The Dalai Lama and the Saints

Full Disclosure: this post is being written on Sunday night in a state of heightened fatigue after having spent about twelve hours combined the last two days at the Bayou Boogaloo Fest in Mid City along the banks of Bayou St. John.

As it's name suggests, "boogalooing" isn't meant for the sedentary. In addition to shaking your hips to the music, you need to be able to move swiftly between well spread and multiple stages, food booths and arts and crafts vendors.

Having attended some type of public celebration every weekend since the Mal's St. Paddy's Parade in Jackson, Bayou Boogaloo wasn't exactly my first rodeo and I believe festival fatigue is the sign of a weekend well spent. What else am I supposed to do when it is not football season?

Once the clock strikes five on Friday afternoon, I require constant entertainment. While it may not be football season, I still managed to find myself in the Superdome. Before going to get my "boogaloo" on, I attended my cousin's graduation from Tulane Business School on Saturday morning at the Superdome, where I joined my aunt and uncle along with my graduating cousin's two younger brothers.

As was widely known throughout the city, the commencement speaker was the Dalai Lama. Not claiming to be an expert on His Holiness, I was still aware that he was as big on peace as I am on festivals.

His speech was somewhat difficult to follow because of his accent. That is not meant to be a criticism as I freely admit my Tibetan dialect is still a work in progress as well. Despite the difficulty in following the Dalai Lama's speech word for word, I was still able to grasp his overall message of peace and compassion; two concepts I thought the Saints defense fully embraced in 2012.

In addition to the Saints defense getting a jump on the Dalai Lama's teachings, I started to think that his visit to the Dome could lead to good karma for the Saints in 2013. Revisiting the history of world renowned spiritual leaders visiting the Superdome, when the Pope came to the Superdome in 1987, the Saints made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. T-shirts were printed and sold like hot cakes with a picture of John Paul II and the words "We believe!" next to them.

The Saints may have stronger connections to the Pope than with the Dalai Lama, but work with me. The Saints' poor season in 2012 is a direct result of the harsh penalties the franchise was handed down for allegations of a payment system that was established to injure opposing players. Who else better to reverse that curse from a symbolic standpoint than the Dalai Lama, one of the world's leading promoters of peace and nonviolence?

It also appears that with the loss of a second round draft pick, the Saints were unable to address all of their needs in the draft. I believe it is worthy to consider how the Dalai Lama could also assist the Saints from a skill set perspective, and not just relying on his presence bringing good karma.

Now I admit the Dalai Lama doesn't exactly fit the mold of the pass rushing specialist the Saints need but I think he should be given a shot at back up kicker. Garrett Hartley sometimes struggles with inaccuracy and should he start kicking erratically, I say we put in the Dalai Lama for winning field goals.

Hartley may have the stronger leg, but you would be hard pressed to find somebody better at achieving inner peace and focus when faced with the pressure coming from 80,000 fans. After all, a sold out NFL stadium is miniscule compared to the whole population of China.

I also acknowledge that there are valid concerns regarding the Dalai Lama's age. Yet he is still younger than John Carney was during Carney's final NFL season with the Saints. Even though the Dalai Lama was speaking to a Tulane audience, I believe his presence in the Dome alone will lead to great success for the Saints in 2013.

I just hope now that the Superdome doesn't go vegan.