The Saints are now 2-1 on the season after losing into overtime to the Atlanta Falcons. They had a chance to pull it out Garrett Hartley, the hero of last years NFC Championship game missed a short kick in overtime. I was upset for a minute.
Around here in the New Orleans area the Saints bring everyone together. I’m sad to report that the positive feelings when discussing the black and gold having spread out to other things in our community the way the media tries to make it appear when talking about the football team. Game days are a great chance to block the problems out for a few hours but I spend the rest of the week thinking about the reality of the situation. What about the healthcare situation? What about the schools? What about the people out of work? Will the kids be okay and have a good future? These things dominate my thoughts to the point where I get upset because I can’t see the changes coming soon enough to feel better about the direction of the city. That’s why I use the football season to distract me.
Today a two year old boy named Jeremy Dalmon was killed after being hit by a bullet uptown this afternoon. Usually I would be tripping off the fact that the Saints can’t stop the run or get off the field on first down for the rest of the evening. Now I am thinking about this poor little kid that never got a chance to grow up for nothing. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong when someone decided to fire their weapon. That’s more depressing than 20 Drew Brees interceptions. We don’t know who shot this baby or why but it’s sad that our kids have to live through that. It’s even sadder that even the most concerned people in our community can’t figure out how to change it.
Garrett Hartley missed a field goal today in overtime and messed up the weekend for a lot of Saints fans. He’s young. He’s making a good salary and is a local hero from last year. He’s doing what he loves to do and has 13 more games to make up for missing that kick. Jeremy Dalmon never made it to kindergarten or got a chance to find out what he wanted to do in life. Because of that thought I don’t care about the game today anymore. My community is losing in so many more serious ways that I can’t give football any real energy tonight.
Reality checks usually with come with painful circumstances.
2 comments:
That's how I feel, Cliff. It happened not more than 8 blocks from our house. I want to change it all, but I don't know how.
Very well put, Cliff. If only everyone would read this and ponder just for a little while...
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