The headline in the New Orleans Times-Picayune on January 22 was “Thank You, Boys.” Whoever came up with that headline should be promoted.   Let me start by saying that the AFC is a far superior conference to the NFC, in both makeup and the teams in the playoffs. Watching some of the games in the playoffs, and even some painful Steelers game during the regular season, has proved this. But this Championship Game season, I rooted for the NFC. And not just any old NFC team. Sure, superficially I’ve been rooting for the Bears as my adopted team. I go to school in Chicago, I’ve been rooting for them all year and I’ll root for them in the Super Bowl, blah blah blah. But how could I root against the New Orleans Saints? America’s Team 2006? How could anyone? Look, I know this isn’t exactly a new story. I know people are going to be talking about this season for a while in the Big Easy. But it was also too good to overlook. The Saints were in the NFC Championship Game for the first time in their history. They had a first-year coach who already won Coach of the Year in a landslide. A rookie sensation tailback picked second in the entire draft. A rookie sensation starting receiver from Hofstra picked in the 7th round. Who says you need football experience to excel? They also had a quarterback in Drew Brees who led the NFL in passing this year after serious offseason surgery. 4,400-some yards. I know LaDanian Tomlinson won the MVP, but it must have been a tough vote for a lot of the sportswriters. Running back Deuce McAllister, the Saints veteran running back, is from the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. He’s felt the sting of Katrina in two arenas—where he grew up and where he works. He’s doing all he can to help the people of the region. And he just had one of the best years of his career. Gene Wojchiechowski on ESPN.com wrote about it. Go look it up in the ESPN archives. He does it more justice to Deuce than I can. (Also, for more on this, check out Tim Layden’s archives on si.com.) The Superdome, obviously, was THE makeshift hurricane center during Katrina. Now, the refurbished building has hosted the Saints first ever divisional playoff win. If only FEMA could have managed such a quick response to the hurricane. Maybe they should have hired Saints new coach Sean Payton. But I digress… New Orleans is known for the jazz, Mardi Gras, and hosting the occasional Super Bowl. It has never, ever been renowned for its sports prowess. After all, its basketball team (the Hornets) plays half of its “home” games in Oklahoma City. We’re talking about a franchise whose history has more paper-bags-on-heads than the Detroit Lions “Fire Millen” movement. Archie Manning (yes, MANNING) spent his entire career in New Orleans, the closest thing to purgatory in the NFL landscape. But just 17 months after Katrina, the Ain’ts were in the NFC Championship. Granted, the quality of the play in the NFC is bad. But the Saints are electrifying. They have weapons. Before this season, had anyone heard of Marques Colston or Devery Henderson? Did anyone expect Brees and Deuce to carry this load? I didn’t. I expected them to flame out against the Eagles. But they pulled through. Again. I’ve read articles, and heard stories, about how devastated New Orleans still is, especially the Lower Ninth Ward. I know many people try to help that region of the country with building projects and monetary donations, but it seems a world away to me, and probably to most people in Chicago. But the good ol’ boys from down in Loo-syana gallantly traveled up to the spaceship on the South Side. This was already the best story in sports history, no matter what happened on the 21st of January 2007. Because what happened on the 29th of August 2005 was more important. The Saints represent a city trying its damnedest to rebuild. New Orleans may never be the same. But hey, maybe the Saints won’t ever be the same again, either. In a good way. A few weeks ago, Coach Mike Holmgren of the Seahawks called his team a “team of destiny” after Dallas’s Tony Romo dropped the snap that would have led to the game-winning field goal and a Seahawks loss. He had it wrong (well, obviously…they lost.) The Saints were the ultimate team of destiny. They were my pick for the Super Bowl. Because no other team had gone through what the Saints have in the last year and a half. Experience? Oh yes. The Saints had experience. And what they had was much more valuable than anything on a football field. I thought it would pull them through. No amount of coaching or talent can overcome that. I thought (and still think) that the Saints should have been either Sports Illustrated’s Sportsmen of the Year or Time’s Men of the Year. Or both. I could root for another team in black and gold I guess. Sorry Bears fans. Sorry Pats or Colts fans. This time around, I, and most of America, were behind New Orleans. I know the clock struck midnight 2 games too early, but I don’t think it mattered. The Saints will be back. And, I hope, so will their city. Of course, I was wrong about the game. But I’m proud that I wrote this column. Thank you, boys, for exemplifying what sport is really about. Thank you, boys, for being the polar opposite of the arrest-ridden Bengals. Thank you, boys, for helping save New Orleans when so many others looked the other way. And thank you, boys, for winning, so that we noticed. Look forward to watching you next year.   Were you hoping for a Saints Super Bowl too? E-mail Dan at d-marlin@northwestern.edu.