NEW ORLEANS -- While the sold-out Superdome celebrated Monday nights opening-drive touchdown by New Orleans, one fan stood still, holding an American flag colored in the home teams black and gold.The Rebirth, it read.The Saints hosted the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night, 10 years and a day after re-opening the Superdome against the same team following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the Federal levee breaches.The Superdome is much different now compared to the one ravaged during and after the 2005 storm. More than $360 million in mostly public money has been used to renovate the facility. Improvements include two large end-zone videoboards and field level club sections.The faded exterior siding dented by hurricane debris was replaced a couple of years after the Superdome re-opened, and the recognizable roof has been replaced with newer material.New Orleans rebirth from Katrina is tied as much to the Saints and the Superdome as it is anything else. And Monday night, the team tried to tap into that emotional connection.Like Sept. 25, 2006, Grammy Award-winning singer and New Orleans resident Irma Thomas belted out an emotional national anthem.At halftime of Atlantas 45-32 win , while videoboards showed scenes from the 2006 re-opening, Southern Universitys marching band played and spelled out rebirth in formation. And just like that night in 2006, New Orleans Grammy Award-winning Rebirth Brass Band played The Saints Are Coming.The biggest part, though, was the involvement of Steve Gleason, who played an emotional role again.Ten years ago, he blocked a punt to help New Orleans to an early lead in a 23-3 victory over Atlanta. In the years since, he has been known as much for his battle against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis as he is for that punt block.He was one of the Saints honorary captains on Monday night, directing his automatic wheelchair onto the field for the coin toss. When he was announced as one of the captains, he was greeted with a loud round of cheers.But all of the memories couldnt help the Saints re-capture the same magic the night held 10 years ago. While that 2006 win made New Orleans 3-0 and gave the Saints an early divisional lead, Monday nights loss kept them winless and at the bottom of the NFC South.Whatever is happening now is here for a reason, Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. Its here to make you stronger. Its here to sharpen you up a little bit, toughen you up a little bit, and bring a team together in a way that will serve you in a positive way down the road.Yet, the remembrance of the events a decade ago werent just felt by the home team. Falcons linebacker Deion Jones, who grew up in New Orleans and played at LSU, made a special note on his shoes to remember Katrina.I think that everybody was just so excited for him, Atlanta coach Dan Quinn said of Jones, who returned an interception 90 yards for a touchdown. Tonight, he had a special message on his cleats that was very personal to him about growing up here and what happened for him 10 years ago.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/AP-NFLAir Jordan 1 Retro For Sale . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. Air Jordan 1 Retro Sale .Y. - New York City has been selected to host the NBA All-Star weekend in 2015, with the game played at Madison Square Garden and the slam dunk contest and other skills events held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. http://www.saleairjordan1.com/ . -- When the Florida Panthers fell behind by two goals in the first period to the top team in the NHL, it appeared they were on their way to yet another loss. Jordan 1 Retro Off White . For the Wild it was their first win of the season and they now have a record of 1-1-2 while the Jets fall to 2-2. Jets start a six game home stand Friday with another divisional game, home to the Dallas Stars. Air Jordan 1 Retro Sale . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Pittsburgh Pirates have been making a lot of noise this season and are tempting their long-suffering fans again with the possibility of a winning season for the first time since rookie Gerrit Cole was still in diapers. Francisco Liriano took a shutout into the seventh inning, and Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez and Gaby Sanchez homered, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night. "It was awesome just to be able to do that, and we had a lot of fun doing it," said McCutchen, who ended a homerless drought of 98 at-bats. "This is the way we should come out and play every day. We dont have to depend on just one or two guys. Everybodys coming through. To have a complete lineup like that from top to bottom is always fun." Liriano (6-3) allowed a run and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings, struck out six and walked three. The Angels run came in the seventh, when rookie J.B. Shuck hit a ground-rule double just inside the right field line and Mike Trout drove him in with a two-out single on the left-handers 104th and final pitch. Liriano has allowed fewer than three runs in seven of his nine starts after missing the first 35 games of the season because of broken bone in his non-throwing arm. The victory put the Bucs a season-best 15 games over .500 (45-30). After 75 games last season they were 40-35, but finished with a losing record for an unprecedented 20th straight year. Jerome Williams (5-3) gave up five runs -- four earned -- and eight hits over six innings in his eighth start of the season and first since June 12. The right-hander took over the rotation slot vacated by lefty Jason Vargas, who was placed on the disabled list Friday because of a blood clot under his pitching arm. "He made really good pitches in the first inning, and he really made some really good pitches throughout the game," catcher Chris Iannetta said. "But in that three-run inning he gave up the home run to Alvarez, and that was just a good piece of hitting. All of his mistakes were up in the zone and they capitalized on them." Alvarez has homered in three consecutive games. The Bucs added two more that inning on an RBI single by No. 9 hitter Jordy Mercer and a bases-loaded walk to Russell Martin. One of the runs was unearned, the result of a fielding error by third baseman Alberto Callaspo on a slow-hit grounder by Marte that kept the inning alive. "Actually, if Williams threw the whole game the way he did in the first inning, it would have been complicated foor us," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.dddddddddddd. "Hes pitched extremely well for them, and this was probably not normal for what theyve seen from him this season. There were mistakes he made tonight and we were able to do something with those mistakes. A lot of balls were elevated." Travis Snider extended the margin to 4-0 in the fourth with an RBI single after a leadoff double by Neil Walker. McCutchen added his eighth homer in the fifth, and Sanchez capped the scoring in the eighth against Michael Kohn with a homer off the left field pole, his sixth this season and second in his last 44 games. After striking out four of his first five batters, Liriano found himself in a jam with runners at the corners in the third inning before retiring Albert Pujols on a grounder to second base. The three-time NL MVP is 1 for 15 against Liriano. "His fastball was 92, 95, and had good movement," Iannetta said. "He had a really tight slider tonight and a very good changeup. That was his equalizing pitch, and we swung through it a lot." Howie Kendrick, hitting at a .381 clip over his previous 35 games, legged out a double to right-centre with one out in the Angels fourth and was thrown out at the plate as left fielder Starling Marte charged Erick Aybars sharp single and made a one-hop peg to Martin. "I knew he was out right when they sent him home, because I know he has a cannon," McCutchen said. "When that ball was coming to him and I saw (third base coach Dino Ebel) waving, I was like, Hes out. Hes not a typical left fielder because he has the arm of a right fielder. So when he threw that ball, I knew he was toast." NOTES: Shuck started in RF in place of Josh Hamilton, who missed his second straight game with a sore right wrist. Hamilton is batting just .207. ... Hurdle, whose only season as the Texas Rangers hitting coach coincided with Hamiltons 2010 AL MVP campaign, had a chance to reconnect with Angels slumping right fielder during this series. "It was an extremely good visit," Hurdle said. "I think theres a lot of challenges, and hes in a challenging place. I reminded him of the strengths and the skills he does have, and also that he cant do it alone. Theres some other pretty talented people in that clubhouse and on that ballfield." ... Hurdle played in 18 games at Angel Stadium with the Kansas City Royals when it was still known as Anaheim Stadium, and was 10 for 46 lifetime. ... Liriano is 2-4 with a 5.82 ERA in eight career starts against the Angels. ' ' '