WHO DAT NATION

Not being a very strong follower of the NFL or college football I found the community’s obsession with the pigskin rather striking. It verges on religion actually. There is a name for its followers and that name is “The Who Dat Nation.” From what I’ve heard this comes from the question asked of any visiting team coming into their Superdome, “Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?” I suppose the idea is, “who has the audacity to come into our place and humble us?” Apparently there are quite a few teams who have had this audacity in the past, but this season promises to be different (Saints are currently 7-0 and are 3 to 1 favorites to win it all according to Las Vegas odds makers).

All around Who Dat Nation (a term which also seems to include an actual physical territory ranging from Cajun country in the west to several panhandles in the East) black and gold flags are waving and the fleur-de-lis is defiantly representing this most masculine of sports (does anyone else think it strange that these guys are trying to intimidate other dudes while wearing flowers on their heads?) The worship is in full swing down here.

I found that in order to effectively communicate I would benefit by acquainting myself with the mythos and members of the Who Dat Pantheon. There are individuals to learn about like the “Cajun Cannon” Bobby Hebert, the likable but unlucky father of otherwise famous sons; Archie Manning, the half-footed kicker Tom “63 yard” Dempsey and the dark forces of the “Dirty Birds” that must be stopped by any means necessary (they just did this by preparing a dirty bird jambalaya simmered and served in the Superdome this past Monday night.) LSU also adds its own purple and gold ingredients to the gridiron gumbo with names like Les Miles, Glen Dorsey, and my favorite: Booger McFarland.

It may be easy to poke fun and do the psychological analysis thing but I suppose it much resembles my own St. Louis area and our love of Cardinal baseball. How does Cardinal Nation differ from Who Dat Nation? Well, from what I can tell the only difference is a winning history. :-) The following Cajun joke I recently heard should adequately illustrate:

Boudreaux and Thibodeaux both died and went to that other place. Satan turned up the heat and he heard Boudreaux and Thibodeaux hooting and a hollering in their cell. He went to investigate and to his horror he found them having a grand old time!
“What’s going on in here?” Satan asked.
“This weather is great! It reminds us of Louisiana!” Boudreaux replied.
Satan got mad and went out to crank up the heat even further. When he came back they were sweating a bit, but they seemed to be partying even harder.
“Why aren’t you burning up in pain?” Satan asked.
“Well before it was just regular Louisiana weather, but now its just like summertime in Louisiana! Laissez les bon temps rouler!” shouted Thibodeaux.
Satan was frustrated, but he left with an idea. He went out and turned the heat all the way down and cranked up the air.
“That’ll show up!” Satan cackled.
But to his surprise he heard even more whooping and hollering coming from their prison. Satan raced in to see what was going on.
“Now what are you so happy for?” Satan demanded.
“Yipeee! The Saints just won the Super Bowl!” they proclaimed.

This might be the year that the Who Dat Nation can put on their black and gold choir robes and open the hymnal to sing, “When Saints Go Marching In” over in Miami, FL. Also this weekend the Tigers play the Crimson Tide and try to secure a solid ranking until they face the #1 ranked Gators in the SEC championship game, and possibly become national champs as well. Why do I know this? You can’t live here and not know (or be related or married to someone who does know). It’s a way of life. It’s about men with flowers on their head asking you to answer that age old question, “Do you know who you are?” “Who dat say?” Do you have an answer to that question? It seems there are thousands here that do have an answer. They’ll tell you who they are. They’ll say, “We Who Dat Nation, baby! How you making?”