New Orleans Conflicted Over Katrina Coverage

NEW ORLEANS -- When you watch the Super Bowl on Sunday, and its hours upon hours of pregame coverage, you're going to hear quite a bit about Hurricane Katrina.

Most of the nation has put that tragedy in the back of their minds, with more recent and, in some cases, devastating disasters taking attention. But whenever the media has talked about the Saints since the storm hit in August 2005, nary a mention passes without a tie to Katrina. The team has been unable to play without each snap assigned an added significance, as if the fate of the city lies in whether the Saints can keep the chains moving. They can't simply be a football team.

It's been enough to draw criticism from some among the rest of the NFL fanbase, who are tired of having to take their football with a side of human interest.

From the conversations I've had in New Orleans this weekend, the city itself is conflicted on whether they want the Saints to stand on their own accord or whether the area needs all of the national attention it can get. While the sample size I talked to hardly represents the entire Gulf Region, it was large enough to make the results interesting.

"I think it's time to move on," said Gerard Amato, proprietor of the famous Mother's Restaurant.

"We're giving a billion dollars to Haiti, but there are people here who still aren't home yet." A bartender at a bar on Bourbon Street that seems to rely heavily on tourists and visitors, offered quickly and emphatically, "We're not underwater, and the whole world should know that."

Amato noted that the difference in opinions depends on perspective; people were effected in varying degrees depending on location (Amato admitted he saw little damage), and economic status plays a role as well.

Barbara O'Brien, an employee at a shop in a nicer space in the French Quarter that sells high-priced "celebrated autographs," responded passionately when asked about the topic.

"Keep talking," she said. One of her three kids was a senior in high school at the time of the storm. His graduating class, once at 140 students, was whittled to just 22. O'Brien carries two mortgages because she had to relocate to Nashville, and described her struggle to get back as representative of most of the city.

"I went from upper middle class to working class," she continued. "There are a million people here like me."

A woman in the store added, "We're giving a billion dollars to Haiti, but there are people here who still aren't home yet."

But is an abundance of Katrina talk during Saints games going to spur the nation, almost five years later and in a bad recession that has damaged the lives of people across the country, to begin to donate a lot of money again? Will a voiced-over 15-minute feature from CBS on Sunday sway the government to change how it allocates funds?

"We've got to pick our own selves up," said an employee at Mother's.

"Yup," Amato finished. "Help isn't going to come from the sky."

The problem to those who see a problem, it seems, isn't that the media continues to tie the hurricane and the Saints together, rather that their approach in that regard is relentless. It's mentioned in every game, almost every press clipping.

"Do I want to hear 'Katrina, Katrina, Katrina' every five minutes? No," an employee at an upscale hotel downtown told me. "But it's important to make sure everyone stays aware."