Super Bowl Or Mardi Gras: Which Fans Are Worse For New Orleans?
COMMENTARY | Super Bowl or Mardi Gras: Which fans are worse for New Orleans?
With one major tourist trap just wrapped up and another one rising from the fresh wreckage, New Orleans residents had to put up with two waves of drunken revelry. According to The Atlantic Cities, the screaming masses of the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras might appear to be the same, but there are qualities among the groups that make them individually more annoying.
So which fan is worse for the average New Orleans citizen? Mardi Gras carnival revelers or Super Bowl fanatics?
New Orleans veterans might enjoy Mardi Gras the old-fashioned way, going to parties and seeing some live, local music at a club. Visitors who travel to New Orlenas every year for Mardi Gras are more likely to head to the French Quarter, slam down drinks served in grenades, and spend a drunken night tossing beads at the ladies in hopes of getting some topless action. And the next day, the Central Bank of New Orleans will exchange real money for beads.
Super Bowl fans, on the other hand, usually could care less about New Orleans. They’re showing up to drunkenly root for their team and then shove said team’s victory in the opposing fans’ faces.
Money-wise, it’s no contest. The Super Bowl brings fans around who wouldn’t normally be there, pouring money into concession stand snacks and beer, and team props such as the ever-popular foam hand.
According to USA Today, Bar manager Daniel Cain said:
“It’s going to have a lasting impact. The Super Bowl is going to show what New Orleans is all about.”
Then there are the costumes. Super Bowl fans are likely to dress a little outlandish, such as in face-paint and team color spectacle and whatnot, but it’s usually based on the team you’re rooting for. Mardi Gras brings costumes that resemble comic book convention cosplaying, only drunk and with barely a purpose. At the tamest, it’s the traditional jester-style hat.
So who wins this round for the rowdiest crowd in New Orleans in 2013? The Super Bowl fans, or the Mardi Gras revelers?
I can’t make it to New Orleans today, so I’ll be here throwing beads at the phone while yelling “show me your tweets!”Happy Mardi Gras!
— Cajun Koopa (@CajunKoopa) February 12, 2013
