Not just a game.

So the Who Dat nation won the superbowl. The down-an-outs, the never have-beens. What a difference 1,592 days make. A 100% superbowl record, an imminent visit to the white house and mardi gras fast approaching; all this in a week, 4 and half years on from the total devastation that ripped through The Big Easy when Katrina hit. I am not, as an Englishman, a fan of 'football' to any great degree - and I can certainly not claim to be a 'Saint'. But the New Orleans story - as many in the media and bars and stores around the country have said before me - is truly a great 'American' story. We have triumphs back home in the UK in sport, in academia and even - Britons hold your breath - in politics. But the all-encompassing nature and social relevance of a success like the Saints' superbowl victory, the light it seems to have shed on a city cast in darkness for too long - that is something foreign to me. I am honestly most grateful for our recent acquaintance. I may never watch a superbowl (or atleast the entire game) again in my lifetime - I still can't appreciate its intricacies all that much - but this one game has let me know how important and evocative such a sporting event can be in America. And to me, thats a pretty cool thing to have learnt.