Back and Better Than Ever???

I'm watching Monday Night Football. It's the fourth quarter, and New Orleans is enjoying a comfortable as well as surprising lead over Atlanta.

I'm really glad this game will be over soon. The hype and the self-congratulations have been just plain tiresome.

I know, I'm such a grumperina.

I'm glad that the Superdome has been repaired from all the Katrina hell, and that the citizens of New Orleans get to take a small break from their troubles to enjoy some football. I'm totally down with the respite that sports can give one from the mad, mad, mad, mad, mad world.

What I'm not down with is when people say, "New Orleans is back."

No it's not!

Yes, the French Quarter may be up and the Superdome looks good, but let's not forget the the lower ninth ward is still in ruins. It been over a year since the storm, and debris still hasn't been cleared, and until fairly recently, dead bodies were still being found.

Also remember the many who are far from home and still cannot return.

I hear the sportscasters encouraging people to come to New Orleans and spend money. "They city needs money to rebuild," they plea.

I wonder just how much of that money will go to clean up and rebuild the ninth ward and let those who are displaced return.

Of course, I also wonder, what did the city do to help the poor with all that tourism money before Katrina hit?

Maybe, in that sense, New Orleans is back.