Tag: new orleans

Community Events, Cultural Events, Entertainment, Events, Fashion

National Underwear Parade a fleshy first for Mid-City

Boxers, briefs, brassieres and bikinis saw the light of day Sunday (Aug. 5) during the National Underwear Day parade that promenaded around Bayou St. John in Mid-City from Toulouse Street to Esplanade Avenue and back.

The indiscreet procession was organized by Ryan Ballard, the founder of the Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus Mardi Gras parading group, which may explain the Star Wars Stormtroopers who strode amidst the Victoria’s Secret shoppers Sunday.

Underwear Day is a celebration cooked up by the underwear industry 15 years ago to lend its little-seen products some extra exposure. But Ballard said, from his point of view, the New Orleans Underwear Day parade is merely meant to present the public with a splash of fleshy fun in the heat of August. Plus, paraders donated fresh packs of underwear to the homeless.

The National Underwear Parade 2018 in New Orleans

Ballard’s first National Underwear parade in 2016 took place in the Bywater. Back then, Ballard hoped to set a Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of underwear wearers, but he was foiled by the fact that so many paraders added costume accoutrement to their skivvies that the Guinness judges disqualified the event. Such is the nature of parading in the Crescent City, of course, where costuming just comes naturally. Having learned his lesson, Ballard did not attempt to break any records in 2018.

NFL

Super Bowl XLVII Niners vs. Ravens

superbowl-blogIn one of the strangest Super Bowls in memory, the Ravens dominated the first half, were badly outplayed in the second half, and yet managed to survive for a win, the second championship in franchise history.

Everything was going Baltimore’s way when a power outage delayed the game for 35 minutes, leaving players, fans and the news media confused. When play resumed, the 49ers seemed like an entirely different team and pushed the Ravens to the brink of a collapse. But Joe Flacco and the Ravens’ offense settled down and maintained control.

Coach John Harbaugh of the Ravens proved to be a brilliant strategist, with an intentional safety on the team’s final possession all but guaranteeing the team’s victory. He made bold calls all game, making his younger brother Jim seem meek by comparison.

“You know what the turning point of the game was?” John Harbaugh said. “When we covered the kick on the last play.”

The 49ers’ rookie quarterback Colin Kaepernick lived up to his hype after a bad first half. Flacco was the game’s most valuable player, and deservedly so, but Kaepernick cemented his status as one of the game’s rising stars.

For Ray Lewis, the victory meant he got to go out on top. The linebacker has insisted he will not return regardless of the result, and if this was his last game, he went out a winner, even if it was in more of a supporting role than he may have imagined.

The tendency among Super Bowl champions is for everyone on the team to suddenly believe they are worth a great deal more money. For Baltimore, already over the salary cap for next season before resigning Flacco, that could be a problem. But that is a problem for tomorrow.

In a wild season, the Ravens defied all expectations and won a Super Bowl despite being the underdog in nearly every playoff game they played. A truly remarkable run.