Who Dat Presence in the Dome
 

My first visit to NOLA and I'm concerned.

Concerned because everywhere I look, I'm seeing obnoxious Steelers fans jawing about how they are going to take over the Dome with a sea of 'terrible towels'! I want to puke. On top of that, some locals I spoke to say that the fanbase here hasn't quite been as enthusiastic about attendance as last year, in spite of them being defending Champs!

Is it possible the Who Dat faithful aren't going to be present to shout down these idiots, home in the Dome?

Say it ain't so guys...say it ain't so! ;p

It is very possible. I hate to say it but I just didnt feel that Who Dat vibe in the city tonight. Hopefully once people get the Halloween partying out of their system tonight they will focus their energy on the Saints. I went out for a little while tonight and there were a ton of Steelers fans. I saw a few picking a fight with a couple of Saints fans. I came in after it had gotten broken up, but the Steelers fans I encountered were obnoxious, rude, and douchey. They travel very well, and I really am afraid they will outnumber Saints fans tomorrow. I lived in Charlotte for a couple of years, and had a friend with PSLs I went to all the Saints games there, but one time I went with my friend to a Panthers vs Steelers game and it looked like a Steelers home game. Granted the Panthers fanbase is the most fair weather in the league. I swear if the Panthers werent doing good fans would GIVE tickets away. Most of the PSLs are owned by big corporations like Bank of America anyway, and are given out as perks. I remember a Seeing a Saints game there in 06 and Joe Horn caught a TD right in front of me, I could see the whites of his eyes. That game the Who Dats took over. It was great.

I hope to hear the Steeler fans hollering "Booooooooo" tonight but not because they are trying to scare anybody...:)

That was probably the most rival fans I have ever seen in the Dome, more than Falcons games which are usually bad. Probably worse than the Cowboys game last year, which was also pretty awful with their fans. There WAS an obnoxious amount of towels visible waving around at times last night. But overall it was loud WHEN IT NEEDED TO BE.

I believe that many LOCAL people had to sell their tickets for last night, because of family obligations -- I know several people personally whose wives put their foot down and said "you are going trick or treating with the kids, game or no game!" So it may have been a little more skewed towards visiting Steelers fans than a normal Sunday night game would be. There were literally almost no kids there at all, also a much younger adult crowd than usual.

Plus unfortunately the economy is bad, and some people with season tickets have discovered that they can sell 1 or 2 games a year to opposition fans and "make back" most of the cost of the year's tickets. The "big games" are the likeliest culprits to get sold, and our home/away schedule this year, we are kinda screwed on high-profile home games -- Vikings, Falcons and Steelers are pretty much the only ones anybody would want to buy. So there's that.

I think it has more to do with those two things, than it does with the local fanbase being not into the Saints. I'm not worried about the fanbase. Although the fair weather, know-nothing fans who think that any tight end who makes a catch is Jeremy Shockey, the "is Joe Horn playing tonight?" crowd seem to be dropping off a bit in the stands.

BTW, the ceremonial "Who Dat chant" last night was actually one of the weakest ones yet. Kinda disorganized, people didn't catch the rhythm right. Whereas the Browns and Panthers games, that chant was tight as heck, it was 70,000 people screaming "WHO DAT" right on the beat. So I think it was a good Saints crowd, overall, just probably a little different crowd than a usual Sunday.

I didn't go to this one but it sounded like it was loud when the Steelers had the ball. I figured it was through the roof loud in the Dome if it could be heard on the tube.

It was real loud in the dome for sure. Most of the Steeler fans I talked to were pretty classy actually. There was a lot of them there thats for sure.

A few of my observations

1. This was NOT the most visiting fans I have seen. The fact that they had those towels made it appear there were more.

2. They WERE obnoxious before the game. I was in the quarter before as i am for all night games. I have enjoyed the Minny fans, the Giant fans, the J-E-T-S fans, the Pat fans. These guys were close to Cowgirl fans

3. Saints fans have lost their mojo. Here is hoping they have it back after the win. Folks we are the WORLD FRIGGIN CHAMPIONS.... Act like it... Which is not to say we should be A-holes... But dont ever let people come into our hous acting like the Steeler fans were acting...

4. I normally am one who likes to be welcoming and accomodating to visiting fans. However when they act like the Steeler fans were I give it back to them. Nothing physical... but when they were talking I talked back... and after the game I was letting them have it... one of the do-gooders who says "Be niiiicccee"" said something and I explained all of the above to him..

5. At the game we were LOUD... the Steeler fans were drowned out and intimidated.... Good job... Now lets keep it up

Just some of my thoughts

There was a huge "terrible towel" presence but we were still really loud and disruptive. I personally don't have my voice back yet, even though it's been three days.
Regarding the fanbase; it's like I've been saying all year. We are suffering from "superbowl hangover" and it will probably persist until next year. I think most of our fans are like me and still emotionally exhausted after last season. The steelers game was only the second I've attended this year, the first being the vikings and I'm yet to make hotel reservations for any additional games, though I probably will go to a couple. All this is to be expected. Heck, even the "golden guys" that are always in the North Endzone weren't there! We'll return to form next year with the texans, colts and bears coming to town in addition to the usual victims but we're just going to have to ride out this year.