Picture Courtesy: Nola.com

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; the only hurricanes I like are the kind you can drink. Gustav turned out to be quite the troublemaker, but thankfully…hopefully…it didn’t cause the widespread devastation so many of us feared. I got to experience the wonders of going 2mph on I-10 as part of a Saturday afternoon evacuation, the frustration of my friend being forced to cancel her big wedding in exchange for a quickie, scaled down version in Audubon Park, and the shock of only recently realizing I had no idea what the hell was going on with my beloved Saints. Still, it’s a comfortable trade off for the peace of mind that comes with knowing my city isn’t being overtaken by water.

Speaking of those Saints, I hear rookie kicker Taylor Mehlhaff got kicked to the curb as part of the team’s final roster cuts. I know at least one person who won’t be too happy about that. But the real headline isn’t so much who got cut, as it is the one guy who didn’t. Cornerback Jason David proved to have the resilience of an Uptown cockroach by making it on the team’s final roster, despite a rough preseason showing. Perhaps it was his improved performance in the final game versus Miami that saved his butt. Perhaps Sean Payton knows something we don’t know. Or perhaps David possesses a picture of Tom Benson in some sort of compromising position…maybe wearing gold pumps and a black negligee and boa? One can only speculate at this point.

Here’s what I do know: Saints football returns in full force this weekend. My Saints will open their season against a division rival in the Dome. We’ll set the tone for the season with a blowout victory. And most importantly, my family and thousands of others will be back home, safe and sound, with memories of Gustav behind them. They’ll be able to crack open their beers, dive into their boiled crabs, and enjoy their Sundays with the kind of peace of mind we could only pray for just days ago.