New Orleans’s Football Stadium Reflects the State of the City

It sounded like thunder; it felt like heaven.

This is what I remember of Sundays at the Superdome in New Orleans after the Saints scored a touchdown. An endless sea of black and gold. Fleur-de-lis paraphernalia that glistened under the stadium lights. More than 60,000 people on their feet, stomping, screaming, and singing; awash in one another’s delirium. Professional football is a centerpiece for many cities across the country, but it is difficult to imagine that there is a team that means more to a city than the Saints have meant to New Orleans.

My family has had season tickets for Saints games since I was a child. For as long as I can remember, for each Sunday home game, we have rotated our two tickets among the respective members of my family. Mom and Dad. Dad and me. Dad and little sister. Little sister and husband. Dad and little brother. Little