Errol Laborde: New Orleans’ Best Weekend Ever
By Errol Laborde
Feb 8, 2010 - 12:00 AM
Since the founding of New Orleans by Jean Baptiste La Moyne Sieur de Bienville in 1718, the city has experienced approximately 15,184 weekends. Of those, this past weekend was surely the best. During a 48-hour period, New Orleanians elected a new mayor and then watched their Saints win the Super Bowl, all happening with the backdrop of Carnival.
Most significant about Mitch Landrieu’s overwhelming mayoral election is that it showed a city that is politically united. Despite the ministers, commentators and old-school politicians who have tried to stir up race as a means of clinging to power, the voters knew better. This weekend black voters and white voters were united behind common issues. They settled for the same candidate whose win was so lopsided that it left those who would divide the city like the Indianapolis Colts stopped near the goal line as time runs out.
Because of the Super Bowl, the election did not get the attention it deserved, but it spoke volumes of New Orleans’ maturity as a city. There would be no Saints franchise were it not for the existence of the Superdome, and there would be no Superdome were it not for the vision, stubbornness and risk-taking of some local politicians and businesspeople back in the 1960s. One of those was Moon Landrieu, who early in his career was one of the strategists behind building the stadium. Amazingly, the team that the Dome made possible would achieve its grandest moment of success on the very weekend that Landrieu’s son was elected mayor.
Folks in New Orleans partied into the sunrise after the Super Bowl victory, but they did so peacefully because the local police are masters of crowd control, and that is because of their Mardi Gras experience. There were two Carnival parades in Uptown New Orleans on Super Bowl Sunday, brightening what would be a festive day even before the game began. No Super Bowl champions have ever returned to a home city with such an infrastructure for celebration.
By the time locals ended their weekend, they had reason to feel proud of the town. There will inevitably be troubles and bad days in the future, but the city’s 15,184th weekend was one to be cherished. Fittingly, the halftime act at the Super Bowl was The Who, perhaps destiny’s reminder that when it comes to Super Bowls, no one can say they can beat those Saints.
Krewe: The Early New Orleans Carnival - Comus to Zulu by Errol Laborde is available at all area bookstores. Books can also be ordered via e- mail at gdkrewe@aol.com or (504) 895-2266.
WATCH INFORMED SOURCES, FRIDAYS AT 7 P.M., REPEATED AT 11:30 P.M. ON WYES-TV, CHANNEL 12.
NOW ON WIST RADIO-690 AM, THE ERROL LABORDE SHOW, FRIDAYS, 6 P.M; SATURDAYS, 8 A.M. AND 2 P.M.; AND SUNDAYS, 8 A.M. AND 5 P.M. THE PROGRAM IS ALSO STREAMED ON THE WIST WEB SITE.
About This Blog
Errol Laborde holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of New Orleans and is the Editor in Chief of Renaissance Publishing. In that capacity he serves as Editor/Associate Publisher of New Orleans Magazine and Editor/ Publisher of Louisiana Life Magazine.
Errol is also a producer and a regular panelist on Informed Sources, a weekly news discussion program broadcast on public television station WYES-TV, Channel 12. Errol is a three-time winner of the Alex Waller Award, the highest award given in print journalism by the New Orleans Press Club.
Errol’s most recent books are Krewe: The Early Carnival from Comus to Zulu and Marched the Day God. a history of the Rex organization. In his free time he enjoys playing tennis and traveling with his wife Peggy to anywhere they can get away to, but some of his favorite spots are the Caribbean and historic locations around Louisiana. You can reach Errol at (504) 830-7235 or errol@renpubllc.com.
Click HERE to listen to Errol's radio show, or tune in Fridays 6-7 p.m., Saturdays 8-9 a.m. and 2-3 p.m., and Sundays 4-5 p.m.
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Reader Comments:
If it couldn't be you, Errol, then I'm glad Mitch won! Who Dat!
It was providence after all. You put the pieces together perfectly. Thank you for all you do.
Just listened to the interview with Mr. Rameriz, the Hanson's desease victim. One of the most compelling stories I have ever heard on the radio. You are to be congratulated.