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| 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 nights 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 proclaimsWho 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 schoolsystems 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: Mondaysgarbage will be picked upon Tuesday. Tuesdays gar-bage will be picked up onWednesday. Wednesdaysgarbage will be picked upon Thursday. Thursdaysgarbage will be picked upon Friday. Fridays garbagewill be picked up onSaturday. Thank you foryour cooperation and un-derstanding. Coastal WasteServices Geaux Saints!!!

At Wednesdays WestChamber luncheon, spiritswere high as people talkedof nothing but the teamschances 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 Fridays during the football season, SheriffOffice employees were allowed to dress in black andgold in exchange for charitable donations.

Were 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 theSheriffs 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 fiance 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


Mikes 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, LarryThe 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 cant be there andgive them a voice.

He was, of course, in theseason ticket holder lottery,hoping to be able to buy acheap ticket at $800.That would be a gift,Rolling said. But if I dontget the call, Ill go through abroker and pay what I haveto. With this much moneyon the line, I cant 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 Imin, 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.Thats 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 (1980s 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 thatcant be there, and plans tocontinue that at the SuperBowl.

His enthusiasm for theteam is contagious and hisoptimism was evident inthis years 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 cant 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.

Id love to, but I cant.The journeys 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. Isnt

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 couldntbelieve 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.

Its 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 Saints gear.

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

Im 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.

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

Richier said that theSundays win was great forher store, but to her thatwasnt 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 thestores walls, and Richier isreplaying Sundays gamefor her customers, but theyseem more intent on theracks of T-shirts, jerseysand hats.

This couldnt 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 leagues 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.

Its 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 itsgonna be, said Brees. Eachguy knows its 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 EaglesJason 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 doesnt 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 wouldvemade the game look a littledifferent.

Game 2 (vs. Eagles)

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

Ive 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 teams 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 teams 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. Itsthe attitude. Once we got inthe fourth quarter, offen-sively our attitude wasevery time we touch theball, were getting points.

Game 3 (vs. Bills)

More Mikes Memorabilia

Shown is a Saintswooden plaqueadorned withSaints stickersfrom St. TammanyNews Sports EditorMike Pervelsmemorabilia 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 seePorters 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 Hartleys 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-chises 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 Gilliams kickoffreturn. Tulane Stadiumwent crazy. You couldnthear yourself talk, Schirosaid.

Fast-forward to Hartleyssuccessful kick, Schiro saidhes 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 Years 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.

Im looking and itsgoing straight through theuprights. Im looking andIm 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 couldntcapitalize, it was like it wasmeant to be, Liuzza said.Its like something youread in a book. It was likesomebody was watchingover them like Buddy D.

St. Pauls 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 Wolvesfourth 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 coachdidnt hesitate, saying itwas Drew Brees.

I think Drew will be theSuper Bowl MVP. Its histime and its his moment.He is always unbelievablyprepared and focused. He isextremely accurate. Itssomething hes 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 didnt pre-dict it would be in overtime.

Sears said he and hiswife watched his friendsGene and Christine Knob-lachs 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.Pauls campus in general iscaught up in this reallyexciting time.

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

Sears said the Saintsorganization definitelymade the right choice inhiring Sean Payton.

Coach Payton is theright guy. He and his play-

ers are focused. The Saintscoaching 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. Pauls 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 Ive been aSaints fan since I was born.Them winning so manygames this season was areal feat. Living close toNew Orleans its importantto support the team.

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

St. Pauls held a SaintsSpirit Day Jan. 22 wherestudents could wear Saintsapparel.

I wore a DeuceMcAllister jersey, but DrewBrees definitely was wornthe most that day. Ivealways enjoyed followingDeuce, but now Im 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 teams 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 schools gym.(File Photo by Chris Kinkaid)

SEE HYPED, PAGE 13


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

Its 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 Mannings 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 Wolverinesmentor, 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 fromAgrestas 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 hes been a Saintsfan since birth because hisparents George and Rhon-da, who now live inGoodbee, are long-timeloyal Saints backer.

Ive 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 its theiryear. The Bensons (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 itsgreat 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 theleagues 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 teamsfirst 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.

Sharpers been a greataddition, Saints quarter-back Drew Brees said of the12-year veteran. You lookat his productivity hereover the first four games thats 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, sayingMy 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.

Youve got to give them a lotof credit. They ran the ballpretty effectively against usas well.

Game 4 (vs. Jets)


Geauxx Saintss !

Outstandingg Agentss Outstandingg Results

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985-646-1888 1-800-291-5588www.remax.com www.louisianalistings.com

What effect has the Saints winning been on this area?

The effect is dynamic. I own a

store here, and saleshave been great. Its

dynamite.

BECKY NEERSlidell


Its made everybodys spiritsgo up. Nobody isworried about the

economy, just football.

CHRISTY HIMELPearl River

I havent seen people join togetherlike this since 9/11. Itdoesnt matter yourrace, sex or color, its

just one big celebration.

DET. DANIELSEUZENEAU

Slidell

Its 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.Pauls 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 NathansRestaurant, 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 EliMannings 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 ofWho Dat! rained downfrom the stands, Saintscoaches and players alreadyhad their eyes on the nextweeks 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. Idont 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 nights game.

That something special was bigger thanthe fact that the win declared the Saintschampions in their conference; it alsosecured the Saints 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 dayweve 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 towns, 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 aproud 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 nights 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?Im 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 cant afford to pay black market priceson my mayors 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 Id getit, Brees said.

It wouldnt 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 wehadnt faced yet, and wecouldnt 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 teams 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 teams 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. Im excited towin though. Im excited towin this game and get to 7-0. It was an important gameagainst a division team, and

Im 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 Greers 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 Elams 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 ahail 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. Im 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 Dempseys63 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 Im 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 teamsseventh 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 Panthersfield 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, youre 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 youre going tocome back, and youre go-ing to do it.

Game 8 (vs. Panthers)


Shown is a Saints metal airplane from St. Tammany News Sports EditorMike Pervels memorabilia collection.


Wee neverr stopp moving.National Exposure, Local Expertise

PROUDD FANSS OFF THEE NEWW ORLEANSS SAINTS

FIND A PROFESSIONAL, KNOWLEDGEABLE REALTOR AT CBTEC.COM

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985-643-4007Blesss Youu Boys!Finishh Strong!

What are your Super Bowl plans?

Were having a bigblowout party at our

house.

DENISE STANLEYCovington


Id love to be in Mia-mi, but Ill watch at

home.

JEWEL CUEVASPass Christian, Miss.

Im watching at myhouse.

JOANNE THOMASSlidell

Im watching at myhouse with my

family.

MEAGAN JOHNSONSlidell

Were having a party at my house.

MICHAEL MCKEITHENSlidell

Im watching in myliving room. Well dosome cooking and

watch.

ROBERT R. BROWNSR.

Slidell

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

By Suzanne Le BretonSt. Tammany News

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 wasnt 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.

Its 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.

Weve 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 songIn 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. Weve 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 didnt wantto not be in that number soshe said okay you are goingto be in that number. Imblessed 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 hes 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.

Sims son is the offensiveline coach for the JohnEhret Patriots so he knowsabout Xs and Os.

My sons 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 donthunt.

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 Dempseys 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 Hartleys 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 yall, 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 dont 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 wasntasked to grade himself outas a dancer.

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

saying his teams werentvery 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.

Strains 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? Youre not goingto Miami to see our Saintsclobber the Colts? Well, Idont know about you all,but as for me and mine, thetrip east just isnt going tohappen. But never mind,well 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, lets forget aboutbeing disappointed, and geton with the important stuff the food.

Whether the party is tobe at your place, or youllbe hauling your tidbits to aparty elsewhere, youllwant to come up with thekind of super fare thatsworthy of that once-in-forty-years sports event. (Ialmost said, once- in- a-lifetime, but lets 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!) Theyrenot 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 dont forget to buyyour Saints King Cake! Toguarantee that youll haveone, be sure to get yourorder in beforehand.

So what are you waitingfor? Bring in the keg, andthe ice chest of soft drinks,and LETS 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.(Youll 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, dont 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 andsaut 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. Saut, 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 saut 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.

Youre not going to bloweveryone out, said Saintscornerback Randal Gayafter the tight ballgame.Its 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 Freemansmistakes 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 answeredFreemans 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 teams 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 Moores 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 onAtlantas 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-nt 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 Atlantas nextdrive, but the Saints could-nt 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 manon and off the field

By Mike PervelSt. Tammany News

Saints QB Drew Brees,the clubs 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 Saintsfranchise and the commu-nity he now serves, thatcalling as a part of theBlack-and-Golds destinybeing in a Super Bowl play-ing for the most covetedprize in all of sports.

Drews 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 Seasyouth deep-sea fishingevent off the Louisianacoastline. He also hosts anannual golf tournamentthat distributes money tochildrens 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 thenations outstanding player

in 2000. He was a finalistfor the Davey OBrienAward as the nations topquarterback in 1999 and2000. He ended his careeras Big Ten and Purdues 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 nations finest ath-lete in terms of academics,athletics and communityservice. He was selectedPurdues 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. Pauls 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. Pauls 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.Drews 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. Its aboutbrotherhood and countingon the guy next to you. Youhave to have each othersback, 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 countrysdeployed 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 teams 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. DuringWednesdays 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. Ive 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.

Ive 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 sta

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