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Many of you know Chef Who Dat (note: click here for essential viewing) and the cavalcade of characters that inhabit section 641 of the Superdome. Here’s the Chef before last season’s Monday Night game versus Atlanta:

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Like many (if not all) stadium secions, the season-ticket holding patrons at “Cafe 641″ have developed a tight-knit community that’s led to silliness, some bike crawls, and now, a cancer fundraiser with a twist. Per the e-mail I received today:

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A Cafe 641 patron and season-ticket holder, Sean Niehus, is raising money for St. Baldrick’s, a foundation that raises money for children’s cancer research. Sean has agreed to shave his head at the annual St. Baldrick’s shave-a-thon AND to grow a mustache. To help him raise money, we’re auctioning off a pair of tickets to the 2010 Saints/Bucs game in Section 641, Row 40, Seats 13-14.

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I like how not only is Niehus shaving his head, but that he’s also growing a mustache in the tradition of Cafe 641’s Patron Saint. Check out his picture, going from long blonde hair to a shaved head and a mustache would be a stark transformation. Gotta give to a guy willing to do that for a good cause.

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Bid’s can be made on the tickets on eBay here or you can donate directly to St. Baldricks by clicking here. And yes, that is Chef Who Dat in a wedding dress on that eBay listing. Not sure how that will help with the bidding.

It was a beautiful Sunday in New Orleans … the birds were singing … the streetcars were clanging … people were strolling … and then … the Fu Fighter said goodbye. From the Cleveland Browns’ official Web site:

The Cleveland Browns today signed linebacker Scott Fujita and offensive lineman Tony Pashos to multi-year contracts as unrestricted free agents, the team announced. Fujita, an eight-year veteran, spent the past four seasons with the New Orleans Saints. Pashos, a veteran of seven NFL seasons, spent last year with the San Francisco 49ers.

“We are extremely happy that we were able to get Scott and Tony signed so quickly,” said Browns General Manager Tom Heckert. “They are two players we had targeted from the start of free agency. Both are smart, tough and physical - the type of players that the Browns are looking for.

“Scott possesses tremendous size for a linebacker, and this will allow him to play inside or outside in our 3-4 defense. He has been a starter throughout his career, has been exposed to several different defensive schemes and has been successful in all of them. He is a great leader and played a big part in the success that the Saints achieved last year.

See ya, Scott.

As we reported yesterday, Rep. Tim Johnson (R-Ill.) was the only member of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote against congratulating the New Orleans Saints on their Super Bowl victory. Well, it turns out Johnson has an opponent vying for his 15th Congressional District seat in Illinois: Dr. David Gill, an E/R physician, a Democrat, and — most important — a good sport. In many ways. In many, many ways, as it turns out.

We put in a call to Dr. Gill yesterday to seek comment, and he got back to us today … not because he was blowing us off, but because he had been working in the emergency room, heroically saving lives, instead of voting against the Saints on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Here is Dr. Gill’s official statement on the Black and Gold Super Bowl victory:

I watched the game. I’m a football nut, and the New Orleans Saints receive my heartiest congratulations. And kudos to Drew Brees! I used to watch him at Purdue.

Dr. Gill took the time for a brief interview about the differences between him and his opponent:

GAMBIT: When you are not busy heroically saving people’s lives, what other impressive feats do you perform that Rep. Tim Johnson does not?

GILL: Hmm. I still play a mean game of tennis. I don’t know he’s capable of that. I can play sports trivia like a champ. And I still read out loud every night to my youngest if I’m not working in the emergency room.

GAMBIT: That is so nice! Dr. Gill, several of our readers have suggested your opponent is — and I quote — a “douche.” Do you have any comment on that?

GILL: [laughing] Uh… I … I can understand why they’d come up with that thought. I try to be more diplomatic about it. There are many people here in central illlnois who would agree with that.

GAMBIT: Thank you, sir. One last question: Is someone who doesn’t congratulate the winners of the Super Bowl a filthy Communist, or simply un-American in his beliefs?

GILL: [laughing] I’ll go with un-American.

Thank you, Dr. David Gill! To learn more about Dr. Gill and his platform, visit his Web site.

DR. DAVID GILL: HEROIC AMERICAN … AND SAINTS FAN.

Today, Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao (R-La.) introduced H.R. 1079 onto the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives — a bill congratulating the New Orleans Saints on their Super Bowl victory. Sure, it ain’t health care, but it’s the kind of collegial feel-good resolution that allows Congresscritters to give each other the warm fuzzies. The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support by a vote of … 375-1.

Yes, someone voted against congratulating the Saints for winning the Super Bowl. Who? This dude:

What a jackanapes you are, Rep. Tim V. Johnson of Illinois.

Here’s the footage of Cao introducing the resolution on the House floor. Nice.

Just one of those things to add the the “once you see it, you can’t unsee it” pile:

(via Michael G.’s Twitter)

Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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The funnest part about the Saints Super Bowl victory has to be the sort of mock hubris the Saints players and coaches have shown as part of their celebration. Whether it’s Drew Brees going mad with power or Sean Payton pissing off Jerry Jones, these are moments for Who Dats everywhere to cherish (after all, when else have the Saints had any sort of reason to act this dickish?)

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If you haven’t heard, Peter King over at Sports Illustrated gives you this story of Coach Payton, a Saints victory dinner and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ favorite bottle of wine:

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On Friday night, the Saints’ staff at the combine gathered in a private room at St. Elmo Steakhouse, an 108-year-old Indy landmark, for a final celebratory nod to the Super Bowl win over the Colts. This is a group that likes its wine, and likes to have fun.

At the restaurant, word passed that Dallas owner Jerry Jones would have his Dallas group in this exact room Saturday night for a team dinner. Jones had even phoned ahead, according to a waiter, to make sure a magnum of a wine he loved, Caymus Special Selection cabernet sauvignon, was ready to be served at dinner.

Sean Payton told the waiter he’d like to have that wine, too. The waiter told him: Sorry, sir. We have only one bottle left, and it’s reserved for Mr. Jones.

Payton said he’d like to have the bottle nonetheless. I assume there was much angst on the part of the wait staff at that point. My God! Who do we piss off? One of the most powerful owners in the NFL, or the coach who’s the toast of the NFL, the coach who just won the Super Bowl?

Here came the bottle of Caymus Special Selection, and the Saints’ party drained it.

But drinking Jones’ wine wasn’t enough. Payton gave the waiter some instructions, took out his pen … and, well, the Cowboys party found at the middle of their table the next evening an empty magnum of Caymus Special Selection cabernet sauvignon, with these words hand-written on the fancy label:

WHO DAT!
World Champions XLIV
Sean Payton

That’s the kind of thing Jones will get a big laugh out of. And remember.

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Now on the surface, this looks like Payton having a lot of (deserved) fun. Saints fans will surely get a kick out of Payton rubbing it to the owner of the team that ended the Saints’ bid at a perfect season. But how will the rest of the country receive it? You know, the Boston Red Sox were everyone’s darling team too. And then they won the World Series and now everyone thinks they and their fans are just a bunch of smarmy jerks.

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Regardless of how the rest of the country sees it (and who cares, really?) dealing with a Championship is new territory for the Saints and New Orleans, and it’s really been a lot of fun watching it all unfold.

To the birther, truther, 9/11 Elvis Capricorn One Lee Harvey Oswald Conspiracy file, we can now add a new sinister theory: Peyton Manning intentionally threw the Super Bowl so the Saints would beat the Colts.

That’s the prospect raised by Terence Moore, columnist for the Web site NFL Fanhouse, in an entry titled “Peyton a Double Agent? Some Think So”:

I sought the views of the Colt Nation, and this was interesting: Spanning from Monument Circle to Conseco Fieldhouse to Circle Center Mall to the area near the little race track that features 500 miles each May, a slew of folks alluded to the “c” word, but not for choke. They viewed The Interception as their version of a second gunman on the grassy knoll — as in conspiracy.

Among the conspiracists, some said Manning threw The Interception on purpose to defensive back Tracy Porter who sprinted 74 yards for a touchdown to seal the Saints’ 31-17 victory. Most said he threw it subconsciously.

Whatever the case, both sides said Manning had the Saints’ welfare more than that of the Colts dancing around his mind at the moment.

Consider the evidence for the conspiracists: Manning was born and raised in New Orleans. And his father, Archie, is legendary around the Gulf Coast region. And the Mannings (which includes New York Giants quarterback Eli) knew as well as anybody before the game how much a world championship in New Orleans would brighten the souls of those still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. And [Reggie] Wayne, who possibly ran a shoddy route against Porter, also is from New Orleans.

So Reggie Wayne was in on it, too! This goes deeper than any of us could have imagined. But what does Indianapolis mayor Greg Ballard think of this possible act of civic sabotage?

He couldn’t stop laughing from the conference room next to his office when told of the Manning conspiracists who won’t back down.

“So Peyton works his entire life to get this point, and he’s going to throw it all away,” said Ballard, laughing again. His press secretary, Robert Vane, added nearby, between chuckles, “And we also never landed on the moon.”

But, seriously. Was that intentional?

Said Ballard, easing into the non-nonsense voice that he used when he was a lieutenant colonel for the Marines, “That’s ludicrous. It’s just plain ludicrous for people to think that way (about the Super Bowl). There is no question that Peyton Manning wanted to win that game.”

Zounds! Everyone knows that if you deny a conspiracy, you must be one of the conspirators! Apparently Mayor Ballard is in on it too!

At least (dun dun dun dun DUNNNN) … some think so.

From last night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC. New Orleans Saints running back Pierre Thomas (at 1:18) and safetys Roman Harper and Darren Sharper (at 1:57) explain muffalettas and float riding to a “Who Dah?” chanting Guillermo, Kimmel’s security guy and Mardi Gras correspondent:

More Saints on TV: Thomas and wide receiver Lance Moore will be on BET’s 106 & Park this evening at 5 p.m.

Mardi Gracias, y’all.

That was the question you’d hear the day after you saw The Kick. Now, you could ask that about every other moment this season, and all the moments in-between.

Sunday night, at 1 a.m., I’m eating a burrito on the corner of Decatur and St. Louis and I’m hearing “Halftime” for the millionth time. In a row.

I started the day celebrating dogs named Barques Colston and Great Danes in Shockey-sized Shockey jerseys with fleur-de-lis stencils on their bellies. I ended it listening to Bobby Hebert make an impossibly long-winded analogy through tears. Callers-in were breathless, exhausted, humbled.

Somewhere in the middle — before the thousands of cars honked at once for hours, before high-fiving and hugging strangers became involuntary and way before cops stopped giving any sizable shit about ghost riding whips down a major thoroughfare — I was standing at the river holding a loaf of French bread and drinking a daiquiri, just hours before I was left speechless from Tracy Porter’s interception and subsequent 70-plus yard touchdown, waiting to count down the final seconds of the game and see the words “Saints” “win” and “Super Bowl” appear together on the screen for the first time ever.

And this was just the beginning.

Last night I sat in traffic, walked from the Marigny to the neutral ground at Canal and Decatur to stand among older fans celebrating with younger fans — 800,000 of them watching the Lombardi trophy make its way through the streets of New Orleans in 33 degree weather.

This time last year I was looking back at an 8-8 season, hoping, again, for a “maybe next year” playoff spot, or at least a winning record. I watched the first game of this season surrounded by friends. I ended it surrounded by new friends and hundreds of total strangers.

So, where were you?

Publishers Weekly has the story:

As a record-breaking audience of 106 million viewers finished watching the New Orleans’s [sic] come-from-behind 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Sunday evening’s Super Bowl, the Triumph Books team put the final touches on their latest publication, Marching In: The World Champion New Orleans Saints, with the goal of having the book on store shelves by this coming weekend.

Initial press run, according to PW, was 30,000, but they’re going back to press on Thursday to print 15,000 more.

The other deets? 128 pages, paperback, full color, lots of purty pictures. Get you some here.