I wanted to thank, and commend, you for your very well written article on what it's like to be a Saints fan ("Believe," Jan. 10).
My mom and dad had season tickets for the first 25 years. I was talking to my mom about our lives as Saints fans a couple weeks ago and asked why she got rid of the season tickets. She reminded me that my dad, an independent insurance agent, bought the four season tickets every year to take potential clients to the game. My mom said that he decided to stop buying the tickets whenever clients threatened to cancel their insurance if he ever offered them Saints tickets again.
I can remember them going to the game, leaving me and my sister with a baby sitter, and then them coming home cursing the coaches, the players and themselves. I can still hear my dad bellowing, "You can't win many games when your offensive game plan is run, run, pass, punt!" And during the time of George Rogers, "Just give it to George! Just give it to George! Well if George ain't doin' the job maybe we need to do something else!"
After every home loss they came home wondering why they wasted their time and vowing never to go back. They did this after every home loss, for the first 25 years of the team's existence. They had that routine down by the time I was in junior high school.
My dad passed away in October 2003. Fortunately, he wasn't around to see Katrina and its aftermath. Unfortunately, there is nothing he would have enjoyed more than the previous 16 Saints games and the anticipation of the game Saturday night. I know that he would be as proud as I am to be a fan of these players and coaches. It's what he always wanted.