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Day 3 In London - Saints Win! Who ‘Dat! Fever Spreads!
10/26/08 - 07:23 PM
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It’s a shame the Saints had to go half way around the world to play a strong football game - but it’s okay since they brought several thousand of their best fans with them!  For those of you who saw the game today in London - wow!  What a nail-biter!  Seemed like the Saints had it all wrapped up before the Chargers stormed back only to see the Saints hang on to win it 37-32!  It’s funny, there was a guy sitting in front of us who spent more than $10,000 on this trip for him and his family of 4 - they were from San Diego, and I remember when the score was 37-16 feeling sorry for him.  At least his team made a game of it and he was a great sport, shaking hands with everyone in our “Saints Fans” section after the game ended. 

Actually, I think it wasn’t so much that we were in a “Saints” section as it was the fact Saints fans totally out-numbered San Diego fans here.  Everywhere you looked - as you’ll see in my report - were Saints fans, Saints signage, New Orleans’ flavor - it was pretty amazing.  The State of Louisiana definitely got its money’s worth out of this one!

So anyway, it’s almost 1:30am Monday as I write this - 8:30pm Sunday your time.  I’m watching the World Series and it’s live and in the 4th inning!  I’m looking forward to getting back to life as normal, although this trip has been a lot of fun and I feel very priviledged to have been asked to go.

Thanks again to Dallas, Tim and all the gang at Hixson Auto for sponsoring this trip.  I know our contest winner, Kay Whittington, and her friend Bob Wieters really enjoyed themselves, too.  It’s pretty amazing that we were able to pull this off - and it really went well.  I also want to thank the folks from “NFL On Location”.  They’re the people who plan these all-inclusive trips for the fans who buy their package.  They take care of all the hardest details - getting us here, arranging the hotel, bus trips to the parties and the game. A first-class operation.  Also had a chance to meat David Wintergrass of the NFL - a very professional person who embodies what a class operation the NFL is.

As for this final day, we awoke to rain - but fortunately, it went away and left us with a cool, cloudy day.  We took about an hour ride by “coach” (that’s what they call the bus in London) to Wembley Stadium around 2pm today.  From 3pm until 4pm, we hit the NFL Tailgate Party which more than favored the City of New Orleans.  There was New Orleans music, Mardi Gras floats, etc.  Saw Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu and talked with him.  He was ecstatic over how many local people had their “Saints Gear” on.  I think we’ll see some visitors from England to New Orleans in future years.

We hit the game around 4pm, with a 5pm local kickoff.  The Stadium has tight restrictions on using anything more than personal cameras during the game, and because I had a ticket and not a media pass, I couldn’t shoot any quality footage.  But I tell the story with my still camera and a “little” camcorder I brought along… just in case!  We had great seats - on the 2nd level - around the 40 yard line!  Wembley is breath-taking.  Looks a lot like Cowboys Stadium in Irving, TX with the hold in the roof.  But all of the seats are cushioned, much wider than most stadius, so it was really comforatble.  The guy next to me (on the other side of Kay and Bob) was from New Orleans but now lives in San Diego.  We had a great time talking football the whole time. 

But more than anything, it was great to see the Saints win.  Although, they made it a little too nervous in the end!  I was hoping Drew would have run around for a few more seconds before taking the safety!  Fortunately, it didn’t hurt us in the end.

After the game, it was back to the hotel.  Got back around 10pm and I’ve been at it ever since - editing and writing. 

It’s been so much fun, though.  Hope you’ve enjoyed reading and watching here on http://www.kalb.com 

I’ve got a flight at 10:40am this morning (Monday) and a wake-up call at 6am.  So I’d better run - and fall asleep to the World Series!

See you back in Cenla.
And one final time - CHEERS!!!

Al Q.