Saints-obsessed New Orleans gearing up for next "biggest" game

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ A dozen guests have canceled plans to attend the Saturday evening wedding of Tara Chauffe and Corey Boland, and they didn't need to make up an excuse. <br/><br/>``They have tickets.

Wednesday, January 10th 2007, 2:14 pm

By: News On 6

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ A dozen guests have canceled plans to attend the Saturday evening wedding of Tara Chauffe and Corey Boland, and they didn't need to make up an excuse.

``They have tickets. I totally understand,'' said Chauffe.

Tickets, that is, to see the New Orleans Saints' playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Louisiana Superdome.

``I cried all last Sunday,'' said Chauffe, 26, recalling her reaction when she learned that football would conflict with her real life. ``And I feel really, really bad for the people who already bought playoff tickets who have to be'' at the wedding.

Two bridesmaids and a groomsman who paid $600 for his seats will be letting their tickets go, Boland added. They will miss a game that would be historic for Saints fans even without the backdrop of Hurricane Katrina's devastation; the Saints have never hosted a second-round playoff game before.

And it could rival, in atmosphere and symbolism, the Sept. 25 Monday night game when the Saints returned to the dome for their first true home game since Katrina hit on Aug. 29, 2005, ripping the roof off the stadium, which was used as a ``refuge of last resort'' for evacuees.

Some of fans at that game cried when they saw the dome's sparkling, freshly painted interior _ a stark contrast to the horrific images broadcast from that same spot when evacuees were stranded there for days, with no plumbing or electricity, while floodwaters swamped surrounding streets.

Among those fans in attendance were those who had been to past Super Bowls in New Orleans and who suggested that even those championship games couldn't match the electricity in the air when the dome reopened. After all, the majority of the fans were not out-of-town corporate types, but local die-hards who had waited more than a year for their team to come back after a miserable season on the road.

Thousands had taken the day off from work to join tailgate parties that spread for blocks around the stadium and to watch free concerts on the plaza surrounding the dome.

NFL commissioners past and present were there, as were reporters from around the world and internationally known rock stars U2 and Green Day, who performed before the game.

John Rodli, a guitarist with the locally popular New Orleans Jazz Vipers, skipped his band's regular Monday gig to watch the Saints beat Atlanta that night. He has tickets to the playoff game as well, and he won't have to miss a show this time, but said he would if it came to that.

Rodli suggested that the game against the Eagles somehow feels bigger than the Monday night game. After all, this game, too, is still part of the season that marked the Saints' return to the city. But it's also the story of a fan base, renowned for its loyalty and passion in the face of so much losing over the last four decades, getting to host a game of greater magnitude than the Saints have ever played at home before.

The only other time the Saints made the second round was the 2000 season, but that game was at Minnesota, and it was a lopsided loss.

``At the time, of course, Monday was it. That was the game of the century _ huge,'' Rodli said. ``But I think this game is bigger now. The anticipation for all this has been long-lasting throughout the years, them even getting to this spot of having a first-round bye, which is unheard of.''

Saints officials have worked to recreate the block-party atmosphere that accompanied the Monday night game. There will be free concerts outside, this time with the Steve Miller Band as the headliner, along with a pair of Louisiana acts: blues musician Luther Kent and the Rebirth Brass Band. Miller is slated to sing the national anthem as well.

Saints players are thrilled the game is at night, as opposed to noon on Sunday, when it sometimes seems like fans are still trying to shake off their recent slumber.

The noise and energy of that Monday night game stood out to them as they reflected on the regular season, particularly the moment when Steve Gleason blocked an early punt that the Saints recovered for the game's first touchdown.

``We definitely fed off that,'' quarterback Drew Brees recalled. ``We blocked that punt and fell on it in the end zone and that place just erupted. I've never heard a stadium sound like that.''

Gleason said someone told him the blocked punt resulted in the most beer ever spilled at one time in the Superdome, and it seems most fans who attended that game, including Rodli, smile when they hear that and admit to being among the spillers.

``I'll spill some more beer and be happy to,'' Rodli said. ``And the people in front of me will be happy to get beer spilled on them.''

It seems the Saints are what everyone around here wants to talk about, even in political circles. Gov. Kathleen Blanco has promoted a link on her official Web site to a page where fans can express their gratitude to the Saints.

Blanco spearheaded the effort to quickly rebuild the dome and secure the Saints' return. It's perhaps one of the few aspects of an often frustrating and prolonged storm recovery _ while parts of the city appear to be thriving many neighborhoods are still wastelands and a spike in violent crime has already claimed nine lives this year.

Rodli, who has a baby on the way, wants desperately for New Orleans to be a happy place with a hopeful future. He said the game is a step in that direction.

``I do believe just them playing in the city itself is medicine,'' Rodli said. ``Obviously, this is huge what they've done. It's just an extreme added bonus that I think a lot of people take humbly, but are extremely gratified by it. It's dynamite that this should happen. And even if they lose this game, just the future of that team, the promise it brings, is a great antidote _ not for building houses, but for people's morale, as much as sports can do.''

Meanwhile, Chauffe and Boland are thinking of doing the previously unthinkable: asking the reception hall to set up a television tuned to the game.

``That would be nice for the guests, but we don't want to hear yelling in the background while we're having our first dance,'' Chauffe said. ``Maybe we can turn it on after the first couple dances.''