FanPost

Why I am an Arizona Cardinals fan

Al Bello/Getty Images

I’m one of the older farts on ROTB. Being born on Long Island the first team I rooted for was the Jets and "Broadway Joe". When my folks were watching their shows on the big color counsel my little bro and I would watch the Jets play on a little black and white in their bedroom. Joe had a RB named Emerson Boozer and I loved that name as a kid. The Jets were never a dominant team back then and were even 18 point underdogs in SB3 but they were entertaining to me and my younger bro. Broadway Joe and that team made us jump up and cheer in front of that little black and white TV with the broken rabbit ears. I was never closer to my younger bro than I was back then.

Fast forwards a few years and I am now in sunny Arizona. I remember getting off the plane in February from a snow blizzard back in NY and thought this is paradise. One of the first things my new AZ friends noticed was that we were the only ones who locked our doors all the time lol. It was a total culture shock. No more NY deli’s…in fact not a decent restaurant in sight. My Grandmother used to send us care packages full of deli food and desserts. Ahh I could smell them coming up the driveway. AZ was the real west back then. Cut-off jeans and walking on hot pavement barefoot through thorn fields just to buy a slurpee was what kids did out here. Only 3 TV channels and no local football. Argh...in school when I had to write book reports I chose Joe Namath and Bart Star. I was jonesing for some NFL. All we had were the Phx Suns. They were cool and I went to the games and even got to shoot a half-court shot for a new T-Bird when I was 16(my little bro put my name in the contest box at the Ford dealer when pop was shopping for a new car). I missed the shot but got to stand on the same court with the underdog team that took the mighty Celtics to a game 5 triple-overtime in the NBA finals. Unbelievable entertaining year but I still missed football.

Fast forward to 1988. I heard a rumor that the St Louis Cardinals were moving to the valley and was jazzed. I heard some people saying they didn’t want St Louis and instead wanted to wait for an expansion team but I didn’t care. I wanted a local NFL team to root for like yesterday. Well they moved to AZ and after a few years of mediocre play people started calling them the same old cards. I still watched them play and even when I was at a party with people from all over the country and dudes asking each other who their favorite team was, as unpopular as it was I always said the Cardinals.

Ok fast forward to 2003 and they draft Boldin and then in 2004 they take Fitz. Those two WRs are still my favorite two WRs to ever play together on one team. Then in 2005 they added Kurt Warner which created the perfect storm. That 2008-09 ride to the Super Bowl was the best post season I have ever enjoyed in 50 years of watching the NFL.

From the Jets, to the Suns to the Cardinals, I have only rooted for underdogs. I think Mr Bidwill has this team on the right track and I am glad he’s president of the Cards. I get frustrated from time to time but I like the BASK combo and what they have done with this team. Go Cards!

<em>This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Revenge of the Birds' (ROTB) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of ROTB's editors.</em>