On this Carrollton/King Arthur/Barkus/SUPER BOWL morn, I must first kick out a hearty mazel tov to Mitch Landrieu for landsliding his way into the mayor's office. Check the NolaStat PDF here to see how much of a blowout it was all over town. All that's left is for Hizzoner the Walking Id to somehow get stuck to his seat in the stadium in Miami and thus resign come Monday morning...but first, amateur local politics enthusiasts like myself must figure out why we got so caught up in Claude Mauberret vs. Janis Lemle and completely missed the stronghold Errol Williams still has on the assessor's office in this town. The political ground beneath New Orleans has shifted considerably and I'm certain it'll take us another four years to figure it all out...

Until then, there's more Mardi Gras coming our way...and then some big game in Florida someplace.

If you're up for getting pumped for Super Bowl XLIV, you can just flip on ESPN, apparently, and immediately get ticked off at all the fawning over Peyton Manning's mad QB skillz and his gene pool. According to Rick Reilly, you must either have had your heart removed by corn tongs or be in the Manning family if you're not pulling for the Saints.

If nothing else, Twitter has been one hell of a resource for this #twaddict in the Saints/Super Bowl reference department over the past couple of weeks. A sampling:

Saints fans, run get your hate on from this Indiana native and naturalized New Orleanian. His primers:

• 10 Things Saints Fans Should Know About Indianapolis
• Indianapolis Facts 11-20
• Hoosiers Fight Back!
• Indy Facts 21-30
• Love Your Enemy

Ya know, if you move from here to a place where both its expansion NFL teams haven't come near the Super Bowl, you should be a little more tactful. I'm talking to you, Doug Brinkley.

We love Scott Fujita. We really really do. If you don't, your heart really has been eviscerated by corn tongs.

How big a deal is this for us? Well, you can go by what my husband the Niners fan was trying to say about it to my father-in-law over the phone the other night: It's like everybody is back in high school and holding pep rallies! Or you can just read a synopsis of the Saints' long and tortured history here.

For the bigger picture of the psychic boost the saints' season is giving us this year, check Nordette's post and links.

Closer to game time?

Start with dat wacky Cajun Boy's appearance on this podcast (2nd half of this show) for some silly humor, some explanation of what a coonass is, and some off-the-wall Super Bowl predictions.

High-Five Super Bowl Edition will pump you up too, and make you laugh.

Everybody, behave at your Super Bowl parties. Case in point: if you're going to engage in this, pick one and stay with it. If you try to do it all, you won't even be able to enjoy the kickoff.

Not safe for the kids, but inspiring all the same.

Much safer for the kids, and they can dance along if they'd like:



And finally, take Grandmaster Wang's words to heart:

I'll probably take some shit for this, but I've gotta admit that while I want it for these Saints so badly I can taste it, ultimately I feel like I've already experienced about five Super Bowls this year. And as a result, I can't imagine being pissed off or disappointed in the least if by some chance the Saints don't end up winning it all.

Which isn't to say that I don't care what happens in Miami. Of course I do. Clearly the Saints themselves have the "right" attitude about it when they say things like "We've come all this way, we've gotta win the thing now." Hell yeah, no question about it. This team has had the right attitude about everything all year, no reason to expect any different now.

But as a fan, these Saints have already given me much more than I could reasonably have expected or asked for. 8-0. Demolishing the Mighty Patriots on national tee vee. 13-0. Two consecutive playoff wins against Hall of Fame quarterbacks. An NFC Championship, a Super Bowl berth, and looking ahead, the shortest offseason ever. By far. It's already more than enough for me.

Do I want the championship? Fuck yeah I want it. But not for me. I want it for them.

This is their deal.

Win or lose, I love the New Orleans Saints.

Play well, fellas. Leave it all out there on the field.

Updates, 10:09 AM: Saints, Race, and Moon over at NOLA-Dishu puts all this in yet another light.

G-Bitch reminds us to remember Ashley Morris on this auspicious day. Sinn Fein and FYYFF, all.