Something to Believe In

Before the Super Bowl, someone asked me who I was rooting for. Since the Cowboys were out of the running, I hadn't really thought about it.

Leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, the New Orleans Saints became the favorite for many Americans (sorry Colts!). After all, they’d never won, and their city had been through so much since the hurricane. America loves a great underdog story, and the Saints didn't disappoint. They won, and decisively!

Since Super Bowl Sunday, it’s been great to watch the city of New Orleans celebrate such a great win by their team. The Saints have given their city something to believe in…something to focus on after so much adversity. We all need something to believe in, and something positive to hold on to. It's been a rough few years for America, with natural disasters and the economy, the war and the feeling of hopelessness. It's very similar to the years after the Great Depression. That era had its underdog story in the form of a horse named Seabiscuit, who was a symbol of hope to a beleaguered nation. He was undersized and had a long recovery from major injuries, but managed to win the 1940 Santa Anita Handicap with a purse of $100,000 (about $1.25 million in today's dollars). At the end of the movie, Seabiscuit's jockey, Red Pollard says "You know everyone thinks that we found this broken down horse and fixed him, but we didn't, he fixed us, everyone of us." And maybe that's what broken down but not out New Orleans did for us in 2010, too.

Congratulations, New Orleans!