Last night was the 20th anniversary of the re-opening of the Superdome in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
To mark the occasion, the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints were scheduled to meet. There was a tribute to former Saints player Steve Gleason, who has battled ALS for a number of years,. It was moving and appropriate. He famously made a big play in that game 20 years ago known as the "Rebirth" Game.
Indeed, the same two teams matched up Monday for the "Domecoming" game retrospective. But other than the names of the teams, it was clearly a different feel. Atlanta won this match-up in dominating fashion 45-24.
NFL.COM did a nice retrospective of that game 20 years ago. There was other coverage on a number news sources including local and national outlets. The Saints defeated the Falcons 23-3 in the Rebirth game.
After the pregame concert featuring U2 and Green Day and the hit song, The Saints Are Coming, and the crowd was so hype, I turned to my son, Paul, and said "I would hate the be the visiting team tonight." And of course, for us as U2 fans, that added an extra special element to the affair.
My thoughts turned to a a business trip to New Orleans I had taken. We drove right by the Superdome on the way from the airport to our downtown hotel. You could certainly feel the devastation that had been brought by that infamous and powerful hurricane.
And, like so many other weather watchers, I remember watching the coverage of that storm and the devasting blow it dealt the Crescent City.
My mind shifted to many friends in the region. And I remember the many stories my grandfather told about his travel down the Mississippi to New Orleans as a part of his work.
But flash back to the energy in the dome that night. The crowd. The concert. And then the team.
It would have been hard to root against the Saints that night and, indeed, a few years later when they won Super Bowl XLIV.
So many memories that came cascading back during the timely scheduling of that rematch.
JG
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