The Sugar Bowl had been played in New Orleans' Superdome every year since 1975, but Hurricane Katrina forced the game to be moved to Atlanta's Georgia Dome. This year, the Saints are back in the Big Easy and so is one of the oldest of all the college football bowl games.

On Tuesday, we spent the afternoon in New Orleans and visited the temporary offices of the Sugar Bowl executives. It was a small and very friendly office on the fifth floor. The view was great, and so were the people. First, we met Communications Director Greg Blackwell, who gave us the grand tour and introduced us to four female co-workers who were enjoying their lunch. They were enjoying it in front of a television, watching "The Bold and the Beautiful."

And that's when we momentarily lost Emily. She got sucked into the soap opera madness.

"Greg's really dying that he's not in here," one of the ladies said. "He'll be online getting the updates later."

By the way I hear our producer Glenn is more of a "Days of Our Lives" guy. But anyway...

Our next stop was the Conference Room, decorated with the Manning Award (given after the bowl games to the nation's top quarterback) and this year's Sugar Bowl trophy. Here we spoke to Paul Hoolahan, the Sugar Bowl CEO. Hoolahan told us about the challenges he faced last year when Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Superdome and forced the Sugar Bowl's relocation. The computer operations were damaged, the offices were looted, and priceless memorabilia had to be safeguarded. That wasn't the biggest challenge though. Communication with staff members was practically nonexistent.

"The biggest thing was trying to find out where the staff was lcoated," he explained.

Well eventually the crew reorganized and relocated to Atlanta in mid-October. After ruling out Tiger Stadium at LSU as a destination for the Bowl game, Hoolahan settled on Atlanta. After all, Atlanta was already the site of the SEC championship game, so it seemed like a logical destination. Hoolahan called the Georgia Dome, "a venue that was fully aware of the importance of the game."

Now, though, the game is back in New Orleans, and make no mistake, this game is extremley significant to this city. "We like to think that it's a very important part of the economic engine," Hoolahan said.

Sure money is important, but that's not the only reason the Sugar Bowl means so much to New Orleans. You could see when the Saints played the Falcons last Monday how much this city loves football. When the Sugar Bowl had to be played elsewhere, "it was not only upsetting for us, it was upsetting for the great people of the state of Louisiana," Hoolahan said. "The game is synonymous with New Orleans and with Louisiana."

The Sugar Bowl's ties with the SEC have brought a passion and excitement to the annual event that is hard to match. We asked Hoolahan about the SEC fans and what they bring to the table. He gushed.

"It truly is a religion. The people live football with a fervor that is hard-pressed to find, I think, in any other conference in the country."

Having an SEC team locked into the Sugar Bowl (unless national championship implications interfere) ensures a passionate crowd. "It guarantees us a super-charged atmosphere," he said.

A little less than a year ago, the Sugar Bowl staff was living out of hotels. They were away from their families and working hard to secure the tradition of a bowl game that began in 1935 and has often featured the SEC champion. Now the game has been brought back to a renovated Superdome. Eventaully, Hoolahan and his staff will move back into their Superdome offices. The game may have left New Orleans for a year, but the tradition never left and neither did the city's spirit.

"This city has proven once again that it can bounce back," Hoolahan said.

It was easy to see when interviewing Hoolahan how glad he was to be back in Louisiana. Not necessarily for personal reasons, but because he's proud to see this resilient city get its bowl game back. As for a prediction on which team will represent the SEC in this year's game, Hoolahan decided not to choose between LSU, Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas, etc.

"I have no idea," he said.

Neither do I.