I turn to Chris Rose

Because I can't write it as eloquently or as well as he can, I turn to Chris Rose to give a sense of how I've been feeling lately. All of his columns can be found here on nola.com. When you have some free time, I really suggest reading some of the columns he wrote in the days and months immediately following Hurricane Katrina. You can still read them at nola.com, but they've even been compiled in a book called 1 Dead in Attic. Just make sure you have some tissues handy. By the way, I read this article on Friday and saw We are Marshall Saturday afternoon before the I watched the Saints game. That may or may not have something to do with why I cried all throughout the movie, and defiitely has some reason behind my excitement leading up to the game Saturday night. Anyways, I give you Chris Rose and really do urge you to go read his columns. And someone please buy me 1 Dead in Attic because I don't know if I can bring myself to actually buy it.

"Rage and Sympath in the city of Brotherly Love" (01/12/2007 about the Saints v. Eagles playoff game)

That said, the Katrina factor is definitely a part of the vibe of discussion in the buildup to the contest. In a story that stretched across the top of the front page of The Philadelphia Inquirer on Wednesday, sports columnist Phil Sheridan wrote:

"The happy, sappy tale of feisty Jeff Garcia leading the Eagles to the playoffs can't compete with the epic, back-from-catastrophe story of the New Orleans Saints. . . . The happy, sappy tale of the feisty Saints giving their devastated city something to believe in is irresistible for the national media. This is worth saying because the Eagles, through no fault of their own, find themselves in the role of villain in this fairy tale." . . .

I don't know who's got the better team. I don't even know who's got the better fans or better city; all in all (if you don't count the sports-talk callers) Philly was pretty nice, especially if you like cheese steaks, and I do.

But I do know that our storyline is better; there's never been a sports story quite like it.

And I pray to God there never is one again, anywhere.