....its loyal season ticket holders.
*!!*#*fr*kking*!$#*mother*&%$@#arrrrrgggghhh!!*##$%&*!
That's how i am feeling almost a week after hearing the news at work from a friend that i might lose my New Orleans Saints season tickets. Follow me below the fold and hear my story unfold.....
So here's the basic information. The section i sit in, 639, plus 640 and 641, will have a new press box built in it. 1200 loyal Saints fans may be out of luck. We do go to the head of the waiting line for season tickets ahead of 50,000 other people. But that still doesn't gurantee us tickets for next season. Oh, did i mention what will happen to the old press box? It will become luxury suites.
*!!*#*fr*kking*!$#*mother*&%$@#arrrrrgggghhh!!*##$%&*!
Sorry! sorry, sorry! I feel a bit perturbed at this point. We feel hurt. I've been talking with the guys i sit with(there's ten of us that sit together). We feel hurt, we feel betrayed, we are still in a state of disbelief. Here's one of the text messages i recieved from another guy in our group,
Got a message from kendall. I don't know what 2 say.... words cannot express how upset I am. Somethin better work out cause if I don't get to c the ring/championship ceremony in the dome with my brothers, I will b crushed. Aft we've waiting for for 5 yrs.
I replied,
"I think that was everybodys first thought when we heard the news, 'i better not miss the Saints droppin the Superbowl banner!' I do hope something works out."
Its like breaking up a family. All the guys i sit with have worked with each other at some point together in the French Quarter. It bonds us. You go through all the highs and lows of that experience together. The good money nights. The camaraderie of hanging out at a local bar after a nights work. The sad times like the time you went to a friend's funeral. A friend who was driving back to New Orleans after Katrina to his barback job to feed his family. We count our experiences down here by how many Mardi Gras' we have worked. I've done eleven. It bonds us together. A French Quarter band of brothers? Ha! I made myself laugh. I need that now.
It IS like breaking up a family. I'll miss the Reverend and his family behind us who always high five us. The two guys behind us and to the left who had us repeat after them this past season, "Guys, we are gooood!" There is the guy in front of us who could always explain any rule in the NFL to us when we were confused(i'll miss him explaining the new overtime rule this year!). He is also the guy we would make a pact to not to swear during the game(hard to do!) for each year when he would bring his kids to the game. I'm gonna miss the guy to the far left one row in front of us. He has truly progressed. He was "that guy" that got a little too obnoxious at the end of the third quarter. That was my first year. Next year he started bringing his girlfriend. Little bit less obnoxious. Year after that ..... perfect Saint. Why? His mother-in-law was there at every game as well! These are some of the people we would see during football season. Always happy to see them. I wonder where they will sit now?
I also wonder who the jackass is in the Saints front office who decided to build the press box BEFORE they built replacement seats for the people losing their seats? I mean this, if you can rebuild the Superdome after one of the nation's worst national disasters and be open for the 2006 season, WHY can't you coordinate the building of the press box and the new seats at the same time!?!
Here is what i would like to see from the Saints front office;
1.) Post the 50,000 person waiting list online. It would show some transparency and a little good faith on the Saints organization's part. It could show that there are indeed 1200 people waiting at the top of the list like you said they would be. In fact, i would imagine that the Saints fans are so loyal they would love to see their name on that list. They do want to be in that number!
2.) IF you can not relocate all 1200 people before the opening game accommodate them so they can see the Superbowl banner drop for the season opener in September. I'm sure you could place temporary seats or have standing room somewhere that we would be happy to pay for. We want to be a part of the New Orleans Saints Superbowl experience. That is why we are loyal season ticket holders. Who Dat!