Destiny has Saints marching to the beat of champions

No team ever meant so much to a city. No city ever needed it more.

I won't try to hide my conflict of interest. I grew up in New Orleans - like all Saints fans, a long-suffering Saints fan. It was a character-building experience and not always the fun kind.

I understand: Even now, some people aren't impressed.

The bookies have dissed us. The sports editors, too. The rundown from Friday's sports pages: "Mann with a Plan," "Colts' OL: Nobody gets near Peyton," "Big Easy for Eli: Let's Go, Bro," "Manning's New Alter Ego" and "Freeney to Test Ankle" - genuflections all to the altar of Indianapolis, beautifully illustrated with men in blue and white. And for balance? A noncommittal three-paragraph brief: "Saints' game plan almost complete."

Gee, thanks. Who dat hyping dem Colts?

But the Saints didn't get here by accident, and the journey has been something to behold. A struggling city and a struggling team, lifting themselves together, the triumph and inspiration running both ways.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees put it quite nicely: "You go through adversity, you go through tough times like the people of New Orleans have, and it happens to make you stronger. It happens to unite you. That's what's happened here in this city and this town and this community.

"It's destiny," he said.

It is. Be part of it. Be for the team that needs you. Be for the Saints.

SHOW TIME: It was planned as a "typical, two-week training mission" for the 106th Rescue Wing of the New York Air National Guard, based at Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach. But since the Haitian earthquake, the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay has been a key logistical hub for the U.S. military. For the 40 LI airmen, including civilian carpenters, electricians and heavy-equipment operators, there was real work to be done. Building an access road. Clearing debris. Extending a vital airstrip. "We have a well-rounded base of individuals who bring a variety of trades to the table," Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Vincent Fondacaro said. "The value of this experience for my guys is getting to see how to operate in this joint environment."

ASKED AND UNANSWERED: Snow science or snow guesswork? Were they smart or lucky this time? . . . You think you had a bad week? Tell me: Was your week worse than Akio Toyoda's? He's chief executive of Toyota. Feel better now? . . . What's the right new name for the LI Ducks' ballpark? Anyone for LI Ducks Ball Park? . . . What is it about a mannequin that makes a story irresistible? The national media sure seemed tickled by Kathleen Frascinella's mannequin-in-the-shotgun-seat ticket. . . . Big, tough LIRR locomotive can't get through 10 inches of snow? How would the railroaders of yesterday feel about that? . . . When Christopher Cox was a boy, what pet name did he have for his famous and formal grandpa, Richard M. Nixon? "Mr. President"? Chris, 30, is one of seven Republicans hoping to unseat U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop.

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