Local sports fans share thoughts on Super Bowl

Houma native Tom Bourg loves football, but he’s not overly excited about watching the Super Bowl on Sunday.

“I don’t like either team,” Bourg said with a laugh.

He’s not alone.

In fact, he’s in the majority locally – football fans who are stuck deciding between what’s perceived as the lesser of two evils on Super Bowl Sunday.

Area fans seem to agree that Sunday’s big game will be close and probably also exciting – a battle between two teams that are playing really good football at the right time of the season.

But no one seems to be particularly enthused about a new champion being crowded, which will make for tense, awkward moments for area sports fans this weekend.

“It’s like the worst case scenario,” Houma native Eric Thomas said. “We dislike the Falcons for obvious reasons, but I think Saints fans also have this disdain for the Patriots, too, because we feel like we got the death penalty for Bounty Gate, and they get off the hook constantly for their many instances of cheating. I was rooting for Green Bay and the Steelers. We got Atlanta and New England. It’s the worst game we could ask for. I wish no one would win.”

New Orleans Saints fans can’t stand the Dirty Birds, and that’s not going to change any time soon.

Since both franchises have existed, they’ve gotten along like cats and dogs – a rivalry that is one of the most heated in the NFL.

An interesting dynamic exists in the rivalry, because to an outsider, both teams are among the least successful franchises in NFL history – organizations that have just one combined Super Bowl Championship in their histories.

But that ring belongs to the Saints, which gives New Orleans fans a leg up in the trash talking battle between the teams.

If Atlanta wins on Sunday, the balance of power shifts back to the Dirty Birds, who have now made the NFL’s big game twice.

That’s something Saints fans say they want to keep.

“We don’t want them to ever win a ring,” Thibodaux native Barbara White said. “We like having something they don’t have.”

But for all the banter between the two fan bases, area Saints fans conceded that Atlanta will be tough to beat.

Houma native Jon Shelby said Atlanta’s offensive weapons are going to give New England fits. Bourg said this is the best Atlanta team he’s seen in his lifetime.

“I can say I don’t like them, but I can’t say they’re not unbelievably good,” Bourg said. “They crushed Seattle and Green Bay. Those were teams that everyone thought was going to have a shot to make it to the Super Bowl. They beat both like it was a video game. They’re playing their best right now and are the hottest team in the league.”

On the opposite sideline, Saints fans aren’t too crazy about seeing Tom Brady and Bill Belichick prosper, either, adding that they believe the punishments the team has been given in the past have been too lenient.

Larose man Zack Ledet said if Sean Payton was suspended for a year for BountyGate, then Belichick should have gotten a similar penalty for DeflateGate or in any of the other allegations that have been levied against the Patriots.

He said he is rooting for Atlanta, because he’d rather a rival win than “a cheater”.

“If New Orleans deflated the footballs, Drew Brees would have been suspended for more than four games,” Ledet said. “It’s ridiculous how much pull the Patriots ownership has. They’ve been buddy-buddy with the league for a while now, and I guess it’s like the old saying says – it isn’t what you know; it’s who you know that matters most.”

But like with Atlanta, locals admit a little jealousy when looking at how dominant the Patriots have been in years past. Many said they think the Patriots are the best organization in sports.

“They never have a bad year,” Ledet said. “It’s incredible.”

Perhaps the one area where fans disagree most is in picking a winner.

The Times asked 27 random fans – 19 males and eight females to give a winning team and a score.

Just about everyone thinks the game will be high-scoring with both teams scoring well into the 20s, if not into the 30s or 40s.

But the winning team is a tossup, according to most. A total of 15 fans aligned with the Patriots, while 12 picked the Falcons.

Only two people said they think the game will be lopsided. Both of those pickers favored New England.

“Look, I think it’s going to be a great game,” Bourg said. “I pick Atlanta to win, and I think it’s going to come down to the last play. It’s one of the most even Super Bowl games we’ve had in a while. It’s just being played between two teams that most folks in Louisiana would rather forget.” •

Matt RyanKeith Allison

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