Monica Maxwell has family in Louisiana, living on the northeast side of the state.

She spent four years of college in Louisiana, just long enough to keep the smell of the Bayou in her nose.

But don't mistake her allegiances.

"I'm a Colts fan, let's start there," said Maxwell, the acting athletic director at E.C. Central.

Maxwell, who still has friends in the Ruston, La., area, where she went to school and played basketball at Louisiana Tech, added that since the New Orleans Saints won the NFC Championship in overtime, the phone and e-mail battles have begun.

"It's a war of words right now," said Maxwell, a 1999 Louisiana Tech graduate. "When I (write) or say anything about it, it's always 'The Saints are going down.' It's all in good fun."

During the NFC title game, despite her ties to Louisiana and the knowledge of what a trip to the Super Bowl would mean to the state that is home to some of her own relatives, Maxwell was cheering for the Minnesota Vikings.

"I've never rooted for the Vikings in my entire life, but last Sunday, I was Vikings the whole way," she said. "I'm a little afraid of the Saints' high-flying offense. The only thing I can find a little solace in there is that the Colts can score just as well as the Saints."

But the impact the Saints could have on the Pelican State if they win the Lombardi Trophy isn't lost on Maxwell. A state that has survived destruction, poverty and heartache for the last half century, knew only the same from its own football team.

Until recently.

"When I went to school down there, the Saints were the doormat of the league," she said. "I've never been a Saints fan, but with that being the only professional team in the state at the time -- before the NBA team got back there -- it meant a lot to the state. Everybody was constantly pulling for them, and they were constantly losing.

"I'm a Cubs fan, I knew what it was like."

She also hopes the Saints fans learn the same heartache that Cubs fans have been enduring for a century now.

Somehow, the rest of the country hopped on board the New Orleans bus this year. Suddenly dubbed as "America's Team," the Saints seem to represent the chance to rise from nothing to become something bigger. The Fleur de lis logo that has been a part of the Saints uniform since they started as an expansion team in 1967, was also a symbol of support for recovery after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.

But Maxwell has a point. Didn't the Dallas Cowboys used to be "America's Team?" Then it was the New England Patriots, and now the Saints?

"We can't have a bunch of 'America's Teams,'" Maxwell said.

No matter what the Saints represent to those who have hopped onto the "Who Dat" bandwagon and decided to claim allegiance to the Fleur de lis, a win for the Saints only means a loss to Maxwell and Colts fans everywhere.

"I may have to turn my phone off if the Colts lose," she said.

This column solely represents the writer's opinion. Reach her at hillary.smith@nwi.com.

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