Last weekend the NBA All-Star game was held in New Orleans. It’s been a while since the national spotlight shined on New Orleans. Heck, it has been too long since I’ve been there myself. No matter where I may live, New Orleans will always be home. I missed the festivities last weekend, so I was interested in checking out the “media reaction” to the weekend and the City’s progress.
First up, here’s the local flavor, courtesy of Chris Rose of the New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Maybe some folks are getting tired of the New Orleans self-love thing. Maybe some folks feel like they’re going to scream if they hear one more time how much more interesting this place is than anywhere else in America. I’m not one of those people. And I don’t think anyone at the New Orleans Arena Sunday night was either…But they love it [New Orleans culture] all the same. They love us. Almost as much as we love us. And they’ll all be back, everyone of them, whoever “they” are. Because they have danced at the center of the universe.
Yeah you right! - as we say in NOLA. Sure. He’s biased. Here’s Bill Simmons from ESPN:
They were happy to have us and we were happy to be there, and that’s what life is really about. Did the weekend accomplish anything other than painting a few schools, planting a few gardens, raising some much-needed money and making the city feel good for a few days? I say yes. Everyone who traveled here for All-Star Weekend will think about returning someday, not because they feel bad, but because it’s New Orleans and it’s ready for us again. Skip your next Vegas trip and convince your friends to spend a wild weekend in the French Quarter. Don’t do it for charity, do it because it will be fun. And it will.
Start making your Jazz Fest plans now.