I Actually Got Chills

Thanks to ESPN, the NFL, and the city of New Orleans for an excellent Monday Night Football experience last night. Green Day and U2's pregame performance was excellent, aside from the cheesy transitions from song to song. U2, of course, is required by international law to perform at any major sporting event connected to a crisis of historical proportions. Green Day, on the other hand, seemed like an odd choice. I'm surprised that organizers chose such a polarizing band. And though Green Day is more than a decade removed from being a snotty punk band on Lookout Records, and though they no longer have qualms about selling out, I was nonetheless surprised that they consented to play a pregame gig at the Superdome. At any rate, Green Day was there, with U2 and a New Orleans horn ensemble, and the resulting supergroup was excellent, particularly their cover of "The Saints Are Coming" by Scottish punkers The Skids. (Apparently, the two groups recently laid down this track at Abbey Road and will be selling it to raise money to replace instruments lost in Katrina.)

As for the game, I thought it would be close, but that the Falcons would ultimately prevail. I knew I was wrong after the first series, when the Saints blocked a punt and ran it in for a touchdown. While the Saints' blowout win can be partially credited to the emotion of playing their first regular season game in the Superdome since December 2004, I think they proved themselves to be a better team than most people realized. Reggie Bush brings a certain je ne sais quoi to the offense that can't be quantified, and Drew Brees is making case for inclusion among the league's upper echelon of quarterbacks.