On February 7, 2010, the NFL staged the biggest sports event in the country. In the Super Bowl this year, the Indianapolis Colts played the New Orleans Saints in Miami, Florida for the rights to be world champions.

Half the crowd rooted for the Colts. The other half rooted for the Saints. Through each exciting and agonizing moment, each side celebrated and groaned at every missed opportunity and heroic moment. At the end of this game, New Orleans stands victorious.

Those that rooted for the Saints now celebrate, while the Colt’s fans weep aside. They all sat there and watched the same game, but yet their reactions differ because of their emotional attachment to the outcome. How we react to events in our lives, is how we will experience them. We can experience things with great joy and opportunity. Or we can see them as great disappointment and obstacle.

Indianapolis Colts’s Fans

If you are a Colts’s fan, I won’t paint a pretty picture. Your team lost. There is nothing you can do to change that. The players themselves cannot change anything after the fact. You must learn to embrace what is. Allow yourself to mourn, so that you can celebrate.

Have healthy emotional outlets and express your disappointment. But at some point you have to celebrate. The Colts’s have one of the best quarterbacks in history. They have two young quality wideouts and a young powerful back. With a rookie head coach learning his way and some upgrades to both sides of the ball, the Colts’s will continue to be title competitive in the next few years.

Every great quarterback and team learns from defeat. If Peyton Manning didn’t throw that last pick 6, would the game’s outcome be different? But he did. And the outcome was what it is. So what does the great QB do now? He will learn from this loss and lead a better team next year. The defense will adjust. The offensive and defensive lines will strengthen. Special teams will be more special.

It does hurt to come in 2nd place, but professionally this is part of the game.

Their choice, (which is the best choice) is to learn from this loss in opportunity instead of wallow in despair.

New Orleans Saint’s Fans

Don’t gloat but embrace this wonderful title run. Your team has endured a roller coaster of doubts and emotions that never swayed the faithful. Stand head high and bark “Who Dat?”

The Saints defeated their first thirteen foes. At 13-0, the Saints and Colts were the only two teams on history to have such starts with three games remaining. The Saints proceeded to lose the last three from a combination of poor playing and resting players for the post season.

In the playoffs, Reggie Bush re-emerged to becoming a play-maker and Drew Brees led the Saints to the Big Game with a timely opportunistic defense. For the first time in NFL history, the Saints made it to the Super Bowl.

Brees led his team with 32 completions (tying a Super Bowl NFL record) for 288 yards and 2 touchdowns on his way to earning Super Bowl MVP. The defensive hero was Tracy Porter who intercepted Manning’s pass for a 74 yd score. Coach Sean Payton made some gutsy calls from a failed 4th down conversion in the first half to opening the 2nd half with an onside (and recovered) kick. Saints win.

Bad Times, Good

But this story starts earlier, 4 and ½ year’s earlier. August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast affecting seven states including Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. 1836 people lost their lives, 400,000 lost their jobs sending the region into financial crisis. This info and more can be found on www.hurricanekatrinarelief.com.

The Saints couldn’t play in a leaky Metrodome that was housing the countless stranded. They were moved all around from a “home” game in New York against the Giants to San Antonio and Baton Rouge.

After an untimely injury to Drew Brees from the San Diego Chargers at the time, New Orleans were lucky to sign him as the Chargers were content to progress with their young QB Rivers. Brees had other offers, but Saints wanted him. He went with his heart. The Saints dived in head first, spear heading campaigns to help rebuild their community.

The following year, the Superdome was rebuilt and the city’s moral was in the hands of new Coach Sean Payton and Drew Brees as their new franchise quarterback. The team went on to win the NFC South title, bringing joy and hope to a demolished city. That year, Peyton Manning won his first Super Bowl ring with the Colts.

After injuries and mediocre playing, the Saints struggled the past two years. In 2009, they finally pulled it together and played championship football to their first title. Luck, coincidence, hard work, talent, execution and focus brought this into fruition. Was it Brees and his tough leadership? Was it the great undercut from the Cornerback Porter?

Was it the onside kick by Payton? Yes, all this and history came into play. All these events funneled into this one moment. So now we must ask ourselves why.

With them, the Saints brought hope and joy back to a strong community. They inspired the nation that they are no longer victims. They are heroes.

New Orleans is still rebuilding. Much has been done to bring life back into ravished neighborhoods from Hurricane Katrina. But much stills needs to be done.

If it weren’t for the timely signings of free agents and productive draft picks, would the Saints be here? Getting Shockey, Bush, Colston and Vilma were huge. Was it indeed fate or destiny that brought this whole flurry of coincidences and storylines to us? Or is this simply creation in retrospect?

I had a dream a few nights ago that the Saints would win the Super Bowl. I know this is easy to say after the fact, but there was more to the dream. When the Saints were presented their Championship Trophy, a voice proclaimed there is one more game to win. This game was to save the community. Interesting dream… one that can play to be true.

The Saints and New Orleans are now champions. As champions, they will lead and guide their city and their fans to further rebuild their community. In brilliance, the owner of the New Orleans Saints Tom Benson screams and proclaims that New Orleans is back. His pure joy is obvious in his emotional outburst. To the team, this was always more than football. It was about their community. They won this for their community.

They will inspire us for years to come.