Back in New Orleans, in Bourbon Street, Jackson Square and the French Quarter, in neighbourhoods that were until recently scenes of dereliction, the city erupted in one giant party that lasted till dawn and set the scene for the ultimate Mardi Gras celebrations over the coming week.
People poured on to the streets in the team’s black and gold colours, dancing, hugging and weeping. “Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?” they chanted. Jazz bands let rip. Bars blasted out When the Saints Go Marching in. Fireworks exploded.
Police officers gave up the pretence of staying aloof and joined the pulsating throngs. Strippers stopped dancing. Priests and nuns joined the uproar. The city’s newspaper, The Times-Picayune, printed nearly 200,000 extra copies of an edition that is certain to become a collector’s item. Even dogs were dressed in Saints shirts, and Mitch Landrieu’s election on Saturday as New Orleans’ first white mayor in three decades was overshadowed.

See the full article from “Times Online”

Las Vegas has the gambling dens and bright lights but when America wants to party hard, when the people want to let their hair down and not give two hoots how it looks, they head for the Crescent City.
The Big Easy has long had a reputation as a modern-day Sodom, a place where anything goes, where you can drink all day and all night, and where you are viewed a little strangely if you don’t.
It is a city of strip clubs and street hustlers, home of Mardi Gras and a place where, in the middle of the afternoon, women rip off tops and bras, and let it all hang out on Bourbon Street for no more reward than a baying crowd and a few necklaces of festival beads.

See the full article from “Mirror.co.uk (blog)”

LOUISIANA: Ecstatic fans poured into
the streets of the French Quarter late on Sunday as storm-scarred New Orleans
celebrated its first-ever Super Bowl win by their beloved Saints.
A
city famous for diversions – Mardi Gras, music and colourful politics, to name a
few – set aside distractions to focus on the big game. Even the strippers on
bawdy Bourbon Street stopped dancing. Instead, they joined thousands of
revellers cheering the Saints on live television sets at nearby bars.
“We have no music, no stages. It’s the first time I’ve seen a club
shut down and I’ve been doing this for five years,” said Sam Stonebraker, 34, a
host at Rick’s Cabaret. “The game is pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime event in
this city.” White fireworks burst in the distance. Strangers hugged, whooped and
hollered in the streets, waving flags, shaking cowbells and dancing to
spontaneous brass bands. College students embraced restaurant waiters. A
homeless man toasted beers with well-dressed tourists. Cameras flashed.
Motorists honked horns with a cheerful cadence usually heard only at Carnival.

See the full article from “Times of India”

1:00pm Central time, February 7, 2010 – CBS’s pregame for Super Bowl XLIV begins, brought to you by chips, beer, Bourbon Street, and Dwight Freeney’s ankle.
3:45pm – Katie Couric interviews President Barack Obama on the Super Bowl. Next, Keyshawn Johnson and Cris Carter debate health care.
5:00pm – Rihanna and Jay-Z open the kickoff show on CBS, brought to you by Hyundai, who proudly announce they are not Toyota.
5:12pm – Solomon Wilcots reports from the Saints sideline, wearing a pink tablecloth and a pink-yet-still-horribly-mismatching tie. HD TV was made for moments like this.
5:20pm – Carrie Underwood performs the National Anthem, clad in white stripper heels and an outfit that can only be described as “Naughty Ice Cream Truck Driver.”
5:21pm – The camera pans the players. Nice of Jeremy Shockey to wash his hair for the occasion. He looks like Kid Rock’s big brother.

See the full article from “Examiner.com”

… Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints! Who dat? Who Dat!,” a crowd in a French Quarter restaurant chanted, after the team scored their first touchdown.
A city famous for diversions – Mardi Gras, music and colourful politics, to name – set aside distractions to focus on the big game.
Even the strippers on bawdy Bourbon Street stopped dancing. Instead, thousands of revelers cheered the Saints on live television sets at nearby bars.
“We have no music, no stages. It’s the first time I’ve seen a club shut down and I’ve been doing this for five years,” said Sam Stonebraker, 34, a host at Rick’s Cabaret, a gentleman’s club. “The game is pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime event in this city.”
On a typical night, the club has 40 “entertainers” dancing on stage – not tonight.
A few doors down, the Temptations strip club was also upstaged by the Saints Super Bowl.

See the full article from “Sydney Morning Herald”

… The No. 1 body part discussed all week was the ankle injury to Colts superstar defensive end Dwight Freeney. Never has an injury to a non-QB been covered so closely and in such great depth. Obviously this guy is a great, great player. All indications are that he will try to play, but will be very limited. He is clearly the third-best player on the field behind Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. It is a shame he is hobbling because he is a difference maker.
•Boisterous and outspoken New York Jets coach Rex Ryan’s middle finger got him in hot water this week. He was attending a mixed martial arts fight while in Miami and apparently some drunk Dolphins fan would not stop harassing the very confident Ryan. Rex responded by flipping the moron the bird. I only have two comments on the matter that cost Ryan a $50,000 fine by the Jets.
No. 1: When you are in Miami, why would you go to some stupid MMA fight? Were all the strip clubs and martini bars closed?

See the full article from “San Francisco Examiner”

Aymond: Boring week will finish with huge bang in Miami
Brady Aymond baymond@theadvertiser.com
February 7, 2010
FT LAUDERDALE, Fla. Super Bowl XLIV shouldn’t have a hard time matching the week-long hype.
With the exception of New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ “remember-me” shots comment aimed at Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, the week leading up to tonight’s big showdown has been pretty tame.
There’s been no reports of curfews missed.
There’s been no players getting arrested at strip clubs.
There’s been no word of brawls breaking out at Super Bowl parties in South Beach.
As a reporter for a Thailand newspaper put it on Thursday, “This has been a pretty boring Super Bowl week.”
The story lines are quite compelling.
Drew Brees vs. Peyton Manning; No. 1 vs. No. 1; Archie’s team vs. Archie’s son.

See the full article from “The Daily Advertiser”

Hal Hebert has always insisted he didn’t kill his wife.​Seven years ago, after an emotional murder trial that was rich in incriminating circumstantial evidence but short on motive, a Denver jury found Hal Hebert guilty of shooting his wife Carol in 2001 in their Belcaro home. A key witness for the prosecution was an oddball named Richard White, who testified that he sold a gun to a friend of Hebert’s — a gun that Hebert allegedly acquired six weeks before the murder.
The murder weapon was never found. But a few weeks after Hebert’s trial, White was arrested and charged with homicide in Arapahoe County. White soon began telling investigators about five women he’d sexually assaulted and killed, including three prostitutes he’d picked up on Colfax. Two bodies were exhumed from his back yard in Park Hill, another from a grave in southern Colorado.

See the full article from “Westword (blog)”

Defendant, Stacey Denise Johnson, appeals from her conviction, after a jury trial, of felony controlled substance possession (Health & Saf. Code, § 11350, subd. (a)) (count 1) and misdemeanor loitering to commit prostitution (Pen. Code, § 653.22, subd. (a)) (count 2). Defendant admitted she had previously been convicted of a serious and violent felony within the meaning of Penal Code sections 667, subdivisions (b) through (i) and 1170.12. Defendant’s motion to dismiss her prior felony conviction was denied. (Pen. Code, § 1385, subd. (a); People v. Superior Court (Romero) (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497.) She was sentenced to four years in state prison on count 1 (the mid-term of two years doubled pursuant to Penal Code sections 667, subdivisions (b) through (i) and 1170.12) and six months concurrent on count 2. Defendant was ordered to pay: a $200 restitution fine (Pen. Code, § 1202.4, subd. (b)); a $200 parole revocation restitution fine (Pen. Code, § 1202.45); and, with respect to count 1, a $50 criminal laboratory analysis …

See the full article from “Leagle.com”

Crowley’s secret second life is emerging as his calculated new life, complete with a condominium, investments, three bank accounts and routes to prostitutes in Thailand. His wife Kathleen believed he made trips to Thailand on business.
Stilson said the investigation is peeling back layers that present a greater flight risk.
“We have new information that the amount was much greater than estimates, more than $1 million” Stilson told Judge Corinne L. Klatt. “He has very close ties to Thailand.”
…
Police say Crowley typically spent $300 for a rendezvous with a prostitute at a company owned condominium intended for visits by business clients and representatives from factories owned in Thailand and Germany. He was charged in December with patronizing a prostitute, a charge which has been combined with his larceny charges and transferred to Litchfield Superior Court for Feb. 23.

See the full article from “Waterbury Republican American”