Permit Me a Brief Interlude

a bit of a departure this week - just be glad i have so far managed to maintain this schedule. so last week was the Super Bowl which featured the Indianapolis Colts playing my New Orleans Saints. since i am not a transplant from that area i thought i would take this opportunity to explain how i came to be a fan of the current NFL champions. plus it gives me a chance to relive the victory

we flash back to the late 80's. while i never really paid any attention to the NFL in high school, i always backed the Chiefs due mainly to them being the 'local' team. once i started following on a regular basis i still followed the Chiefs. this was during a run where they were consistently doing well in the regular season and blowing it in the playoffs. while this was frustrating, it was nice having a fairly decent chance of seeing them get to the playoffs. but it got boring and it got to the point where i wanted to find a team that wasn't so strong. i wanted some doubt in the outcome - i wanted to have something to cheer for that didn't seem like a lock at the start of every season. and as the saying goes 'be careful what you wish for'

so the search for 'my' team began. naturally there were certain teams that were ruled out just due to a dislike for them from my years watching the Chiefs. while i was picking a new team to back i wasn't going to drop the Chiefs completely and didn't want a division rival. in fact i think that is what steered me toward the NFC. this way i could still justify cheering for the Chiefs and there would always be the slim hope that i could wind up with two teams in the Super Bowl. actually always had a soft spot for Seattle (one of the first games i remember going to at Arrowhead was against the Seahawks) and had i known they would eventually move to the NFC i probably would have taken them. fate had other plans for me

after looking through the NFC and eliminating teams that were in the same role as the Chiefs, perennial winners who were always in the hunt, i stumbled across the New Orleans Saints. or the 'Aints as they were lovingly called by some of their fans. well any team that has fans like this drew me in. started looking at them a little closer. black and gold were nice striking colors the fleur-de-lis made for a nice logo and at the time they certainly weren't winning. the deciding factor came when i noticed the year they were brought into the league -1967. how could i not pick them?? it led to some very frustrating years of cheering, but i had fun following the team. they always seemed to be one piece from becoming a decent team. when the defense was good, they were lacking on offense and when they got Drew Brees from San Diego it looked like it might all finally come together. it took a couple years for the team to mesh and the defense to establish itself, but it finally did happen.

all of which leads to Sunday, Feb. 7. Super Bowl XLIV in Miami. i have told several people already, that i was more nervous during the Minnesota game. that was not because i ever thought the Super Bowl was a 'sure' win. the first quarter was driving me crazy and i was preparing myself for a blowout in the Colts' favor. i attribute their performance to nerves given the way they came back and just flat out outperformed the Colts. huge props, in my opinion, also have to be given to Sean Payton and the coaching staff - they managed to keep the team focused and made some gutsy calls. in the end it was a good game (naturally i will say that now) that moved at a fairly good pace and had very few penalties.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS - 31 INDIANAPOLIS COLTS - 17

and since i didn't have any decent pics of Brees (who is largely responsible for getting them both to the Super Bowl and the win). really liked the pics of him with his son, but this was the first i found and didn't feel like doing a lot of searching this morning.

which brings us to the last part of my little story (at least so far). years ago i had told myself that if the Saints ever won the Super Bowl i would at last have the justification in my own mind to get the fleur-de-lis tattoo. well not wanting to have to call myself a liar-and really any excuse for me to get another tattoo is always welcome- i now present my latest acquisition. picture was taken about 4 hours after completion. so now the healing process begins and i can start thinking about how i will celebrate if they ever win their second. starting the process on my left leg - it is just below the knee and is about 4 inches by 3 1/2 inches.

thanks all for indulging me this week - should return to what you were expecting in the next post.