NewYork Times By LEE JENKINS Published: September 25, 2006 NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 24 — As the granddaughter of the man who owns the New Orleans Saints, Rita Benson LeBlanc grew up watching football games at the Superdome, wondering how concrete walls could always feel as if they were shaking. “I remember a lot of excitement,” Benson LeBlanc said. “And a little bit of fear.” The shaking starts again Monday night, along with the conflicting emotions. On one side is overwhelming excitement, because of the reopening of the Superdome, the home debut of Reggie Bush, the Saints’ startling 2-0 record and the promise of an unprecedented pregame tailgate party. On the other side is a thin layer of apprehension, because of the horror that occurred in the Superdome less than 13 months ago, when the stadium became a shelter from Hurricane Katrina and a symbol of human suffering. “I realize that it may be hard for some people to come back here,” said Kathleen Blanco, the governor of Louisiana. “But I believe that the very best thing those people can do for their inner healing is to walk this walk again, and let those memories fall out.” A crowd of more than 68,000 is expected to heed her call. For the first time, the Saints have sold out all of their season tickets, an obvious sign that excitement has taken an early lead on apprehension. The most striking aspect of the new Superdome — beyond the white roof and the leather seats and the L.E.D. video boards — is the lighting system that makes the field look as bright as a showroom. On Aug. 29, 2005, when hurricane winds peeled off part of the Superdome roof and took out most of the power, this stadium was seen around the world as a dim and frightful place. One man apparently committed suicide by jumping off a catwalk. One National Guardsman was shot in a locker room. Bodies were stored in a refrigerator. “Our intention was mainly to help people forget what happened,” said Sal Palmisano, a Saints season-ticket holder who oversaw part of the construction effort. “It was sort of like, ‘If we can’t rebuild our own house, let’s try to rebuild this one.’ ” The mission for the Saints, more than beating the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night or qualifying for the playoffs this season, is to change the image of their home field, from a place where people suffered to a place where people can cheer. No football team is capable of rebuilding neighborhoods or recruiting families or making small businesses viable again. But with a couple of long touchdowns, the Saints can turn the Superdome from a shelter back into a stage. “Some of the negative emotions will be erased once you see those fans and hear them screaming for us,” Saints running back Deuce McAllister said. To keep his team from experiencing emotional overload at kickoff, Coach Sean Payton put the Saints through their first practice at the Superdome on Friday night. When it was over, he gathered the players in a semicircle at the 50-yard line and turned off the lights. One of the video boards played a movie about Hurricane Katrina — houses leveled, neighborhoods ruined, a stadium torn asunder. “I got a tingling sensation over my whole body,” defensive end Charles Grant said. “We talked for a while afterward about everything we have seen in the past year. We want to make this stadium home again.” The transformation will begin Monday night with performances by U2 and Green Day. Former President George H. W. Bush, who was nominated at the Superdome in 1988, will flip the coin. News media outlets will include Al Jazeera. Archie Manning, patriarch of New Orleans football, will broadcast for the Home Shopping Network, which is selling N.F.L. merchandise with part of the proceeds going to Katrina relief. If the Saints were 0-2, locals would still compare this game to Super Bowls and Final Fours. But because the team is 2-0, facing a traditional rival for first place in the National Football Conference South, the hurricane is only part of the backdrop. The outcome actually matters. “To be honest,” Manning said, “I think most of us were just hoping to be 1-1.” The Saints look a lot like a fantasy football team, with two excellent running backs (Bush and McAllister), a top receiver (Joe Horn), a pedigreed quarterback (Drew Brees), and not much else. At this time last year, they were playing in San Antonio and dressing in a locker room with cockroaches. Their fans were scattered across the country. No one was allowed inside the Superdome without wearing a biohazard suit. While Tom Benson, the Saints’ owner, was threatening to stay in San Antonio, his granddaughter was reading letters from displaced season-ticket holders from New Orleans. Benson LeBlanc, the team’s executive vice president, remembers most of the letters starting the same way: “I’ve lost everything. My tickets are my only asset. I don’t know what to do. But when you get back, I’ll be back.” The ones who did not come back had to be tracked down. Benson LeBlanc and her staff played detective, finding season-ticket holders who had relocated and persuading them to return. They offered a season-ticket package for as low as $14 a game. The long-term problem for the Saints is not selling those $14 tickets. It is selling the luxury boxes and corporate sponsorships, hallmarks of big business. For the Saints to stay in New Orleans, they need more than fans wearing face paint. “I think it can work,” said Arnie Fielkow, a member of the New Orleans City Council. “But it’s going to take New Orleans coming back as a corporate community so suites and sponsorships will follow.” Fielkow has intimate knowledge of this issue because he used to be the Saints ’ executive vice president. He was fired last October, after urging Benson not to abandon New Orleans. One of Fielkow’s allies in the cause was Roger Goodell, now the N.F.L. commissioner. Goodell wanted to know when the Superdome could be ready for a game. Doug Thornton, who oversees management of the stadium, provided his best estimate: Dec. 1. That was not good enough. To preserve the future of football in New Orleans, a game had to be played in September. “Roger didn’t want us to worry about all the suites and meeting rooms,” Thornton said. “He just told us: ‘Give me a football stadium.’ ” The Superdome underwent a rapid $185 million makeover, leaving the suites relatively bare. Most are decorated with folding tables and patio chairs. Fans who want carpeting and couches can bring their own. This ranks among the least of all inconveniences in New Orleans. Squeezing into a cramped seat and watching the Saints play football is still a luxury. “I just get such a thrill from walking into that building,” said Dave Dixon, known as the Father of the Superdome. “I never get tired of seeing it. I love it. I really do.” Dixon earned his nickname for helping to negotiate the building of the Superdome in 1968. Since then, New Orleans has celebrated just one playoff victory, but few cities have a stronger bond to their stadium. During construction this summer, a small cardboard sculpture was sent to the workers at the Superdome. On one side of the sculpture was a rendering of the dome. On the other side was the rendering of a house. The dome was completed. The house was still damaged. Connecting the dome to the house was a set of angel wings. --

※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 59.104.224.211