NEW ORLEANS - People lined up by the hundreds to buy yesterday’s Times-Picayune, which hollered “AMEN!” from its front page. The Saints’ Super Bowl victory was a prayer answered in this struggling city, and New Orleans itself seemed different for it.

Swarms of fans in black and gold greeted the players as they stepped off a chartered plane at the suburban airport, cheering them with “Who Dat!” chants. The Saints, cellar dwellers for decades, delivered not just their first Lombardi trophy, but optimism for their city, a new sense that the unimaginable - better schools, less crime and even honest politicians - really is possible.