Super (or not) thoughts

I love watching sports fans and even the media react.

Sean Payton is being hailed in many quarters as a genius after the Saints cemented momentum in the Super Bowl by recovering on onside kick to start the second half.

This, of course, was after I saw many online screaming for his head after the Saints failed to score on fourth-and-goal in the second quarter.

The undeniable fact is that success dictates emotion where sports fans are concerned. Had the Saints not recovered that kick? No doubt the media, as well as fans of course, would be referring to him in a much different light.

Result notwithstanding, was the gamble worth taking? What do you think?

*****

New Orleans is one of my favorite cities. Well, let's be honest. The Quarter is one of my favorite places.

It's also a source of much frustration.

With all the "scene" stories out of New Orleans this week in the aftermath of the Saints' Super Bowl victory, one theme was constant:

Renewed hope for a struggling city.

First of all, yes, this city suffered a horrific disaster. I've never, nor do I intend to now, belittle that fact.

But reading quotes from people there about the Saints and what it all means, one is left with the impression that a football team hoped enough, and a championship was bestowed upon it.

New Orleans continues to struggle four-plus years after Hurricane Katrina in large part because New Orleans struggled for decades before the disaster. Generational welfare long ago robbed a large part of this city's people of the ability or even desire to do for themselves.

That was never more evident than immediately before the hurricane and most certainly after it.

And now, four and a half years and no telling how many billions of dollars in aid later, a football team's championship, in one New Orleanian's estimation, "gives us hope that good things will begin to happen for us, too."

*****

Would more than a handful of people known what the Tebow ad was about had the Looney Left not lost its mind a month before the game?

And that's not even the most asinine part of this story.

In the aftermath, the geniuses at NOW actually suggested in its criticism of the ad that it glorified violence against women.

Almost as pathetic as criticism of Sarah Palin for having a few words written on her hand.