When the Saints Come Marching In

Photo: Daddy before the Saints. If he were here today, he'd be driving that beauty down to Miami.

When the Saints come marching into the Super Bowl tomorrow, it's fair to say that more than a few of their most ardent fans will be, if not exactly saints themselves, at least sitting way, WAY up in the nosebleed section if you get my drift.

I'm sure my father will be in that number. Daddy was a football fanatic. He loved -- and identified with - the underdog. He could not have chosen a more perfect team to champion than the Saints. They did not have a winning season in his lifetime. Yet he just loved them.

When we lived briefly in New Orleans, he went to all their home games in Tulane Stadium and invited the folks from Biloxi to go with him. He bought my sister and I Saints sweatshirts (the ones where the players had chins like Dudley Do-Right) and a Saints bobble-head figurine for the dash of the Impala. He sang "When the Saints Come Marching In" ad nauseum.

By the way, did you know that the franchise got its name because it was established on Nov. 1 -- All Saints' Day? I didn't.

My father spent his last day on earth, a Sunday, watching football. At least he was spared the Monday night debacle that was the Saints-Giants game. The Giants smashed them 28-14 in New York. The Saints finished the season 2-12 despite having just moved into the brand-new Superdome. The bag-head era had arrived. I'm sure Daddy was glad not to see that although, loyal fan that he was, he probably would have eschewed the bag.

No matter how badly they sucked, Daddy always knew his Saints would make it to the Super Bowl one day. And now here they are.

Besides the Saints, Daddy also loved food (well, he was in the restaurant business). He never sat down to watch a Saints game on TV without a smorgasbord in front of him.

He was an inventive snacker. No chips and take-out pizza for him. He made wonderful sandwiches whipped up from whatever was on hand. My favorite were his cream cheese and black olive spread sandwiches. The spread is also good stuffed into celery stalks.

CREAM CHEESE AND BLACK OLIVE SPREAD SANDWICHES

Whipped cream cheese, softened

1/4-1/2 cup black olives, chopped (you can also do this with green olives or a mixture of black and green)

2 T minced onion

salt and pepper to taste

dash, Worcestershire sauce

NOTE: You can also add chopped pecans to this for crunch.
Mix ingredients into softened cream cheese. Spread on bread or crackers. If desired, add sliced tomato.