New Orleans Saints more of a litmus test than you may think

"It's Just a Football Game, is it really going to change your life", That's what was being said to me as I kneeled on my hands and knees hoping that the football Gods would somehow speed up the fabric of time and end the Super Bowl with the Saints leading. It got me thinking this morning, would the New Super Bowl Champs change my life? Well maybe it would change my life in a 6 degrees of separation kind of way. Stick with me because this could get messy.

I am sure everyone noticed the roadside Saints merchandise tents popping up all over town. Well there is a reason that they are there, people are spending money. I myself spent $112.00 on new hats for the kids, a more feminine jersey for my wife, the NFC championship hat (the Super Bowl hat is notoriously ugly, and once again they didn't disappoint) and some sort of car flag that lets everyone know I am a card carrying member of the "Who Dat Nation", and please don't steal my car. All this before the Saints even won "The Game". Who knows what I will be purchasing now, Reggie Bush Bobble Head, Lock of Drew Brees' hair in a super dome locket, Colts toilet Paper?

So if I'm typical of the middle class, mid thirties, balding, chubby (in a good kind of way) family man, and I'd like to think that I am, then we all went out spent some money on frivolous Black and Gold Stuff. Why is this out of the norm? Well for the last 8 months to a year I, like my chubby brethren have been hording our dimes and nickels like the Monopoly Banker holds on to blue 50's. I'm talking meatloaf instead of New York Strip, hitting the 89 button instead of 93 button at Shell, the whole nine yards. Heck I re-gifted kids Christmas presents. Not that I made any less money, but I watch Television and by the looks of things I thought by now we would be half-way to Mad Max Beyond Thunder Dome type living (if you haven't seen it, you should). Now before you do something crazy like eating your one year emergency food supply, I am no expert on world economy. But it felt good, putting the brand new Saints cap on my son's head, and I went one step further this week and booked a weekend to take my wife to a Mardi Gras Ball. The Saints Winning the Super Bowl, makes us feel good. Maybe good enough and for long enough, that some people who have been too petrified to buy a house, actually pull the trigger and purchase that house that they are qualified to buy. Even if it was previously owned by Tina Turner's hair dresser (Ubiquitous Mad Max reference).

I don't really care what tax credits, or incentives the federal government gives. If purchasing a home doesn't FEEL right, people aren't going to do it. And lets be honest things haven't FELT right for a while around Southern Louisiana. Maybe all that talk about Normalcy that politicians and pundits were talking about isn't what we needed at all. Maybe what we all needed is a good ‘ol shot of feel good Saints the whole time. I can give no guarantees that the real estate business will go into hyper drive, or even that in 6 months we all won't be eating dog food out of unmarked cans, driving cars with chicken wire across the windshield, and running from Mohawk clad renegades (really go rent the movie). But driving around town today, no one was complaining about the New HUD-1, or the Chaotic nature of the new Good Faith Estimate, everyone was just happy to be living in area blessed to be part of the "Who Dat Nation".

Oh and getting back to the original question, how will this all change my life...well I DO work on commission. "BLESS YOU BOYS"