Several years ago the Saints were playing the San Francisco 49ers on the road at Candlestick Park when the television coverage flashed to a woman sitting by herself in an upper deck. She showed a handmade sign that simply said, “We Dem.”
To the folks back in New Orleans the message was pointed. The Saints, by their standards, were having a decent season, and the chant inquiring “Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?” was reverberating throughout the country. Football analysts –– and the woman in the upper deck –– knew better. Once again the 49ers pummeled the Saints that day.
Going into tonight’s game, the Saints and 49ers have played 70 games against each other. For 10 of those games, there was a defending Super Bowl Champion in the house; for all 10 it was the 49ers.
Prior to 2002, the Saints had the misfortune of being in the same division as the 49ers for more than 30 seasons. During that period, which included the glory years of Joe Montana, the 49ers won five Super Bowls: in 1981, 1984, 1988, 1989 and 1994. Because the teams were in the same division, they had to play each other twice per season. That meant the Saints faced at least two beatings each year that handicappers could count on. Overall, the 49ers record over the Saints is an impressive 45 wins, 23 losses and two ties.
Curiously, during that time span, the biggest Louisiana-related setback for the 49ers came not on the field but in the courtroom. In the late 1990s, Eddie DeBartolo Jr., the then-owner of the 49ers, teamed up with an all-star deal- maker, Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards in a venture involving riverboat gambling licenses. Edwards eventually went to jail; in 1998, DeBartolo pled guilty of failing to report a felony and was suspended by the league for a year.
San Francisco and New Orleans are two of the world’s most colorful and culturally rich cities. In recent years, the fortunes of their football teams have gone in different directions. When the two teams last met, in 2008 at the Dome, the Saints won 31-17. For the first time since 1994, there will again be a defending Super Bowl champion on the field as the two teams meet –– only this time, it is the Saints.
When the numbers are analyzed, overlooked is the most significant difference between the two teams: location, location, location. The Saints play in a downtown domed stadium that has undergone major renovation and where a sports plaza complex is being developed in the surrounding area. The 49ers were unable to secure a deal with their hometown and will be moving to a new stadium 30 miles away in Santa Clara, Calif. That would be roughly equivalent to the Saints playing in LaPlace. Try walking to the Quarter after the game from there.
Who dat saying we have already won in the game of economic development? We dem.
NEW: SEE ERROL LABORDE’S MARDI GRAS VIDEO HERE.
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, 8 A.M. AND 5 P.M. SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS AND 6 P.M. MONDAYS.