I'm watching the Redskins/Saints game on FOX, and just now the guy doing color commentary was saying,
"It's great what this team is doing for the city. You go down to the French Quarter and you see the restaurants doing more business, and the people are just as friendly as ever, and they're happy to have you sample the gumbo, and it just does your heart good to see the good times starting to come back."
At the same time rosy color commentator is saying this, there is a struggle going on in the courts to force FEMA to restore housing benefits to about 11,000 households who lost their homes to the hurricane. Let's ask a member of one such household how he feels about the New Orleans Saints:
"Well, I think Drew Brees is just having a monster of a season, really reminiscent of Dan Marino back in his prime. And it's exciting to finally see Reggie Bush realizing some of his potential. It feels great to see this perennially disappointing franchise making good after so long. Yeah, I guess you could say that the Saints first playoff season since 2000 has really distracted me from the fact that it's Christmas time and my family is out on the street because the government doesn't feel like it needs to help us. I stroll through the rubble of the yet-to-be-rebuilt neighborhoods I used to know so well and think, "Man, the coaching staff has certainly risen to the challenge of finding ways to utilize both Bush and Deuce McAllister. Shit, my stomach is growling. I wish I could afford some gumbo."
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well, andrew,as much as i do appreciate your sentiments here, i have to voice a mild disagreement. i was in new orleans a few months ago, and, wow, it's way worse than any amount of news coverage, documentaries, or magazine articles could convey. seriously: thing are fucked down there. but, while i can see how an already nauseating sports commentator's nauseating comments could provoke your response, there is an element of truth to extract from what he said. yeah, our government has dropped the ball in every possible way in this situation, but the money that is so desperately needed in new orleans has to come from somewhere. i grant you, no one is going to confuse the nfl with a genuinely charitable organization (they exist to make $$, and do a damn fine job of it), but they are pouring money into the city, via donation and just by generating revenue. so, while your disgust is understandable, don't entirely dismiss the role of the saints in the recovery of new orleans (even if that role is arguably quite small) just because you have an aversion to the feel-good story the nfl is trying to force-feed us. that said, i hope to see you on sunday so we can watch some football, drink some beer, and make fun of your boyfriend: howie long.
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