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The Sugar Bowl
A Party Guide to Two Games in Host City New Orleans
LSU fans celebrate
winning the the national title in New Orleans.
• New
Year's Eve in New Orleans
Every major event or championship in
every sport should be held every year in New Orleans.
College football's national title game, the Super Bowl, the Final Four,
the NBA All-Star Game, you name it. This year's location for the BCS
national championship between LSU and Ohio State will treat the fans
right.
No other city in America – or the world, for that matter –
is so perfectly suited to host these events. Sure, there are the facilities
– the Superdome, the new New Orleans Arena – but beyond the
places to play there's THE place to play: Bourbon Street. And the French
Quarter.
No other place can provide this level of entertainment with such ease.
It's so natural here, it just happens. The city is set up to celebrate
like Emril's is for dinner. Here's some prime examples:
 •
There's Great Buildup to the Games and the Ideal Place to Celebrate
Afterward. Bourbon Street and the French Quarter provide a great
warmup to the events 2-3 days beforehand. And after the games, there's
no place like Bourbon Street to celebrate – or drown one's sorrow's.
And here, the sorrows won't last long.
• Bourbon Street and The French Quarter. Small enough to
walk end-to-end in 15 minutes, Vieux Carre' (Old Square or Old
Quarter) is packed with restaurants, quaint bars, New Orleans-style
souvenir shops (featuring all types of beads, feathered boas and hilarious
t-shirts mostly concerned with sex or drinking) and of course Bourbon
Street with its numbing number of small and busy bars.
• No Car is Needed. The Quarter is so easy – and safe
– to walk that not even cabs are necessary.
• The Weather is Quite Agreeable. It's reasonable to expect
clear and sunny skies with temperatures in the 50s-70s for days on end.
Even in winter.
• It's Casual. Jeans, t-shirts or shorts are acceptable
anywhere. Unlike Vegas and some other places, this is comfortable
partying.
• To-Go Cups. Wandering down the street with an open drink
is no problem. Restaurants, bars, counters, even jockeybox stands in
small alleys that sell drinks to go. When leaving a bar or restaurant,
just put the drink in the plastic "to-go" cup and walk out
the door. Heck, they even let you go INSIDE bars with drinks in hand.
• There's No Last Call. Some bands don't take the stage
until 3 a.m. The bars close when the people leave. After all, the city's
theme is Laisssez le bons temps rouler – Let the good
times roll!
But the main reason New Orleans should host every major sporting championship
ever year is because it CAN. By this we mean it is so used to celebrations
that title games are no big deal. All the people are polite, the workers
are cordial and even encouraging, the cops know how to deal with it
and the politicians are partying too. After all, this is just child's
play compared to the city's really big party – Mardi Gras.
This year's game features Alabama against Utah. It's an interesting matchup and not because of the teams on the field. Alabama fans LOVE New Orleans and Bourbon Street. Utahians may just find it frightening.
Related article: Bama Fans Sugar Bowl Guide,
Locals New Orleans Tips: Walk on the sidewalk to best
avoid betting constantly bumped into by stumbling revelers on Rue Bourbon....It's
quite acceptable to walk out of bars with full drinks in New Orleans.
Just be sure and pour it in a plastic "to go" cup. ...With
all this great food, restaurants close between 10:30 and 11, so eating
late is a definite problem. Go for it early....Wear white when eating
beignets at Cafe du Monde (the powdered sugar really shows up on dark
clothes)...If you ever get in trouble in New Orleans, remember these
key words: "Yes Sir. No Sir. Thank You Sir."
Scenes from 2004
of LSU fans at a sports bar across from the Superdome.
LSU fans rallied
at the '04 pep rally, which frankly, was a bit lame.
PubClubber
Angie gets in the Nawlens spirit(s).
More babes on Bourbon
Street.
2008 Sugar
Bowl
Georgia 41, Hawaii 10
The game highlight
for Hawaii – running onto the field to start the Sugar Bowl.
Well, they tried.
The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors came to New Orealns wiht hiigh hopes and
a12-0 record only to be thumped in the Superdome by a bigger, faster
and better Georgi team.
But give the Hawaii fans credit. About2 0,000 made the 4,000-mile journey
from the islands and, despite the thumping, did not leave the stadium
until the game ended. They partied at Johnny White's, a two-level
bar at the end of Bourbon Street owned by one of their own, Lynn, a
Hawaii native. Among those frequenting Johnny White's was PubClub's
own Hawaii alum, Luau
Larry, who has been researching information for a Hawaii
Goes to the Sugar Bowl story.
Georgia fnas, on the other hand, were outnumbed by LSU fans on Bourbon
Street until game day.
At night, the Dawgs definitely had their night on Bourbon Street.
Johnny White's on
Bourbon was Hawaii Headquarters.
Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann parties with PubClub and fans at Johnny
White's.
PubClub correspondent Luau Larry doing research with Lynn of Johnny
White's.
On the balcony at
Bourbon Street.
And oh yeah, it's New
Year's Eve in New Orleans. For starters, there was 3-for-1
drinks (5-9 p.m.). Fireworks from across the Mississippi River from
from Jackson Square, then back to the bars
of Bourbon Street.
New Orleans is more crowded than even on NYE. It's Decatur Street and
the French Market area by day – Margaritaville is most popular
– and Rue Bourbon by night. There's even short lines at some
of the bars and most are not allowing drinks to be taken in from the
street – both rare occasions in this town. One place, Razzo, even
has a $5 cover charge.
 Take
a Tour of Bourbon Street!
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