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The barber has no steady job. It takes friends and relatives days to track him down since he doesn't own a phone. And next month, Tennessee and his wife, who is eight months pregnant, and their four children will be forced to find a new home because the Federal Emergency Management Agency will no longer finance the $979 monthly rent for their Houston apartment.

Like the hundreds of thousands of New Orleanians who were displaced by Katrina and are now scattered across the country, Tennessee is still trying to pick up the pieces of a life blown away by the devastating Category 5 hurricane.

He proudly describes wedding rings that Saints tight end Ernie Conwell purchased for him during a chance meeting in a Wal-Mart in San Antonio last year. For Conwell, it was an opportunity to help a New Orleans evacuee in a time of need and hope. For Tennessee, it was a tangible symbol of love - love for his wife and love from the team he has adored all his life.

Tomorrow night, Tennessee hopes to forget his problems, if only for a few hours, by following his beloved Saints as they return to the Superdome against the Falcons. It will be the first time the Superdome has opened since Tennessee and 30,000 others huddled there as Katrina's winds peeled off the roof and a moat of water surrounded the dome.

"I will call somebody from New Orleans and ask them who is winning the game if I have to," Tennessee was saying last week on a friend's cell phone from Houston.

While the city of New Orleans has an unshakable love affair with the Saints, even after the country's most horrific natural disaster, Tennessee's bond with the team is forged by two gold diamond engagement rings.

Not only did the Superdome save his life but Conwell helped Tennessee become engaged to Nikia Lewis at a time when he had virtually nothing. The two married last December just before Christmas.

"I want to tell him I appreciate what he did," Tennessee says. "I hope they make it to the Super Bowl so that New Orleans will become the new New Orleans."

The "Monday Night Football" game between the undefeated Saints and Falcons - bitter NFC South rivals - not only marks the reopening of the historic Superdome but it is considered by many to be the first significant step toward the rebirth and recovery of New Orleans.

The game has been blanketed by Super Bowl-like hype with events throughout the weekend leading up to the performances tomorrow night of U2, the Goo Goo Dolls and Green Day. Former president George H.W. Bush will handle the coin toss before heralded rookie Reggie Bush makes his much-anticipated home debut on the new artificial turf.

"Everybody's just excited, that's all they're talking about is the homecoming of the New Orleans Saints and how big this game is going to be," says Bush, who is involved in local charities and is being hailed as a savior here in the Crescent City. "It is almost like it is the first priority in their lives."

Meanwhile, an army of 850 men and women continued to work up to the last minute as workers could be seen walking on the roof doing last-second repairs the same day. Nearby, a gigantic banner hung on the side that proudly announces the Sept. 25 reopening date.

Shortly after the water receded and half the city's population retreated to other states, FEMA allocated $184.5 million toward refurbishing one of the unforgettable symbols of Hurricane Katrina.

While the dome generates revenue for the state, there has been controversy over the reconstruction - the fact that the 31-year-old facility was rebuilt in less than a year while so much around the city remains destroyed has rankled many.

Dome officials and the Saints reiterate that the FEMA funding - the NFL pitched in $15 million - was specifically designated for the rebuilding of public facilities and not neighborhoods. Still, boarded up and deserted businesses - big and small - are scattered all over town like Mardi Gras beads on Bourbon Street.

"While I'm struggling, they (the city) should be busy worrying about how to survive and rebuild rather than about a team that earns millions of dollars," says Dee Jabar, who is $120,000 in debt after re-opening Magnolia Discount supermarket in the pulverized Lower 9th Ward. "There are people here who need help. Nothing makes sense in this city."

Six miles from the renovated dome in the Lower 9th, the blocks are lined with hundreds of abandoned homes. Once home to 14,000 residents, the Lower 9th looks more like a war-torn ghost town, littered with the houses that have been marked by the eerie red symbols used by relief workers to identify the dead.

Leaving behind all his belongings he'd packed in his car - including an engagement ring for Nikia - Tennessee took his girlfriend, their 8-month-old twins, his 12-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old son to the building that had been home to six Super Bowls and four NCAA Final Fours. The Superdome, though, quickly became the terror dome according to Tennessee.

Trips to the overflowing bathrooms became treacherous with toilet paper, urine and feces everywhere. Worried about potential sex offenders hiding in the restrooms, Tennessee's entire family would go to the bathroom all at the same time.

Packs of thugs looted suites and anything else they could get their hands on. The dome was fracturing with water leaking through the roof while frustration boiled as the heat and stench became overwhelming.

"It was just so terrible seeing so many people and everybody was so frustrated, hungry, thirsty, no ice, it was hot," says Tennessee, whose family slept on the 30-yard-line. "I saw a guy who raped a little girl beaten real badly by a lot of men."

Tennessee said that while there was water and powdered milk for his twins, there was no food to eat for three days. Meanwhile, people were getting more and more desperate. Tennessee said he saw one man commit suicide by jumping off a balcony and another shot by a guard for stealing Coke out of a soda machine. He also said he witnessed a soldier getting shot and killed.

Superdome officials who were there vehemently deny that there was no food for three days, saying Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) were handed out beginning that first Sunday. They also said unconfirmed stories of fights, rapes and murders were grossly embellished or false.

"We saved 30,000 people," says Doug Thornton, the vice president of SMG, the private company that runs the Superdome. "Those same people would have been in their attic or their rooftop or in the flood waters. They could have been among 10,000 that were predicted to die. (But) there were some things that happened here that you can't erase."

"The poor guy was trying to hold his pants up, he was looking for some clothes," Conwell says, shaking his head. "You could tell he was a guy who was struggling."

Tennessee walked into the Wal-Mart with $397 to his name, looking to spend most of it on clothes for his family. He put aside $150 for a new ring for Nikia. Conwell took Tennessee to the jewelry department and told him to pick any ring he wanted while Nikia shopped on the other side. Tennessee offered all the money he had but the Saints' tight end paid nearly $400 for the rings in addition to everything else in Tennessee's cart.

"He had good taste," says Conwell, who is studying to become a minister. "Just to see him kind of be able to let his shoulders down for a minute, it was comforting for him that somebody cared."

Tennessee has returned to New Orleans just once since Katrina to attend a funeral. He is not sure if he will go back since Nikia's father lives in Houston and helps watch the kids.

"I thought I would never have enough heart to go back in the Superdome," Tennessee says. "I could probably still see some of the (horrible) things if I walk in there. (But) I wish I could have a season pass for all the games and watch them play."

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