Being a Saints fan in New York has its ups and downs. On the plus side, getting a "Who Dat!?" cry from a random person on the street feels doubly awesome, better than it would in New Orleans, where everyone's a fan. And I can always be thankful that I don't have to go through the agony of being a Jets fan.
But then there are the downsides. When your team loses, that loss is one million times amplified because you don't have anyone else with whom to commiserate. More than that, you're probably the only Saints fan that people around you have ever met, so they will seize the opportunity to heckle and hammer you to the ground.
Well, the downside of being an "out-of-town" Saints fan was never clearer than this week, this lowest of low weeks. Moments after Twitter broke the news that Sean Payton had been banned from the league for a full season, I received a text message from a friend stating the following: "It must kinda suck right now to be the only saints fan that most of ur friends know."
Yes, yes it does. You know why?
Because &%$#@!’s like you decide to mock me when I have no one else to back me up, and no built-in support system like you, a New York Jets fan who lives in New York.
When the Saints lost to the 49ers, I was out of the country, where no one cared about the plight of my beloved team. I had to endure the heartbreak by myself, and I wished that I could be back in New York to talk to other football fans who would understand how I felt, even if they rooted for another team. After today, I realize that even solitude is better than mockery.
The next correspondence I received came in the form of a Facebook wall post. Three lines worth of "Hahahahahahahaha" was all that my dear Giants-loving friend could muster. Did I once make fun of him when the Giants went on a spiraling losing streak last year? Even when the Saints creamed them on national television? Nope, not a peep.
So here I am in New York, dealing with a barrage of ridiculing comments, unable to find company for my misery from any New York fans. In a strange twist, it’s a fan of the team we most dislike (Dave Choate of The Falcoholic) who has been the nicest to the Who Dat Nation:
As always, I remind you not to go taunt Saints fans no matter how much you dislike them. This is a rough day for them.
Go figure.