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Hoarse, hungover and happy, New Orleans woke
up Monday wondering if that Super Bowl thing really happened.

      In the French Quarter, stragglers - decked out in Saints jerseys
and team colors- remaining from the all-night party turned to
coffee and beignets as dawn broke.


      Richard Bourland said he came to the city from nearby Gulfport,
Miss., hoping to see history made and wasn't disappointed. The
57-year-old had pulled his first all-nighter "in at least "15
years" celebrating the Saints' 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis
Colts in Sunday's Super Bowl.


      "I came because it is a once in a lifetime event," Bourland
said as he sipped strong black coffee. "I wanted to experience a
miracle and I did. I'm still trying to believe it."


      Fans had trouble believing the Saints' Super Bowl victory, the
first in their 43-year history - it was, after all, just their
ninth winning season. Disbelief did not prevent them from throwing
a huge "Lombardi Party," however.


      The team's big season came four years after Hurricane Katrina
flooded 80 percent of the city and destroyed thousands of homes and
small businesses.


      "After Katrina everyone was hurting," said Derek Stevens, 27,
who was still on Bourbon Street at dawn. "The Saints was the one
thing we had that was positive, that made us hopeful."


      Long-suffering fans throughout the city shot off fireworks,
danced in the streets and second-lined down the St. Charles Avenue
streetcar tracks.


      On Monday morning, Bourbon Street crews worked at dawn to clean
up the remnants of the street party that began before the game
ended and stretched into the new day.


      "It was crazy the whole day," said Earl Wheeler, 21, a
bartender at one of the Bourbon Street clubs. "It was one really
good time. Lots of love going around. But I was too busy to watch
the game. I'm going home to do that today."


      The victory came a day after New Orleans elected a new mayor and
several other city officials. But in the area newspapers there was
little besides the Saints.


      The New Orleans newspaper, The Times-Picayune, ran a 5-inch
headline that said "AMEN." The subhead read, "After 43 years,
our prayers are answered."

      At Lakeside News, which usually sells about 100 copies a day of
the Times-Picayune, owner Michael Marcello said he had sold 6,000
to 7,000 by 9:15 a.m.


      "I wish I had some," he said. "I'm out again. This is the
fourth time I've run out."


      At the Louisiana State Penitentiary, the game was on television
in all the dormitories, and even some of the cell blocks where
problem prisoners are kept, said prison spokeswoman Cathy Fontenot.

      "Normally they wouldn't have television privileges, but we
thought it was such an important game we let them watch this one,"
Fontenot said.


      Traffic was light coming into town Monday, and many businesses
expected people to stay home. The public schools had scheduled a
full day Monday, but planned to let students out early Tuesday to
attend a parade planned for the Saints.

Gallery

Sports

Hoarse, hungover and happy, New Orleans woke
up Monday wondering if that Super Bowl thing really happened.


After all-night celebration, fans reflect on Saints' win

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