With the New Orleans Saints losing to the Chicago Bears in the NFC championship up in the bitter Soldier Field, it ends a miracle season that has inspired a City still on life support.  No, it will not be the “Greatest Sports Story Ever Told”.

And kudos certainly go out to Chicago who played error-less football in the cold and the snow, if you consider errors to only be fumbles and penalties.

We can speculate that if only the game had been played in the Superdome, things would have been different, but obviously, there is no way to prove such an assertion.  Plus, Chicago won the rights to host the game by having a better record.  New Orleans could have won more games to earn the host right, but did not win when it mattered.

Still, the New Orleans Saints were a great ride and deserve all of the accolades possible.  They were winners.  They won a playoff game and the NFC South.  They beat six teams in their own home stadiums.

More than anything else, they energized a community, brought races together at a time of great friction, ignited hope to a City when its citizens have lost faith in all forms of government, insurance companies and community leaders.

Every day, those who live in this community are reminded of what the city was before the great storm.  Yesterday, I ran into some long-time residents who now live elsewhere and are not coming back.  Their entire lives were spent building families and businesses in New Orleans and they have found greener pastures.

So, now for the next nine months we will not have the Saints to look forward to help with our reason for existence.  But, we should not give up faith.

The New Orleans Congress has just completed its task and will be sending a final plan to the City and hopefully to the state and HUD for approval.  Mardi Gras is around the corner.  Spring is about to break and with it comes the French Quarter Festival, the Jazz Festival and so many other events that make this city so special.

If ICF International lives up to its recent promise, virtually all individuals seeking the Road Home check will go to a closing by the end of the year.  Between the New Orleans plan being approved and money for the homeowners, Louisiana will start to feel the come-back.

There will be plenty of excitement in the air as the Black and Gold turns into political black of blue of elections in this state.  Many legislators, city officials, and even statewide offices are in the offering.