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By Lee Jenkins

Marilyn and Jimmy Felder have two sets of seats at the Superdome. There are the seats where they go on Sunday afternoons to watch the Saints play football. And there are the seats where they went two-and-half years ago to watch their world get blown apart.

In theory, a stadium is just an overgrown stage, a place to watch the stars. But in New Orleans, the stadium is the real star. No athlete could ever take the beating that the Superdome did. No game could match the drama Hurricane Katrina wrought.

It is impossible to walk into the Superdome now and not imagine what it sounded like when the roof peeled off, what it looked like when the electricity went out, what it felt like when the water rushed in, what it smelled like when the toilets stopped working.

A man jumped off a catwalk. A guardsman was shot in a locker room. Bodies were stored in refrigerators. The Superdome was the setting for one of the darkest weeks in American history. And now, it is the setting for BCS bowls and NFL showdowns.

The best part of a game at the Superdome is the kickoff. Look around and you see people cheering, people crying. Often times, they are the same people. The fact that this place still stands, and that anybody still wants to come inside, is an upset victory in itself.

With every game that is played, perception of the Superdome changes just a little bit. It is no longer the leaking, stinking shelter that was depicted on television in 2005. It is the shimmering, beaming grid iron that was depicted on television in 2006 and 2007.

Much of the credit goes to Drew Brees, Reggie Bush, Sean Payton and the Saints. But a lot of it should go to Doug Thornton, Mike Foster, Benny Vanderklis and the team of Superdome workers who stayed in the stadium during the hurricane to help keep it running, and then returned to the stadium after the hurricane to help bring it back to life.

In August 2006, the Superdome was a construction site. By September 25, 2006, it was a palace. People ran through the doors that night hoisting signs that read "Dome Sweet Dome." Some wore hard-hats. Some carried parasols. One woman dressed as a nun.

Marilyn and Jimmy Felder looked for their seats. They had gone from evacuees to season-ticket holders. Marilyn and Jimmy fled the Superdome after Katrina, wading through knee-high waters to escape. They were in just as much of a rush to return. "A lot of people will be afraid to come back," Jimmy said. "But we wanted to be here."

The Saints beat the Falcons that night, in the loudest game I have ever attended. I did not hear anybody complain about the wireless connection in the press box, the food in the luxury suites, or the play-calling on the field. Just being there was good enough.

Of course, the Superdome is sort of a tease. It is only one house in a city full of damaged houses. You can debate whether the money spent to fix the stadium could have been better used elsewhere. But you cannot walk into that dome and leave unmoved.

It is, in itself, a giant football hero -- battered, broken, but back from the dead.

Honorable Mention

2. Eddy D. Field Stadium, Pepperdine University
The Pacific Ocean sits over left field, the Santa Monica Mountains sit over right field, and Pamela Anderson sits in the stands, all of them watching one of the six college baseball powerhouses in the L.A. area.

3. Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, University of Mississippi
The stadium is just okay by SEC standards, but outside are 10 lush acres known as The Grove, home to the prettiest coeds, strongest drinks and most elaborate tailgate parties this world has ever seen.

4. B.O. Barn, UCLA campus
Formally known as the Men's Gym, this stuffy little hothouse is where John Wooden coached his earliest UCLA teams, and where Baron Davis, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and friends now convene for their regular summer pick-up runs.

5. Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
When it was Jack Murphy Stadium and the Padres weren't any good, you could buy a $5 ticket and move up to the empty seats next to Tony Gwynn -- the ushers, best in baseball, were nice enough to look the other way.