New Orleans has had a rough couple of years. But now that the city's professional football team is headed to the Super Bowl, the city is relishing the opportunity to celebrate.
"The Saints' win on Sunday night, a victory that sends them to the Super Bowl for the first time, unleashed a raucous, trombone-blaring, grown-man-weeping, stranger-hugging frenzy. In a city that has been associated over the last four and a half years with divisiveness and suffering, the delirium over the Saints is pretty much unanimous.
...A number of schools have canceled classes for Feb. 8, the day after the Super Bowl. A civil trial has been postponed. Mardi Gras parades have been moved. Commander's Palace, the 130-year-old grand dame of New Orleans restaurants, will close on game night, the first time the restaurant has closed for a one-time event in memory, possibly ever."
Schools are closing the next day, churches are re-scheduling masses, and even politics may change because of the big game -- a mayoral primary election takes place the day before and some politicians are expecting low voter turnout as a result of the distraction.
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