So I'm making an early New Year's resolution. It's time to wake up and quit taking all this for granted. Just in the nick of time too, because shit's about to get real fun.
I'm also resolving to quit reflexively comparing everything to 2009, whether I want to or not. I think that's part of the problem too. It's not fair, because 2009 was magic. Oh, they were a damn strong football team too, don't get me wrong. And they earned everything they got that season. But those 39 takeaways were magic. Brett Favre's and Peyton Manning's brainfarts falling into the hands of Tracy Porter was magic. The ball bouncing the Saints' way all damn year was magic. And magic gives you that… well, magical feeling.
This? This ain't magic. This is just the Saints doing what they do.
To that I'll add that just the word "magic" in relation to football automatically makes me think of the publicity campaign in support of the Gerry Dinardo LSU regime so I've had quite enough of that, thank you.
Also this week Wang writing at NOLA Def wonders if it's really appropriate for Saints fans to "hate" the Atlanta Falcons.
So, yes, I can definitely see how the Falcons are pretty easy to "hate." And I guess I don't blame you if you do. After all, there's not a whole lot to like there. There never really has been, and they've always been pretty loathsome. And basking in their misfortune is always good for a chuckle. So we've got that going for us.
Another thing we have going for us is a 9-2 record against them since Sept 25, 2006. Oh, and a Lombardi Trophy. (High five!)
So, you know, screw them. I'm just not sure that hatred is the most effective use of one's emotional resources when it comes to the Falcons. I'm not sure they deserve it. Not lately, anyway.
Now I think this is maybe a little dismissive so I'm going to hopefully conclude that when Wang looks at the most competitive period in the history of the long standing Saints-Falcons rivalry and says, essentially, "eh, we own these bitches," he's actually just talking a little smack.
The 11-3 Saints are doing that "peaking at the right time" thing down the stretch of their 3rd consecutive 10+ win season. Their quarterback is set to break a major passing record during a Monday Night match-up with their most serious rival in a game that basically will make all the difference in the season. Doesn't Wang know Christopher Hitchens died last week? This is no time to be contrary.
Besides, I already answered this "hate or no-hate" question a few years back in this post. But since I'm going out of town tomorrow and I wanted to have something up before this Falcon Week to end all Falcon Weeks I'll recycle that bit here.
The Saints and the Falcons arrived in the NFL at roughly the same time in the mid-sixties and the teams, like the Southern cities they represent, became fast rivals. Like a lot of sports rivalries, the Saints and Falcons always play each other close, tend to be in each others' way at exactly the right times, and unusual things happen when they play each other. But unlike a lot of typical rivalries, it would be inaccurate to say that the teams and their fan bases hate each other. In fact, Saints-Falcons is best described as sibling rivalry.
Historically, the South's two best known cities have often compared themselves with one another each proud of the ways in which it isn't like the other. Atlanta is more prosperous. New Orleans is more fun. But also each is a little jealous of the things its rival has that it doesn't. But where there is jealousy there isn't much hostility. Saints fans don't really hate the Falcons, they just really really want to beat them.
Furthermore, a lot of New Orleanians have family who live in Atlanta. That was true before the Federal Flood, but after that event lot of New Orleanians ended up in Atlanta. Many are still there now. This commerce between the two cities only strengthens the familial relationship. For a time during the early 2000s, the teams' respective starting quarterbacks were cousins. Most fans thought this only natural.
The two annual games between these teams typically carry the strongest numbers of fans traveling with the team to each of the cities. Saints fans and Falcons fans know each other. Visiting Falcons fans hanging out in and around the Superdome are typically good humored, and fun to tease and tailgate with. Saints fans visiting the Georgia Dome, well, they know how to put on a show too.
Most people across the country don't know it but Saints-Falcons is one of the NFL's best rivalries. Not because of the win-loss records of the mostly mediocre teams involved, but because the fans know how to make it fun. Simply put, Saints and Falcons fans do things right. Don't get me wrong, though. We always want to beat those people. But we don't hate them like we do, say, Bucs fans. And Atlanta, for all its faults, still isn't Dallas.
Update: Looks like that Gambit link no longer has the correct video. Here's what was there originally.
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