Dat's the night when the lights went out in da Superdome!

What's the point of cheerleaders if you cant see em?

By: Kent B - MSTv Correspondent

What the hell happened??  You're sitting down enjoying the big game, face stuffed with wings and beer, then all of a sudden - poof -  out go half the lights in the damn Superdome...  Guess N.O. residents aren't the only ones who have Entergy problems.  Or maybe Mercedes Benz just forgot to pay half the bill.

Well, I for one had two thoughts when it happened: 1)Glad I didn't spend money for a ticket.  And 2) They better keep that beer cold and flowing in there, or the field won't be the only stage for fights!

But, I guess that kid, who was plastered on the cameras, had the last and best quote to say about the incident:  “It was fun until the power outage,” he simply told the press.  And guess what?  He was right.  But you know what else?  It'll never be spun with the main focus on the game; just the unfortunate incident.

I know I'm guilty of doing that too.  Hell, I began this article by trashing the outage.  But, I just did so in fun and as a native New Orleanian, if I can't poke fun at my hometown, who can?  However, the general press is much more unforgiving and ruthless.  So, as the outage progressed, the news media of the world hopped to and broadcast this embarrassment to an international audience.

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I can only imagine what some New Orleanians there wondered, and in some way, what the majority of the visitors to the town thought when the lights went out.  But, some were quite vocal about it.

On air, several locals expressed concern and were worried as to how the story of Super Bowl 47 would be told.  Would it be a typical New Orleans repeat?  Would the focus only be centered on what went wrong instead of the many things that went right?

“I feel embarrassed for us because that’s what’s going to be talked about,” said Olivia Wilson, a Kenner native who lives in New York.

Other New Orleans natives and residents were unfazed, taking the opportunity to stroll the Superdome sipping cocktails.

“We’re the only town in which something like this can happen and we roll with the punches,” said Stephen Rue, a native and resident of New Orleans. “Everybody gets another drink and has a good time.”

“Locals can adapt,” added Rue’s friend, Brian McMillan, also born and raised in New Orleans. “Everybody else is panicking. We’re used to adapting to change.”

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Its like night and day, huh?

Given the circumstances of this occurrence, have we become too accustomed to the misfortunes that seem to hit New Orleans every few years?  Or, even by most of the glaring problems that a good portion of locals deal with living there on a daily basis?

By some of the above quotes, we seem well stereotyped to dealing with troubles and mishaps by washing away the problems with another drink.  But how much booze is needed to wash, or haze this type of thing away? 

Living in a town known for being, "the city that care forgot," can we really afford to be this unconcerned about our image?  Especially with the world closely watching - again??

Its not a secret that some, in varied parts of the country and world, see New Orleans as a unrefined and hedonistic town; known only for its good food, carefree lifestyle and lack of "last call" drinking freedoms. So, now we can add having the lights go out during the biggest sporting event of the year to that list. Somehow I don't think, "my bad" will cut it for future Superbowl hostings.

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Looks kinda half-dark outside too!

Officials however,  remain positive that New Orleans will stay a favorite host city for the Super Bowl despite the outage. The city wins over football fans with its easy-to-access tourism hotspots, celebrated cuisine and music scene, offering entertainment options for a variety of visitors.

Just before the lights returned, McMillan shared New Orleans-style bright side of the power loss: “This extends the drinking period because the drink vendors shut down after the third quarter.”

See, there we go with the drinking deal again..  Oh well, maybe we can give everyone an Absente cocktail and the whole thing will just fade away..  Along with lots of perfectly good brain cells.  So come on back for Superbowl 50-something, ya'll!  Let's have some gumbo and lotsa drinks to forget about that little incident back in 2013.  Anything to keep that money machine called New Orleans churning, right? 

Read what New Orleanians and visitors are Tweeting...

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