Well, The New Orleans Saints just won the NFC South Division Championships, which means they’re on their way to Florida to play in the Superbowl on February 7th.  Now I’m not much of a sports fan, and until the last month or so it had to be explained to me that “Football” was the game with the egg-shaped ball and the helmets, not the one with the small ball and the stick.  But I do get caught up in the sociological symptoms and effects of major sports events, and this one is major.  The Saints have never come close to this before.  As my friend Ned Sublette just said:

“The importance of the Saints… is that they are the only thing everyone in New Orleans can agree on.  Nothing, but nothing, else.”

I’m spending a huge amount of time in New Orleans lately, and the city is going crazy over this.  If (when?) The Saints win the Superbowl, it will bring the city to its knees, in a good way.  They can sure use it.

As part of the citywide Saints fever, there has been an incredible explosion of locally created music supporting the team.  You can listen to a streaming radio playlist of much of this music at The Times Picayune site here.  My favorite of all of these songs so far is “Wit Da Saints” by a group of musicians from the Habitat For Humanity Musicians Village, who call themselves The Village Block Party.  You can hear the song on the tube here, or buy it at Amazon here.

Go Saints!