Buddy D Parade

.For generations no one would ever expect (or even believe) the Saints could not only go to the Superbowl but also win. It was so certain the team would live in failure forever that Buddy Diliberto once proclaimed that if they went to the Bowl he’d walk down Canal in a dress.
We all know what happened in the 2009 season. What some people don’t know is what happened in late January of 2010. In honor of the long passed Buddy D hundreds of men in the worst dresses since the Red Dress Run marched down the street proclaiming their pride in their team.
Words can’t really describe the site or the energy there. To have a lifetime of being a Saints fan, even when they were among the worst in the NFL, be redeemed with a World Championship (eventually).
This is New Orleans culture at it’s purest form.

I’m breaking my own Unilocal rules by reviewing something that happened years ago. But really the Buddy D Parade was a once in a lifetime event and deserves to be commemorated.
This one time only parade doesn’t really have an official name. It occurred 4 years ago on January 31, 2010 when the city knew the Saints were going to the Superbowl.
Buddy Diliberto had been a local sports reporter who died before seeing the Saints triumphant. Back in the days of the ‘Aints, he said that if the Saints ever made the Superbowl he walked down Canal Street in a dress. So naturally thousands of men, marched from the Superdome and through the city to the French Quarter in a wide assortment of ill fitting dresses. There were bands, the first appearance of the 610 Stompers, and entire families cross dressed (with Mom & daughter dressed as football players and Dad & son dressed as cheerleaders).
I was lucky enough to have attend this event. in the pre-​press, it seemed like it was going to be really small. But my Mom grew up with Buddy and she really wanted to go so convinced me to bring her. And I am so grateful. It was an outpouring of joy and ridiculousness that was the 1^st step in the amazing time that was our (the entire city not just the Saints) Superbowl runup.
Yeah, I went to the official parade Saints Superbowl Parade that happened a couple of days later, but really this one was the business.