Cool hand Drew’s strange magic on the Bayou

By Randy  |   Friday, October 20, 2006  |  Comments( 3 )

New Orleans Saints
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Just blocks away from the Superdome -- home of the New Orleans Saints -- stands a tiny church by the name of Our Lady of Guadulupe, the International Shrine of St. Jude, who is the patron saint of hopeless cases.

Since the team's inception in 1966, the Saints have been arguably the National Football League's most glaring example of a hopeless case, with only one playoff victory in 40 years.

Many a morning, Fr. Tony, St. Jude's pastor, has witnessed forlorn members of his flock praying solemn novenas for the boys in black and gold.

After six weeks of the NFL season, it appears those novenas may be paying Divine dividends. In Week 6, the Saints clipped the wings of the high-flying Philadelphia Eagles with a made-for-Hollywood ending as they assumed first place in the NFC South at 5-1.

These Saints are no longer merely a feel-good story. A pretender to the throne. They're for real. A contender in the stricktest sense.

Did Mrs. McNabb feed her Eagles too much Campbell's soup? Should Andy Reid have shown his team "Invincible" on Saturday night? Did local legend Dr. Morgus place a voodoo hex on the leaders of the NFC East? Or is faithful intercessor St. Jude invoking his special patronage on a city and a football team in most dire need of a spritual lift?

Back in the '80s, when San Francisco was winning championships with Montana, Rice and Craig, broadcaster Bob Trumpy compared the 49ers' offense to a symphony -- all instruments in perfect harmony. A method to Walsh's madness.

With 8:26 remaining against the Eagles, the Saints' offense resembled the Louisiana Philharmonic, with its maestro quarterback, Drew Brees, orchestrating his unit down the field with a Cool Hand Drew precision not seen in these parts since the days of Hebert and Manning.

It was the Saints' version of Elway's "The Drive," covering 72 yards in 16 plays.

Brees to Horn for 20. Brees to Colston for 12. Brees to McAllister for eight. Brees kneels down three straight times.

"I was holding all the cards at that point," said confident rookie head coach Sean Payton.

As John Carney's kick sailed through the uprights with no time remaining, the decibel level in the Superdome peaked at 110 - a volume level dangerous to the human ear, according to a local opthamologist at the LSU Health and Sciences Center.

Local stores are stocking up on earplugs. The patrons of St. Jude are burning more candles. As the Electric Light Orchestra sang so eloquently many years ago, there is indeed a strange magic taking place in New Orleans these days under a voodoo moon.
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