Displaced Fan Syndrome

This is a short essay i wrote to DirectTV.com in hopes of winning the displaced fan syndrome award.....I hope i win cuz i'll get to meet eli manning and my favorite player of my choice and then i'll be shipped off to the super bowl...plus a year free of NFL sunday ticket.



I've been a saints fan for almost my whole life. I started out liking them as a kid because I liked the jersey colors. I grew older and grew fonder becoming engulfed in everything saints. I collect everything I can from candles to toys to flags and other memorabilia. I try to support my team even when the going gets tough. My friends all know who my team is. They all know im a true Saints fan. I've been there through thick and thin.

In 2007 I went to the Hall of Fame game in my hometown to watch the saints get pummeled by an overwhelming steelers team and found I was the only hardcore saints fan in attendance. Wearing my Colston jersey and painting my face along with a Voodoo doll of Troy Polamalou I chanted and cheered the entire game. Getting to see the saints in person ended out the greatest day of my life. Just this preseason I drove down to watch the saints shut out the Bengals in Cincinatti. We had great seats and once again I dawned the Voodoo look. This time I transformed my doll of Troy into an exact replica(not really) of TJ Houshmanzadeh. Luckily this time it worked because he didn't play(only because of my voodoo powers). Before the game I walked over to the endzone to cheer them on and even Rita Benson(owners daughter) talked to me for a bit because of my ridiculous outfit.
On a daily basis I wake up and check my email. Right after that I head to the saints official home page to see if there is any news I haven't read 3 or 4 times. After that I head over to the saints forums to talk saints. After work I get right back to the forums to finish my discussions about my favorite team.

I am completely obsessed with the New Orleans Saints. I watch whole episodes of anything and everything on ESPN just to catch a glimpse of my team. On gameday if the game isnt available on TV I end up watching the score and stats on NFL.com. Its not great fun but it gets me my fix.

For awhile now I've been thinking about how much money I would use on saints stuff if I lived in New Orleans. I truely believe I am the Saints biggest fan in the world. It's unfortunate that I am suffering from such a devastating problem.

DFS is hurting my life as a whole. My girlfriend doesn't understand why I would rather stay at home and stare at the computer screen than go out to eat with her or go to the movies. I couldn't give her an answer until I was diagnosed with DFS. Since then I've been searching for a cure. That's what led me here.

I thought about moving to New Orleans, but being that I'm so young and I really dont have a good enough job to support a move, that was out of the question. Not to mention the hurricane problem down there. I just don't know what to do about this.

I love the Saints and I would give anything to spend a Day with them.