Bayou Classic fans happy to be back in N.O.
By Nick Deriso
November 25, 2006
Bayou Classic fans said a homecoming for their game confirms the budding recovery of storm-ravaged New Orleans.

"It's more than just the return of a football game "" it's a revival, a rebirth of sorts," said Grambling fan Donovan Simmons, of Lafayette. "Hurricane Katrina did not kill our Crescent City. It was a serious setback but the return of the Classic signals the major comeback for Louisiana's crown jewel."
Kickoff for the Bayou Classic is at 1 p.m. today at the Louisiana Superdome. The game will be broadcast live nationally on NBC.

Supporters of both Grambling and Southern could be found milling about the refurbished Superdome Friday evening, as diehards began lining up for the Battle of the Bands.

"I don't care if we lose!" said Grambling fan Sherry Williams of Houston, pointing to her Tigers T-shirt. "I'll be right back down here tomorrow night just like this!"

Others haggled, recalling old times, at kiosk after kiosk along Poydras in front of the Dome.

There were dozens more touring the historic streets of the French Quarter, which went largely untouched by Hurricane Katrina.

The same couldn't be said for the Superdome, which had to undergo extensive renovation after being used as a shelter for storm evacuees. The Bayou Classic, after being held 31 consecutive times in New Orleans, was played at Houston's Reliant Stadium in 2005 while the work continued.

"Last year, I went to Houston, and it wasn't the same," said Louis Wright of Grambling. "Here, you walk around. There, you're in traffic. There's nothing like the Crescent City."

Even something so routine as the pre-game walk-through at the stadium turned into an emotional experience.

"I walked into that Dome and I just had chill bumps all over," said GSU coach Melvin Spears. "They have done an outstanding job of putting it back together. Every time I go to New Orleans I get the same feeling. I roll in and all of a sudden the Superdome pops up out of the middle of the city, it's just one of those things. The dome is like no other place, and we play all over the world. It has this aura, like being at home."

A group congregated at the team hotel Friday at the annual Legends' Affair, where former Grambling receiver Trumaine Johnson was among those honored.

While fans thanked Houston for its hospitality last season, many said there is simply no place like home.

"The tradition, passion and pageantry of this spectacular weekend is unparalleled "" and as we experienced in Houston last year, it can not be duplicated," Simmons said. "The Bayou Classic belongs in New Orleans."

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