On the drive back Sunday morning from Meridian, Mississippi, a reporter wondered. What is the definition of surreal? Because, that is what happened on a Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

It was a sure sign that Tulane University is in the midst of football ascension. There was a line to get into Yulman Stadium for last Saturday’s game against Tulsa. A lengthy line. That was a tangible sign of progress. Thousands of fans were clad in green. Tulane was proudly displayed on their shirts and sweaters. Being a Tulane football fan was cool, again. It was great to see.

If not now, when? That’s what LSU fans should be asking as next Saturday’s game at Alabama approaches. There’s no better time, to end a losing streak against the Tide that runs all the way back to January 2012 in the Superdome.

As Sean Payton is showered with praise over the Saints’ 6-1 start, here’s a question: Is Payton that much different as a head coach than he was when the Saints went 7-9 for three consecutive seasons?

He was happy as the head coach at Scotlandville High School. His team had won 10 games only to lose 42-41 to Mandeville in a regional round 5A playoff classic. Then, Robert Valdez’s youngest daughter, Raina, now 16, spoke up.

I may be hallucinating. However, sometime soon, my guess is Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson will be in charge of another New Orleans franchise. If the state of Louisiana and the Southern League get it right, they’ll entice Mrs. Benson to bring minor league baseball back.

It was a tangible sign of progress, if there ever was one. A long-time Tulane football fan, one who said he would no longer go to home games because of his mounting frustration, approached a reporter at a high school football game. He had his Tulane football polo on and promptly proclaimed the following: “Roll Wave!”

It was a moment dripping with irony: On the day that news leaked that Sean Payton had agreed to a five-year contract extension, the Saints head coach got an unexpected look at the future beyond Drew Brees.

Sean Payton is big on themes, and moments after the Saints’ last preseason game, he was quick to turn the page, and so were his players. “Coach mentioned that the last five years, we haven’t won the opening game,” said quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. “We are going to see what we can do to  change that.”

In mid-April, at a high school baseball game at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium, a baseball coach told a reporter his team was this good.

If you are wondering why Taysom Hill – instead of Teddy Bridgewater – is not the backup to Drew Brees, here’s some perspective. Three hours before the Saints kicked off against the Chargers in California, Father Mike Kettenring at St. Philip Neri Church in Metairie summed up the preseason in most appropriate fashion. Father Mike usually ends his Mass with a cheer of “Go, Saints!”

It is there on YouTube for all to see: Former Saints head coach Jim Mora and former New Orleans TV sports director Ron Swoboda debating the idea of a meaningless game.

It was the kick start to a 10-win LSU football season last year: A 33-17 win over Miami in Arlington, Texas, had the Tigers’ arrow pointed up as the Hurricanes were diminished to the pigskin version of a tropical wave.

It was an interesting re-do. If there is such a thing. The website bleacherreport.com did the 2017 NFL Draft over. In the first round of the re-worked draft, the Saints had three of the top nine selections.

As a couple, they went to Disney World 18 times from 2012 to 2018. But, since Rick Gaille passed on July 1 of last year, his wife Elaine has not been back.

Growing up, I must have been one of the few kids in Jefferson Parish who had never heard of Ray Berni. But, as this former playground basketball coach at Bright Gym in Metairie grew gravely ill and then passed, it was stunning to see the out pouring of love and respect on social media.

This was not the first press conference that reporters attended where they knew the answers before the questions were asked. And, so it was on a Tuesday at the SEC meetings in Sandestin, Florida, LSU men’s basketball coach Will Wade was to make his first public comments since he was suspended and reinstated by the university after a report of an FBI wiretap. You know, the one detailing Wade making “a strong offer” to a recruit, believed to be freshman guard Javonte Smart.

The reporting began moments after the Pelicans won the NBA draft lottery. Zion Williamson, college basketball’s player of the year and the presumed first pick, was allegedly unhappy about the result. On Twitter, an ESPN reporter wrote that Zion quickly was whisked out of the room after the Pelicans won the lottery.

Those frequent May showers have come with a little extra lagniappe for LSU baseball fans. That is, clouds of discontent. After getting routed twice at Oregon State in the regional round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago, baseball fortunes were supposed to take a turn for the better.