FrenzyFan

As I've been reading the many posts explaining the feelings of "excitement, anxiety, nausea," etc.; I've been nodding my head and saying to myself, "Yeah, that's me - that's just how I feel." Since this game means so much to me, and the rest of the B&G nation, I started to wonder why.

There are potentially a lot of reasons:
1) Our long history. Our franshise has been called the woe-begone Saints for a long time now due to our extremely rare playoff appearances and our seemingly unfailing ability to lose those playoff games. When we won our first in 2000, it was amazing. As long as we've been in the league, this is the closest we've ever come to the big dance.

2) Hurricane Katrina. No one who doesn't live here, and who didn't live through the storm and the days immediately after it, can fully appreciate the amount of impact it had on this region. This Saints team has become symbolic of the region's recovery. After all, if our 3-13 Saints can completely overhaul their organization and turn it all around in one year, maybe we can come back too, right?

I could go on and on with this, but I think I know why this game is more important to me than any other I've ever watched. It's because this season has been magical. Throughout this year, I have not seen my team self-destruct. In each game I watched, even when things got bad in some of them, we were never out of it. In days gone by, and especially in recent years, I would watch my team and could just tell when things started badly we were done. I would still sit there through the last three quarters wincing at the plays and screaming at the television; blaming the referees, etc.

Not this year. This year my team can contend with anyone in the league. This year my team plays hard all game and can always make a come back. This year, even when we lost (with the exception of one game), I still went to work on Monday proud and feeling optimistic. This year is magic; at least for this Saints fan.

Even if it ends Saturday (which would break my heart - maybe literally), in time I will get over it and remember the magic and glory in what we've accomplished this year. But I DESPERATELY do not want it to end yet - I need it to continue. This is the best year I've ever experienced as a Saints fan, and I don't want it to ever end.

Sad but true that my feelings are so tired to a sports franchise - but loving the Saints can do that to a man.

\"The AB brand of TP will hurt your O-ring.\" - BlackandBlue

http://www.darrylbercegeay.com/wsmith1.jpg