To my friends at DU - THANKS! New Orleans is coming back

[garthranzz]

I was at Tulane Stadium when, on the first play of the first game of the New Orleans Saints, John Gilliam ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown.

Tonight, as I sat with a very conservative friend, we watched our city return. And we transcended the politics of division and hate, because the politics ceased to exist, ceased to matter. But that's for another time.

It is hard to describe what it felt like to see the Superdome, to see the people of our city, and to remember what I saw, what my family and I fled a year ago.

Two years ago, in November, when I thought this country would implode, when the facts pointed one way, to Kerry winning and a return to the revolution of Adams and Jefferson, but the "news media" said otherwise, I found DU and had the "spirit of the 60's" rekindled.

Last year, when I fled New Orleans - its drowning a direct result of the manipulation, lies and fraud of '04, DU was again a place of refuge - where I could find voices of reason, news I could trust, and reassurance that the tumultuous, raucous, rude, illogical, and, well, weird, discourse that generates democracy still existed, still inspired and still, like the mixture that makes New Orleans, refuses to be suppressed, typecast or set against itself.

"Truth emerges from argument among friends," said David Hume.

23-3. The Saints won more than a football game.

And in this moment of bittersweet triumph, a victory that cost too much, but opens the path forward and home, I turn again to my friends, the community of DU, and say

thank you

(and Go Saints)

[babylonsister]

1. My heart! It's been pierced by the spirit of

you, garthranzz, and the spirit that is New Orleans. Thank you.

[niyad]

2. it is wonderful to know that the wonderful city of NO is coming

back, despite the efforts of the administration to stop that. Thank you so much for sharing this moment of beauty and hope.

[Change has come]

3. That was beautiful

Both your post and the event. I thought ESPN provided decent coverage. For three hours I was just an American again.






I can't believe the Saints actually won!! :bounce:

[upi402]

4. Who let Mr Barbara Bush toss off in that stadium?

Like pissing in the holy water I figured

[Captain Hilts]

6. Um, with Clinton he's worked on raising money for relief. nt

[upi402]

7. um, did you hear what Barbara said??????????????

got condescension?

[Captain Hilts]

10. HE didn't say it. nt

[upi402]

12. oh jesus, are you serious?

[Captain Hilts]

13. I don't want to be held responsible for everything my family members say.

And I can't hold others to a different standard.

I HATE Barbara Bush.

Should we hate Michael Vick because of what Marcus did?

He and Clinton raised a lot of money for relief.

I guess Bubba couldn't be there.

[DoYouEverWonder]

18. Well, under normal circumstances

the President of the United States should have been doing the coin toss, but of course they couldn't let Dimson anywhere near the place. He probably would have got lynched, so they were stuck with Poppy.

[LeftofU]

5. Geaux Saints

Who dat.

[Raffi Ella]

8. To New Orleans!

:toast:

[MadMaddie]

9. Here, Here...

:toast:

[montana_hazeleyes]

11. Watching the game,

and pre game and after the game was wonderful. I rooted for you guys like I'd been a Saints fan all my life.

This was a special night.

Love to all you folks who have been through so much.:loveya: :hi: :grouphug:

[Captain Hilts]

14. I got moist-eyed. GREAT win! nt

[SeattleGirl]

15. I could not watch the whole game, but I was so very moved

by U2 and Green Day, and most especially, by the reaction of the crowd when the Saints came out of the tunnel.

And I'm VERY happy they won!

[countryjake]

16. "Infinite joy, man," Gleason said. "Infinite joy."

Beautiful post, garthranzz!

[rudy23]

17. Just got back from the game--best game I've ever seen

exactly what New Orleans needed. I've been going to games for 20+ years, and this was the loudest, most satisfying game I've ever been to. Pro sports does not get more meaningful than this. It was just 3+ hours of happiness, screaming, hugging, high-fiving, and weeping.

I loved seeing fans reunited with fans in their sections they hadn't seen in a couple of years. There was no room for politics tonight, no time to get muddled in depression--just catharsis, like extremely joyful scream therapy.

My body is buzzed right now from head to toe. It was so great to see New Orleanians with something to be so proud of, and so excited about. Sure tomorrow, the debris will still be there, the houses will still need repairs, but this was such a spiritual and psychological lift.

[garthranzz]

19. And by the way, we should thank the one who stood up...

for the Saints and the city, and got fired for it - Arnie Fielkow. If not for him, last not would not have happened.

[rudy23]

23. Fielkow is the best

I thought of him as a suit when he first came here, but it's clear he really fell in love with the city. He was instrumental in keeping the Saints here. He's been one of our biggest, and most important cheerleaders. I hope he has a prosperous political life in New Orleans for years to come.

[KamaAina]

36. Not to worry. Arnie not only got himself elected to City Council

he defeated Babs Bush soundalike Jackie Clarkson to do so! :bounce: Disclaimer: I have held a grudge against Clarkson since she defeated my openly gay buddy for the District C seat using the code phrase "Traditional Values Make the Difference". (or in other words, don't vote for the other guy 'cause he's, y'know, gay :grr: ) This was in 1990, when I actually lived there...

[Subdivisions]

35. Can you tell us if the crowd cheered or booed when GHWB

came out for the coin toss?

I am glad for you that you had such a wonderful experience there. I was in New Orleans a year ago to volunteer and I know a bit about what they were facing then and still facing today.

[rudy23]

41. Yeah, that's a weird issue. Most people were cheering.

You've got two sides of a different coin (no pun intended). On the one hand, if * had been in the Dome--it just would've never happened.

Then again, Bush Sr. has publicly done a great job teaming with Clinton to raise money and awareness for Katrina relief. I think a lot of people around N.O. have very different feelings about * and his dad. Most of the 70,000 there are not bloggers who keep up with the BFEE, and they're going to be thinking more about Sr's charity work, and what they know about him through the mainstream media.

I thought about booing him, but it just wasn't right in the spirit of the event. There was just no room for politics or any kind of negativity there. It would've made no sense.

So I thought Sr. got a nice round of applause. I thought it would've been funny and cool if he'd gotten lustily booed, but that's not very realistic. After the applause I got a good feeling, like our crowd had showed some class, and debunked some negative stereotypes about the city--being ungrateful, that sort of thing.

So the next day, when I saw that link on Kos about cheers being added, I got really upset. I'm a proud tin-foiler, but that was so far over the line. It made me upset because it hurts their credibility on other issues. If there were boos, they were so far away, or so scattered that I didn't hear them. No, there was too much positivity in the air for that, however warranted it would have been.

[Subdivisions]

42. Thanks for the clarification! eom

[intheflow]

20. I'm glad you could escape New Orleans' grief for a few hours.

But football, and opening the Superdome to football again, hardly suggests a rousing come back for the city as a whole. Hundreds of thousands of your residents are still living in diaspora, unable to come home. Affordable, low-income housing that was not even affected by the water has been boarded up, its residents not allowed to return. Rents that were affordable before the storm have jumped 2-3 times what they were. People working for affordable housing are fighting to keep the tide of city politics from turning in to an imminent domain free-for-all by the gambling industry, as well as other tourist and business interests.

So I'm glad you got some escapism in for a few hours. God knows New Orleans needs something to celebrate. But I can't help but be concerned by the title of your OP linking the Crescent City's recovery to football. Football is a game. Recovery is reality. The Saints winning is a blip on the big picture of New Orleans coming back in any way that resembles what it was before the levees broke.

I know I am taking the meaning of your OP out of the loving context in which it was meant. But as someone working on Coastal recovery efforts, I felt compelled to respond in this way. It's not a condemnation of you, or meant to disparage your OP or your own, personal recovery from the storm. It just makes my heart ache that a little thing like a football game could bring such joy in a city so battered. :cry:

[Captain Hilts]

21. It advertises nationally that the Dome is ready for conventions, etc.

They need the money in NO.

[intheflow]

27. Thanks for the non-sarcastic reply.

Really. :hug: You're absolutely right, it's a big honking advertisement.

[Captain Hilts]

30. My original reaction was "why the hell don't they play in Baton Rouge?"

But, evidently, the hotels near the dome, etc. are ready to handle conventions again.

[rudy23]

37. They did that last year

It didn't go so well. The city isn't really built to handle it, especially if the Tigers are at home on Saturday night. The games weren't heavily attended. The two cities are just over an hour apart, but they're in two different worlds. It's not the same as the true HOME crowd we had on Monday night.

[rudy23]

22. Thanks for enlightening me about my (family's) home city

Yes football is a game.

It's a game that people pay money to see.

It's played in a stadium that has to hire lots and lots of people to accomodate the fans, who also spend money on parking, souvenirs and concessions, all of which are TAXED, by the way.

It's played near hotel rooms that people stay in after the game. Near restaraunts and bars that people spend money in after the game.

It was played on national TV, and yes, it advertised the city's tourism industry, which is vital, absolutely vital to the city's recovery.

It's a game that made tens of thousands of the city's citizens HAPPY. It was INSPIRING. It put people in a great mood. People from all races and all walks of life were hugging, jumping up and down, and crying together in the very building that symbolized so much tragedy. Tragedy that we've been feeling every day for over a year.

But hey, thanks for explaining to me why it's sad that this football game made so many people happy. We suthern footbal fans aint know whuts best fer us. I'll get back to my perpetual weeping and teeth gnashing, now.

I know you meant to point out that one football game isn't going to cure all ills, but come on. Why take away from a really positive thing in a region that desperately in need of anything that keeps people off the ledge?

[MrCoffee]

25. YES YES YES and YES again!

It's good for N.O that the Dome was completed in time for the game. It's good for the Saints that they beat Atlanta.

Just don't get rid of your paper bag just yet. The season is still young.

:party::toast::headbang::party:

[Keseys Ghost]

29. Right on!

Go Saints!

Go New Orleans!

[intheflow]

31. Like I said, I'm glad you & the OP got a few minutes of relief and joy.

But I just don't see football as the savior of New Orleans. Where are all the people who are supposed to work in those service industries? Scattered to all over the US. And where are all those low-income workers supposed to live? Yes, tourism will aid in the recovery of the region, but touting tourism as the be-all and end-all recovery route for NOLA sounds strangely like the so-called Mississippi recovery miracle that the Repukes are spewing because Biloxi has reopened some casinos. Big deal about the casinos! Meanwhile, citizens live in formaldehyde-laden FEMA trailers that they're scheduled to be evicted from in March, far from any kind of public transportation to get to those casino jobs. At least in Mississippi most of our citizens are back in the region, able to organize and fight for their rights, which is more than can be said for hundreds of thousands of New Orleans' pre-Katrina residents.

Look, I would be the first to tout how great tourism and the generated tax revenue is for the region if it trickled down to building affordable, low-income worker housing, better schools, public transportation, environmental clean-up, affordable child care facilities, or anything that would improve the quality of life for the majority of low-to-middle-income residents for longer than a 4-hour football game. Instead, those tax dollars are only slated to be spent building up infrastructure (i.e., roads, and parks for tourists which will displace historic neighborhoods) to support a tourism industry driven by monied, mostly outside the region, corporate interests.

Personally, I think the hope for New Orleans lies in grass-roots organizing to fight for basic human rights, like affordable housing, and from that, the ability of citizens to return home and start rebuilding their lives over in their home town. If football is all that's keeping New Orleans residents "off the ledge," then God help us all.

But, hey, I'll just go back to my fantasy-based existence over here in Biloxi, because I couldn't possibly understand the difference between playing games and the intricate web of economy, working-class citizens, and safe, affordable housing in a storm-affected region.

[rudy23]

33. I'm not saying it's the end all be all, just a great, positive step

I don't think the OP was either. Maybe a little caught up in the excitement, but if you were there, you would've been too. It was a landmark occasion. I realize a lot of people don't like football, and want to make the point that our society puts too much emphasis on it. You can't deny that because so many people do like football, it is the source of a great deal of income for the city. You also can't deny the psychological significance. I had friends who have never watched a football game in their lives, call me after the game, on cloud 9 just to see something so positive happen in N.O. that could be broadcast to the rest of America. Something that wasn't the same 10 second loop of people looting TVs that have put us in such a negative light.

Besides, the Superdome was renovated with FEMA money because it is a hurricane shelter. I've seen a lot of people confuse the issue as if the state is throwing that money into the Dome.

I understand the danger of saying "Oh well, everything's okay now" based on a football game. I'm saying I was there, and it was a significant event. Like it or not, football is important to people. You'd have a hard time convincing me that sports aren't an artform. You'd have a harder time convincing me that the Saints' performance isn't going to inspire the people in the region as much as anything can possibly inspire someone.

[intheflow]

38. Thanks Rudy.

I read your initial reply and flew off the handle, so I apologize for that. It's true, I don't like football at all, but as a rabid Red Sox fan, I think I can relate to the joy experienced somewhat. While Boston wasn't making a comeback after a disaster, the elation of winning a World Series after 86 years was overcoming a team disaster for us. Personally, I literally danced in the streets after that win, even though I was dancing alone because I was living in Denver at the time. So I guess I know a little about how it must feel to you all.

I'm going to go read that Times-Picayune article you recommended to me now.

To winners and the moments of joy that keep our bruised spirits alive to fight another day! :toast:

[rudy23]

34. Just stumbled across this article from the NO Times Picayune

This says what I was trying to say better than I ever could. This is a great read, and a great window into what this day was like down here.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1159337420130960.xml&coll=1&thispage=4

[Bridget Burke]

32. We've got expensive sports palaces all over the country....

In the last few years, Houston's built a baseball park, a football park & a basketball arena. Even though our problems are far fewer than NOLA's, that money could certainly have been spent on more "worthy" causes.

But major league teams earn money. And they DO make people happy--even when they lose. Some cities have ancient traditions of hoping the home team will get better, someday...

You certainly don't need to be reminded that NOLA still faces many challenges.

I'm glad you & your city got a chance to celebrate.

[countryjake]

26. Are you saying it's bad if tourism is rebuilt as an industry in NOLA?

[GeorgeGist]

24. The Saints won more than a football game.

How pitiful to be reduced to believing in drivel.

[crispini]

28. First time I've ever teared up over Monday Night Football.

It was a beautiful thing. Made me feel better.

[BlueStorm]

39. Long Live New Orleans!!!

It's too bad I don't have cable otherwise I would have watched the game but I am pretty sure it was emotional. I am glad to see that NO is getting back on it's feet, slowly but surely. New Orleans will not be defeated.

BlueStorm

[KamaAina]

40. Way'at Garth!

True, I left back in '91 (the economy was nearly as crummy then as it is today), and truth be told, I was only there for two years -- but for the past year-plus, I've been an exiled New Orleanian, one of tens of thousands over the years, from storm and decline alike.

There must be some reason a guy living in Hawai'i would be trolling N.O. Craigslist, right? I can't shake the feeling that I might have something to contribute to the process, though so far I've had as much luck as I ever did (i.e. none). Just remember that the "streetcar of support" runs at least as far west as Diamond Head...

[KamaAina]

43. Looks like I won't be needing that paper bag after all

I actually made one for last year after I became a "born-again baghead" :-) but it got lost during the offseason. I was wondering whether to make another one. Guess not. Geaux Saints! Geaux New Orleans!!

[Leopolds Ghost]

44. WashPost Cover Story showed a sea of white faces -- bad coverage?

Keep in mind I'm from the DC area, I am used to seeing more mixed crowds than that, even in heavily gentrified areas of our city,
but maybe I just don't understand sports crowds. When I was growing
up the Skins stands were the most integrated part of Washington --
you know the old saying about the pews on Sunday, the stands were
the reverse. But now that a ballpark is being built it seems that
only the suburban folks are taking pride in the "resurgence of the
city" on game day. So I will give the story the benefit of the doubt
and assume that the actual crowd inside the stadium was more reflective
of the city's actual survivors than the crowd outside.

Do you mean the Saints WON? I don't get cable but I've been too depressed to watch underdog sports matchoffs ever since the Yankees
lost the 2001 Series :cry:

[WildEyedLiberal]

45. I watched it on TV - very diverse crowd

Lots and lots of black and white faces equally. They looked like New Orleanians having a great time, not yuppie suburbanites. WaPo chose a misleading pic if it only showed white people.

By the way is your username from the book "King Leopold's Ghost"? I am reading it now, about halfway through, and it's DEVASTATING. One of the most hard-hitting books I've ever read.

[Leopolds Ghost]

46. Yes. Also Read "The Scramble For Africa", by (mumble)

I recommend that one, too. :hi:

[WildEyedLiberal]

48. By mumble?

Who's mumble?

I really didn't know much about the Belgian Congo until I started reading Leopold's Ghost... what I am learning horrifies me. How can that crime be forgotten? I will look up the book you mentioned and add it to my list... I never read Heart of Darkness and have now added it to my list as well. :hi:

[Captain Hilts]

49. Yes, a diverse crowd. Most emotional sporting event since Mets-Braves

first game in NYC after Sept. 11th.

Piazza's home run...uh, there I go again...

[rudy23]

50. Yes, bad coverage. The crowd was extremely diverse.

And it's a misnomer to talk about "suburban" folks--there are plenty of middle class African Americans in the suburbs of New Orleans.

[Booster]

47. I knew nothing would keep New Orleans down. A fabulous city

with great people. Can't wait to go back there and have a few drinks to the City.:toast: