Game day arrives at last
‘Perfect storm’ of events hits N.O.
“Life could not get any better.” Abigail Hamilton, of Baton Rouge
NEW ORLEANS — Decked out in purple and gold, Alex Patout watched hordes of LSU and Alabama fans flood into the French Quarter on Sunday afternoon while drinking wine with friends from the edge of the famed Napoleon House.
Patout, a New Iberia chef and former New Orleans restaurateur, attended the New Orleans Saints playoff game Saturday night. But that was just the prologue to having lunch at Galatoire’s Restaurant on Sunday, then going to the BCS National Championship Game between LSU and Alabama on Monday.
“I couldn’t have planned it any better,” Patout said, calling the weekend a “perfect storm.”
City officials are saying early January is arguably the biggest stretch of sporting events in New Orleans history.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl and multiple New Orleans Hornets games are virtual afterthoughts to the Saints rolling into the NFL playoffs and the so-called “Game of the Century: The Rematch,” featuring the first Bowl Championship Series Championship between conference rivals.
“It’s been spectacular,” New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said Sunday in an interview. “(Monday) might well be the end of one of the city’s biggest runs.
“People are really happy. They’re excited to be here,” Landrieu said. “We’re seeing lots of joy on the streets.”
Within the French Quarter on Sunday, there were constant shouts of “Tiger Bait” and “Roll Tide,” but the ribbing was mostly friendly in nature.
Among the many LSU signs on Bourbon Street read one: “Tickets to Nat’l Championship — $1,200. Hotel room in the Big Easy — $350. Purple & gold jersey — $100. Whoopin’ Bama twice in one season … Priceless.”
“Life could not get any better,” said Abigail Hamilton, of Baton Rouge, while having champagne Sunday at Muriel’s bistro balcony by Jackson Square with former college roommates and friends.
Naturally, they toasted to LSU and the Saints.
Countless Alabama fans were also in on the fun.
Longtime Alabama fan Ann Shinn, of Moody, Ala., wore her “I’m a Nick Chick” pin with pride, in reference to Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban. She said this weekend should outdo the 1992 Alabama championship won in New Orleans because of the extra energy brought by the LSU and Saints fans.
“I love it down here. It’s always exciting and LSU and Bama both travel so well” Shinn said. “But we’re here to pull the Tide through.”
Just prior to Alabama’s Sunday pep rally at the Fan Fest outside of Jax Brewery, Jerry Richards, of Gadsden, Ala., and his friends watched children participate in kicking fan experience events.
“We’ve been scouting, and we found a couple of 9-year-old kickers,” Richards said, joking about Alabama’s kicking woes during the Nov. 5 matchup with LSU in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
They would not stay self-effacing for long. Alabama won on Nov. 5 in every aspect except the scoreboard, argued Jordan Statum of Gadsden.
But they did find commonality with the LSU fans in rooting for the Saints and a general love of New Orleans.
“We love it,” added Joel Statum, also of Gadsden. “This is like a nonstop, three-day party.”
Kelly Schulz, vice president of communications for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, said she is optimistic the city’s January football run could approach a $500 million economic impact. That would exceed the $400 million brought in four years ago when LSU last won the championship in New Orleans.
“It’s huge and it’s unprecedented,” Schulz said, noting that New Orleans hosts the Super Bowl and the NCAA Final Four next year.
Hotels and restaurants are packed, she said, forcing many visitors to get hotel rooms as far out as Baton Rouge and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Sunday started out with volunteers from both LSU and the University of Alabama to build baseball and football fields for the inner-city youth of New Orleans in areas still recovering from Hurricane Katrina as part of the Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Louisiana’s NFL/Youth Education Town.
Mike the Tiger, Alabama’s Big Al mascot and hundreds of volunteers, cheerleaders and football players from both schools were on hand to help.
Alabama senior Nancy Hogan of Birmingham said she and many others wanted to help, especially after Tuscaloosa experienced a tornado tragedy last year.
“So we know what it feels like in our hearts, and we wanted to reach out,” she said.
LaToya Williams, a mother of three children who use the Boys and Girls Club facilities, said the volunteer efforts are a “heaven send.”