A slam-dunk for New Orleans

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

In the past week, there have been some not-so-flattering reports about Louisiana and New Orleans that I’ve blogged about.

I’m referring to a report that put Louisiana second-to-last on a list of states ranked for attracting and retaining businesses that contribute to economic growth and another report that ranked New Orleans among the worst American cities for commercial and multifamily investment in 2009.

But it’s not all bad news for New Orleans and the state.

This week, it was announced that the Louisiana Superdome will host the 2012 men’s basketball Final Four tournament for the fifth time. The Crescent City was one of five cities chosen as locales for the event from 2012-16. The tournament will surely pump some tourism dollars into the New Orleans area’s economy.

“There are significant improvements to the Superdome,” NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee Chairman Mike Slive said in a story by The Associated Press. “And there is strong leadership in the community. Besides that, New Orleans has a proven track record and is a fan favorite.”

Of course, no matter how good news is, some commenter on nola.com is always ready to say something vicious, and they did not disappoint this time.

“I’d rather see Marc Morial and Ray Nagin indicted and then The Iberville torn down and sold off,” someone named 34zip wrote Wednesday.

“Crime is up, up and steadily going up in New Orleans. Corruption is rising, rising, and increasingly on the rise. And all we get from our illustrious leaders is nothing but talk, talk, and more talk. And that is all they are good at is meaningless babble,” someone named pivo00 wrote.

“Will any Final 4 make a difference to the economy of New Orleans?” asked AhContraire. “Well if any of them ever did, why is crime up? Tourism, sports, Super Bowls, Final 4’s, Festivals have produced one thing: Last place finish in everything New Orleans that matters. No one lives in New Orleans except the criminals and corrupt officials.”

But there were plenty of happy nola.com readers, too.

“Awesome news for a deserving city. Hey, they can’t all be in Detroit, right?” wrote someone named aglock.

“No one does it better than New Orleans !!!! Congrats city of New Orleans,” wrote someone named nomopono.•