly answeredwith a 29-yard touchdownpass from Rams quarter-back Marc Bulger to widereceiver Donnie Avery. TheSaints went ahead with a15-yard scoring pass fromBrees to Bush, but the Ramsevened things up again with2-yard score by runningback Steven Jackson.

The game came down tothe final play of the finaldrive. Down five with notimeouts left, the Ramsdrove from their own 20 tothe Saints 32-yard line. Asthe final seconds tickedaway, Bulger heaved a des-peration pass into the end

zone that was broken up bya gaggle of Saints defenders.

Game 10After three straight games

of close, mistake-filled foot-ball, the high-powered NewOrleans Saints offense flexedsome muscle in a 38-7 dis-mantling of the Tampa BayBuccaneers at RaymondJames Stadium in Tampa.

The Saints shrugged off aslow start defensively, shut-ting down the Bucs afterallowing a long touchdowndrive to open the game. Thedefense forced young Tam-pa Bay quarterback JoshFreeman in to three inter-ceptions, a fumble andthree sacks.

On offense, the team tookadvantage of Freeman’smistakes and got back to thequick scoring habits theyhad become accustomed to.

The Bucs opening drive,which stretched 95 yards,culminated with an 18-yardscoring pass from Freemanto wide receiver MichaelClayton and a short-lived 7-0 lead. Freeman wouldenjoy very little success therest of the day.

Saints quarterback DrewBrees completed 19 of 29passes for 187 yards, threetouchdowns and no inter-ceptions. Running backPierre Thomas gained 92yards on 11 carries and MikeBell added 75 more yards on13 carries.

The Saints answeredFreeman’s touchdown passwith a 4-yard scoring re-ception from Brees to widereceiver Robert Meachem.They then took the lead at10-7 with a 38-yard JohnCarney field goal, whichwas set up by an intercep-tion by Saints rookie cor-nerback Malcolm Jenkins.

Poor clock managementby the Bucs, along withsome fine defensive play,allowed the Saints to

stretch their lead to 17-7 atthe half when Brees onceagain connected withMeachem on a 6-yard strike.

In the second half, Breeshooked up with tight endDavid Thomas for an 11-yard strike, and Bell scoredon touchdown runs of threeyards and one yard.

Game 11Brees unleashed a per-

fect performance to keepthe team’s unblemishedrecord intact with a 38-17victory over the NewEngland Patriots in a Mon-day night game at theSuperdome.

A record crowd of 70,768watched Brees make onepinpoint throw after anoth-er. He finished the game 18for 23, racked up 371 yardsand passed for five touch-downs. His 16.1 yards perpassing attempt broke afranchise record that wasset in 1992 by Bobby He-bert, and his 158.3 passerrating was the highest of hiscareer.

“It only counts for onewin on the stat sheet, butemotionally, those types ofwins can mean a littlemore,” Brees said after thegame. “Anytime you canwin, and win that way, itbuilds confidence for you.”

Five different players(running back PierreThomas, tight end DarnellDinkins and wide receiversDevery Henderson, Mar-ques Colston and RobertMeachem) caught touch-downs from Brees on thenight. The team finishedwith 480 yards of totaloffense and an average of9.6 yards per play, a figureBrees called “ridiculous.”

By improving to 11-0, theSaints joined the Indian-apolis Colts as the onlyother undefeated team in

Road to Super BowlGames 9-13

SEE 9-13, PAGE 10

the league. It was the firsttime in NFL history thattwo teams started their sea-sons with 11-0 records.

The game was so out ofreach Patriots head coachBill Belichick pulled manyof his starters, includingBrady, with more than fiveminutes left in the game.

The Saints took the leadearly with a 30-yard field

goal from kicker JohnCarney. The Patriots wouldrespond with a 14-play, 80-yard drive that culminatedwith a 4-yard touchdownmarch by running backLaurence Maroney.

After a series of stalls byboth teams, Brees contin-ued the scoring with a 75-yard bomb to Henderson.The speedy receiver waswide open at midfield andrambled untouched into

the end zone.The Patriots would add a

field goal from kickerStephen Gostkowski to cutthe lead to 17-10, but Breeswould answer right backwith a 38-yard scoring passto Meachem to make it 24-10 at halftime.

Maroney opened thethird quarter with his sec-ond touchdown run, butthe Saints responded twicewith TD passes of 2 and 20

yards to end the game.

Game 12The Saints got a 33-30,

skin-of-your-teeth over-time win over the Wash-ington Redskins at FedExField in Maryland.

With the win, the Saintsimproved to 12-0 andclinched the NFC Southtitle for the second time infour years, but it certainlydid not come easy.

The Saints opened thegame in a 10-0 hole afterRedskins quarterback Jas-on Campbell threw an 8-yard touchdown pass totight end Fred Davis, andkicker Shaun Suishamnailed a 32-yard field goal.

They would respondwith 10 of their own on aGarrett Hartley 34-yardfield goal and a Breestouchdown strike of 40yards to wide receiverMarques Colston.

The Skins regained thelead at 17-10 with a 5-yardtouchdown pass fromCampbell to wide receiverDevin Thomas. That waswhen things started to getinteresting.

With no timeouts, andonly 43 seconds left in thehalf, Brees fired a despera-tion pass from his own 44-yard line that was pickedoff by Redskins safetyKareem Moore, who gotback up and started run-ning to his left. Moorereached the sideline andencountered wide receiverRobert Meachem. Meach-em managed to strip theball from Moore’s grasp andramble back 44 yards forthe tying touchdown, pro-ducing one of the most bi-zarre plays in NFL history.

The Redskins openedthe second half with 10unanswered points after

another Suisham field goaland a 13-yard touchdownpass from Campbell toThomas. The Saints wouldcut the lead to 27-20 on a28-yard field goal by Hart-ley, but Suisham answeredagain with a kick from 21yards to make it 30-20.

After a third field goalfrom Hartley brought theSaints back within seven,Campbell orchestrated aseven-play drive thatbrought the Skins down tothe Saints 3-yard line. With2:46 left in regulation,Suisham trotted out for a23-yard field goal — whichsailed wide to the right.Five plays later, the Saintswere back in the end zoneafter Brees connected withMeachem for a 53-yardtouchdown to tie the gamewith 1:19 left. An intercep-tion by Saints linebackerJonathan Vilma killed anyhope the Redskins had ofwinning the game in regu-lation.

In overtime, the Red-skins won the toss and tookthe ball first. On the thirdplay of the extra period,Saints cornerback ChrisMcAllister forced a fumbleat the Redskins 37-yard line.A review from the officialsruled in favor of the Saints,who took over on offense.Brees and the offense ad-vanced the ball to theRedskins 1-yard line, whereHartley drilled an 18-yardfield goal for the win.

Game 13The pursuit of perfection

continued for New Orleansafter edging the AtlantaFalcons in Week 14, 26-23,sealing matters on a hit bySaints middle linebackerJonathan Vilma on Falconsrusher Jason Snelling thatbrought him down short of

a fourth down conversion. That stop came after

Vilma intercepted a pass onAtlanta’s previous posses-sion to end a threat.

The Falcons were miss-ing a pair of its stars inquarterback Matt Ryan andtailback Michael Turner.

The Saints were hurtingin their secondary, withtheir three top cornerbacksout because of injury.

Brees threw for 296yards and three touch-downs but was dueled suc-cessfully for most of the dayby Falcons quarterbackChris Redman, who fin-ished with 303 yards and atouchdown. The banged-up Saints’ defense gave up392 yards and forced onlyone Atlanta punt, but it did-n’t cost them.

The Saints appeared tobe pulling away when Breesfound Reggie Bush on a 21-yard score to cap the open-ing possession of the sec-ond half, pushing the Saintsahead 23-9.

But the Falcons ans-wered with a big play whenRedman found MichaelJenkins wide open downfield for a 50-yard touch-down reception.

Snelling would tie thingsup in the fourth quarter,scoring from four yardsaway with 12:56 left in thegame.

Garrett Hartley made a38-yard field goal with 4:42remaining for what wouldbe the deciding points.

Vilma intercepted Red-man to end Atlanta’s nextdrive, but the Saints could-n’t close things out, failingto get points after anincompletion fell on a fakefield goal attempted pass byMark Brunell. But Vilmacame through again on afourth-and-two play, stop-ping Snelling cold on a passreception at the Saints’ 46.

While lacking in stylepoints, New Orleans set afranchise record for wins ina season, clinched a first-round bye in the playoffsand moved a step closer tohome-field advantage.

PAGE 10 | SAINTS SUPER BOWL PART II | WEDNESDAY, FEB. 3, 2010

» FROM PAGE 9

9-13:


Saints’ Brees ‘da man’on and off the field

By Mike PervelSt. Tammany News

Saints QB Drew Brees,the club’s undisputedleader, is the All-Americanguy that you definitelywould want as a member ofyour organization based onhis tireless work ethic andgame preparation. Drew is adoer when it comes to com-munity involvement.

He is a household namethroughout the state forwhat he brings to the teamboth on and off the gridiron.He is a caring, compassion-ate individual, who is trust-ed and respected by histeammates and members ofthe greater New Orleanscommunity that he servesdoing whatever he can tomake the Big Easy a betterplace. Drew arrived in NewOrleans in 2006 from theSan Diego Chargers, andquickly became entrenchedwith helping make the citya better place.

In the past, Drew hasbeen quoted as saying hefelt a calling after visitingthe city following thedestruction and devastationwreaked by HurricaneKatrina. His journey toNew Orleans came at theright time in his career andhe is adored by the entireWho Dat Nation, foundedby former Saints’ quarter-back Bobby Hebert, theCajun Cannon.

Fortunate for the Saints’franchise and the commu-nity he now serves, thatcalling as a part of theBlack-and-Gold’s destinybeing in a Super Bowl play-ing for the most covetedprize in all of sports.

Drew’s commitment andgenuine concern along withtremendous support anddevotion from his wifeBrittany continues to paydividends for everyone whocomes in contact with thearticulate, professional ath-

lete. Brees, a fixturethroughout the community,prides himself in beinginvolved with his BreesDream Foundation with themission to provide care,education and opportuni-ties for children facingadversity. His charitableendeavors are widespreadand he is extremely activein the community doingmore than his fair sharewhen it comes to being in aposition to help others. InNew Orleans, his effortscontinue raising funds forOperation Kids, and he hasheld the Drew BreesGridiron Classic for youthfootball teams along withthe “Brees on the Seas”youth deep-sea fishingevent off the Louisianacoastline. He also hosts anannual golf tournamentthat distributes money tochildren’s causes in NewOrleans and San Diego.

Brees’ journey from theChargers via PurdueUniversity to the Saints is atrue blessing for all con-cerned. Brees was aHeisman Trophy finalist in1999 and 2000. He won theMaxwell Award as thenation’s outstanding player

in 2000. He was a finalistfor the Davey O’BrienAward as the nation’s topquarterback in 1999 and2000. He ended his careeras Big Ten and Purdue’s all-time leader in passing yards(11,792), touchdown passes(90), total yards (12,693),completion percentage(.611), completions (1,026)and attempts (1,678).

His athletic accomplish-ments are tremendous andhe has garnered numerousprestigious awards. He wasthe first recipient of theSocrates Award, recogniz-ing the nation’s finest ath-lete in terms of academics,athletics and communityservice. He was selectedPurdue’s Male Athlete ofthe year as a junior and sen-ior and received the Big TenConference Medal ofHonor in 2001.

I had an opportunity tomeet and spend some timewith Brees back on April 30,2007 when he was a guestspeaker at St. Paul’s Schoolduring a leadership gather-ing sponsored by theWolves. The Saints signalcaller was a dramatic,

SEE BREES, PAGE 12

Shown is Saints quarterback Drew Brees withCovington Mayor Candace Watkins. (File Photo)


instant hit with the stu-dents and faculty, demon-strating qualities anddemeanor of an extremelyhumble athlete.

His persona is electricand commands your atten-tion when he is in the room.Brees, the Saints’ most pro-lific passer in history, deliv-ered a strong message to theSt. Paul’s student body dur-ing his address. His talkdealt with making the mostout of adversity. He spokeabout his challenges insports and how he has hadto overcome adversity. Hetalked about how sports-related injuries, includinghis shoulder surgery fol-lowing his injury while

playing for the Chargershave challenged him alongthe way.

Even though his com-ments took place almosttwo years ago, the basis ofwhat he said is applicabletoday. His comments res-onate still today and he livesby his creed of workingthrough difficult timesalways giving it his best.Drew’s successes both onand off the field are a testa-ment to his commitment todoing things the right way.

“You will face adversityin life, and it is important tobe able to turn that adversi-ty into opportunity. God hasa plan for every one of you.You need to turn adversityinto a positive,” Brees said.

During his talk, he chal-

lenged the students toexpect more out of them-selves and each other.

“Consider what you canaccomplish and give back.Hold yourself accountablefor your actions. It’s aboutbrotherhood and countingon the guy next to you. Youhave to have each other’sback,” said the Saints QB.

Up Close and Personalwith Drew Brees:

Born Jan. 15, 1979 inAustin, Texas. He traveledto Afghanistan, Kuwait andOkinawa on USO missionsin support of the country’sdeployed troops.

He earned a degree inindustrial management andmanufacturing from Pur-due and graduated with a3.4 GPA.

BREES:» FROM PAGE 11

Fleur de Lisflow from hoodies,from big, happy tears,and under oak trees.

Big Fleur de Lispeek from cemeteries,the frolicking spirits give

their approving decrees.Flags fly from vehicles

that glide down the street.An instant friendship

with all that you meet.Because all feel the

rhythm inside their heart-beat.

Who Dat.Who Dat.Who Dat.

Every person has theirstory.

In the Dome or glued totheir TV,

holding hands and ontheir knees,

That field goal soaredthrough goal posts of histo-ry.

Who Dat. Who Dat.Who Dat.

Children grew up withthis dream in their eye.

Nothing could drown it,now look at it fly.

From every dark cornerto high in the sky.

Who Dat.Who Dat.Who Dat.

We couldn't be prouderof what you have done.

Bless you, boys! Andhave so much fun!

The city was lost, nowthe city has won.

Big love from Who DatNation,

SAINTS #1!Who Dat.Who Dat.Who Dat!

Ode to the Black and GoldBy Jennifer SchemkeBaton Rouge


Local leaders partof Who Dat NationBy Erik Sanzenbach

St. Tammany News

When it comes to beingSaints’ fans, elected officialsand other leaders in St.Tammany Parish are proba-bly the biggest supportersof the Bless You Boys.

In Slidell, City CouncilPresident Lionel Hicks isfamous for his love of theSaints. He said he has beenthere since the beginning in1967, rooting for the Saints.Hicks is a long-time seasonticket holder. Even duringthe team’s lean times, Hickssaid he has always beenbehind them 100 percent.

“I never wore the bagover my head, or got angry.I always stay until the endof the game, no matter whatwas happening,” Hicks said.

Of course, he was at theNFC Championship gameSunday and Hicks said thatwhen the ball went throughuprights for the Saints’ win-ning field goal, he wasrelieved.

“That kick felt like a big,big weight had been liftedoff my shoulders,” he said.“It was like nothing else Ihad ever felt before.”

As of Wednesday, Hicksnow has the opportunity tosee the Saints in the SuperBowl Feb. 7. DuringWednesday’s raffle forSuper Bowl tickets, Hickscame up the winner, and heand his wife will be cheer-ing on the Saints to victoryover the Colts.

Slidell Mayor Ben Morrisis all smiles about theSaints’ first trip to the BigGame.

“I am very happy aboutit. I’ve been looking for-ward to this for years,”Morris said.

He said he has beengoing to Saints games whenthey played at the TulaneStadium, and he was there

when Tom Dempsey madehis famous 63-yard fieldgoal in 1970 to beat theDetroit Lions.

“I’ve met Archie andPeyton Manning, and theyare very nice people,”Morris said, “But I want theSaints to wear out Peyton.”

Morris said he hasordered up two GeauxSaints banners that willhang from the City Hall sec-ond-floor balcony and theMardi Gras reviewing standon Front Street. He said hetold city workers that theycan dress in their favoriteSaints clothing all the wayup to Super Bowl Sunday.

State Rep. Kevin Pearsonsaid that when GarrettHartley made his winningfield goal Sunday, he was inthe middle of praying infront of his television.

“I opened my eyes, got upoff my knees and yelled,‘Yeah’,” Pearson said. “NowI have this smile I can’twipe off my face.”

Pearson thinks that theSaints finally getting intothe Super Bowl is a goodomen for Louisiana.

“It’s all about the pridewe have for the Saints,”Pearson said. “This lets therest of the country knowthat Louisiana has changedfor the better.”

As for Super Sunday,Pearson said the only planhe has is to sit in front of thetelevision at his home andwatch the game.

Capt. Kevin Foltz, publicinformation officer for theSlidell Police Departmentsaid he had a similar reac-tion to Sunday’s game asHicks.

“It was more of a reliefthat we had finally won theNFC Championship,” Foltzsaid. “Now we will get therespect that we have alwaysdeserved.”

Foltz said that for theSuper Bowl, he doesn’t haveany big plans. He and otherpolice officers will have towork security detail for theKrewe of Dionysus thatrolls a half hour early Feb. 7so people can get home intime to watch the Saints.

“We may have a couple offriends over to watch thegame,” Foltz said.

State Rep. Greg Cromerwas giddy when askedabout the Saints going toMiami.

“Everybody has a smileon their face,” Cromer said.“The win was fantastic andgreat for the morale of thecommunity.”

He jokingly said that hisonly concern is the lack ofproductivity from Saintsfans during the two weeksup to the Super Bowl.

“But after over 40 years,it really worth it,” Cromersaid.

He had a chance to go toMiami by boat. Cromer saida friend of his was sailing toMiami and invited him, buthe could not leave work. SoCromer said he wouldprobably fly to Miami Feb. 7and watch the game on tele-vision on his friend’s boat.

“There is no way I couldget tickets to the game. I

“I’ve met Archieand Peyton Man-ning, and they arevery nice people.But I want the

Saints to wear outPeyton.”

BEN MORRISSlidell mayor

SEE LEADERS, PAGE 15


wasn’t included in the gov-ernor’s entourage,” he said.

Slidell Councilman atlarge Landon Cusimanosaid he felt “euphoria” Jan.24 when the Saints won.

“Words cannot describewhat I felt inside,” he said.

He has long roots withthe Saints. His father andgrandfather were originalseason ticket holders, andthe three of them went toall the Saints’ games nomatter the outcome.

“For years it was always‘wait until next year,’ andnow it is here,” Cusimanosaid.

Like Morris, Pearson,and Hicks, Cusimano has alot of fond memories ofwatching the Saints inTulane Stadium in uptownNew Orleans. His fatherhad a client who lived nearthe stadium, and they couldalways park in the man’sdriveway.

“The unfortunate thingis that my grandfather did-n’t live to see this,” Cusi-mano said.

He said that for SuperSunday all he wanted to dowas sit in front of his televi-sion and watch.

In Washington, D.C.,Congressman Steve Scaliseis showing his Who Datspirit by having a friendlywager with his colleagueCongressman Andre Car-son, who representsIndianapolis. When theSaints win the Super Bowl,Carson will have to wear aSaints tie and make aspeech on the House floorexpounding on the great-ness of the New OrleansSaints.

If for some unfath-omable reason the Saintsshould not win, Scalise willhave to wear a Colts’ tie andmake a speech on how won-derful the IndianapolisColts have been this season.

State Sen. A.G Crowe

also thinks the Saints havegone through too many yearsof losing and disappoint-ment, but our time has come.

“In the past the Saintshave invented many ways tolose a game. This year, theyinvented many ways to wingames,” Crow said.

The senator also came upwith an interesting idea toget the spirit up for SuperBowl.

“They should makeArchie Manning the hon-orary captain for the SuperBowl,” Crowe joked. “Thatwould play with the mindof his son.”

All said that they wereoptimistic about the Saintscoming out victorious nextweek. But even if they don’t,the team has done an amaz-ing thing.

“We will love them nomatter what happens,”Pearson said.

“It is their destiny to bethere,” Cromer said withfinality.

» FROM PAGE 14

LEADERS:


Game 14The crowd assembled at

the Louisiana Superdomestood and applauded fortheir team. Only, for thefirst time all season, it was-n’t in appreciation for a vic-tory.

The New Orleans Saintsquest for an undefeatedseason came to an end atthe hands of the DallasCowboys in a Week 14Saturday night game, 24-17.

“This is going to sting fora while but we’ve got to beable to put this behind us,”Saints quarterback DrewBrees said, noting the Saintsremained in control to fin-ish with the No. 1 playoffseeding in the NFC. “It’s allabout the next game.”

The Saints appeared des-tined not to lose, and itlooked for awhile that theimprobable comebackwould be their’s to pluck,especially after a Breescompletion to MarquesColston for a fourth-and-one conversion. Thanks inpart to Colston’s one-hand-ed reception, New Orleansmarched to midfield — buttime became a factor.

With less than 10 sec-onds remaining, the Saintshad to attempt a Hail Marypass for the endzone. ButBrees never got it away.Instead he was sacked andstripped of the ball byDeMarcus Ware. Jay Ratliffrecovered for Dallas, silenc-ing the Superdome crowdas the Cowboys celebrated.

Very little went right forBrees, who was interceptedonce, sacked four times andpressured all night. Evenwhat looked like a certain36-yard touchdown pass inthe third quarter slippedthrough Devery Hender-son’s hands in the end zone.Brees was sacked bySpencer soon after and thedrive ended with a punt.

New Orleans scoredfewer than 20 points for the

first time in their last 23games. The loss snappedthe Saints’ five-game winstreak vs. the Cowboys.

Brees’ touchdown pass toMoore was his 121st as aSaint, breaking the previousclub record set by AaronBrooks.

Game 15After losing for the first

time all season in Week 15to Dallas, the Saints ap-peared to be rolling to a vic-tory over the Tampa BayBuccaneers after taking a17-0 lead.

But a furious second halfrally left the Saints with atwo-game losing streak, thelatest coming in overtime,20-17 on Conner Barth’sgame-winning 47-yard fieldgoal.

Only minutes earlier,Saints kicker Garrett Hart-ley missed a 37-yarder wideleft at the end of regulation,leaving the door open forTampa.

The Bucs won the toss inovertime and drove 48yards to the Saints’ 29,mostly thanks to the run-ning of Cadillac Williams,who ran nine times for 40yards on the drive.

It was the first time inNFL history that a 13-winteam lost to a team withonly two victories.

Twice, New Orleansreached the endzone in thefirst quarter, first on PierreThomas’ 8-yard run, thenon a 30-yard reception byRobert Meachem.

Hartley added a 28-yardfield goal in the secondquarter, and the powerfulSaints seemed like they hadregained their mojo afterstumbling against Dallas.

But that was it for theSaints’ offense. New Orl-eans stalled for the rest ofthe day, repeatedly comingup just short of first downsand punting the ball away.

Slowly, Tampa Bay took

advantage. First cameBarth’s 34-yard field goalbefore halftime. Then was a23-yard touchdown run byWilliams 1:46 into the fourthquarter to make it 17-10.

But the backbreakercame with 2:25 left in regu-lation when Michael Spur-lock returned a ThomasMorestead punt 77 yards totie the game. Then cameHartley’s miss and Barth’sovertime make.

Brees was held to 258yards passing and onetouchdown. The Saintsrushed for 124 yards, butgained only 28 yards on theground in the second half,when leading rusher Thom-as sat out with a rib injury.

Darren Sharper inter-cepted his ninth pass of theseason and set an NFLrecord for interceptionreturn yards in a seasonwith 376.

After receiving an assistfrom the Chicago Bears,who defeated the Minne-sota Vikings the Mondaynight prior, the NewOrleans Saints had homefield advantage throughoutthe NFC playoffs wrappedup before it took the field atCarolina in its final game ofthe regular season.

With that in mind, SeanPayton decided discretionwas the better part of valorand rested numerous start-ers, including most of hisoffensive stars. It showed ina 23-10 loss to the Panthersthat at times resembledmore of a fourth week pre-season showcase than any-thing.

“We’re comfortable inthat it’s the right thing todo,” said Saints head coachSean Payton on resting hiskey players in advance ofthe playoffs. “We workedhard to get ourselves in thisposition. Now it’s our job toget mentally ready for

Road to Super BowlGames 14-18

SEE 14-18, PAGE 18


what’s ahead.”Starting for the resting

Drew Brees, Saints quarter-back Mark Brunell threwfor just 102 yards and aninterception on 15-of-29passing for the Saints, whofinished the year with threeconsecutive losses. LynellHamilton also rushed for 48yards and a touchdown,racking up three receptionsfor 38 yards for New Orleans.

Carolina wasted no timetaking the momentumwhen Stewart rumbled for a67-yard touchdown on thegame’s second play fromscrimmage to make it 7-0.

Garrett Hartley’s 35-yardfield goal in the secondquarter drew the Saintswithin four, but Moorefound receiver DwayneJarrett for a 30-yard touch-down to put the Panthersahead 14-3.

Saints’ kick returnerCourtney Roby fumbledaway the ensuing kickoff,and Carolina recovered toset up a John Kasay 41-yardfield goal to end the half.He’d add two more fieldgoals in the third quarter toall but bury the Saints.

Hamilton’s one-yard runwith seven seconds left inthe quarter cut the Saints’deficit to 23-10, but twostraight New Orleans drivesin the fourth resulted inpunts.

Game 17“So much for being

rusty,” were the first wordsSaints’ coach Sean Paytonuttered to the assembledmedia after his team’s dom-inating 45-14 divisionalround victory over theArizona Cardinals.

For a week, Payton hadheard criticism about rest-ing his starters during itsWeek 17 loss to Carolina,how his team would enterthe postseason cold, ripe forthe pickings.

The Saints gained 418total yards and led 35-14 athalftime before puttingthings away for good in thethird quarter, capping a

sterling performance withReggie Bush’s 83-yard puntreturn for a score.

The performance elimi-nated the defending NFCchampion Cardinals andsent the top seeded Saintsto their second NFCChampionship game inteam history — and the firstin New Orleans.

“There’s no fan base thatdeserves a championshipmore than New Orleansand the Who Dat nation,”Brees said. “Just the bondthat we have with them isspecial. They give usstrength. They give us moti-vation, and we want to do itfor them.”

Game 18The Louisiana Super-

dome exploded into hyste-ria.

Raucous laughter, tearsof joy, strangers huggingstrangers — a concentratedmass of delirium that foralmost 43 years, localscouldn’t truly imaginebecoming a reality.

Until Jan. 24, 2010. Onthat day, it was as real as itgets.

Garrett Hartley’ 40-yardfield goal in overtime liftedthe New Orleans Saints to a31-28 victory over theMinnesota Vikings and thefirst Super Bowl berth infranchise history.

It lifted a long torturedfan base – one that onceupon a time had adornedpaper bag masks on theirheads, one that had seen itsteam win all of two playoffgames in the 42 seasonsprior – into a massive cele-bration. That the processbecame complete only fouryears after Hurricane Ka-trina was mere lagniappefor Saints fans, who hadlonged forever to see theirteam win big.

“This is for everybody inthis city,” said coach SeanPayton. “This stadium usedto have holes in it and usedto be wet. It’s not wet any-more. This is for the city ofNew Orleans.”

It wasn’t a matter-of-factcoronation at all for the

NFC champions, however.Not against a Vikings teambent on erasing its own his-tory of late-season short-comings.

After a Saints’ punt latein the fourth quarter,Minnesota took over and40-year-old Brett Favre ledthe Vikings into Saints ter-ritory. A 17-yard ChesterTaylor run set Minnesotaup at the Saints’ 33. With 19seconds left, the Vikingscalled timeout with a third-and-10 play upcoming.

But upon their return tothe field, a substitutionerror resulted in a 12-men-in-the-huddle penalty, set-ting Minnesota back fiveyards.

On the next play, Favrerolled right and threwacross his middle to receiv-er Sidney Rice, The Saintswon the overtime coin flip,and Pierre Thomas – whoscored twice in the game –returned the kickoff to theSaints’ 39. He’d convert akey fourth-and-one play tokeep the drive alive inVikings’ territory. TheSaints would finally stall atthe Minnesota 22, wherethey would call uponHartley. The second-yearkicker kicked it dead centerand instantly became a heroin New Orleans lore.

The Vikings wereundone by five turnovers,including three lost fum-bles. The Saints, conversely,turned it over only once.

One of those Viking fum-bles led to the Saints’ finaltouchdown – Percy Harvin’sfumble recovered by RemiAyodele at the Vikings’ 7 ledto a touchdown pass fromDrew Brees to Reggie Bushthat made it 28-21 early inthe fourth quarter.

The Vikings answered totie via Adrian Peterson’s 1-yard scoring run with 4:58left in regulation.

Favre finished 28 of 46for 310 yards and a touch-down. Brees went 17 of 31for 197 yards and three TDs.

The crowd of 71,276 wasthe largest ever in theSuperdome for a Saintsgame.

14-18:» FROM PAGE 17


The Saints fansSt. Tammany ParishSaints fans Britta andSteele Miceli pose withthe Saints Fan just beforethe Jan. 24 Saints/Vikings NFCChampionship game.


When I see the ring,on a Saint finger,I will jump for joybut then I will linger.

How did they get there?What did they do?How did they makea city’s dream come true?

It started in Julyon a bright summer day,when the Saints beganto find there way.

Coach Payton had faithfor his players and team,he knew that they couldaccomplish their dream.

They went through two-a-daysmeetings and more,it was a hard summerand the players felt sore.

Finally the season beganThe Saints started strong;1-0, 2-0, 3-0, and morepeople were already singing the

Saints song.

The Saints were 8-0they had broken the record,they had never gotten so many winsin a row, ever.

The season continuedand the Saints didn’t slow,they were 1 of 2 teamsthat were 12-0.

Sadly the streak stopped at 13-0,the Saints had finally hit a bump in the road.

The season had ended,they were 13-3and the city of New Orleanswas filled with glee.

The playoffs beganthe Saints were playing in the domethe fans felt hopefulthat they were playing at home.

The Saints played the Cardinalsand Bush had a gamehe returned a puntand the crowd went insane.

Next we played the Vikingsand we fought to the enduntil Hartley made a field goalthat went straight in.

The Saints had done itthey were going to the Super Bowlthe Saints had never accomplished that goal.

The Super Bowl,we don’t know who will win,will the Saints triumph?or will the Colts win again?

But one thing’s for sure,and I’m sure of that;you know who I’m pulling for,Who Dat!

WHEN I SEE THE RINGBy Daniel Hebert, 13Covington

| SAINTS WIN THE SUPER BOWL | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2010

SAINTS WIN THE SUPER BOWL | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2010 | PAGE 3

Who Dat fever strikes NorthshoreBy Debbie Glover

St. Tammany News

A malady known simplyas Who Dat Fever continuesto plague Louisiana. Mostrecently, in St. TammanyParish, the fever was evi-dent Monday morning asmany residents and school-age children suffered fromfatigue, hoarseness and apropensity to say Who Dat?,Drews Rules, Dat’s Dat,Shockey Shocked ‘Em andother epitaphs.

Other symptoms contin-ued into the week include alove of anything black andgold, particularly whenaccompanied by the fleur-de-lis and able to be worn asapparel.

Unlike other plagues ofthe past, Who Dat Feversufferers were gathered inone spot Tuesday night toexhibit their malady in NewOrleans at a parade.

Although Who Dat Fevercaused some school andbusiness closures this week,the fever is only quality oflife threatening causingeuphoria, happiness andexcessive smiling.

The Fever will continueinto Mardi Gras as blackand gold clad football play-ers will continue to spreadthe welcome maladythroughout the area inparades. The end of the epi-

demic-like malady is not insight, and even doctors, sur-geons and other medicalpersonnel have been knownto try to spread the diseasethroughout hospitals viasecond line parades.

Warning—the Who DatFever has affected peoplefrom 1 to 100-years old ofevery race, creed, nationali-ty and religion. Socialstanding, education andfinances are also no protec-

tion from the disease, and infact, those affected aretempted to spend theirmoney, as little or as muchas they have, on everythingfrom apparel to books,beads and even funny hats.

A general feeling ofgoodwill and an urge to hugeach other has also beenknown to occur.

There is no known curefor the fever and no end isin sight.

Jane Legendre’s pre-kindergarten students at St.Peter Catholic School in Covington wore Saints hel-mets that they made in class to the school’s Feb. 5Super Bowl pep rally. Shown wearing their helmetsare, from left, first row: Jacob Tarver, MichaelMcWilliams, Emily Van Dalen and Lilly Neft; and sec-ond row: Kate Meyer, Emily Dubuc, Dominic Roy,Karli Silva and Lance Lawson.

Above, asign on U.S.Highway190 pro-claims theuncontestedvictory ofthe Saintsfollowingthe SuperBowl. Atleft,SouthernBluesScreenPrintingowners RobHiggins, leftand RyanHiggins,right, help atruck driverload up astack ofboxes con-tainingSaints SuperBowl T-shirtsMondaymorningafter the bigwin.


In response to the overwhelming victory in Miami by the NewOrleans Saints, and expressing the emotions of the state and theWho Dat Nation, Gov. Bobby Jindal released the following state-ment on the Saints’ win.

“Geaux Saints! Believe dat. For the first time ever the NewOrleans Saints have won the Super Bowl and New Orleans isonce again at the forefront of the world stage – spotlighting ourdynamic city and amazing people who have made history againand again thanks to their intense passion and incredible perse-verance,” Jindal said.

In another statement, Jindal said, “Can You Believe Dat?!Our New Orleans Saints are the champions of the world. I am soproud of the players and the organization who have given NewOrleans and Louisiana hope through difficult times. Theiraccomplishments this year are a tribute to all the work they’vedone on and off the field. In honor of the New Orleans Saints andin recognition of the Who Dat Nation’s unwavering support, I’veofficially declared the week of Feb. 8 as “Saints Week.” GeauxSaints!

Jindal says‘Believe

Dat’WHEREAS, the New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 to win their

first ever Super Bowl in 43 years; and

WHEREAS, Tracy Porter’s game-clinching interception and Thomas Morstead’s game-changing onside kick will forever be ingrained in the memories of the Who Dat Nation; and

WHEREAS, the gutsy calls of Sean Payton and the skilled arm of Drew Brees has led theSaints through an unforgettable season; and

WHEREAS, the Saints played for more than just themselves, they played for a city and astate that has looked to the team for hope through difficult times; and

WHEREAS, the Saints have committed themselves to excellence on and off the field; and

WHEREAS, the Saints were always resilient much like the people of Louisiana perse-vered through four storms in three years; and

WHEREAS, the support of the Who Dat Nation has never waivered in good times or bad.

NOW THEREFORE, I proclaim this week, the week of February 8, 2010 as “SaintsWeek” in the State of Louisiana to commemorate the first Super Bowl win ever for the NewOrleans Saints.

Proclamation


Scenes from the Saints parade

A parade in New Orleanswas planned before the

Super Bowl to honor theSaints players, win orlose, for their accom-

plishments. The paradewas held Tuesday, and

the crowds were report-edly 20 people deep in

some areas as Saints’ fanseagerly awaited glimpses

of the boys in black andgold. (Photos Courtesy of

John Pervel)


If you thought it wascrazy at local sports storestwo weeks ago after theSaints won the NFCChampionship, it was totalmayhem Monday morningafter the Bless You Boysblew out the Colts to winthe Super Bowl.

When the game finishedat 8:45 p.m. Sunday, therewere long lines of WhoDats lined up outsideAcademy Sports, Geaux forthe Gold and the Who DatShop waiting to buy officialNFL Saints Super BowlChampion T-shirts, hatsand anything else that hadSaints’ markings.

Ronnie Dunaway, ownerof the Who Dat Shop inOlde Towne was a bitpunch-drunk Mondaymorning from lack of sleep.He said the store closedwhen the game started, and

reopened after.“They completely de-

pleted my inventory,”Dunaway said.

He closed for the night,took delivery on more mer-

chandise and reopenedearly Monday morning.

“Everything was sold outimmediately,” said Duna-way.

Geaux for the Gold

owner Melissa Richier saidpeople started lining up inthe parking lot even beforethe game was finished.

“They were chanting andhigh-fiving. It was amaz-ing,” Richier said. Her hus-band Chris said the lineextended to the RubyTuesday’s restaurant andbeyond.

“By the time we closed at1 a.m. we had sold about2,000 shirts and 1,000hats,” Chris Richier said.

That did not discourageWho Dats. By 8 a.m.Monday, another line hadformed, and the fans waitedpatiently for the Geaux forthe Gold doors to reopen at10 a.m. At the head of theline were two Slidell expa-triates, Sheila Clary andTeresa Chambers who livein Alabama and Tennesseerespectively.

“We came back just forthe game,” Clary said. “Andnow I have this long list ofSaints stuff I have to buybefore going back home.”

Another woman fromPicayune, Miss., waited atGeaux for the Gold becauseAcademy Sports was soldout of Saints gear.

Over at Academy, a longline of Saints fans snakedthrough the interior of thestore as Academy workerswaited for the next order ofT-shirts and caps to arrive.The store had been open allnight with a constantstream of people coming in

to get Saints gear.A Slidell resident,

Beverly Vaultz was at thehead of the long line insideAcademy. She had beenthere since 6:30 a.m.Monday, and it was 10 a.m.

“They said they wouldhave more stuff by 7,” Vaultzsaid. “I think they owe me.”

Soon, Academy employ-ees rolled down the longline with grocery cartsfilled to the brim withSuper Bowl Champion T-shirts. There was a collec-tive sigh of relief as fansgrabbed the shirts andrushed to the cash registers.

Though sports storeshad to work hard to keepSaints fans happy, the hard-est working people was thecrew at Southern BluesScreen Printing on FrontStreet. They have the exclu-sive contract with Reebokand the NFL to print up theT-shirts.

Co-owner Rob Higginssaid he had not been asleepyet, and didn’t plan to sleepuntil 8 p.m. Monday. Hesaid the shop had an origi-nal order of 6,000 shirtsright after the game, andthe number just kept get-ting higher all night andinto Monday.

“And we don’t plan tostop for the rest of theweek,” Higgins said as heand his brother, Ryan werehelping to load a big truckwith dozens of boxes of T-shirts.

Inside, printers KenBordelon and RaymondWood were a blur of motionas they kept the screen-printing press filled withplain shirts to be embla-zoned with the logo ofSuper Bowl Champions.Just as fast as the shirtswere taken off the press,other workers, WendyBurrell, and Gloria andJames Brakel were foldingthe shirts, affixing officialNFL tags and boxing them.

Local merchants werejubilant over the business,and they said they expectedthe rush to continue for therest of the week.

“We are planning on twoshipments a day all week,”Dunaway said. “And we areordering up all sorts ofother Super Bowl items likecups, towels, you name itand we’ll get it. So no needto panic, we will have it.”

Richier said her storewill have Saints gear allweek and beyond. “Wecan’s sell it fast enough,”she said.

Richier is happy for theeconomic boom, but to her,she is just amazed andhappy at how the Saints’Super Bowl win hasbrought people together inthe community.

“People are hugging andcrying, strangers are talkingand laughing with eachother. It is just such anamazing and wonderfulthing,” Richier said.

PAGE 6 | SAINTS WIN THE SUPER BOWL | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2010

Slidell fans are crazy for Saints’ Super Bowl gear

Southern Blues Screen Printing worker WendyBurrell applies NFL holographic stickers to newly-printed Saints Super Bowl Champions T-shirtsMonday morning in Slidell. (Staff Photo by ErikSanzenbach)


Abita Springs’ man representsWho Dat Nation in Miami

Where were you when the Saintswon?

“I watched at home withmy husband. I had seenthem play back in TulaneStadium a long time ago.I knew what it meant toour whole entire region

when they won.”

DR. JEAN KREIGERMandeville

COMPILED BY DEBBIE GLOVER | ST. TAMMANY NEWS


“I was at my brother’shouse in Kenner. Wewere all very excited,

happy. His neighbor fireda cannon-a real cannon.

It’s been a long timecoming.”

ELAINE LECOMPTEMandeville

“I was out with friends,laughing and crying at the

same time.”

JILL MCGUIREMandeville

“We were at a friend’shouse at a party with our

2-year-old daughterPeyton. Even the men

were in tears.”

LESLIE MILLERMandeville


Sim Strain and his oldestson, Sim, lived out thedream of being representa-tives of the awe-inspiringWho Dat Nation taking inthe sights and sounds ofSuper Bowl XLIV inMiami.

Strain, 50, the owner ofHoney Do Home Service,caught Tuesday’s paradecelebration by Harrahs inNew Orleans with hisyounger son, Eric.

Strain was so emotional-ly drained following theparade, but he was pumpedhaving gotten Saints’ freesafety Darren Sharper toautograph his authenticgame day No. 42 jersey,which he purchased im-mediately after the SuperBowl down in Miami.

Strain said when thefloat with Sharper ap-proached, the NFL veter-an, saw him with the jersey,and his Super Bowl ticket.

“I chased the float. Ithrew my jersey up to him.I guess I went two or threeblocks with the float untilhe signed it and dropped itback down to me. I had tofight the crowd the wholetime,” Strain said.

He paid $125 for the jer-sey at a merchandise storeinside the IntercontinentalHotel where the Saintswere staying.

Strain said he pickedSharper as his favoriteSaint based on him being“old school” and wearingNo. 42 close to signifyingthe years of the franchise.

“When the players sawmy Super Bowl ticket inthe holder with the confet-ti from the game they justbombed me with beads. Icouldn’t catch all of it. Theplayers were giving me big

love, pumping theirchests,” said the elated fan.

Strain talked about theenthusiastic crowd thatwas out to support theSaints in true New Orleans’fashion.

“It was one of the mostspecial times in NewOrleans’ history. The peo-ple just came together. Itwas the total opposite ofwhat happened duringKatrina. We put Katrina torest tonight (Tuesday). It’sover with. We can go for-ward now and rebuild thiscity as one city. That’s theway I feel,” Strain said.

The long-time Saints’fan said things needed tobe like it was 30 years agowhen the city was unitedand everybody cared abouteveryone else.

“It was old schooltonight. Working togetheris going to be more produc-tive than to worry aboutsomeone else to catch ourslack.”

“With the Super Bowlwe owned the moment.That was the saying at thegame this year. We ownedthe moment and we ownedit tonight. New Orleansowned the moment andthe world was watching,”said the Abita Springs’ res-ident.

Strain said the definingmoment was when DrewBrees took a knee with 44seconds on the clock in the44th Super Bowl.

“It’s like the stars in thesky were aligned. My son(Sim) and I were in the endzone behind Tracy Porterand we saw him break onthe ball. Sim said, dad, lookPorter is going to take it tothe house, it’s over.”

Strain said it was anhonor representing WhoDats, who couldn’t be therein person like all the New

Orleans’ firemen, police-men and ordinary fans thatcouldn’t make the trip.

“We brought it. Wenever sat down during thewhole game. We nevereven left our seat to go get acoke or use the rest room.We were off the hook. Wewere treated like royalty inMiami. There were timesafter the win that I didn’teven get a bill. People saidit was our night and theywere happy for us. I justcan’t explain how beautifuleverything was,” said thehandy man.

Strain said he felt like hebecame somewhat of a cultfigure being interviewed sooften while in Miami.

“I became a Super Saint

at the Super Bowl. Peoplewere calling me MVP formy moves, my vision andmy persistence to win.”

Strain not wanting tomiss a moment said he alsodrove to Disney World (378miles).

After doing the Disneything taking photos withhis official Sharper gear hemade his way back andthen drove to Tuesday’sparade.

“I’ve been up sinceSunday when I went to theSuper Bowl.”

Strain said he oweseverything to his wife, Ann,for allowing him to be an inperson part of the Saints’Super Bowl history downin Miami.

Strain got Darren Sharper to sign his jersey at Saints parade

Sim Strain shows off his Super Bowl ticket whilewearing his game day Darren Sharper jersey, whichwas autographed by the free safety at Tuesday’scelebration parade. (Staff Photo by Mike Pervel)


Tyler Turner was a littlelate getting to schoolMonday morning.

The Covington Element-ary student was among the50 people waiting in line forthe Black and Gold SportsShop to open.

His dad said Tyler insist-ed he needed a Saints shirt

to wear to school Monday.Six-year-old Aiden Keat-

ing was skipping schoolaltogether. He was stillexcited about the win andsaid his favorite Saints play-er is Jeremy Shockey.

His mom said he wasthrilled when “his man”caught a touchdown passfrom quarterback DrewBress.

“This is a special occa-

sion, I had to take him outof school,” his mom said.

Outside the store, Saintsfans talked about the bigwin while inside employeesscurried to bring out theSuper Bowl championshipmerchandise.

The store opened at 8:20and the first person in line,Sherri Thompson, said shearrived at 7 a.m.

“I had to get a T-shirt

and a hat,” she said. “Ialready have my newspa-pers.”

Terri Hughes was in linebehind her. She had to beto work for 8:30 but lefthome two hours early tomake sure she had time torun by the gas station andget a newspaper and thenby the Black and Gold shopto get her a T-shirt.

James Jackson said hedid not mind having to waitin line. In fact, he said hehopes to do it again soon.

“I hope we do this morethan every 43 years,” hesaid. Jackson moved toCovington from New Or-leans following HurricaneKatrina, and he said, hewanted a Super Bowl T-shirt to have something bywhich to remember theSaints’ win.

Denise Laurent alreadyhad her shirt and she waswearing it while she waitedoutside the store Monday.Her husband waited ap-proximately two hours out-side Academy after thegames ended but Academy

only allowed him to buythree shirts.

“We have five familymembers,” she explained asother admired her shirt.

Darin Dantin of AbitaSprings said he was soexcited about the win heheaded out to get a newspa-per at 4:30 a.m. Mondaymorning still wearing hislong underwear. He calledsomeone, who brought himsome pants before he head-ed over to the Black andGold Shop, where he waswaiting in line to get a T-shirt.

A check back at the storelater than afternoon uncov-ered that business re-mained strong long afterthe doors were unlocked.

Manager Norman Han-sen said sales were “phe-nomenal.”

At 4:30,they had alreadysold out of two shipments,totaling 40 cases, of T-shirts; and they were sellingthe last of the second ship-ment of hats as fast asHansen could pull them outof the box.

Katlyn Fry, her mom,Janie Fry; and her brother;Morgan Fry, were amongthose grabbing up some ofthe prized hats.

She said they had alreadybeen to three other storesthat were sold out.

“We’ll have more tomor-row,” he hollered over hisshoulder to those filing intothe store looking for theofficial championshipshirts.

He said the crowd ofshoppers had been steadysince he unlocked thedoors.

St. Tammany ParishSheriff ’s Deputy NickLama, who worked adetailed in the store most ofthe day Monday, said thecrowd while excited was“extremely well behaved.”

“Everyone was happy,”Deputy Ronnie Plaisanceadded. “They just wantedto come in and get theirmerchandise.”

On Tuesday Hansenclosed early so he and hisemployees could go watchthe celebration parade.

PAGE 8 | SAINTS WIN THE SUPER BOWL | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2010

Residents wait patiently for Super Bowl shirts

Excited fans wait outside the Black and Gold Sports Shop Monday morning,waiting for the doors to open so they could buy their Super Bowl Saints gear.(Staff Photo by Suzanne Le Breton)


Fitzmorris: Miami ‘waslike being on Bourbon’


Louis Fitzmorris is stillwalking on air after return-ing from Miami, where heand his brother watchedthe Saints win the SuperBowl.

The Abita Springs mayor,an avid Saints fan, saidbeing in Miami during thebig game was “like being onBourbon Street duringMardi Gras.”

While he ran into manySaints fans traveling thetwo hours between hiscousin’s house where hewas staying and the SunLife Stadium, once he got tohis seats in section 452 nearthe corner of theIndianapolis Colt’s endzone, he was “in a sea ofblue.”

He said over all the WhoDats outnumbered theColt’s fans by “about 20 to1” but in his area of the sta-

dium all but a handful offans were rooting for theblue and white, not theblack and gold.

However, he said, thefans from Indiana werevery well behaved and con-gratulatory after New Or-leans won.

He said one Colts faneven offered to take a pic-ture of him and his brotherafter the win.

“I have nothing but com-pliments for the Colts fans,”Fitzmorris said. “Everyoneshook our hand.”

He said after TracyPorter intercepted PeytonManning’s pass, Fitzmorrisand his brother were stand-ing up yelling, and when themadness ends they realizedthey were the only ones intheir section standing.

All in all, he said, he isglad he went, as it was aonce in a lifetime opportu-nity.

“There will never be any-

thing like this again,”Fitzmorris said.

He said he is sure theSaints will make it back tothe Super Bowl, but “therewill never be anything likethe first time.”

Fitzmorris said he neverhad a doubt that they wouldmake it to the big game thisyear.

“It was just that kind ofseason,” he said.

He also made it a point tobe at the celebratory paradein New Orleans Tuesdaynight.

He and his family alongwith his brother and hisfamily caught the parade onCanal Street.

He chose not to watch itin front to Gallier Hall withthe other elected officialsbecause he wanted to expe-rience it as a regular Saintsfan.

“I’m glad we went toshow our support,” he saidof the parade.

Abita Springs Mayor Louis Fitzmorris and his brother, Keith, react to the SaintsSuper Bowl victory.


Former offensive linemanKorte still pulling for Saints


The Saints ride to the top of theNFL has been special this seasonfor the loyal fans from the Who DatNation and former offensive line-man Steve Korte continues his spe-cial relationship with his formerteam through WWL radio.

Korte, the club’s first selection inthe 1983 draft out of Arkansas, wasthe 10th pick in the second round(No. 38 overall). Korte, a guard withthe Razorbacks, moved to centerand played 1983-1990 with theSaints. He played in 83 games log-ging 63 starts, donning No. 60.

He played for Bum Phillips,Wade Phillips and Jim Mora duringhis Saints’ tenure.

Korte, the co-host with MarkChafici on WWL radio’s popular“First Take” program, has had theprivilege of covering the Saints forthe past five seasons.

Korte said he enjoys being aradio analyst having a chance to usehis NFL experience to break downgames.

Korte summed up what theSaints’ victory means just momentsafter the team’s victory.

“It’s a culmination of a lot ofyears of hard work and frustrationsand foundations being built. Wehad some great teams in the 80s,but we never could reach sort ofour final goal of winning a SuperBowl. To see the Saints’ franchisefinally be able to do that kind ofgives me some closure on thecareer that I had there. Knowing infact that the team did do that even-

tually,” Korte said.“I’m just so

proud to be partof the organiza-tion. Once you area Saint, you arealways a Saintand that goeswithout saying.I’m extremelyproud of them,”the former line-man said.

Korte said the Saints’ fans didn’tget discouraged when the Saintsfell behind 10-0 in the first quarter.

“Saints fans are so educatedwhen it comes to football.Everybody knows the Saints are asecond half team. The fans watch-ing the game at Deanie’s felt that ifthey could keep it within strikingdistance, we’d be okay and sureenough they did,” Korte said.

He talked about coach SeanPayton having the guts to start thesecond half calling for an onsideskick.

“To start off the second half withthat call was remarkable. That wasa huge gamble. You can call theplays, but unless you execute them,they don’t mean much. The down-side is that if you don’t get it, yougive Peyton Manning a short fieldand he will kill you,” Korte added.

Korte said the fact the Saintswere able to capitalize on it (scor-ing a touchdown) was more impor-tant.

“That score set the tone for therest of the game.”

Korte said looking back its kindof hard to second-guess Sean

Payton, but I did second-guess himon that fourth-and-goal situationfrom the one.

“I felt they should have justkicked it and live to fight anotherday taking the three points, but it allworked out,” Korte said.

Korte said stopping the Colts ontheir possession forcing a punt wasa big momentum swing as theSaints’ Garrett Hartley kicked oneof his three field goals.

“Getting that field goal kind ofevened things out going into half-time. I always worry about howmuch time they are spending in thelocker room. It seemed like it wasforever. It was the longest halftimeI’ve ever seen in my entire life. Ohmy God, I know its about showbusiness and all that, but I know asa player I can’t imagine halftimeslasting that long.”

Korte talked about the key TracyPorter interception, which he tookto the house.

“He did that because he has atremendous football IQ and hasdone a lot of film study. You couldsee him anticipating the play andhe jumped the route. We needed aturnover there more than anything.The fact that he was able to scorewith it was just one more thing thatthis team has done all year long. Ithink that’s eight returns for touch-downs coming off of turnoversdefensively,” Korte said.

Korte watched the Super Bowl atDeanie’s after doing the pre-gameshow.

“I sat there with Bobby (Hebert,the founder of the Who Dat Nation)and those guys. It was a fun place to

watch it.”Korte shared his thoughts on

Dree Brees’ MVP performance.“He gets pretty amped up for

games. After his slow start, he justneeded to settle down. Once he goton track and realized the Colts’scheme he just cut them apart. Hegot so hot and what a time to havethat kind of game,” Korte remarked.

Brees clicked on 32-of-39 passesfor 288 yards with two touchdownsand no interceptions.

Korte was asked how special itmust have been for Brees to holdhis son (Baylen) on the field follow-ing the Super Bowl triumph.

“Anytime you can involve yourchildren and kind of bring them tothe fold that’s certainly what it’s allabout because that is what you aredoing it for. It was really neat to seethat.”

Korte’s son Scott, a senior defen-sive lineman with theFontainebleau Bulldogs signed hisnational letter of intent last week toattend Southeastern LouisianaUniversity to play for the Lions.Korte’s oldest son Steven, who alsoplayed football for the Bulldogs andthe LSU Tigers, spent some timewith Green Bay after being signedto the Packers’ practice squad in2008.

Scaliseintroducesresolutionhonoring

SaintsCongressman Steve

Scalise introduced a reso-lution in Congress Tues-day congratulating theNational Football Leaguechampion Saints for win-ning Super Bowl XLIV.Scalise’s resolution hasmore than 20 original co-sponsors including theentire Louisiana Con-gressional Delegation.

“The entire state isexcited and proud thatthe Saints are Super Bowlchampions. After allwe’ve been through dur-ing the last four years,Tom Benson said it bestwhen he stated this is notonly a victory for the cityof New Orleans, but thewhole state of Louisianaand we’re back!” Scalisesaid. “I remember at-tending games with mydad at Tulane Stadium inthose early years, and tofinally bring the Lom-bardi Trophy home issuch a thrilling experi-ence for the entire NewOrleans region.”

The Saints are head-quartered in the firstCongressional Districtand Congressman Scalisehas represented themsince 1996 during histime in the LouisianaState House of Rep-resentatives and theLouisiana State Senate.In 1999 Scalise workedon and voted for the leasethat would keep theSaints in New Orleans. In2006 as a member of theLouisiana House Ap-propriations Committee,Scalise supported therebuilding of the Lou-isiana Superdome afterHurricane Katrina,which helped ensure theSaints would stay in NewOrleans.

Steve Korte’sArkansasphoto.


If legislation proposed bystate Sen. A.G. Crowebecomes law, all the mem-bers of the Who Dat Nationwill have a chance to adorntheir cars and trucks withWho Dat license plates.

He will introduce a bill atthe April session of theLegislature to allow for the

production of officiallicense plates with thephrase “Who Dat Nation.”

“This is a great way forSaints fans to express theirappreciation for the NewOrleans Saints and whatthey mean to the city ofNew Orleans and the stateof Louisiana,” Crowe said.

Besides the Who DatNation, Crowe said theplates would include “one

of the more popular stateflowers,” the fleur-de-lisand the state seal. Ofcourse, it will take awhilebefore the Legislatureapproves of the design andthat it does not infringe onany copyright laws.

If the design for theplates is approved and theygo on sale, they will cost$60 and will be good fortwo years, Crowe said.

But the money will beput to good use accordingto Crowe’s bill. He calls it “apot of black and gold forsomeone.” For every platesold, $50 will go to somecause or purpose decidedby the Legislature. Crowebelieves that fans all overthe state and the countrywill want to order the spe-cial plates. Crowe believesthat thousands of plates

could be bought and thatcould bring in a lot ofmoney for a good cause.

“If 20,000 plates aresold, over $1 million will beraised for a worthy cause,”Crowe said.

The senator said he willtalk with the Saints organi-zation and his colleagues inthe Legislature to decide onwho will get the “pot ofblack and gold.”

Sen. Crowe proposing Who Dat license plates


Slidell Saintsation getsfans going at big gameBy Erik Sanzenbach

St. Tammany News

It must have been prettyexciting for Saints quarter-back Drew Brees to run outon the field of Sun LifeStadium Sunday for theSuper Bowl, but it was justas exciting for SlidellSensation Jennifer Thomas,who helped keep fan’s spir-its up during the game.

“It was amazing,”Thomas said. “We came outof the tunnel with the Colts’cheerleaders and then wentto opposite sides of thefield. Our fans were cheer-ing, and yelling, and youcould just feel the spirit ofNew Orleans in the stadi-um.”

It was also the first timethe Saintsations had actual-ly been on the field.Thomas explained that thetroupe had to practice onthe sidelines during thedays leading up to theSuper Bowl, and going outon the field was a veryemotional experience.

Thomas, a NorthshoreHigh School graduate hasbeen cheerleading anddancing for the past 10years.

When she is not re-hearsing with the Saint-sations or doing appear-ances and keeping fans’spirits up at games, Thomasis a graphics designer, andworks for her father, whoowns several McDonalds’franchises in the region.

For Thomas, going to theSuper Bowl was a real thrill,because this is the first yearshe has worked on thedance/cheerleading team.

Running out on the fieldwas not as nerve-wrackingas she thought it would be.

“I was more nervousduring the NFC Champ-ionship, because we didn’tknow if we would get to theSuper Bowl,” she said.

Thomas admitted that

she and her fellowSaintsations got a bit nerv-ous during the first half, andthere were feelings thatmaybe the Saints would notbe victorious. That was thecue for the Saintsations tocheer even louder, and getthe Who Dats up on theirfeet.

“You have to stay positiveand keep that smile on yourface, no matter what,”Thomas said.

But then she started tofeel better in the secondhalf, and she said the gamewent so fast for her, thatbefore she knew it, theSaints had won.

“That’s when it got reallyexciting. The music keptplaying, and we kept danc-ing,” Thomas said. “But wewere also cheering, cryingand dancing some more. Itwas pretty incredible.”

She and her fellow dan-cers did not have muchtime for celebrating.

Thomas said theSaintsations had a small cel-ebration in their lockerroom, then they had to flyback to New Orleans to getready for the big victoryparade Tuesday night.

Thomas said the paradewas the big highlight forher during the whole SuperBowl experience.

“The parade was veryspecial. We had worked sohard all week, and we weremaking appearances inNew Orleans, Miami and onTV, and getting all thatcheering from the Saints’fans was wonderful,” shesaid. Despite the previousdays’ exertions, Thomassaid the whole troupe wasup and very excited for theparade.

“We were the only floatthat was shaking, becausewe were dancing the wholetime,” Thomas said.

She admitted that shewas a bit tired after the pastweek. “I think I have a sleephangover,”

She said the Saintsationswill get a couple of day’srest, but then they will haveto hit the road again. Beingthe cheerleaders to theSuper Bowl championsmeans making lots of publicappearances for the nextcouple of weeks. Then inlate March, are the audi-tions for the 2010Saintsations. She said everyone has to try out again, butshe thinks that brings innew blood and is good forthe troupe. Of the 30Saintsations that went tothe Super Bowl, 20 of thedancers were rookies likeThomas.

JENNIFER THOMAS


Colston football raffleto help New Horizons


A hot item this week and for many tocome are autographed NFL footballsfeaturing Saints players. The NewHorizons Youth Service Bureau is raf-fling one with Marques Colston’s auto-graph and it even comes in an attrac-tive wooden and glass case.

Outreach coordinator for the group,Mary Kinsey, is selling the tickets for$5 each to benefit the New HorizonsYouth Service Bureau which servicesall the Florida Parishes. As a bonus fea-ture, the winner will also receive aSuper Bowl T-shirt donated by RosaDunn.

Tickets are being sold at CrescentBar, S&S Sports, Tope’ La Restaurant,Paul’s Cafe and Ponchatoula Pub. Theycan also be purchased by calling 345-1171. The group has helped families for33 years and serves over 1,000 childrenand their families every year.

Kinsey says the raffle will help theNHYSB continue to reduce the num-ber of children and youth removedfrom their homes by providing effec-tive parenting and therapeutic servicesboth home based and in the YSB office.

Mary Kinsey and a football signed byMarques Colston to benefit New Horizons.(Staff Photo by Debbie Glover)

Pep rally fundraiser

Bayou Lacombe Middle School held a “Saints Pep Rally” after completing afundraiser selling raffle tickets for a signed Saints football throughout the monthof January. The student who sold the most tickets, Chelsea Campora, won a lap-top. At the pep rally, students watched a Saints video, sang Saints songs, partici-pated in a “Who Dat” contest, and raffled off a signed Saints football. Shown arePrincipal Patrick Woods with winner Chelsea Campora and her parentsMonique and Anthony Campora.



A big decision for lots of Saints fans, whocouldn’t actually make the trek down toMiami to witness Super Bowl XLIV in per-son, had to decide where they would watchthe classic.

My choice ended up being at a casino,which probably won’t surprise some of myfriends or co-workers. While meanderingthrough three different casinos along theGulf Coast on Super Sunday I decided totake my own numerical poll of Saints jer-seys that I came across during the big game.If I were a betting man ( just because youare at three casinos doesn’t mean you are) Iwould have put my money on the eventualSuper Bowl MVP Drew Brees to be the cat-egory leader. At times, it was a dauntingtask, but here’s the final official tally:

Quarterback Drew Brees No. 9: 59 sightingsRunning back Reggie Bush No. 25: 43Tight end Jeremy Shockey No. 88: 21Receiver Marques Colston No. 12: 12RB back Pierre Thomas No. 23: 11Retired running back Deuce McAllister No.26: 5RB Mike Bell No. 21: 4Safety Darren Sharper No. 42: 3Linebacker Scott Fujita No. 55: 3Former QB Bobby Hebert No. 3: 2

Former QB Archie Manning No. 8: 2Former receiver/kick returner Michael Lewis(the beer man) No. 84: 2Former receiver Joe Horn No. 87: 1Defensive lineman Sedrick Ellis No. 98: 1

Most popular Saints jerseysightings Super Bowl Sunday

At the Super BowlChristine Jenkins ispictured here witha Saints clown atthe Super Bowl.The Mandevilleresident said theWho Dats were outin full force andmany in full cos-tume to watch theSaints play theColts in Miami.


Anne Dale hopes to Finish Strong


As the aftermath of theSaints Super Bowl settlesinto reality, Mandevillejeweler Anne Dale is com-memorating the winningphilosophy of the team intoan inspirational piece ofjewelry.

“Finish Strong” is notjust another catch phrase. Itis the title of the book byDan Green that is beingcredited with inspiring theteam to go beyond theirpast boundaries and get thejob done.

“This is a powerful mes-sage that applies to anyonein any aspect of their lifewhen they commit and pre-pare,” said Anne Dale, cre-ator of the Finish Strongtags and a jewelry piecethat is being unveiled today.

Dale said that Green reg-istered the “Finish Strong”phrase in 1996 and they areproducing the jewelry withhis permission. Green saidthe finish strong attitude isabout choice. “Only youhave the power to respondto the challenges beforeyou,” he said. “The choice isyours and I challenge you toalways choose to finishstrong.”

Now legendary Saintsquarterback Drew Breessaid each member of theteam received Green’s bookat the beginning of the off-season. “It then became amantra for our teamthroughout the off-seasonprogram, preseason andregular season,” he said.“We recognized that if wecould indeed finish strongin everything we did, wecould achieve the loftygoals we had set for our-selves.”

Dale said the “FinishStrong mentality has ener-gized all of New Orleans

and the Gulf Coast region.”She hopes that her jewelrywill inspire others to finishstrong as well. The jewelryline includes black “dogtags,” pink “dog tags,” rub-ber wristbands, and a fleur-de-lis with “finish strongemblazoned across it.

The Finish Strong piecewill be unveiled today ather shop and is available insilver, two-toned (gold andsilver) and 14K gold. Byoffering the pieces in vari-ous metals, it will be more

affordable to a greater audi-ence. She also carriesGreen’s book and will havea book signing with himnext Friday, Feb. 19althought the time is not yetdefinite. For more informa-tion, call 626-4266.

“The finish strong phi-losophy is not about win-ning or losing,” she said,“but giving it your all.”

Many members of theWho Dat Nation can agreethat’s exactly what theSaints did this year.

Anne Dale shows acar decal thatencompasses thedesign for her newjewelry line. Atleft, the entireFinish Strong lineavailable includingthe book, cardecal, dog tagsand wristbands.The fleur-de-lispiece is beingunveiled today.(Staff Photos byDebbie Glover)


What do the Saints andan eighth-grade pre-alge-bra class have in common?

If it’s Stephanie Bou-dreaux’s class at PitcherJunior High in Covington,plenty.

Monday was a regularschool day for the studentsof St. Tammany Parish

Public Schools. Well, notexactly a regular day, butthere was class. And learn-ing.

Boudreaux creativelydecided to use the belovedWho Dat team to give herstudents experience insolving complex wordproblems by using statisticsfrom the season to comparewith the Super Bowl stats.

The class was divided

into offense and defenseseparated by the line ofscrimmage in the class-room.

Each side had threemath problems to calculate.And they weren’t easy. Infact, very few teams fin-ished from her classes allday.

Some questions weretricky as well. For example,in averaging Drew Brees’statistics per game for theregular season, the studentswere reminded that he didnot play in all games. He satout the last game of the reg-ular season so he onlyplayed 15 of the 16 regularseason games.

The Drew Brees ques-tions consisted of comput-ing his regular season aver-age in total passing yards292.5, and comparing thiswith his Super Bowlyardage, 288 yards; totalcompletions in the regularseason, 24.2 as compared tothe Super Bowl, 32.

Other questions dealtwith finding the averagenumber of regular seasonstatistics in the followingcategories: first downs,total of 348; total offensive

yards, 6461; total touch-downs, 64; Time of posses-sion per game 31:36. Afterfinding the averages, thestudent had to comparethem with the Super Bowlstatistics.

Students also had tograph game stats for theseason after finding the

average, and comparingthem with the Super Bowlstats.

For players MarquesColston, Devery Hender-son, Jeremy Shockey andReggie Bush, students hadto convert their receivingyardage to inches and com-pare it to Super Bowl

results.The students had a great

lesson in applying mathe-matic principles to the sta-tistics and learned just howwell the Saints playedunder the pressure of theChampionship Game,thanks to the ingenuity andcreativity of Boudreaux.


Learning math the Saints wayThe Offensive Players

Offensive players Titus McCann, Reese Erwin, Austin Bynum, Alex Rogers,Jamie Este and Shelby Blow.

The Defensive Players

Defensive team members are, from left, first row: Imunique Cousin, MadisonBurns and Erica Priesy; and second row: David Crawford, Sarah Artus, AmberRobertson, Antorio Walker, Kasie Jenkins, Miami McDowell and Nick Nettles.

TeacherStephanie

Boudreaux, ina collector’sitem Archie

ManningNumber 8

Saints jersey,reviews the

answers givenby the defense

team ofMadison

Burns, DavidCrawford,

Erica Priestand Imunique

Cousin.

Eighth-graders use favoriteteam in recent lesson

Sarah Artus, Nick Nettles and Miami McDowell workon the defensive problem. (Staff Photos by DebbieGlover)


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Colts fan gets Dat fromSaints fan co-workers


In Miami Sunday night,it was a victory for theentire Who Dat Nation. Butnot all residents of the areabelong to the Who DatNation.

Stacy Lewis, secretary atWoodlake ElementarySchool in Mandeville, wasat the historic event —cheering for the Colts.

“When they lost, I cried.I was so disappointed Ireally was in tears whenthey lost,” Lewis said.

Cheering more for Peyt-on Manning than the team,Lewis even wore her Coltsjersey the day the SchoolBoard set aside as black andgold day for Haiti.

“I had to pay more towear it,” Lewis confesses.

Of course, every groupneeds their token opposi-tion, and for the Who DatNation, Lewis has becomethe token Colts fan in a seaof black and gold fleur delis.

Her friends and co-workers at the school havenot yet given up on the con-version process, however.She received an almost-Lombardi trophy made oftin foil and has had to weara black and gold boa.

She even has a silverfleur-de-lis lanyard for her

ID. It’s been a fun run for

everyone at the school andeven Lewis plays it to the

hilt. After all, Peyton’s fa-ther was a Who Dat beforethere were Who Dats.

And Dat’s Dat.

Who Dat says Dere a Colts Fan? Stacy Lewis donsSaints gear at Woodlake Elementary after returningfrom Miami for the Big Game where she rooted for— (heresy) — the Colts. (Staff Photo by DebbieGlover)


The euphoria of the New OrleansSaints winning Super Bowl XLIVcontinues in the Big Easy fresh off theheels of Tuesday’s parade in honor ofthe Black-and-Gold’s miraculous tri-umph.

The Saints 31-17 Super Bowl victo-ry put the players, the coaches andthe organization on the world’s stageand rightly so.

Once you are a member of the eliteNFL fraternity, you are a lifetimemember. For former Saints’ specialteamer and wide receiver Rich Mauti,a 1977 free agent signee, continues tobask in the glory of being a member ofthe Who Dat Nation. Having experi-enced the rigors of being an NFLplayer (1977-1984), Mauti spent allbut one of his professional seasons asa Saint before retiring from theWashington Redskins. A Mandevilleresident since 1981, Mauti said thischampionship is richly deserved by agroup of phenomenal athletes whotruly embody the team aspect, whoinspired a city and a culture to bereborn.

“From a personal standpoint, I feelso happy, so honored and full of somuch pride to have been associatedwith the organization. I have all ofthese Saints T-shirts in my drawerthat are literally 30 years old becauseI never wore them. Finally, I can weara Saints T-shirt out in public. I’memotionally on a high and I feel like ahelium balloon,” Mauti said.

Mauti said anybody that has everput on a uniform, anyone who haswalked on the field from the angels,cheerleaders, equipment managers,to the people that set up the Dome,the cleanup crews, the servers and ofcourse the players, coaches, the fansand the Benson family, I think every-body feels like a part of this champi-onship,” Mauti added.

Mauti took in Tuesday’s celebra-tion parade.

“It’s still incredible and I’m havinga hard time absorbing everything thathas happened. I’m standing in thereviewing stand at Gallier Hallwatching all the players, Drew Breesand coach Sean Payton coming byholding the Super Bowl trophy in his

hand. I’m looking atthem right in frontof me standing onthe float. I turned tomy son Patrick andsaid somebodypinch me because itis still hard tobelieve and sink inwhat these guyshave accom-plished,” said the former Saint.

Mauti said winning the SuperBowl was a remarkable accomplish-ment.

“These guys have handled them-selves all year long and the commit-ment they made to the city made it allcame together. You really couldn’twrite a movie that good.”

He said the team’s accomplish-ment is deeper than football.

“There are so many more storylines that this city has been throughsince Hurricane Katrina. These guysjust brought it all to the surface andeverybody felt like they were a part ofthe win, because they were.”

“They supported the team formany, many years when it looked likewe were going to lose them a coupleyears ago. The fans came out strongand they bought season tickets. Theydid everything they could to keep theSaints here during a time, financially,that many people were hurting.”

Mauti said the greatest thing is thatSean Payton, Drew Brees, the playersand the organization understand thatand respects that.

“Its made for a remarkable andincredible ride.”

Mauti talked about the tremen-dous relationship Brees and coachPayton have. He recalled ending hiscareer in the nation’s capital with theRedskins and the special relationshipformer coach Joe Gibbs and JoeTheisman had. “They spent moretime together than they did with theirfamilies during that time. It takes thatkind of commitment. These guys areputting in 16 to 18 hour days.”

Mauti said the stuff they didbehind the scenes was remarkable.

“What the players do on Sunday’sis the fun part. The commitmentthose guys made staying in town dur-ing the off-season and did what theyhad to do and kept their noses clean.

You don’t just have a bunch of foot-ball players, you have individuals whohave a lot of character that were handpicked by coach Payton to fit his pro-file. What an incredible job he didwith those guys,” the former freeagent said.

Patrick, Rich and Nancy Mauti’soldest son, a recent graduate of PennState and former Nittany Lions’ foot-ball player and a Mandeville Highgrad, shared his thoughts on theparade.

“Words can’t even describe theparade unless you were physicallythere. I don’t think you could experi-ence it watching on television. Likemy dad said you kind of have to bepinched to see if it’s real.”

Patrick said he was a Saints’ fanbefore even coming out of the wombbecause his dad played for them.

“The bags on the heads were a lit-tle before my time. I watched videosof my dad and all of his highlights.You see some good points and somelow points during those early years.Being world champions is an incredi-ble feeling.”

The younger Mauti said it had tobe 150 people deep in certain areas.

“Could you imagine that manypeople watching the Saints on MardiGras floats moving along St. CharlesAvenue, at Lombardi Gras.”

Patrick said he and his dadwatched the Super Bowl on BourbonSt., and when Tracy Porter intercept-ed that fourth quarter pass he neversaw his dad so happy in his 23 years ofbeing his son.

“It was crazy, Who Datin’ andsmoking victory cigars, hugging everyperson we saw. Everything the cityhad been through with Katrina wentout the window with the Saints win.”

Patrick said it was special being theson of a former Saints’ player.

“My dad’s celebrity status duringthe Saints’ run has been special. I’mvery humbled and honored to be hisson. It’s easy to become a little emo-tional because he and my mom(Nancy) have taught me along withmy sister, Rachel, and brotherMichael so much. My mom doesn’tget enough credit that she deserves,but she likes to stay in the back-ground. She keeps everything togeth-er,” said Patrick Mauti.


Who do you credit with the Saints’win?

“Sean Payton for beinggutsy.”

BILL TORPEYSlidell

COMPILED BY SUZANNE LE BRETON | ST. TAMMANY NEWS


“Drew Brees because heworked hard for it. Himand the team. It takes awhole team to win but

you need a good quarterback to win it.”

CASSANDRA CLIATTMadison, Tenn.

(formerly from Slidell)

“The whole program, notjust one person. If it were

not for the coaches to showthem the way, the generalmanagers for getting themthe players, and the playersfor playing their best, they

would not have won.”

CHARLIE VEAZEYSlidell

“I think Drew Breesbecause of his

completion rate.”

KEITH LANDRYMadison, Tenn.

(formerly from Slidell)

Former Saint Mauti proudto be in that number

MAUTI


Who Dat Nation continues to gainsupport from around the globe

Former Saints quar-terback BobbyHebert, the Cajun

Cannon and founder of theWho Dat Nation, neverpasses up an opportunity totalk on WWL Radiodescribing how the cult fol-lowing reaches worldwide.

Being a retired militarybroadcaster, while serving30-years in the Army, pri-marily overseas, I receivedmy fair share of congratula-tory phone calls and textsfrom all over the world.

I received two phonecalls from Germany, fromMannheim, the headquar-ters of the American ForcesNetwork Europe andanother one from a formerbroadcaster, who nowresides in Berlin.

A guy I was stationed

with in Korat, Thailandback in 1972, while a mem-ber of the American ForcesThailand Network, JonPowell (former Air Forcebroadcaster), called fromnon other than Indiana-polis home of his Colts. Hisgreetings went like this:

“You must be the happi-est guy in the world havinggone through 40-plus yearsof frustration. I’m so happy

for the city and all theheartache the fans havegone through followingHurricane Katrina. Youhave a top notch quarter-back (Drew Brees) thatUniversity of Purdue boy,who is a class act,” Powellsaid.

I also received phonecalls from Atlanta, SanAntonio, Seattle, New Yorkand Washington, D.C., toname a few, which werepulling for our belovedSaints and were thrilledwith the victory.

We truly have becomeAmerica’s team and thejourney for additionalSuper Bowl titles under thedirection of Sean Paytonand the leadership of DrewBrees is just beginning.Bring on Super Bowl XLV!

MIKE PERVELSports Editor

Tuesday afternoon, former Slidell mayorand Councilman-elect for District E, SamCaruso sent us a short letter that expresseshis feelings about the Saints winning theSuper Bowl.

Dear Editor,It was a great weekend for theology in

New Orleans. On Saturday, the voters inNew Orleans elected Mitch Landrieu as

the city’s next mayor. Also on Saturday,former Saint Rickey Jackson was votedinto the Football Hall of Fame.

On Sunday, the Saints won the SuperBowl.

There is a God. Thank you Lord.

– Sam CarusoSlidell Mayor 1985-2002

Councilman-elect District E

Councilman-elect expresses his excitement

They believe

Students at Sixth Ward Elementary School show their spirit.

Super Bowl 2010

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