From
ESPN
MIAMI -- Who Dat won the Super Bowl? The
New Orleans Saints, that's who.
Ain't kidding.Put away those paper bags forever:
Drew Brees and the Saints are NFL champions, rallying to upset
Peyton Manning and the
Indianapolis Colts 31-17 Sunday night in one of pro football's most thrilling title games.Brees tied a Super Bowl record with 32 completions, the last a 2-yard slant to
Jeremy Shockey for the winning points with 5:42 remaining. The Pro Bowl quarterback was chosen Super Bowl MVP."We just believed in ourselves and we knew that we had an entire city and maybe an entire country behind us," Brees said. "What can I say? I tried to imagine what this moment would be like for a long time and it's better than expected."A surprise onside kick sparked the Saints' second-half comeback. Their 25th-ranked defense made several key stops, and
Tracy Porter's 74-yard interception return on a pass from Manning, of all people, clinched it.Manning gave futile chase, but was blocked by a New Orleans defender and fell awkwardly as the cornerback raced by. The four-time NFL MVP forlornly walked to the sideline as the Big Easy celebrations began. Who would have thought the biggest mistake of the game would have come from Manning?"It's time for the Saints to celebrate," he said. "It's their field and it's their championship."An NFL embarrassment for much of their 43 years, the Saints' football renaissance, led by Brees and coach Sean Payton, climaxed with Shockey's touchdown and
Lance Moore's 2-point conversion catch. The conversion pass originally was ruled incomplete, but Payton challenged the call and won.Porter's pick, just as dramatic as his interception of
Brett Favre's pass to force overtime in the NFC title game, was the game's only turnover. It's one Manning will forever regret.The Saints (16-3) won three postseason games this winter after winning only two in the previous 42 years. They beat Arizona, Minnesota and Indianapolis (16-3) -- all division winners -- for their first title, scoring 107 points and allowing only 59.The championship came 4 1/2 years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, making the Saints nomads for the 2005 season. There even was some doubt they would return, but the NFL refused to abandon the Big Easy. The Superdome was rebuilt and the Saints won the NFC South in '06, their first season with Brees and Payton.
Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu has been elected mayor of New Orleans, replacing term-limited Ray Nagin and becoming the majority-black city's first white mayor since 1979.
Landrieu is a 49-year-old moderate Democrat who won Saturday in a landslide over a field of 10 opponents in a campaign that focused on the city's slow recovery from Hurricane Katrina, violent crime and slumping city finances. The city's last white mayor was Landrieu's father, Moon Landrieu.
Voting came amid Carnival celebrations and preparations for Sunday's New Orleans Saints' appearance in the Super Bowl.
As returns came in, jubilation spread through the Landrieu headquarters in a hotel ballroom — festooned with black and gold balloons in a nod to the Saints. A brass band played Mardi Gras music and meandered through the room.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Politics competed with Carnival parades and Super Bowl party preparations Saturday as New Orleans voters made their choice to succeed term-limited Mayor Ray Nagin.
Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, who lost to Nagin in a runoff four years ago, was widely seen as the front-runner in an 11-candidate field. Were he to win an outright majority, he would become the majority black city's first white mayor since his father, Moon Landrieu, left the post in 1979. Other candidates were hoping to force a March 6 runoff.
Among them was businessman John Georges, also white, who pumped $3.4 million of his own money into his campaign. Polls have also shown business consultant Troy Henry, an African-American making his first political run, as a contender.
With 10 percent of the precincts reporting, Landrieu took the early lead with 65 percent of the vote compared with Henry's 17 percent.
Some voters were ready for a change from Nagin. Little known outside New Orleans before Katrina, he became a central, and sometimes controversial figure, in the city's struggle to recover. Polls showed his popularity fell sharply in the years after the storm as the rebuilding process dragged on.
News 4 in Tuscon, AZ is investigating pornographic material viewed during the Super Bowl by some Tucson area Comcast viewers.
Just after the last touchdown by the Cardinals, approximately 30 seconds of pornographic material was shown. It appears this material was only viewed by some Comcast customers.
Word
After examining the numbers more closely, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday that NBC's game actually delivered an average of 98.7 million total viewers, making it the most-watched Super Bowl ever and the No. 2 telecast of all time, behind only the 1983 series finale of "MASH" with 106 million.
Full article
NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol said the network is down to just two available Super Bowl spots and has managed to sell all of them at prices above $2.4 million, a sign that economic issues haven't thwarted advertisers' desire to be in the annual football classic.
From
Ad Age
