Dispelling the Myths

October 1, 2007 by Mike Olbinski

I get really tired of listening to what people believe about Arizona and Cardinals football. The lack of knowledge out there being displayed by supposed NFL fans is mind-boggling.

Before I start this rant, I want to point out that while I am probably a slight homer when it comes to my teams, I tend to lean more towards the outside-looking-in side. This stems mainly from the year I covered the Phoenix Suns and sat next to the most pessimistic reporter I’ve ever met. He absolutely killed my love for the Suns that year and I became numb to anything I’d normally look at positively.

From that point on, I’ve been able to sort of step out of my inner “fan” and see the situation for what it is. So believe me, I know the Cardinals have sucked for a long time and most of the crap I get for being a fan is deserved and even understood.

But there are some things that people still think are going on and they need to pull their heads out of their collective rear ends.

So on to the myths and stuff.
1. The Arizona Cardinals have fans?

I hear this one all the time. From other NFL forums, from people I know in my daily life. The Cardinals have sucked for so long, they can’t possibly have fans.

Well, they actually have fans across the entire country. From Chicago to St. Louis to Arizona. They’re one of the oldest franchises in the league. People forget that usually the team you end up being a fan of is the one where you grew up or were born. You can’t easily get rid of that.

This forum is proof. You’d think with winning teams like the Dbacks and Suns, the Cards would be third on the activity chart. Nope, the Cards are the number one draw here and account for maybe 40% of the traffic.

2. The Cardinals stadium is empty

Wake up and smell the new stadium. People don’t pay attention. The (sadly named) University of Phoenix stadium was sold out last year and sold out again this year. It’s jam packed full of football fans. Wearing RED.

You try going to games in a college stadium with no roof in 110 degrees and tell me if you like it. That place was hard to visit, let alone sit for three hours.

3. The Cardinals stadium fills up only with opposing fans

Ummm, yeah. Have you heard the place rocking this season? Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasslebeck got confused on a ghost audible which caused a fumble and led to an Arizona win two weeks ago. That was 100% on the fans blowing the roof off.

Pittsburgh had around four false starts on Sunday. If you heard the crowd at the end of the game, it was obvious who’s “house” it was.

As mentioned above, the stadium is sold out this year. Why would Dallas fans or Pittsburgh fans buy season tickets for Arizona games? That’s right, they wouldn’t. Yes, they’ll show up for games, but it’s sold out and filled with Arizona fans.

Someone from our forum was at the game and said he was ashamed at all the Pittsburgh fans there. Well, when you saw it on TV and heard it in the fourth quarter, that was a Cardinals home crowd despite the Steelers faithful there. They helped win that game. Get used to it.

4. Arizona has a mediocre front seven

It blows my mind how our defense can improve steadily over the years and people pay no attention. I had a Pittsburgh fan tell me how Parker would be all over us and the Steelers would roll.

I calmly informed him that we’ve held opponents running back under 100 yards for like eight straight games, dating back to last season. I agreed Parker could go off, but I also warned that he would likely have trouble doing it. Afterwall, if Frank Gore, Shaun Alexander and Willis MaGahee couldn’t do it, why would Parker?

19 for 37 yards later and that was that. Yes, we’ll have our bad days, but people need to realize that these are not your grandpa’s Cardinals.

5. Cardinal Nation? Ha!

Yeah, it’s kind of a funny term. People laugh when they hear it. I haven’t even heard it that much. But people don’t realize that there is a legion of loyal Cards fans out there who have just been bashed into hiding their faces by the constant sucking. Not to mention the third city for this franchise creates distances between fans.

We may not use the term like they do in “Raider Nation”, but either way, it exists.

And this town has yet to see a winner. The team arrived and Arizona football fans are just waiting for a reason to embrace them.

Who knows if the sucking has ended, but for once there is something to cheer about. It feels like a true change in direction for the Cards.

And the Cardinal Nation is waking up. Will they be put back to sleep? I hope not, but we’ve seen it all. Dreams that seem to be coming true can be quickly squashed around here. It just doesn’t feel like this is one of those times.

So there. Myths that are just that. Will the stadium be sold out forever? Maybe not, but if this team does something magical in the coming years, they’ll earn more and more fans around here. Opposing teams will find less support than ever.

And now that I tried to dispell all these falsehoods about Arizona, I’m sure they’ll lose to the Rams next week and I’ll be stuffing my head back in the sand.

But that’s part of being a Cards fans! Go Cards!

Posted in arizona cardinals, football