Sugar Bowl

ddjones007
Sun, 03 Dec 2006 21:11:55 +0000

It’s a great thing, though, for New Orleans! Way I see it, with two losses as convincing as they were, we’re lucky to be in any BCS bowl, and if we weren’t Notre Dame with a built-in national audience, we probably wouldn’t be. My son the Domer might contest that point, but he’s not on this forum–guaranteed!–so I shall state it uncontested. We are lucky to be anywhere.

LSU is in Baton Rouge, a place nearly as torn apart by Katrina as New Orleans itself. In the aftermath of the hurricane, its population nearly doubled, taxing all of its services and infrastructure. Its crime rates soared, and its schools were strained to the point of bursting. It may not have been the city in the spotlight, but it, too, has been severely tested and challenged by Katrina.

So we have the bastion of Catholicism playing in the most Catholic city of the south. Because of our presence, even more eyes of the nation will be on New Orleans for some reason other than broken levees, flooded ghettos and violence in the Superdome. No city needs it more.

ND is an underdog. It should be. We lost twice to the only very top-rated schools we played. We had a couple of victories that were awe-inspiring in their ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat; the great comebacks of Michigan State and UCLA came only after we’d nearly blown it. Any team that can come back, though, from a 17-point road deficit against such a perennial rival as Michigan State, despite the horrific weather; any team that can pull one out, despite being stuffed at 4th and 2 with only a few minutes and no timeouts to go–that’s a team you gotta love!

And LSU, with everything the people of Louisiana have endured, and the city of Baton Rouge has endured–how can America not root for them as well?

This game has no losers. New Orleans is the big winner.

New Orleans is the biggest underdog of all!

So when the fans from LSU converge upon the Big Easy, along with fans from ND from across the nation, and revel and party, and stay in newly refurbished hotels and spend lots and lots of money in the process…a good thing is happening. No matter what the score.

That being said, I hope we kick their butts. I think we can. Brady and Jeff deserve it! Charlie, too!