After the New Orleans Saints’ season-ending game on Jan. 7, I gave up the season tickets my family has had since the Saints were founded — 57 years of games, the last 49 of them at the Superdome’s 50-yard-line.
The ticket abandonment isn’t due to finances or to fading loyalty to the Saints (I remain obsessed with their fortunes) or to health or to the time commitment required. Instead, the culprit is a societywide problem that has become unbearable: constant artificial sensory overstimulation. Fans can’t converse with each other without yelling and can’t avoid hours of leftover ear-ringing after the game unless they wear earplugs (which makes it even more difficult to converse). Almost every single minute for more than four hours (including pregame) features bombardments of piped-in sound and flashing lights.
