At Super Bowl, Saints prayers answered

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A citywide party erupted in New Orleans after the city's once woebegone NFL franchise, the Saints, won the Super Bowl in Miami.

French Quarter crowds, beefed up by tourists in town for Carnival season and by those wanting to experience the euphoria of a Saints victory, spilled into the streets to celebrate in a scene that looked more like Fat Tuesday than a Sunday night.

It was a similar scene along a row of neighborhood bars and restaurants on Maple Street, not far from Tulane and Loyola universities, where college students and area residents, most clad in black and gold, hit the street screaming and cheering.