Nobody has ever collected data to describe the convergence of events that is about to unfold in New Orleans.
No historical precedent exists to guide us.
The scientific instruments have yet to be invented to measure this reality: The New Orleans Saints are in
the Super Bowl. The next week is Mardi Gras.
?I think it?s going to be insane,? said Ardley Hanemann, president of the
Krewe of Orpheus, which will feature a float carrying coach
Sean Payton. ?I think it?s going to be over the top, the intensity, the energy and the jubilation, the spirit, the absolute abandon and love.?
And that?s before we know the outcome of the title game. Who knows what will happen if the team wins in Miami?
The Super Bowl has at times coincided with the last Sunday of Carnival season, the roll day of Bacchus, creating a party atmosphere befitting the Crescent City, and the 2002 Super Bowl held in New Orleans required some parade rescheduling. But the Saints? first appearance in one of the world?s biggest sporting events in the middle of the Carnival season has rocketed the city?s mood into the stratosphere.
?The Saints have brought in a new altitude of fun,? said Dan Kelly, owner of the Mardi Gras outfitter Beads by the Dozen in Elmwood. ?Everybody?s sky-high.?
On Thursday, Beads by the Dozen received 300 dozen generic black and gold beads with fleur de lis medallions. They sold out in four hours.
The store also can?t keep official Saints beads in stock. And next week, Kelly said, the stampede of Who Dats through his doors will surely resume when he receives the first shipment of official Super Bowl beads.