When I say I’ve been waiting a long time for this, I mean decades.

I had the good fortune to not only back the FSU Seminoles during the ’90s, but also go to school there. Their recent run of subpar seasons wasn’t my first experience with love for the underdog, though. My loyalty to the New Orleans Saints was solidified during my high school years in Northwest Florida, whose Mardi Gras makes up in outrageousness what it lacks in size.

I came close to having my heart broken twice in 2007, and by far the more notable of the occasions was the Saints’ loss to the Chicago Bears on January 21. But hey, you know? When you love the underdog, the heartbreak is part of the experience. I was almost afraid to look, when they won 13 games in a row this season. When they went to the playoffs, I braced myself for another near miss. But the Vikings went down easier than the Bears. And my-freaking-God, there the Saints went to the Superbowl.

It’s funny, what we tell ourselves when we want something really bad. “It doesn’t matter, I’ll love them anyway.” And then: that freaking interception! Watching Tracy Porter run 74 yards was like peering into another dimension, one in which the Saints were the exact opposite kind of team they’d been my entire life. But you know what? This new dimension’s just fine! WHO DAT, BITCHES? I TOLD YOU THEY’D WIN IT! GEAUX SAINTS!

Related Posts

  1. Who ‘Dat, Dammit!