The other day I sort of watched the Saints/Texans match up. I rooted for the Saints. If you have to ask why, then you just don't get it.
I understand why, after having lived in the Houston area for round bout 20 years, that someone would question the validity of remaining a fan of an out of town team. I have lived in the Houston area a good deal longer than in Louisiana, much less the NOLA area. But having lived in the New Orleans area it goes without saying frankly that I would still root for the Saints. It is cultural. If one has lived in that area for any length of time, then one begins to feel a part of something. A part of true American history. One can feel the spirits, if you will, whenever one is in old New Orleans. It has a charm and something else that I can't figure out that no place else I have found, with the possible exception of San Francisco and maybe Memphis, has. It is just a feeling I suppose.
Going to watch a Saints game in the outdated Super Dome is a treat. It is something that can not be replicated in any venue in the country. Whether the Saints win or lose is often not really relevant. No one is going to bother you if you come to the game rooting for the other team. It is just not that important. To be there and have a good time is the whole point of going to the game. It is fun of course when they win but no one in the area ever really expects much to come of any team the Saints field.
Going to a Texans Home game in Reliant Stadium is not the same thing. No comparison. How could it be?
Not that I have anything bad to say about Houston. Nice city sure. Being downtown late in the evening is something special. It is relatively safe as such things go, although it is well to keep aware of your surroundings. A sense of quiet solitude comes over me when wandering or when, in the past, I sat in my taxi waiting for a night owl, out of town sport, to go on an adventure. There are a great many adventures to be had in Houston and any cabbie worth their salt knows just where an adventure can be experienced. All in the name of customer service you understand.
Yep Houston is a very nice place indeed but it just is not New Orleans. Something I just can't quite put my finger on is missing here that can be felt in the Crescent City. If you don't know then you just don't know. That is forgivable I guess.
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My grandmother grea up on a plantation near Milliken's Bend LA. My cousin, who is about my age, now owns that plantation, along with a bunch of oil wells, and has a town house in New Orleans. We were never particularly close, really, although we were friendly and had good times when my grandmother was alive, but Mother's side of the family didn't like my father much, and we drifted apart after Grandma died. I don't know how the town house fared in Katrina.
Anyway, I've never lived In New Orleans, but I spent a lot of time there between jobs, including several Mardi Gras seasons, with Stewart, whose ambition seemed to be to spend all of his father's money, die young and leave a good looking corpse. I was still drinking in those days, so I was on board with that ambition.
I developed a very deep affection for that city, and mostly for its people, who live slowly but with great depth. When they do something, even the most trivial thing, they do it with every fiber of their being.
And the food, oh my good, good God, the food. There is no city on Earth that even approaches to food.
I can't get on board with the Saints, though.
I feel the need for a weekend vacatin coming on. NOLA is about six hours or so from me. Perhaps a road trip to see the Green Wave lose another one is in the cards.
Ah, yes, if there is anything Tulane does well, it's lose football games. Actually, they train doctors pretty well. My father's medical degree was from Tulane, and he met my mother while a student there. She was at Newcomb College, of course, being a "proper young lady" and all. The tale is that he threw her existing boyfriend down a flight of stairs, but I have my doubts about the validity of that story.
The Super Dome sounds amazing. :)
The Super Dome is pretty unique. It is pretty outdated even with the post Katrina updates. I need to make another trip soon.
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