Today in Volume 2 of my NFC Championship Saints Fan Diary, we'll take a look at what it means for the Saints and the City of New Orleans to host the NFC Championship. You can view Part I here, a recap of Saturday's NFC Divisional Playoff win over Arizona.
January 24, 2010 will be a date that will be forever remembered by Saints fans as the day that the city of New Orleans finally hosted an NFC Championship game. By now, you've probably seen the lists on Fox or ESPN of all of the bigtime events that have been in the Superdome. Super Bowls, Final Fours, National Championship games, legendary fights, national conventions, Tulane football... but never an NFC Championship game. Never with the Saints as the home team. January 24, 2010 will finally be that chance.
Hosting this game isn't just about a franchise first though. As we chronicled in this #10 Story of the Decade, the spirit of the people of New Orleans in coming back from Hurricane Katrina is one of the most inspiring stories of this, or any other decade. And, the Saints are more connected to their city than any other team in sports. For the Saints to stay in New Orleans after Katrina was a huge sign to the community that the team was committed to helping New Orleans rebuild.
Right after Katrina, the Saints made it to the NFC title game, and lost on the road in Chicago. That season meant a lot to Saints fans, but it has been equaled if not surpassed by the 2009 season. Hosting the NFC Championship for the first time, after Katrina, is such an emotional and meaningful event for New Orleans. This is a city that some people thought shouldn't even be rebuilt, and a team that seemed bound for San Antonio or Los Angeles. For the Saints to host this game in the Superdome, where so much pain and sadness took place during Katrina, for the people of New Orleans is one of the more significant sporting events in recent memory. You can expect the Superdome to be rocking on Sunday.
Of course, there is another side to the Saints hosting the NFC title game for the first time - this is one of the most star-crossed, jinxed, terrible franchises in the history of sports! To finally break the glass ceiling of hosting an NFC Championship game will help Saints fans to put some of our bad memories to rest, here are five of my personal favorites!
1) Diddly Poo! (Also one of Jim Mora's last acts as Saints coach!)
2) How will the Ditka Era try and top that!
3) At least Ditka and Mora kept their anger off the field though. The briliant Kyle Turley ladies and gentlemen!
4) It's sad that there is no actual findable footage of this play by Aaron Brooks in a 2004 game vs the Chargers, but we can take solace in the fact that it lives on as the "Aaron Brooks Glitch"
4) It's sad that there is no actual findable footage of this play by Aaron Brooks in a 2004 game vs the Chargers, but we can take solace in the fact that it lives on as the "Aaron Brooks Glitch"
5) The Worst Ever...
I think Saints fans are due. Coming up tomorrow we'll start to take a look at the actual Saints/Vikings matchup. On Wednesday: America's Team vs America's Villain. Well, at least RSS's villain - Brett Favre.
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