Who Dat? The Saints, Dat's Who.

Fairy tales are named such because of their rarity.

If there is a better description of the New Orleans Saints' 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday then I'd love to hear it.

In their forty four years of existence, the Saints have been the epitome of a hapless franchise. It took them two decades to achieve a winning season, and over four decades to reach a Super Bowl. As if this weren't bad enough, the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, put their very existence in the Big Easy in jeopardy.

Amongst the obligatory hoopla and celebration, I felt the happiest for Drew Brees, the undersized free agent that 30 teams felt was washed up in in 2006. Hall of Fame Quarterback Steve Young's appraisal of Brees' performance after the game was quite telling. Describing his play as "pure artistry" seemed quite surreal given most pundits were about to anoint Peyton Manning as the "greatest of all time" only four hours earlier.

Of course it wouldn't be the Super Bowl without the commercials. To view them all, click here.

The Super Bowl Pilgrimage

Super Bowl Sunday is a couple of days away and as usual, everyone is excited for the titanic clash. For the record, I hope the Cardinals manage to win. There really is nothing like a Cinderella story in sports!

Of particular interest to me from Martin Lindstrom’s Buyology was the author’s comparison of teams to religions. In particular, Whittier College Professor Joseph Price’s citing of fans making a “religious” pilgrimage to the Super Bowl.

Professor Price has published extensively on the topic and writes, “A religious pilgrimage is more than just a journey to a place… It involves interior exploration, quests for a transcendent goal, overcoming barriers and physical or spiritual healing.” Sounds a lot like the quest for the Vince Lombardi Trophy to me.

Although not polite to say so, the strongest team brands create a sense of community and belonging that religions have been doing since time immemorial. While Super Bowl triumphs are a welcome addition to a franchise history, NFL teams that have created a Loss-Proof brand are able to maintain that sense of belonging whether they win or not.