Super Bowl & Carnival = a joyous problem

On Sunday, Feb. 7, the first big weekend of Carnival parading should pack the streets with partying parade goers.

There will be at least seven parades with floats, marching bands and countless beads and trinkets for screaming fans, and the Krewe of Barkus, a parade of dogs and their owners, marching through New Orleans and the surrounding area. Elsewhere in the bayou communities of south Louisiana, similar celebrating is planned. It’s all part of the rolling party leading up to Mardi Gras on Feb. 16.

But there’s a big difference this year: If things go the way many people hope, the Sunday crowds are likely to be a lot smaller.

That’s because Feb. 7 is also Super Bowl Sunday, and in this Saints-crazed city, state and region, the decades-long dream of the Black and Gold playing in the NFL’s championship game has a chance of coming true. So the usual tailgating along parade routes for many people may give way to a Super Bowl barbecue in the back yard.

Such is Louisiana’s love affair with the New Orleans Saints.

Born on All Saints Day 1966, the team teased fans for 20 years before finally attaining a winning season in 1987. Oddly, some would say, that feat came the same year Pope John Paul II celebrated mass at the Louisiana Superdome.

The team was so bad for so long that in the 1980 season it became the “Ain’ts.” Fans became known as bagheads for the paper bags they wore at games, ostensibly to keep anyone from knowing they were there to witness the carnage of the 1-15 season.

For a region hammered by hurricanes and economic downturn, the 2009 Saints season became a heart-stopping ride to the top of the NFL rankings. Even a late-season slump could do little to dilute the elixir as retailers reported better than brisk sales of anything with a Saints logo.

“Oh, we are so hoping they will go to the Super Bowl,” said Mary Beth Romig of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau.

And why not? The Saints are a trademark for a city built on branding.

Why the NFL didn’t take that into consideration when scheduling the Super Bowl during Carnival is anybody’s guess.

Even if the local team doesn’t make it to the game, the Super Bowl almost certainly will put a damper on one of the major parading days of the celebration billed as the “greatest free show on earth.”

Arthur Hardy, who publishes a Carnival guide that lists everything from parade routes and times to their top throws, is having a hard time getting it to the publisher this year.

“So far we have one parade that canceled, at least four have moved in anticipation of the Super Bowl, and the Family Gras celebration is not going to go on,” Hardy said. “It’s not really the chance the Saints will get into the Super Bowl though. It’s just the Super Bowl. It’s grown so much it’s hard for Carnival to compete.”

Canceling Family Gras, the very successful event in suburban Jefferson Parish designed to draw families for three days of parades, concerts and costuming, was due to the Super Bowl, but not because of the chance the Saints would be playing in it, said Violet Peters of the Jefferson Parish Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“Family Gras has a certain pool of artists to pull from, and with Super Bowl the pool is diminished to the point we can’t get the nationally known artists we need,” she said.

Family Gras dumped $6.3 million into the Jefferson Parish coffers last Mardi Gras, and will be back again next year, Peters said.

The first major weekend of parades is primarily attended by locals and those within easy driving distance to New Orleans. It’s the following weekend, with the super parades Bacchus and Endymion, that draws tourists from around the world. That weekend is football-free.

And if the might of the NFL’s big event is already having consequences, imagine if the Saints actually do make it to the game.

Football-crazy Louisiana is a sea of black and gold every weekend. Cars are adorned with team flags, helmets and other gear. Shouts of “Who Dat” have become the standard greeting.

And the public relations results for the city would far exceed the first weekend of Carnival, Romig said.

“We could reap rewards far down the line if the Saints are in the game,” Romig said. “It would do wonders for our image as a great place to live and work.”

One thing’s for sure: If the Saints win the Super Bowl, the Carnival call of “throw me something mister” is going to be replaced by the loudest “Who Dat!” cry ever heard.