Still My Saints

Sunday, December 14, 1980 ... Coming off a thrilling defeat at SanFrancisco to go 0-14, I had high hopes for my New Orleans Saints as they headed into New York to face the Jets.  It had been a long year, the year of the "Aints" bags and a ten year old boy had no logical reason to hope for a win.  Indeed, many would say I had no reason to even want to watch the game.  But I HAD to.

I HAD to watch the game because the Saints and I were intertwined.  We were one.  Just as the military uses boot camp to break down recruits so as to bond them together as a stronger, single fighting unit, the Saints and I had been broken down and bound together in 1980.  We, and I do mean we, were the laughing stocks that year.  I wore my Saints jerseys and carried my Saints football cards to school, and was persecuted like Frankenstein's monster for doing so, but I didn't mind.

Even my dad, a bigger Saints fan than me, had begun to find other things to do on Sunday afternoons.  I would sit watching each and every miserable play of each and every miserable game, hoping ... hoping ... hoping.  And each and every Sunday we would find a way to lose.  But my dad would always stroll through the den to get an update on the game.  You see, he was like me, Black and Gold was in his blood.  He had just learned to hide it a little better.  After all, what kind of fool kept coming back each week to cheer for a team that lost EVERY game?  I did.

The game was surprisingly close.  As the end of the game drew near I allowed myself to dream, to hope that we would get the win.  I didn't want to have a winless season.  I thought that at least one win would make it seem not as bad in the history books (but it was still bad).  And then, WE WON WE WON WE WON!!!!  We pulled the win out against the Jets! I remember running outside in the front yard, yelling for my dad.  We Won!  At 10 years old, it felt like we had won the Superbowl! Ecstasy at 1-14!!!

So what did the Saints do the following year to improve?  Well naturally we got the Jets quarterback.  Obviously the missing link for our success was the one quarterback we were able to beat in the 1-15 season. Ugh.  But I watched all the 1981 games too ... yelling, hoping, praying.  And 30 years later, as Hartley's 40 yard field goal flew through the uprights to put us in the Superbowl, all those hopes, cheers, and prayers were answered.

So.  I will always be a Saints fan.  Win, lose or draw, that's my team.  Who dat say dey gone luv dem Saints?  Me dat.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone!  And what better way to start off 2011 by starting a blog :)

I don't make resolutions, but each year I name the theme for the year which is an idea I got from a book called "Earth Abides."  In the book, everyone is killed by a disease that sweeps the globe, except for one man - Isherwood Williams.  Eventually he does find a few stragglers so as to begin the process of repopulating the Earth.  But they decide to lose the old number system for dates.  Instead they name the year, once it's finished, based on something that happened that year.  For instance, instead of 2001, we'd call it "The Year The Towers Fell."

Well I like this idea, but I do it differently.  Instead of naming the year once its over, I prefer to name it going in.  So as to give it direction, and to keep me somewhat focused for the year.  I've had before "The Year of Indulgence"  and "The Year of Good Friends" and "The Year of the Baby."  Last year was "The 40th Year" and it sucked.

So this year, after much thought, I think I know what I want it to be.  It may sound like a simple thing, but I think if I keep the theme of the year in mind throughout the year and strive to be true to it, it will change the entire year for me.  So, Ladies and Gentlemen, join me in welcoming The Year of Live Performances!

Some of my best memories come from concerts and plays and other gatherings.  This year I want to squeeze in as many as I possibly can!

Happy New Year!

Rando