The Super Bowl season for the Saints more than made up for the 42 years of futility and woulda coulda shoulda's. Although some of the following may be a reach in terms of the unexplained and "divine intervention", I'm attempting to put together a complete list and appreciate any additional items of relevance (or other details relating to items below): 1. Both Saints (13) and Colts (14) started off 13-0, which I think is the only time in NFL history for two teams. After week 6 (or so) of this year, every NFL team had a loss. 2. Both Saints (Vilma) and Colts (Garcon) had players from Haiti and SB was held only a few months after the devastating earthquake. Guessing there weren't many other Haitians in the NFL. 3. Clinching play from SB 44 was a pass from one New Orleans native to another, intercepted by a third Louisiana native. 4. Drew Brees and his story, highlights include the birth of his first son on his 30th bday (Jan 09), his mother's suicide during training camp (Aug 09), his 2nd son conceived during playoff run, Bacchus, throwing passes during season to Pres #44 (i.e. SB 44) and countless other correlations. 5. Fact that it snowed in various parts of Louisiana 2-3 times during playoff run. Had that ever happened as often in the past? 6. NFL picks a kid months before each SB to bring the coin to referee for coin toss. The SB 44 kid (girl) was from New Orleans and a big Saints fan. Even more strange was that her parents used to babysit for Peyton Manning. This little I know of this connection was mentioned during the SB pre-game and would appreciate any additional info. 7. Garrett Hartley mentioning after kicking the FG against the Vikings that he called his dad at 2am that morning to say he thought he was going to kick a 40 yd game winner from the right hash. It was actually a 42 yd FG from the right hash, which goes to show premonitions have a sampling error of +/- 2 yds. 8. The playoff run included beating 3 HOF QB's, including Favre & Peyton who grew up Saints fans. 9. Rickey Jackson becoming first HOF inductee for Saints shortly after SB, which was even a bit of a surprise for him (although Saints run probably helped his cause). 10. Regular season game against Dolphins (site of SB) and ginormous comeback from down 24-3. Crazy win in nation's capital and big one over Pats on MNF. Necessary loss against Cowboys (no need to chase undefeated) and that late FG that clanged off the crossbar.
I just searched a bit and was unable to find any details about the girl that was chosen to go on the field for the opening coin toss. It was also the 13th consecutive time the NFC won the coin toss, which is another eerie coincidence. If the girl was a Saints fan and picked months in advance, along with the fact that her parents used to babysit Peyton Manning; that is just too strange for my feeble mind to comprehend. Also just noticed SB 44 had both #1 seeds for the 1st time in 16 yrs. Might be able to make a weak argument for "The Who" as the halftime entertainment (i.e. Who Dat). Colts came out on field (pre-game) to "Won't Get Fooled Again" but got fooled with the 2nd half onside kick. Saints are only SB winner to defeat three QBs within one playoff that had previously won a Super Bowl. Hartley only kicker with three 40+ yd FGs in SB. Saints QB coach Joe Lombardi 1st member of family to win trophy that bears his grandfather's name. Finally, after watching the Saints destroy the Texans in the preseason (Aug 09) and reading about Gregg Williams and the new look D; I had a feeling it could be the year (honestly prob had that feeling in past also). I'm a novice piano player and had just learned a Prof Longhair song so changed the lyrics to the Saints winning the SB. Somehow I was lucky enough to have family friends that are more professional take it to the next level. Then, another friend put together the youtube clip in less than 24 hrs after the big win over the Pats on MNF (search for "Hey Now Who Dat", sorry can't copy link from work). The Saints fanbase has always had that segment of negativity and rightfully so after so many pitiful and/or agonizingly close years. I honestly believe that the positivity that exuded all season, along with Brees acknowledging that maybe it was "our time" somehow carried them to the finish line. The story couldn't have been written any better and hats off to the author(s).
I also thought it was pretty cool that the Saints beat a Manning to win their first super bowl. Thought that was kind of ironic.
Is it just me, or does this thread seem a little late? I mean, pretty cool stuff, just a little off timing-wise.
Yeah, definitely a little late. Sorry bout dat. As time goes on, all of these little things collectively just get me thinking a little too much. The Peyton/Archie thing alone is obviously crazy. I loved all the talk from the media during the two weeks regarding whether a 2nd ring for Peyton would make him the best of all-time. It seemed appropriate that the Saints were such a big underdog given their history, even though they won 13 straight to open the season and had two big playoff wins. Way off subject and I apologize in advance for the following but... Noticed the Saints came out pre-game for SB44 to The Alan Parsons Project song "Sirius", which is the well known pre-game used by the 90's Bulls. Apparently Alan Parsons was the "audio engineer" for Abbey Road & Dark Side of the Moon (maybe my favorite two of all-time). Watched the Dark Side of the Moon / Wizard of Oz thing about a decade ago and thought there were connections. Read quotes from members of Pink Floyd later that dismissed any possible connection with valid points that CDs didn't exist back then and the "repeat" function wouldn't make sense. Watched it again about a year ago without even a sip of beer and the connections were so obvious that I'm now 100% convinced parts of it were done intentionally. The scene with Dorothy spinning around in the house and transition to color (Money) is just too obvious. Also read something about how one or two guys (maybe Alan Parsons) spent a week or two adding layers and tweaking sounds after the songs were recorded by Floyd. Not sure if this is a theory already suggested but I think Floyd recorded the songs based on their own theme (Syd Barrett) and then there were parts lengthened to mimic scene changes from the movie and other misc elements by Alan Parsons. That may be why Pink Floyd disputes the connection. If Parsons would get the bulk of the credit for that, it would even carry over to the overall "sound" of the album and diminish the credit given to Pink Floyd.
Wow, how weird that the TWoO/DSOTM topic appears in this thread. I have a DVD of the WoO that has the overlay of DSOTM playing in the background of the movie. On the DVD cover, there is a list of over 100 'synchronicities' to look for while watching. These are what make a lot of people think it's a secret sountrack for the movie. Some of them are a stretch, but a lot of them are very compelling. It's hard to believe there can be that many coincidences for one CD/movie.
Well, better late than never, I guess. That SB run was absolutely historic, phenomenal, and memorable. It does deserve special recognition.
Thanks, didn't know about that one. SB44 over at 44 seconds remaining, that's a good one. I was hoping someone knew more about the little girl picked for the coin toss but may need to do some actual research on that one.
