New Orleans Saints + Super Bowl + Hurricane Katrina = Overkill
Sad Commentary: It Takes a Football Game to Reshine the Katrina Spotlight
There will be positive aspects to the Saints/Katrina linkage. The Katrina-caused hardship that lingers, and the ongoing flaws in response, indeed merit ongoing coverage. So if a spotlight shines, all the better.
Still, there are some rather putrid aspects to all of this. Sports are fun and in some ways important, but nowadays sports often seem overly predominant. This is especially true of pro and college football, which have steamrolled the other sports in popularity.
The sickening aspect of the upcoming media overkill will go something like this:
"After four and one-half years of human suffering in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the spirits of hard-pressed New Orleans residents finally will be lifted by their beloved football team, the New Orleans Saints, making their first-ever appearance in the Super Bowl."
Then, the millionaire players will be quoted saying stuff like this:
"We've been a team that has battled and fought against adversity all season long, just like all of the citizens of New Orleans. We are a symbol for them and an inspiration for them. In going to the Super Bowl, we will provide a relief from all of their hardships and suffering."
C'mon already. At some point, we need to stop and say, puhleeze! Talk about melodrama. The thousands of Hurricane Katrina survivor families still living in trailers, because of ongoing inept government response, no doubt are far more concerned about finally getting out of those trailers than they are about the New Orleans Saints playing in the Super Bowl.
The media watchdog group FAIR, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting, cites a statement made six months after Hurricane Katrina by NBC's Brian Williams: ""If this does not spark a national discussion on class, race, the environment, oil, Iraq, infrastructure and urban planning, I think we've failed." Yet by 2009, FAIR reports, the NBC and ABC and CBS news operations were revisiting Katrina and New Orleans only about once every four months, on average.
Of all things, the New Orleans Saints' appearance in the Super Bowl will change all of that, at least for two weeks. But even then, stories will focus on how the Saints' success is making everyone feel better, even those hand-to-mouth families down in the Ninth Ward who still aren't receiving basic postal service. Sad commentary.
SOURCES
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3891
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina
Published by Michael Thompson
Michael Thompson is a retired newspaper reporter who lives in Saginaw, Michigan. Main topics are political and social justice issues, with occasional escapism into sports and so forth. View profile
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9 Comments
Post a CommentNew Orleans was already a crap hole before Katrina...so I don't know what they are rebuilding. Let's quit capitalizing on tragedies. the damn hurricane was almost 5 years ago. You don't see Vikings fans crying about their bridge collapse do you?
Good article, Michael. I think your commenter, Mark B, either needs to learn to read or needs to have someone explain things that he does not understand (considering that he seems to have missed the entire gist of your article). Scott Allan seems to have gotten the line right...
Usually I hate media overkill but if there's one story that deserves to be on every station 24/7, it's this feel-good story about the Saints.
not need it. But for some ignorant blowhard to start with the "Here we go again... ANOTHER story about New Orleans and Katrina!" whining, just pisses me off. If you don't like the coverage, don't read it. But realize that sometimes, the media gets it right (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugV6gcXGPwk) and it can bring tears to the eyes of those who know what New Orleans and the Saints mean to each other.
Now you can all go back to your regularly scheduled bashing of New Orleans wherever you are and live out your tired, boring, jealous lives, while we down here CELEBRATE. Because that is how New Orleans lives, Super Bowl or not.
Thank you...
Listen, I don't think any New Orleanian cares one bit about what the national media (much less some jaded Michigan blogger) have to say about our team, our city and our "struggle" or the coverage thereof. But I figured I should point out a few things since you've decided to make your commentary public, thus open for criticism:
First, no Saints player is saying they are saving the city. If you've ever spoken to them, you'll know they all believe it is the other way around. And we all know that a football team does not "provide a relief" from the struggles of the hurricane. This is not about Katrina. This is about the New Orleans Saints and THEIR struggles. Yes, it does raise the spirits of the city, and that can spill over into other aspects of life, so do not assume that you know how we feel. But maybe realize that it could be a good thing for people who are otherwise suffering to experience a little joy in their lives.
Second, we are aware of the ridiculous media coverage, and we do
New Orleans gets press every year for Mardi Gras and the murder(s) that invariably occurs each year throughout the parade route.
Thank you for your submission. Your article has been featured on AC's opinion category.
Oops, seventh paragraph should say "adversity" instead of "advertising." Will myself ever learn NOT to rely on spellcheck, especially when writing late at night?
Amen! Thank you, Mike. :-)