Hey Saints fans: Leap onboard Big Daddy’s Section 645 Saints Beat, the season-long thrill ride will take loyal readers to higher levels than they ever imagined following the Saints. Big Daddy’s weekly column provides unique critiques of each game, noteworthy current (political) events, interesting trivia, and cool historical facts filtered through a native New Orleanian’s unabridged analysis.
In this unique edition of Section 645 Saints Beat, Big Daddy chronicles the events that occurred in the Crescent City from February 5-9, 2010. This column bridges the gap between the happy ending Saints fans experienced 6 months ago to the start of the 2010 season, way better than Ronnie Lamarque thought possible. Big Daddy details his 3-day Mardi Gras Super Bowl XLIV tailgate, recounts the events of Feb. 7 at the Kingpin, reviews the Who’s halftime show, recaps Super Bowl XLIV, attends The Second Guess Show season finale, witnesses New Orleans’ first Lombardi Gras, and releases his World Famous Pregame Information.
During the NFL’s annual Hall of Fame weekend, Rickey Jackson became the first drafted Saint inducted into the Hall. Seeing Rickey’ s highlights brought back so many fond memories from our vaunted “ Dome Patrol” defense. Jackson’s patented sack celebration always got the Dome rockin.’ HOF festivities always culminate with the league’s first exhibition contest. This year Cincinnati and Dallas teed it up. Although viewers of Dallas’ 16-7 win endured Cris Collinsworth’ s diarrhea of the mouth, and a field littered with more yellow flags than a Nascar race, football fanatics screamed: “ Football is back!” But I digress back to Super Bowl XLIV.
The calendar tells us that 185 days have passed since the Saints took care of business in Super Bowl XLIV. Tomorrow the Saints begin the defense of their World Championship, facing New England to open the preseason. Big Daddy wants to know: How long did it for the Black ’ n’ Gold’ s achievement to sink in for you? It took Big Daddy a month of watching Super Bowl XLIV replays to realize it wasn’t a dream, and the outcome couldn’ t change.
Remember Super Bowl week? ESPN’s Colin Cowherd, Mark Schlereth, and Chris Berman, called Super Bowl XLIV “Peyton Manning’s Hall of Fame coronation,” because the Saints didn’t belong on the big stage. Hopefully, those supposed football experts finally learned that worshiping individual (Peyton Manning’s) accolades produces less results in football than empty-handed lobbyist “negotiating” at the Louisiana Capitol to salvage an operating budget for the University of New Orleans. Nationally recognized sports analysts trash-talked the Saints so often that Miami merchants ordered tons of extra Indianapolis Super Bowl apparel. Fortunately, devastated Haitians in Port au Prince now have plenty of new clothes to wear. Underestimating the size of the Who Dat Nation invasion cost South Beach vendors more than former Chocolate City Mayor C. Ray Nagin Jr. spent on exotic island vacations courtesy of Greg Meffert’s Amex.
Friday evening, Feb. 5th started Uptown’s 2010 Mardi Gras with Oshun, Grand Marshall Charmaine Neville highlighted the 16-float parade. On Saturday morning, civic-minded residents voted for a new mayor, then walked to St. Charles to catch the Krewe of Pontchartrain’s 35th anniversary. Following their 15 floats, devoted 3-day tailgaters coated their stomachs with Popeyes (spicy) fried chicken, red beans, and king cake. Prior to returning return to the Avenue to collect more throws from Sparta and Pygmalion, Big Daddy’s posse held an intense Mardi Gras/Super Bowl tailgating group safety meeting. As workers (who looked like former Home Depot parking lot dwellers) washed away all evidence of carnival debris, locals flipped on their tubes and learned political strategist declared Mitch Landrieu our new mayor. News of Landrieu’s landslide victory pointed the world spotlight on the Big Easy 24 hours prior to Super Bowl XLIV’s outcome. Super Bowl Sunday compelled Krewe captains and city officials to roll an hour earlier, allowing Saints fans extra time to finish necessary pregame preparations after watching the 43 floats of Carrollton and King Arthur rode down St. Charles. The strategy packed the route with large throngs screaming “Who Dat” to the masked riders hurling desired Mardi Gras treasures.
Big Daddy’s Super Bowl Kingpin entrance stirred the already raucous hard-core Saints regulars into a frenzy. Seeing Denise and Tamme behind the bar meant getting served cold beverages would never be worry, no matter how packed the Lyons St. landmark got. Master chefs Dave Phillips, David “Fine Dinin’ Dave” Wright, Brent Bond, Nat Carrier, and Eric Labouchere collaborated on a feast that required an entry in the Guinness Book. The record-breaking meal featured a barbeque shrimp pasta with mushrooms, cheddar chive biscuits, red beans and rice, potato gratin, chicken pasta, and a cochon de lait. Not to mention Guy Grissom’s spectacular oyster dressing, undoubtedly, the best Cornucopia in football tailgating history.
Recapping Super Bowl XLIV’ s first half, the Saints offense opened the game by sputtering through three ugly plays, forcing a Thomas Morstead punt. Indianapolis drove 53 Yards; Matt Stover’ s 38-yarder gave the Colts an early 3-0 advantage. Struggling with early game jitters, the Saints’ first two possessions looked shorter than a BP drill-safety checklist. Morstead delivered again, his 46-yard beauty buried Indy on their own 4-yard line. Peyton Manning covered 96 yards in 11 plays, burning Usama Young on a 19-yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon, making it 10-0 after one. Drew Brees marched the Saints 60 yards, Garrett Hartley’s 46-yard kick trimmed the margin to 10-3 Colts. Defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams tweaked his scheme, the tactical moves generated a rare Manning 3-and-out. Even though Brees had completed 10 of his last 11 passes and drove this team for a potential 10-10 tie, the Saints failed to convert 4th and goal from the one— Colt linebacker Gary Brackett read Pierre Thomas off tackle run, linebacker Clint Session, cornerback Tim Jennings, and defensive tackle Eric Foster stopped Thomas short of the goal line, preserving Indy’ s 10-3 cushion. Three plays later, the Saints defense forced another Pat McAfee punt. With 35 seconds left before intermission, Drew Brees connected 4 more times for 26 yards, Hartley’s buzzer-beating 44-yard 3-pointer sent the Saints to the locker room trailing 10-6.
Halftime at the Kingpin proved very exciting for Big Daddy, Ben Sherman set yours truly up to do an interview with St. John Frizell, the proprietor of a Brooklyn, N.Y. establishment named Fort Defiance. Frizell video-streamed the Kingpin’ s magical vibe via the internet back to his Red Hook neighborhood bar. Big Daddy told St. John and the Red Hook chapter of the Who Dat Nation not to sweat the halftime score, pointing out that the Saints dominated the second quarter, and if the our boys capitalized of their opportunities, everything would work out. Once the interview concluded, Big Daddy’s crew formed a sugar huddle on the cool corner, affording us ample time to soak in The Who’s highly anticipated 12-minute performance. One thing was certain about inviting a British Invasion band to play halftime— wardrobe malfunctions (Nipplegate— Janet Jackson ’ 04) posed no threat. Sun Life Stadium’s circular stage, impressive pyrotechnics, lights and laser displays gave the Hall of Fame rockers an awesome backdrop to cut loose in front a worldwide audience. Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and drummer Zak Starkey (Ringo Starr’s son) delivered a solid show using parts of “Pinball Wizard,” “Baba O’Riley,” “ Who Are You?,” 15 seconds of “ See Me, Feel Me,” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” CBS execs would need no Cialis that night, since 3 of the last 4 songs are theme songs form the networks CSI shows. Too bad 3-D TVs weren’ t available to the masses, because viewers would have seen the CBS’s excitement coming right at them.
Coach Payton exposed his brass pair, one side kicking to begin the third quarter. Chris Reis’ recovery handed the Saints another possession and kept Manning on the bench. Six plays later, Drew Brees’ 16-yard screen pass to Pierre Thomas vaulted the Saints in front 13-10. The Colts went back on top 17-13 when Joseph Addai barreled in from 4 yards out. Garrett Hartley’ s 47-yard 3-pointer reduced Indy’ s edge to 17-16 heading to the fourth. The Saints got great field position when Matt Stover’ s 51-yard try sailed wide left. Jeremy Shockey’ s 2-yard touchdown catch and Lance Moore’ s amazing 2-point play gave the Saints 24-17 lead with 5:42 remaining in regulation. Tracy Porter jumped Reggie Wayne’s route, intercepted Peyton’s throw, and Porter and cruised 74 yards to pay dirt. Ahead 31-17 with 3:12 left, the Saints played “prevent defense,” and held Indianapolis on downs short of the end zone. Then, Super Bowl XLIV MVP Drew Brees went into victory formation, kneeled once, and game clock expired. Pandemonium erupted as the Black ’ n’ Gold faithful poured into the French Quarter to start a celebration unrivaled by fans of any sports team.
Monday Big Daddy decided to take his beautiful bride to the Silver Slipper to sit in the live audience for The Second Guess Show. Deke Bellavia and Bobby Hebert answered caller questions and told their WWL Radio listeners how the Saints finally won the “Big One.” A Biloxi TV news team showed up, they filmed all the lovely ladies who danced around the stage during commercial breaks. The only thing missing from the unprecedented broadcast was Abdul D. Tentmaker signing his signature songs. Since Abdul was still driving back from Miami, so he checked in by calling the show. Eloise got interviewed on Biloxi TV, got pictures with Bobby Hebert, met Big Henry, and ate Alaskan King crabs (her favorite) at the awesome buffet, Big Daddy even got that The Times Picayune’s AMEN! edition signed by Bobby.
Lombardi Gras exceeded all expectations. Experts predicted 400,000 people would attend the Saints victory parade. Instead 800,000 lined the streets downtown to show their appreciation. What distinguishes Saints fans from all the others is that they would have shown up even if the Saints lost. Crowds at least 150 deep converged on Lee Circle, compelling Big Daddy to check how Convention Center Blvd. looked. Braving the bitter cold, Big Daddy’s bunch staked their claim to a Convention Center Blvd. neutral ground spot that was only about 40 deep. The median’s small elevation lifted us up enough to see Mitch Landrieu, Tom Benson, former Saints, the Saintsations (boy did they feel the nip in the air), Reggie Bush, Pierre Thomas, Scott Fujita, Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Jahari Evans, Scott Shanle, Will Smith, Jonathan Vilma, Devery Henderson, Jeremy Shockey, Tracy Porter, Jabari Greer, Thomas Morstead, Garrett Hartley, Coach Payton (hoisting the trophy), and Drew Brees. Big Daddy snared a pair of those purple beads that Drew threw. Totally Awesome!
Check in next week when Big Daddy’s Section 645 Saints Beat recaps the New England exhibition match-up, reports live from the Kingpin, enjoys a Saints training camp practice, memorializes Dave Dixon, examines the draft class, and highlights free agents to watch this preseason. Hey, if want to know how bumpy the Saints’44-year journey to lift the Lombardi Trophy was, simply log on to: www.NOSaintHisory.com. You’ll be glad you did. Now Big Daddy releases his World Famous Pregame Information: — Go Over 35 —
