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Maybe now, after Friday afternoon, the Saints have a better idea what they mean to some people.

Not to say the franchise had forgotten. But we had to wonder, with some of the things that were being said and reportedly done during its period of evacuation to San Antonio.

You would think it's impossible to forget how much the city, and its surrounding parishes, love the Saints. The emotion appears to flow as freely as it can between a pro sports franchise and its fan base.

On Friday, something as minor as a minicamp practice -- and trust that it's pretty minor in the relevancy -- was nothing less than an intravenous adrenaline feeding line from the field to the sideline, where Saints fans adoringly watched a team working without pads or urgency and oohed and aahed anything they could conjure into significance.

Including the mere presence of their football team.

"I found out about it (Thursday)," said 15-year-old Allison Whitlock. "I'm obsessed with the Saints."

How taken is she? Well, she got goose bumps when the league announced the team's schedule, including its home debut, a Monday Night game against Atlanta on Sept. 25. She hardly slept Thursday night, prodded her mom into taking her out of school early so she could go watch the Saints' workout before her soccer match.

"We just got season tickets this year," Allison said. "Usually, we try to go to two games a year."

But Friday, it seemed, no one at the team's Metairie practice facility could get enough.

Freddie Midencey's season-ticket package was passed on to him from his grandfather, who first purchased seats in 1970. Decked out in his 2-year-old Deuce McAllister jersey, he watched from the top row of the metal bleacher, one of a wave of black-and-gold wearers champing at the bit.

"I'm excited about the new season," he said. "I wanted to watch practice. It's been a while since we saw them."

Try August 26, 2005, against the Baltimore Ravens in an exhibition game. That was the last time the Saints played, scrimmaged, practiced or did anything else in front of their fans in the New Orleans area.

They played four regular-season games in Baton Rouge, at Tiger Stadium, but it wasn't the same. It didn't help that the franchise floated the notion it preferred to not return to the Big Easy, or that players were whining about the inconvenience of sleeping in hotels and flying to games, or that fans had neither beds nor transportation because of Hurricane Katrina.

Still, Midencey said, "I never had a doubt they were coming back. I always thought they were coming back. I was always just anticipating how soon."

Anticipation, indeed, was at a fever pitch Friday.

Tiffany Lopez, her husband, Trae, and son, Brennon, came out.

"I dragged her over here," Trae said, although it didn't have to be much of a sales job.

Brennon "loves" the Saints, Tiffany said. So she figured she'd surprise him; he didn't know the team had scheduled a workout open to the public until she checked him out of St. Rose elementary school early.

"Otherwise, we'd be home," Tiffany said.

Instead, they were at the Saints' home, thankful for the intercession of NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who took an active, lead role in assuring the Saints will play this season in New Orleans.

"Once he said it, I knew he wasn't going to let them go," Trae said. "He was on our side, I felt."

Now, fans feel like they're back where they belong, at the Saints' side

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