Philly reporter John Gonzalez says the Cardinal fans are frauds

[Lefty]

This guy needs to read this board to see the real Cardinal fans.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/john_gonzalez/37558214.html

Gonzo: Cardinals fans just the latest bandwagon-jumpers
By John Gonzalez

Inquirer Columnist

Seriously? The Arizona Cardinals are hosting the NFC championship game? Who saw this coming? I'm honestly asking. Raise your hand if you anticipated this.
You there, in Scottsdale - put your hand down, sir. No one likes a liar, least of all a liar with a leathery orange tan in the middle of January.

No, the venue for this game can't be a shock just to Birds fans - who no doubt thought an Eagles win over the Giants would send the flock south for a meeting with the Carolina Panthers. This has to come as a serious surprise to Cardinals fans, too. All seven of them probably were planning on playing a little golf come Sunday.

What? You think seven misrepresents the loyal Arizona backers out there? Maybe you're right. That number is probably too high.

Before wild-card weekend, the Cardinals organization was practically begging people to show up to watch the Other Birds take on Atlanta. In the run-up to the game between the Cardinals and the Falcons, the NFL office had to extend the deadline to buy tickets several times to ensure that the game would not be blacked out in the Phoenix area. According to reports, a local pool company had to snap up 3,000 tickets at the last minute.

Astonishingly, none of the newspapers out there went with the obvious headline: "Pool company saves Cardinals from drowning." A missed opportunity.

What a difference two weeks can make. After the Cards surprised everyone and dismissed the Panthers, Arizona sold out the NFC championship game in just six minutes. Impressive. Especially since University of Phoenix Stadium - the one that looks like something Calatrava might design after spending a month in the Mojave Desert with no water - holds about 70,000 people. Even more impressive: The good citizens of Arizona managed to jam everyone onto the bandwagon without violating any fire codes.

All of which has me thinking. This may be the latest case of a fan base that decided (coincidentally) to support its team only after it got good, but it's not the most egregious example. Since the turn of the century, we've seen people root for quite a few squads that previously were ignored. Here, then, are the teams that inspired the Super Seven of Fraud Fans.

7. The Boston Celtics (2007-08): When the Sawks and Pats were playing, fans all but ignored the C's. And when they didn't get the first pick in the draft and a crack at Greg Oden, the Celtics were left for dead. Then they traded for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, and suddenly a bunch of dudes named Sully were wearing kelly green and watching basketball for the first time since Larry Legend went back to French Lick. New England is a godless land, and not just because of the frigid weather.

6. The Arizona Cardinals (2008-09): Most common question asked in Arizona before the NFC championship: "Do you want my tickets for the Cardinals game?" Most common answer: "Absolutely not."

5. The Philadelphia Soul (2008): You knew Philly was desperate for a championship when we tried to feign excitement about the Arena Football League. Casting our lot with Jon Bon Jovi still makes me feel dirty.

4. The Tampa Bay Rays (2008): Tropicana Field was largely empty for much of the summer. Then the Rays won the American League, and suddenly the fans there were buying up every cowbell on the East Coast. If you're going to jump on the bandwagon, fine. Just don't bust our eardrums while you're at it.

3. The California/Anaheim/ Los Angeles Angels (2002): The organization changed its name and adopted different areas of California - L.A. and Anaheim - to manufacture enough interest to sell tickets. And I'm still convinced that the Rally Monkey was a marketing tool to dupe unwitting Disney-goers into attending games.

2. The Tampa Bay Lightning (2004): I considered going with the 2003 Florida Marlins in this slot, or maybe the 2004 Miami Heat. The lesson here is that any Sunshine State team will do. Floridians are good at professing love for their teams at the last minute. (That, and they play some mean canasta.) You have to hand it to the people of Tampa. Faking adoration for baseball or football is one thing. Pretending to love hockey when it's 75 degrees outside and you could be at the beach is far harder. It takes an especially committed phony to pull that off.

1. Any playoff-bound Dallas Cowboys team: It's like Troy Aikman recently told me: "Dallas people don't get that worked up about anybody." Until America's Team makes the postseason, that is. Then they suddenly can't wait to hoot and holler for the 'Boys. Pity that the bandwagon broke down this season before anyone had a chance to hop on. Philly weeps for you, Dallas.



Andy Reid will drop the puck at Friday's Phantoms game. No, not the coach - a local resident who has the same name. I love minor-league hockey gimmicks. . . . To all of you who keep asking when I'll eat crow: rest easy. I'm looking into some recipes (http://www.crowbusters.com/recipes.htm). Thanks to Bill Conlin for passing it along. I think. . . . Must ESPN show a Duke game every Wednesday? It gets tiresome.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact columnist John Gonzalez at 215-854-2813 or [email protected]

 

[arthurracoon]

 

[Nash2Amare]

Loooooooser.

 

[CardsFan88]

You know what would work. Regardless of win or lose, have a couple hundred people email him on set dates.

Say after superbowl, after pro bowl, 1st day of combine, nfl draft day 1, the start date of eagles minicamps, eagles 1st preseason game, 1st game of the year, and if we play them next year (can't recall), then on the Wednesday of that week.

Of course it may be over the top, but getting a few hundred emails from cardinal fans (outnumbering that of eagles fans he gets on a regular basis) numerous days, and ongoing over a length of time, would surely stop that.

Make it so bad, the next time he even utters the words Cardinals in his head before writing, he thinks of us.

It can be done.

Email's don't have to be long. It's the volume that counts.

I think we as cards fans need to pick one of these poor Philadelphia or national hacks and go to town on them.

I would pick him since he's calling us the fans out. Let the players focus on the field, to silence their critics. We as fans can focus on the keyboards, to silence some of ours.

It's not just the Cardinal players who are battling for respect, it is us Cardinal fans.

Hey maybe we can even do this once a year to one poor hack of some team that doubts us.

I'm setting the bar low, because focusing on one person per year is acheivable. (And that's the goal). No pie in the sky dreams, but something real. It's not too far fetched to do this. Blow up his email.

I know we could do this just with our fellow ASFN'ers.

We can call it project mayhem (like fight club)

This is a call to action.

 

[SECTION 11]

I don't think anyone really understands that the small hardcore group that's hung with this bunch doesn't give a flying F what anyone thinks about them. Bring on the world.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

My response:

Hey Douchebag,

There are thousands of loyal Cardinal fans you are insulting with your typical east coast philly bravado. Shove it! We are one of the longest suffering and LOYAL fanbases in sports histroy and you jerks only try to pile on in leiu of actually providing insight and intelligent discussion.

The Cards have been filling the seats since they moved into the new stadium. With success always come bandwagoners, but who cares? The main point is there will be 6 fans to every Philly fan in the house to shout your team out.

 

[goeagles412]

This guy isn't even from Philly and hasn't been with the Inquirer for very long. He rarely writes anything substantial, and is at the bottom of the list as far as popularity goes. Most of what he writes is like this, just trying to turn some heads. Although it is undeniable that with their recent success, the Cardinals have gained some bandwagon jumpers.

 

[Renz]

I guess he thinks that booing your own team, and Santa Claus, and throwing batteries at players makes for a loyal fan base.

 

[goeagles412]

More false Philly stereotypes hyped up by the national media.

Fixed.

 

[PoolBoy]

i know he didn't just mess with the four eight OH. im getting together the no-sco soldiers. gonzalez better stay in philly, lol

 

[Bufalay]

Whoa. You can get paid to write that kind of stuff?

 

[Renz]

Fixed.

False? Those incidents I cited actually happened.

Philadelphia fans booed Mike Schmidt for God's sake. Heck, two months ago they wanted to run McNabb and Reid out of town. LOL!

 

[Zeno]

I was gonna write this idiot but I decided it wasn't worth my time. Why get worked up over the ignorant.

Please Cardinals kick the crap out of these fools this weekend, I'm tired of the crap.

 

[goeagles412]

False? Those incidents I cited actually happened.

Philadelphia fans booed Mike Schmidt for God's sake. Heck, two months ago they wanted to run McNabb and Reid out of town. LOL!

Do you have any idea how long ago Mike Schmidt was in a Phillies uniform? You're talking about 30 years ago, buddy. That's a long freaking time. And yes, Eagles fans did want Reid out of town. No, the majority of Eagles fans did not want McNabb out of town (again, completely false story hyped up by ESPN, Deion Sanders, Emmit Smith, Jason Whitlock, etc.).

You would want Reid out of town too. We were sitting at 5-5-1 after missing the playoffs 2 of the past 3 years, trading out of the 1st round the prior 2 years, the owner declaring our team the "gold standard" of the NFL, and saying that they went "pedal to the medal" in the off-season. We had Reid who refused to run the ball, even though stats overwhelmingly prove that even when it doesn't work, if the Eagles stick to the run, they usually win.

They passed the ball 60 times on a cold, windy day in Cincy against the NFL's 25th best rush defense. They threw it endlessly again in Washington on another cold day in a must-win game. Reid has stuck with the run lately and that's why they've been having more success. Admittedly, I wanted him gone, but as long as he's committed to the run, I and most other Eagles fans have no problem with him staying.

 

[Nash2Amare]

You've had success running the ball lately? News to me.

 

[goeagles412]

You've had success running the ball lately? News to me.

No, they've had success when they stick to the run. Two different things. Running sets up the pass. Even if you're not getting 4 yards a carry, it's still key in wearing down the defense and keeping them guessing. For far too long the Eagles were one-dimensional and it killed them. When they stick to the run, they are a far better team.

 

[Dawkins2112]

the truth about the Santa Claus incedent.

On December 15, 1968 it was the last game of a pitiful season for the Eagles. At this point they were
2 -11, they were 0 - 11 until they beat Detroit and New Orleans thus ending their bid to draft O. J.
Simpson. They were set to play Minnesota and snow had been falling steady since the night before.
Wind gust were up to 30 mph and the temp was about 22 degrees. Over 54,000 people attended
the game and this just goes to show how loyal Philadelphia fans are.

A Christmas pageant was scheduled for halftime, the Eagles cheerleaders were dressed in elf costumes and a
50 piece band was to play carols while Santa paraded around the field in a sleigh. There were a few problems
however, 15 hours of snow and a half of football turned the field into a mud pit, the sleigh wasn't going anywhere.
Santa would have to walk --- if there was a Santa. It turned out that the guy hired to play Santa at the Stadium
couldn't make it through the snow, the powers that be had to find a stand in.

Enter Frank Olivo, he was sitting in the stands wearing a corduroy Santa suit. Olivo weighed 170 lbs and was 5' 6".
The Eagles Brass begged him to stand in for the absent Santa. When Olivo took the field the fans got their first
glimpse of a disheveled looking Santa , who also appeared to be drunk, so they started booing him. Olivo, a true
Philadelphia fan, egged the booers on asking for more. Then from the stands a lonely snowball pelted him, after
laughing it off more snowballs came Santa's way. Shortly there after it was a snowball frenzy. To this day Frank Olivo
laughs at the day he became famous he loved every minute of it.

Howard Cosell's sports show on on ABC weekend report picked up the story and shown it nationwide. Without
knowing the story behind the booing and the snowballs, Howard Cosell gave Philadelphia it's reputation we still
hold to this day. The fans so nasty they'll even boo Santa Claus.

 

[stretchthefield]

I don't think anyone really understands that the small hardcore group that's hung with this bunch doesn't give a flying F what anyone thinks about them. Bring on the world.

Agreed

 

[ajcardfan]

No, they've had success when they stick to the run. Two different things. Running sets up the pass. Even if you're not getting 4 yards a carry, it's still key in wearing down the defense and keeping them guessing. For far too long the Eagles were one-dimensional and it killed them. When they stick to the run, they are a far better team.

True that. Sticking with the run was exactly what we were NOT doing from over the five games we played poorly at the end of the year. Funny how, once we went back to at least keeping teams honest with the run starting with the Seattle game, we turned back into a 30 point a game team again.

 

[devilalum]

He probably stepped in a slush hole on his way to work.

 

[Stout]

This is what I told him:

I hope the Iggles play football the same way you write articles. Super Bowl!

 

[CardLogic]

When Olivo took the field the fans got their first
glimpse of a disheveled looking Santa , who also appeared to be drunk, so they started booing him. Olivo, a true
Philadelphia fan, egged the booers on asking for more. Then from the stands a lonely snowball pelted him, after
laughing it off more snowballs came Santa's way. Shortly there after it was a snowball frenzy.

So by your own account the Philly fans did boo and throw snowballs at Santa!

 

[AzCards21]

I don't think anyone really understands that the small hardcore group that's hung with this bunch doesn't give a flying F what anyone thinks about them. Bring on the world.

Our section of the bandwaggon needs new seats, I think the cushion's have collapsed.

 

[jefftheshark]

On December 15, 1968 it was the last game of a pitiful season for the Eagles. At this point they were
2 -11, they were 0 - 11 until they beat Detroit and New Orleans thus ending their bid to draft O. J.
Simpson. They were set to play Minnesota and snow had been falling steady since the night before.
Wind gust were up to 30 mph and the temp was about 22 degrees. Over 54,000 people attended
the game and this just goes to show how loyal Philadelphia fans are.

A Christmas pageant was scheduled for halftime, the Eagles cheerleaders were dressed in elf costumes and a
50 piece band was to play carols while Santa paraded around the field in a sleigh. There were a few problems
however, 15 hours of snow and a half of football turned the field into a mud pit, the sleigh wasn't going anywhere.
Santa would have to walk --- if there was a Santa. It turned out that the guy hired to play Santa at the Stadium
couldn't make it through the snow, the powers that be had to find a stand in.

Enter Frank Olivo, he was sitting in the stands wearing a corduroy Santa suit. Olivo weighed 170 lbs and was 5' 6".
The Eagles Brass begged him to stand in for the absent Santa. When Olivo took the field the fans got their first
glimpse of a disheveled looking Santa , who also appeared to be drunk, so they started booing him. Olivo, a true
Philadelphia fan, egged the booers on asking for more. Then from the stands a lonely snowball pelted him, after
laughing it off more snowballs came Santa's way. Shortly there after it was a snowball frenzy. To this day Frank Olivo
laughs at the day he became famous he loved every minute of it.

Howard Cosell's sports show on on ABC weekend report picked up the story and shown it nationwide. Without
knowing the story behind the booing and the snowballs, Howard Cosell gave Philadelphia it's reputation we still
hold to this day. The fans so nasty they'll even boo Santa Claus.

Thanks for taking the time to tell the story. I enjoyed reading it.

Of course, if I was to meet you on the street, I'd still have to rip your guts out, however now I'd probably feel a little twinge of guilt over doing it.



JTS

 

[ActingWild]

Um, since when does anyone in Arizona have to get a spray on tan...even in the winter?

If you're going to tell lies, you at least need to have SOME truth to make the rest of your nonsense believable...it's the details man.

Seriously though, that has got to be the worst article I've read, and I'll not respond to the writer as I don't want him to receive any mail, even hate mail at that. The more he receives, the more it shows his editor that people are reading his stuff.

As for bandwagoners, I'm welcoming them with open arms. At some point or another we'll need to convert the transplants in Arizona into Cardinal fans instead of Cowboy, Viking or Eagle fans.

Would it have been nice if everyone supported the team regardless of their performance? Sure. But the reality is that this is the only time in Cardinals history that they've gone to a Championship Game, so for many it's the first time they've tasted success. After all, only winning 4 to 6 games a year makes converting fans pretty difficult.