Did everyone recover from a wild weekend without Saints football? Big Daddy barely felt the Saints’ third bye week blow by thanks to Bobby Hebert honoring the Buddy “D” promise: to wear a dress if the Saints ever made it to the Super Bowl. Big Daddy wonders if seeing all those guys in dresses compelled the U.S. military to ponder abolishing their “don’t ask— don’t tell policy.”
Where were you when you heard Jim Henderson’s immortal words: “Pigs have flown, Hell has frozen over, the Saints are on their way to the Super Bowl?” Big Daddy didn’t hear Henderson’s call live, but he caught it the first time on the Big 870 WWL Radio, listening to the Saints postgame show. Nothing ever sounded better.
Judging from the Saints NFC Championship nail biter, Big Daddy hopes the Who Dat Nation stocked up on booze and tranquillizers for what’s about to transpire? In this special Black ’n’ Gold Super Bowl edition of the Section 645 Saints Beat, Big Daddy investigates Krewe du Vieux’s origin, visits the French Quarter for Buddy and Bobby’s Brawds Dress March, drives to Bay St. Louis for the Second Guess Show, recaps the Pro Bowl, unveils a winning approach to Super Bowl XLIV, and releases his World Famous Pregame Information.
Carnival lovers have marked Krewe du Vieux Saturday on their calendars since 1987. From the ashes of the Krewe of Clones, who disbanded in 1986, due to a dispute between the Contemporary Arts Center’s leadership, City Hall, and the Krewe. The disagreement stemmed from the Clones’ intention to parade the night before Super Bowl XX (Chicago vs. New England) played in the Superdome. Who remembers Buddy D’s breaking news report about Chicago quarterback Jim McMahon calling the women of New Orleans sluts? Huh, Big Daddy didn’t realize BYU grads were such experts on the topic? Inspired by the Aug. 4 fire in the Krewe du Vieux den, 2010’s theme was “All Fired Up” with Dr. John reigning as king, while Mother Miriam Chamani from Rampart St.’s Voodoo Spiritual Temple served as the queen. Per tradition, the 17 sub-krewes rolled 18 days before Fat Tuesday with their mule driven hand made floats, marching jazz bands, and costumed sub-krewe members making their way up Royal, down Decatur, and then on to Frenchmen, throwing unique novelty trinkets to appreciative revelers, lining the parade route to check out the political satire and raunchy adult humor.
In this season of Saints’ firsts— Sunday, the Who Dat Nation shocked the world again. Buddy and Bobby’s Brawds Dress March demonstrated to America, ESPN and the NFL Network that this entire region bleeds Black ’n’ Gold. Never before have guys wearing dresses packed the Vieux Carre unless they were participating in the Labor Day Weekend’s Southern Decadence Festival. Bobby Hebert climaxed the Dress March at the Oceana Grill when his speech spawned roars from thousands honoring the late Buddy D’s drag promise for the Saints’ first Super Bowl appearance. Bobby’s beer-aided Cajun accent made him harder to understand than the NFL staking ownership claim of Who Dat. Sunday afternoon’s unusual activities had some Marigny residents looking like Quagmire, being led by their half-mast compasses, dictating what direction to head next, yelling giggity, giggity, goo!
Monday’s drive to Bay St. Louis for the live broadcast of WWL Radio’s Second Guess Show, was not without excitement. If you ever take the trip to see the show, remember if you accidentally miss the Hwy. 607 exit and overshoot the Silver Slipper Casino, deciphering the Long Beach residents’ directions can be harder to translate than Chinese arithmetic. Turning onto South Beach Hwy, you’ll know it’s not Miami by the post apocalyptic scenery surrounding you, 4.5 years removed from Hurricane Katrina’s Aug. 29, 2005 detonation. As precious time ticked away searching for the casino, Big Daddy felt more pressure to “finish” than when Tokyo East girls say, “you take too long … charge extra!” Upon arrival, Big Daddy found the rowdy Saints fans in front of casino stage, met Mike Detillier, Abdul D. Tentmaker, and Big Henry, watched the broadcast, and heard Abdul play his infamous Saints’ songs. Totally Awesome! Big Daddy must give special thanks to Steve Watson and Kate Betts, who presented yours truly with an incredible Saints poncho they found on a Mexican vacation. Big Daddy’s poncho made him more popular than Ron Jeremy, hanging out in a single bar on ladies night. Once the show curtain dropped, Big Daddy and his lovely wife strolled over to the buffet, where we feasted on delicious eats until our tummies hurt.
Houston quarterback Matt Schaub started off the NFL’s 40th Pro Bowl by throwing a 33-yard pass to his teammate, receiver Andre Johnson, as the AFC broke on top 7-0. Philadelphia’s David Akers kicked a 47-yard field goal to make it 7-3. Denver’s Brandon Marshall caught Schaub’s 23-yard touchdown pass, stretching the advantage to 14-3. Green Bay signal caller Aaron Rodgers uncorked a 48-yard bomb to Carolina’s Steve Smith to cut the NFC’s deficit to 14-10 after one. Rodgers’ 7-yard toss to Philly’s DeSean Jackson put the NFC in front 17-14. Miami’s kicker, Dan Carpenter got Sun Life Stadium folks off their butts, when his 30-yard 3-pointer tied the halftime score 17-17. The NFC opened the third quarter with DeSean Jackson taking Donovan McNabb’s (the Eagles QB) screen 58 yards to the house, forging the NFC ahead 24-17. Jacksonville hurler, David Garrard hit San Diego’s Vincent Jackson with a 48-yard strike that squared the match at 24. Jaguar running back Maurice Jones-Drew’s 4-yard touchdown gave the AFC the lead back 31-24. Dolphin kicker, Dan Carpenter 26-yard boot extended the AFC’s bulge to 34-24. Panthers’ tailback DeAngelo Williams 7-yard power run closed the NFC’s gap to 34-31 heading to the fourth. David Akers knocked his 39-yard attempt right down the gut, knotting the game 34-34 with 11:43 left in regulation. Tennessee’s Chris Johnson (the NFL’s leading rusher) barreled in from 2 yards out to win the Pro Bowl for the AFC 41-34. Matt Schaub’s pinpoint passing earned him MVP honors.
Big Daddy’s keys to winning the Lombardi Trophy are as follows: The Saints offense must balance their play-calling, establish the run, control time of possession, convert on 3rd downs, protect Drew Brees, and the take care of the football. Doing those things opens the door for Brees’ play-action passes, which lights up NFL scoreboards faster than a pinball wizard. Gregg Williams’ defensive goal is to contain Peyton Manning, by adding in new blitz packages to confuse blocking schemes, play tight coverage in the secondary, force a few turnovers, and eliminate YAC (yards after the catch) with sure tackling. If Williams’ squad accomplishes the aforementioned tasks, we’ll give Reggie Bush more return chances when they punt, limit some of their scoring drives to field goals instead of touchdowns, and give the NFL’s best offense more opportunities to score points off turnovers. Saints fans know beating Minnesota was hard, expect Indy to be just as hard, but its our time, so lets do this!
Tune in to the Section 645 Saints Beat next time when Big Daddy recaps Super Bowl XLIV, provides Saturday’s election returns, reports live from the Kingpin, brings Sunday’s tailgate to Mardi Gras on St. Charles, critiques The Who’s halftime show, and chooses the best and worst Super Bowl commercials. Saints Beat congratulates Green Bay Packer fans for their relentless dedication in the Click for Cans season-long contest to win their team’s weight in soup cans, donated Green Bay’s Second Harvester food bank. As America’s largest sporting event draws closer, impressing hot football fanatical chicks means that knowing vital Saints trivia facts becomes more important than wind machines on a Fabio Lanzoni photo shoot. If your fading memory needs brushing up or you just joined the Who Dat Nation, don’t act insecure, exude confidence by logging on to: www.NOSaintsHistory.com and start landing the good ones like Tiger when his fingers do the walking in the Las Vegas Yellow Pages. Now Big Daddy releases his World Famous Pregame Information. — Take the Saints plus 5 —
