With one game left, the Saints can still make the playoffs with a win on Sunday against the Bears, provided Minnesota and Washington both lose on Sunday. It’s a long shot, but possible. If this unlikely scenario plays out, the Saints will face the Seahawks in Seattle for the first round of the post season—-a rematch of week 5, when the Saints ended their atrocious four-game losing streak to start the season.
Playoffs or not for the Saints, there will be no more pro football in the Big Easy for the rest of the ‘07-’08 season. Now it’s bowl season, baby; and with 3 college football bowl games in the Superdome, there’s still plenty more football to go. The New Orleans Bowl was last Friday, December 21, with Florida Atlantic stomping Memphis. Then there’s the Sugar Bowl on January 1st between Hawaii and Georgia, and the BCS Championship game on January 7th between Ohio State and LSU.
According to Yahoo! news, the Superdome will be the first stadium ever to host three bowl games in the same season. Analysts estimate that by the end of the Championship game almost $500 million will have been thrust into the New Orleans economy.
No doubt, this is an exciting time for the city, with tens of thousands of visitors, hotels booked solid, millions of tourism dollars and, of course, LSU playing for the title (so much for bowl games on neutral territories).
photo courtesy of hamron, used under this Creative Commons license
