The Saints earned a nice win over the Eagles yesterday and for me, not a raging fan for either team, it was a fun and exciting game. I say not a raging fan, but like a lot of football fans this year, I'm cheering for New Orleans as long as they aren't playing my home team. Saints fans have been through a lot. Katrina, the slow recovery, Archie Manning (heh...just kidding). Seriously though, sports teams can give a tremendously healthy emotional lift(can you say Miracle on Ice?) and it's fun to see the good people of the New Orleans area like Rob get that benefit.
As the media jumps on the bandwagon and begins the long, slow process of beating anything good out of this phenomenon, a quick note to Saints fans:
Please, I beg of you, please, do not fall for the "America's Team" crap. I've hated that term since Dallas had it conferred on them/claimed it way back when. I'm starting to hear whispers of it for the Saints on the Internet now and I'm sure it's kind of seductive. Don't be fooled though. If you want to destroy that warm glow that many NFL fans now have for the Saints, embrace the "America's Team" title the media will try to hand you.
If the history of the Dallas Cowboys is any guide, the rest of the country will immediately be offended. I can't speak for Redskins fans or Giants fans for example, but the notion that they embraced that term back then seems ridiculous to me. I know Vikings fans hated it and grew to loath the Cowboys for their arrogance. Well, that and foisting Herschel Walker on us. Outside of Dallas and the self-important media bubble, did anyone else really embrace the Cowboys as America's Team? I don't think so.
Take my advice Saints fans, enjoy the warm glow of sympathy from the rest of the country while it lasts, but reject the title "America's Team" for the Saints. They aren't America's team, they are New Orleans' team and that's plenty right there.
Besides, I'd rather not loath them just yet.
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