Football fever sweeps New Orleans as Saints, Vikings meet
Nobody thought twice about wearing black to this wedding. For two rabid fans of the New Orleans Saints, the only possible colors were black and gold as they exchanged vows in a tailgate wedding hours before the NFL season opener.
Black fabric roses with gold fleurs-de-lis made up bride Gloria Darlene Paige's bouquet; groom Charlie Vanderpool's wore black suit, gold tie and a boutonniere emblazoned with a miniature Saints helmet.
Fans lining up outside the Louisiana Superdome to see the Saints play the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday evening cheered the newlyweds tied the knot on a gold cloth runway laid down on the crushed shells of a parking lot beneath an underpass.
Sound systems from tailgate crowds all around drowned out the wedding vows and a gaggle of news photographers crowded the hitherto unknown bride and groom out from under their Saints wedding canopy.
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"I want us to two-dat," Vanderpool said before the ceremony that made them one. He meant a second Saints Super Bowl victory. But it also was the second wedding for both: Vanderpool's first wife died of cancer after Hurricane Katrina; the marriage that brought Paige from California to New Orleans 23 years ago ended early last year.
The couple met at Thanksgiving.
Around the Louisiana Superdome, tailgating began near sunrise, more than 12 hours before the Saints were to open the defense of their Super Bowl title.
The city was in Mardi Gras mode: schools set to close early and concerts and a parade planned in the French Quarter. Even City Hall closed for the day.
Many of the parking lots around the stadium had been rented out for tailgating.
Oilfield worker Jeff Steen, 33, said his crowd began chilling beer kegs and stacking up liquor Wednesday night for a party of about 450.
"It's going to be absolutely great," he said. "Unless the Saints lose. I don't even want to think about that."
On Bourbon Street, four deputies from Stillwater, Minn., decked out in Vikings jerseys and carnival beads, had drinks in their hands and smiles on their faces.
"People have been great," said Lonnie Van Klie, 45. "They've been offering to buy us drinks, shaking our hands, wishing us a good game."
No one had suggested the Vikings would win, the group said, but Tray Lake, 38, said he was unimpressed with the Saints, despite their Super Bowl victory.
"They had a great year, but I have to point out the 43 before that," he said. "They've had their fun."
John Fisk, 49, of Laplace, who works in construction, said he was happy to see lots of Vikings fans. "We're welcoming them," he said. "They're nice people, just misguided."
"And we'll buy them a drink after the game and let them cry on our shoulders," said his friend, Terry Sparks, 33, a heavy equipment operator.
The first group to set up on a Superdome rooftop parking lot was from Houma, a 70-minute drive away.
Faren Verdin said he, his cousin Joseph "Sac" Verdin and their wives were up at 4 a.m. to get ready. They were setting up by 6 a.m., but said a friend was at the lot at midnight to stake out a prime spot.
"Pretty much our whole week goes with the Saints," Sac Verdin said. "If the Saints win, it's great. If they lose, it's miserable."
Verdin, 41, said his nickname dated back to high school. "I said, back then, 'Take off the "k." Because when the Saints win the Super Bowl, I can say it stands for Saints Are Champions."'
"I pulled 35 days straight to get off today," said Joseph Verdin, who said he usually works 14 days on and seven days off on an offshore supply vessel. "Not going home, not seeing my family."
Another group arrived at 6 a.m. and pitched a tent nearby. "We've done it when we were terrible," said Danny Alonzo of LaPlace, La., recalling the team's many losing seasons. "It's even sweeter when they're great."
Emotions run high in New Orleans about the Saints. The NFL awarded the franchise on All Saints Day in 1966 and the Saints played their first league game in September 1967. John Gilliam's runback for a touchdown of the opening kickoff ignited big hopes.
But years of frustration followed for the team and its fans. And it was not until 1987 that the Saints posted a winning record for a season.
Thursday night's game was billed as a matchup of two of the league's top quarterbacks - the Saints' Drew Brees and Mississippi native Brett Favre of the Vikings. The two teams played in last season's dramatic NFC championship game, won in overtime by the Saints.
New Orleans went on to win its first Super Bowl, defeating the Indianapolis Colts.
The Super Bowl victory banner was to be installed at the sold-out Superdome on Thursday, making the game even more important, Faren Verdin said.
"The ticket is priceless," he said.
T.J. Martinez of LaPlace sat in one of the tents. He said he gets one week of vacation a year at the Shell Chemical plant in Norco and uses it for the Saints.
He and a dozen or so friends expected up to 30 people to join them in chicken wings, sausage, boudin and "pork bombs" - pork, jalapenos and cheese wrapped in bacon and grilled.
The Verdins' menu, for 30 to 40 people, included sandwiches, barbecue, po-boys, red beans and rice, hogshead cheese, beef jerky, boudin, chips and dips, five cases of beer and one of water.
Each group also had a tall, skinny black-and-gold tent holding a portable toilet. "We pioneered that," said Danny Trent of Reserve, La. "Look inside."
The 5-gallon black bucket was still empty. Except for a Vikings decal.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
