The New Orleans Saints hadn't played a game in Southern California in 12 years, when Drew Brees led the San Diego Chargers to a 43-17 beating over Aaron Brooks and his infamous backwards passing ability. As a lifelong Saints fan and a Los Angeles resident since high school, I waited a very long time to attend my first Saints game... and it was worth the wait.
The first thing to notice was the number of Saints fans in town for the game. This wasn't necessarily surprising considering the large number of New Orleans transplants living in SoCal, like my own family, but it was welcoming to see the number of people I encountered and engaged with that came from New Orleans to see the Saints on the road.