The following comes from NOLA.com
The accolades for New Orleans started flowing as soon as Super Bowl visitors hit town this week. "Just arrived in N.O. NFL can hold the Super Bowl here every year ... No better big event city for sports," Rick Gosselin, a Dallas Morning News columnist, tweeted Sunday night.
Maria Elana Oliva and Rodolfo Oliva work together with others to fold a banner as workers at Crystal Clear Imaging work with oversized printers, making the huge banners and signage at their shop in Elmwood Jan. 29. The banners are going up around New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII.
Bernie Miklasz, a sports columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch who has covered the Super Bowl for three decades, said New Orleans is his top choice as host city. Ravens offensive tackle Michael Oher tweeted: "Man I have a special love for New Orleans!! I love coming here."
New Orleanians love this city ferociously, and it is a point of pride that so many people elsewhere feel a similar affection. This week, though, the compliments carry greater significance. After what the city and the region have gone through over the past seven years, it is a remarkable achievement to be hosting another Super Bowl.
As Ti Martin, whose Commander's Palace restaurant underwent a $6.5 million renovation post-Katrina, told FoxSports.com: "Every now and then when you've got your nose to the grindstone, and you're just working, working, working, you've got to stop and say, 'Look at what we did.' And this is going to be another one of those moments."
It should be one of those moments for everyone who has worked to bring this community back - every homeowner who returned, every business that reopened, every civic activist who demanded better schools and government, all the volunteers who gave of their time and energy to clean up and rebuild.
And specifically for this event, thank you to Saints owner Tom Benson, the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell. Super Bowl XLVII is putting New Orleans on an international stage. For anyone who is unaware, the city's renaissance will be impossible to miss.
This moment was hardly a given. A few weeks after the Saints' triumphant return to the Superdome for the 2006 season, the NFL held its fall owners meeting in New Orleans. Commissioner Goodell started the meeting with a highlight video from the Saints' victory over the Atlanta Falcons in the renovated Dome. The video featured Steve Gleason's blocked punt, Coach Sean Payton's postgame speech, in which he dedicated the game ball to the people of New Orleans, and shots of emotional fans decked out in black and gold.
"It's hard to imagine where we were a year ago," Mr. Goodell told the owners that October day. "And to see where we are now, the progress that has been made is extraordinary." It was extraordinary given that 80 percent of the city was under water after Katrina hit and the levees broke in August 2005.
Not all of the owners were persuaded, though, that New Orleans was going to be a viable city for the long-term. Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney said, "The thing that has to be determined is the business (in the city). Is that going to come back?" There also were concerns about whether the Saints could consistently sell tickets, something that had been a problem in the past.
The doubts weren't without cause. There were still blue tarps on rooftops, still thousands of houses that had been gutted but not rebuilt. And we are still rebuilding and still bear some scars.
The difference between October 2006 and today, though, is dramatic. The Saints not only have been able to sell tickets, the Superdome is sold out every year and the team has a long waiting list. And the Black and Gold's 2009 Super Bowl season was nothing short of magical.
As for New Orleans, there are more restaurants open than ever, and the city just finished upgrades to the airport and opened a new spur on the streetcar line. In 2012, tourism officials said that the city received more than a dozen national accolades. It also was recognized for its brain gain and its entrepreneurial energy.
The Super Bowl is arguably the biggest of big events. New Orleans has for years been one of the NFL's favorite sites, as evidenced by the previous nine times the city was chosen to host the game. It has been more than a decade since the game was played here, though. And, given the trauma to our region since then, it seems like longer ago than that.
This week has been more than three years in the making. The host committee, led by co-chairs James Carville and Mary Matalin, have worked countless hours and lined up a dizzying array of events. Thousands of volunteers signed up to help make our guests this week feel welcome.
Good luck to the Ravens and to the 49ers. Have a great week and a super game. We know you've worked hard to get to this moment. And so have we.
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