Sunday Stadium Review - Saints

New Orleans Saints 

Name of Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Superdome

Capacity: 73,208

Game Attended: NFC Championship 2010

Worked a game at this stadium? Yes.

Outside of Superdome...

Inside the Superdome...

With the playoff teams set for this season, I thought it would be a good week to review the Superdome since I worked an NFC Championship game there the one time I was able to experience it.  I mainly remember how extremely loud the fans were inside the dome.  I had on some old school headphones as a part of my responsibilities and you could just barely hear in those due to the loudness of the crowd.  It was a very high energy and high intensity game.  But you have to expect that when the Super Bowl is on the line!

Old school headphones...we've upgrade since then!

To be honest, I don't remember nearly as much about the stadium as I do about the week we spent in New Orleans!  I do remember thinking that the stadium was laid out very well and that it was fairly easy to navigate.  One of my responsibilities for the game was to make sure the visiting team's honorary captain was ready to go for the locker room trophy presentation should they win the game.  The honorary captain was Bud Grant, former Vikings coach.  He was a little hesitant to head down toward the locker room until the game was tied, but once that happened, we were on our way.  We made a slow, but steady trek to the field to watch the end of the game.  I'll never forget him saying to me in such a calm and matter of fact tone, "We're gonna lose this game.", just before Brett Farve threw the INT that essentially sealed the fate of the game at the close of the 4th quarter.  I didn't even know what to say.  At all.  He was such an impressionable man.  I enjoyed my roughly 20 minutes with him before his team did in fact lose the game.

Unfortunately, I have not had the experience of being a fan in the stands at the Superdome, but I am sure it is a great experience...well, as long as you are cheering for the home team!

Took this pregame as I was planning my route from press box to field...

Before I touch on a couple of the "must visit" spots when in New Orleans, take a look at Bourbon Street after the game...very crowded!

Absolutely packed!!!

Our group definitely made the obligatory stop at Cafe Du Monde for beignets.  No trip to New Orleans is complete without this pit stop!

 I also took the opportunity to visit Jackson Square.

And you'll never believe who we literally stumbled upon one night as we were headed home from the Bourbon Street area after dinner - JIMMY BUFFETT!!

We not only intruded on his private party in the back of the Margaritaville restaurant, but we also pretty much demanded a photo.  Classic picture with some of my colleagues for the week!

I am already excited about going back there for Super Bowl this year.  New Orleans truly is one of my favorite cities!  Always such a wonderful atmosphere and experience!  Can't wait to go back at the end of January!!

Andrea :)