A man in a dress parades past the Louisiana Superdome to celebrate the New Orleans Saints’ upcoming Super Bowl appearance. Today’s parade was held in honor of the late New Orleans sports broadcaster Bernard “Buddy D.” Diliberto, who promised his audience that he would wear a dress and parade down Bourbon Street if the Saints ever reached the Super Bowl.

Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert parades today in a black-and-gold dress and blond wig to celebrate the Saints’ upcoming Super Bowl appearance.

A parade participant gets into the action

Never has so much fishnet, feathers, beads and bangles done so little for so many.

Thousands of men, decked out in everything from flowing gowns to tiny miniskirts, paraded through the streets of New Orleans today to show their love for the New Orleans Saints and their happiness about the team’s first trip to the Super Bowl.

“I just wish my father and ‘Buddy D’ were alive to see this day,” said George Butler, 63, as he dabbed at his eyes with his black and gold feather boa. “I know they’re the happiest “Who Dats” in heaven.”

The parade, organized by former Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert, was billed as a celebration of the NFL’s hard luck team going to the Super Bowl, and an homage to former sportscaster Buddy Diliberto, who had vowed to parade through the French Quarter in a dress if the Saints ever made it to the big game.

In a town where people grew up, grew old, and died waiting for just a winning season, no chance to celebrate the greatest one in the 43-year-history of the team would be missed.

Now the Saints are scheduled to play the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl on Feb. 7.

“This is the best of all worlds,” said Tommy Cooper, resplendent in a full-length black beaded sheath, black and gold boa and hair, and a gold mask. “It’s the Saints and Mardi Gras rolled into one. God bless New Orleans.”

Although there was no official estimate of the crowd size, one police officer on hand said, “several thousand of the city’s finest,” were there.

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When Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu made his belated entry into the New Orleans mayoral race eight weeks ago, he was immediately labeled the candidate to beat. Four years removed from his last failed bid for the city’s highest office, the state’s No. 2 official seemed to have a spot in the runoff all but locked up. 

If recent polls are accurate, Landrieu’s status as frontrunner remains intact as Saturday’s primary nears.

Based on voter surveys, the big question heading into the campaign’s final days is who will face off against Landrieu in the March 6 runoff: management consultant and first-time candidate Troy Henry or millionaire businessmanJohn Georges, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2007.

Some pundits even have suggested Landrieu could win outright in the primary, a rare feat when an open seat is up for grabs.

The other three major candidates — fair-housing activist James Perry, attorney Rob Couhig and former Civil Court Judge Nadine Ramsey — continue to wage spirited campaigns, but political observers say the candidates’ meager war chests will make it difficult to mount media efforts aggressive enough to wrest attention from the Saints first-ever Super Bowlappearance on the day after the election.

With upcoming Carnival parades also sure to distract voters, election officials and the campaigns put on a full-court press last week to encourage voters to cast ballots during a weeklong early-voting period. When early voting closed Saturday, more than 12,500 voters had submitted ballots, which also included races for seven City Council posts and the first-ever single assessor and single sheriff. That compares with only about 2,000 ballots cast before election day in each of the last two races for an open mayoral seat.

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