Behind The Scoreboard - Claude Vinson


Thursday, February 11, 2010
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Behind The Scoreboard
By Claude Vinson

‘We Dat’

The roller coaster week finally culminated on Sunday, Feb. 7, with hurrahs, more than one “dat” and probably a few tears.

There is not a lot of remorse from this quarter since I had already declared myself as a “closet fan” of the New Orleans Saints. One has to admire their “stick-to-itiveness” and their 43-year odyssey which landed them in Super Bowl XLIV. For the last four years they have overcome some formidable odds which were always outside the realms of their control. And on game day, they found themselves under the non-favorable odds of the bookies at 5.5.

And of course, the Super Bowl has evolved. Forty-four years ago it was just the Championship Game of the National Football League. After the inclusion of the AFL, the aforementioned term was just no longer adequate to capture the essence of the sporting activity which had captured the passion of most of the world’s civilized countries. Yes, my fellow Amuricans (That is the way in which President Lyndon Johnson used to say it), the game of football is played in more and more countries each year. How many celebrate with a Super Bowl party would have to be a matter for research.

However, being the celebratory creatures which we are, we have to take it to the extremes. Heck, they even delayed Mardi Gras one whole week so that New Orleans could close down and everyone go to Miami! Maybe not everybody, but from the looks of the late night pictures on the tube, they were certainly there in spirit.

At the local SB party which had representatives from most walks of life, except maybe an Indian chief, it was amazing to see that so many of them were Saints supporters. They were really vociferous in their admiration. However, only one was brave enough to put his Benjamins where his loyalty was. And far from sedate, the crowd was a bit more subdued this year than previously.

The day before the game, the selectees for the Hall of Fame Class of 2009 were made known and the amazing team of Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith led all those honored. Their stats were staggering. The QB for the Colts will probably join that bunch in Canton one day. In the meantime, we are not going to put the entire blame for the Colts’ loss on Peyton Manning’s ample shoulders. Credit is due in copious amounts to the Saints’ organization. They really wanted this.

How do you change a slogan as oddly sounding as “Who Dat?” Simply modify it to say “We Dat!”

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