Hate to break it to you, New Orleans, but the Saints aren’t playing in Super Bowl XLVII. Still, that doesn’t mean you can’t have a Pitbull good time when San Francisco faces Baltimore on Feb. 3.
Here are my top 10 reasons why the Crescent City should welcome the Harbaugh Bowl with open arms.
10. You can still get drunk
Just because Ludacris won’t be making an appearance on Bourbon Street doesn’t mean you can’t act a fool. Two teams playing in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome not named the Saints might even give you a more of a reason to.
Drowning your sorrows in Hand Grenades and Huge Ass Beers is totally understandable. Maybe Saints fans will get drunk enough to forget the 2012 NFL season even happened.
9. Jim Harbaugh is on-par with Miles’ quotes
If there’s a coach in the NFL who rivals the quotes given by LSU coach Les Miles, it’s Jim Harbaugh.
Just a of few of Jim’s gems include, “I don’t take vacations. I don’t get sick. I don’t observe major holidays. I’m a jack hammer,” and, “Just gobble, gobble, gobble turkey from jive turkey gobblers. I think that paints a pretty good picture.”
Trust me, New Orleans, you’ll love him.
8. Two unsuspecting starting QB’s
What if I told you that two quarterbacks who played collegiately at Nevada and Delaware took their teams to Super Bowl XLVII? No, it’s not an ESPN 30 for 30 intro yet. This is real life.
49ers signal caller Colin Kaepernick wasn’t even starting when the season began before breaking out against Chicago on Nov. 19, and all Ravens gunslinger Joe Flacco has heard the past few seasons is how he’s holding Baltimore back from another Super Bowl title. Welp, one of them has to win.
7. Introduce Baltimore and San Francisco to the South
According to Southerners, Yankees don’t know how to party. Well, now is your chance to show the sheltered fans from Baltimore and San Francisco how to throw down.
But you’re going to have to ease them into it. You don’t want to be babysitting a passed out Northerner all week.
6. Chance to make it 12-straight for LSU
I’m not even mad that Patriots running back Stevan Ridley won’t get his chance to become the 12th-straight LSU Tiger on a Super Bowl winning roster. I’m actually impressed he’s still alive after suffering a brutal hit from Ravens defensive back Bernard Pollard that knocked him out of the AFC Championship.
Oh, and LSU can still continue its impressive streak if former Tiger defensive tackle Ricky Jean-Francois and his 49ers prevail.
5. Beyoncé and Alicia Keys are still performing
You’re welcome.
4. Ray Lewis is crazy
There are only two possible scenarios for Ray Lewis on Feb. 3.
He could win his second Super Bowl and break into quoting any Bible verse that comes to mind, or the Ravens lose and Ray goes on a rampage in downtown New Orleans.
I’d probably keep your family indoors either way.
3. Brothers coaching against each other.
Of course the reason it’s being called the Harbaugh Bowl is because, um, Jim and John Harbaugh’s teams are facing off on the biggest stage in American sports.
It’s a storyline that won’t get old because brothers coaching against each other in the Super Bowl hasn’t happened before and odds are it won’t happen again. Enjoy it.
2. Goodell is still coming to town with a target on his back
Good ol’ NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell thought everyone in New Orleans forgot about that whole Bountygate thing.
Let bygones be bygones? That’s not how it works in the Big Easy.
I wouldn’t take any strolls down Bourbon if I were him.
1. No Falcons
Atlanta missing out on the Super Bowl is head and shoulders above any other reason New Orleans should be thankful for the Harbaugh Bowl.
Could you imagine how many fights would break out after the game if the Falcons would have won a Super Bowl on the Saints’ turf? Good thing Matt Ryan is still their quarterback.
Micah Bedard is a 22-year-old history senior from Houma.
FILE - In a July 27, 2012 file photo, San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, left, smiles during a news conference at the teams headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif. At right, in a Jan. 16, 2013 file photo, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh smiles during a new conference at the teams practice facility in Owings Mills, Md. The Harbaugh's will be the first pair of brothers to coach against each other in the NFL title game. (AP Photo/File)
