Superbowl New Orleans Style

The city of New Orleans has gone mad about this game. Most business will be closed today and many schools have already canceled classes for Monday. I find it weird that a football game played on Sunday brings about school closing on Monday. But they expect the fans to be worn out from celebrating or drowning in sorrow and, as a result, have high absence in school.

New Orleans had a mayor and city council election last night, the most important election for people of the city . Only about 40% of the voters bothered to cast a ballot as they were watching Mardi Gras parades, waving the Saints banner and many out of town in Miami, Florida (about 50,000 are there, most without tickets to the game) for the Superbowl. It is said that politics is the favorite sport in my state, but even that has been overshadowed by the Superbowl.

Hotels here are almost filled to capacity. It's odd, given so many people are out of town in Florida and the game is in Miami . During Mardi Gras the hotels usually are sold out the weekend before and through Mardi Gras day, not this early. But many thousands of people displaced to other cities in the U.S. after Hurricane Katrina have come back here to be in the city and watch the game here.

If it wins the game this city will experience a party like it never has before. The streets in the French Quarter area have been packed and rowdy with celebrants from all over the world. A victory/loss parade is scheduled in the city for Tuesday with Mardi Gras float and style. This is unusual because we never have parades for "special events" like this Superbowl event. I can't go out in public without seeing Saint paraphernalia, including the ever-present logo. And there have been so many songs written about the team in the past few months. You hear them everywhere in this music crazed city. People seem to be obsessed with the team because the success of it is something that is finally positive here after the destruction of the storm and dysfunctional existence of New Orleans since the storm.

An ironic twist to this game is that the star QB and the star receiver for the Colts are both native New Orleanians. My state is famous for its athletes, particularly football players. To have one of them beat the local team (Payton Manning, the Colt QB, is considered the best player in the NFL) would be surreal. And so it goes in surreal New Orleans,