Watching football, catching a parade

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

PEARL RIVER, La. (Monday, Oct. 26, 2009) – These weekends just seem to fly by – especially ones that have been as nice as the just-ended Saturday and Sunday stretch.

How nice was the weekend? Well, let’s look at these facts:

Ole Miss Football

I couldn’t be in Oxford this weekend – alas, it’s almost impossible for me to make the trip there now that my family is in Southeast Louisiana – but I did catch the Ole Miss-Arkansas game on the SEC Network.

The Rebels looked much better than the last outing I caught against Alabama. This great win against Arkansas sets yup the remaining games of this year’s schedule beginning Saturday at Auburn.

Win-out, and the Rebs will likely find themselves in the Top 10 once again. This is probably the toughest game on our schedule. Auburn is winnable, although no certain pushover.

Krewe of Boo


Around 3 p.m. Saturday, I packed my wife and children into the car, picked up my niece, switched to my sister’s SUV, packed the parade ladder and headed for the French Quarter and the 2nd annual Krewe of Boo Halloween parade.

This certainly wasn’t an Endymion or Orpheus. The Krewe of Boo is what it is: a nice, small-scaled, parade not unlike the small-scaled early season Carnival parades that usually pop up in January.

The kids loved it – and that’s all that mattered. They enjoyed watching the bands, the dance groups, the horses and the generous riders on Blain Kerne’s small, Halloween-styled floats. Nothing spectacular, but nice.

The night ended with a $40 parking ticket slapped on the SUV. The New Orleans police greedily ticketed what looked like 100 or so cars on South Peters, just beyond Elysian Fields. They cited us for parking on the sidewalk.

But one thing is wrong: THERE IS NO SIDEWALK.

Another case of misplaced priorities. While folks are out in the city killing and murdering others, while drug dealers are out there getting our kids addicted, the New Orleans police are ticketing peoples’ cars for no apparent reason other than to screw the people who parked there.

Nevertheless, I have included a slide show here for your enjoyment. Click a photo and you’ll see a larger version. Enjoy.

Saints football

The New Orleans Saints won – improbably – Sunday at Miami in a strange, exciting game. I gave up on them at the half, but was incredibly impressed with the character of the team.

I’m not much of a pro football fan, but the Saints are a fun team to watch.

All photos and text copyright 2009 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.