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Post by carddan on Jul 24, 2009 15:10:05 GMT -8
We come from all walks of life. We are the old and the young and can be male or female. We are spread from sea to shining sea and to all corners of the globe. The only color we recognize is the color of our jerseys, and that is red. Some have believed in our cause for fifty years and some for fifty days. We are The Big Red Army, and We Do This Together.
Each of us has a different story to tell as a fan of the Arizona Cardinals. Many have been fans for decades longer than me, some for decades less. Some of us are blessed to have seats in UoP and some do not. For my part, I do not judge the quality of another fan’s passion. I can only do what I do. I respect those that have gone before me and I welcome those just enlisting. The suffering of our past must not prevent us from sharing the joy of the present and the future. Today’s bandwagon fan can become tomorrow’s diehard and our children will know no other team. Something has risen from the ashes in Phoenix. Each of us can root for it as it takes wing and soars.
Whether it has been fifty years or fifty days, share your story of when and why you became a Cardinals' fan.
(I would enjoy the stories of our leaders, I think they would be motivational. I will share my story soon)
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Post by carddan on Jul 27, 2009 16:04:55 GMT -8
OK, I'll go first...
A Fan’s Story
I was born four days before the 60’s began. By the time I was old enough to have a memory I was living on Mt. Nittany in central PA. I visited my parents there this month and their house is still the highest one on the mountain overlooking Happy Valley. It was geography that made me a fan of the Penn State Nittany Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers. I became a big fan of the NFL around the age of eight or nine. The Steelers’ records those two years, 1968 and 69, were 2-11-1 and 1-13. I learned loyalty even with failure. I had grandparents living in Canton, Ohio, and in 1970 I went to the Hall of Fame game between the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings. I rooted for the underdog Saints and they won 14-13. It took a last second fumble return to win when the Vikings could easily have just taken a knee. I learned that winning or losing preseason games doesn’t matter. By the time I was twelve, the Steelers had turned things around. When I was fifteen they won the Super Bowl. I believed a football team took on the personality of the area they were from. They also represented that area to the rest of the country. Central and Western PA had a lot to be proud of with its football teams. It was also a great place to live.
I moved to Tucson in 1977 for college. I ended up marrying a girl with family roots in AZ dating back to 1904. Even though my job took me to Los Angeles from 1983 until 1992, I knew I would be moving back to AZ. This was my home. When the Cardinals moved to Phoenix in 1988, I became a fan, but the Cardinals were “my second favorite team”. When I moved back to Phoenix in 1992, the Cardinals became my favorite team. They represented my way of life and decision to live in the desert. Due to my work schedule and handful of young kids, I only attended a couple games a year at SDS. It was 1996 during the 4th quarter in a game against the Rams when my second oldest son kept saying “all ya’ gotta do is believe”. The Cardinals were down by 14 but tied the game with time running out and won in overtime. (No wonder I take him to almost every game today) On my birthday in 1998 we beat the Chargers on a last second field goal into the South end zone where my seats were and we clinched a playoff spot.
When the Cardinals moved to Glendale I knew my chance had come to be a season ticket holder. I told my sons “we are going to take this to another level”. We tailgated and Carddan was born. My desire was to inspire other fans to become more expressive. I hated the old days when visitors seemed like the majority. This is my home, my city and my state. The Arizona Cardinals represent us, I wanted to represent them. My license plate frame says “AZ Cardinals, Love ‘em or Leave”. I understand fans remaining loyal to their childhood team but I want the Cardinals to have that loyalty from their fans. My kids have never rooted for another team. I have a son in Texas serving in the USAF, its Cowboy country but he’s a Cardinal fan. I’m proud of that.
I am not the Cardinals “oldest” fan, or “best” fan. I am just a fan.
I will add, after being at the Super Bowl, I no longer have a “second favorite” team. Instead, I now have a grudge against a certain team from PA.
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Post by boldin81 on Jul 28, 2009 8:28:38 GMT -8
Why I am a Cardinal Fan,
Growing up in St. Louis I was brought up to watch both the Cardinal Baseball and Football (BIG RED) teams. Cardinal Baseball still rules this town.
I remember on Sunday afternoons watching the Big Red with my dad. This was during 1970's Don Coryell era. Still recall the Big Red beating the Cowboys en route to winning at that time the NFC EAST title. My uncle had end zone season tickets at the old Busch Stadium and he took me to my first "live" game. It was against the Baltimore Colts in freezing weather. I had a great time especially when my Uncle would dance up and down the aisle whenever the Big Red scored a TD. Over the years I still went to games with my uncle and watched the team whenever I could.
Even when I was stationed overseas in the military I had my sister send me "care packages" wrapped in the St. Louis Post Dispatch newspaper so I could see what was happening in my home town especially the sports. So I tried as much as possible to keep up with the happenings of the Big Red. Hard to do in the early - mid 80's with no Internet. Plus being stationed overseas sometimes just to watch live NFL games you had to get up at 3 am.
I would have to say the day I became a die hard Big Red Fan is when the team moved to Phoenix in 1988. My sister called me and gave me the news. I was really upset but what could I do. The following year I returned home. I still followed the Big red as much as I could. In fact for the first couple of years the local TV broad casted all of their games. That stopped about two years before the Rams came to St. Louis.
Every time the Big Red come to play the Rams I attend the game. For years I wanted to go out to Phoenix and watch a game. I finally was able to get out there and watch a game at UOP. Coincidentally it was against the Rams. That was two years ago. I also was able to attend the first home playoff game against Atlanta. And this year I am coming out again to watch a game.
For years I put up with the abuse from coworkers and family about how "awful" the Cardinals were. How they will never win anything. I am not a fair weather fan I follow the Cards whether they play good or bad. This past season it was so sweet to be able to watch them squirm when the Cardinals marched through the playoffs and almost won the Super Bowl.
I am always asked me how I could still be a Big red fan when we have the Rams in town.
My response is the "Football Cardinals will always be my team."
John
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Post by carddan on Jul 28, 2009 9:04:54 GMT -8
Thanks John. You saw an awesome game against the Falcons. I especially respect the St. Louis Card fans.
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Post by waynescards on Jul 29, 2009 16:09:37 GMT -8
Great stories guys. One of these days I will tell mine. Maybe we will post a fan story a month in our new magazine that should be debuting in September. We are planning on calling the new magazine Frontlines.
Wayne
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Post by boldin81 on Jul 30, 2009 9:11:29 GMT -8
Carddan,
The Atlanta playoff game was the loudest sporting event I have ever attended. I had a great time.
John
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Post by rocketman on Aug 1, 2009 14:51:17 GMT -8
I have been living in the valley since 1964. The only professional franchise in the valley when I was young was the Phoenix Suns. My earliest memories of watching sports was watching the Dallas Cowboys on TV since they were force fed to everybody here. I followed the Cincinnati Reds, the Suns and the Cowboys. I remember attending the first home game for the then Phoenix Cardinals, which ironically was against "my" Cowboys. Sometime during the game I realized I should be rooting for the hometown team. Even though the Cowboys had won, I found that I had a new allegiance. Although I never attended other games at Sun Devil Stadium, I always followed the Cardinals. I spent 10 years living in Albuquerque, which was another forced Cowboy State. I still rooted for the Cardinals and I took a lot of abuse from my co-workers. One thing I have learned growing up in Phoenix is you need to have thick skin. Losing comes with the territory. I attended my first home game last year at the University of Phoenix Stadium for the Bills game. I became absolutely hooked on the incredible atmosphere. My best friend, who I am incredibly indebted to, took me to two other games for the 49ers and the Giants. It was shortly after the Giants game where I asked my friend if I could go in on the playoff package for the seats and then to become a season ticket holder with him. He said you bet, he couldn't believe my enthusiasm. So I attended the two home playoff games against the Falcons and the Eagles and could not believe the tremendous enthusiasm from the boisterous crowd. Both my friend and I were shocked as we watched the Eagle game unfold and realize that the Arizona Cardinals were going to the Super Bowl. We both attended the Super Bowl and although the result was not in our favor, I will forever remember being there and being a part of the incredible experience. I cannot contain my enthusiasm for this coming season and look forward to attending every home game. I will welcome every new fan for the Cardinals, just as someone welcomed me.
Doug Hart
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Post by carddan on Aug 1, 2009 15:54:48 GMT -8
Rocketman, That is what I'm talking about! Although this website is not even "working" yet, it is THE place to go for Cardinals fans. I don't care if you became a fan for the first time during the playoffs last year, if you are reading this, then you should post your story. We don't judge on grammar or writing skill, We Do This Together.
(guys, can you give us an update on when the site will be fully operational so we can spread the word?)
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Post by aznativemike on Aug 3, 2009 14:30:39 GMT -8
Well, the Cardinals came to AZ when I was 7 years old (I think). I was just starting to kind of be able to follow the games. I grew up cheering on all the home teams, ok, well maybe there was just the Suns and the Sun Devils at the time, but none of the less. I remember Neil Lomax going down, and everything from the Tim Rossenbaugh era, to Dave Kreig, "you gotta winner in town", Jake Plummer....you name it, I was there. All the years of sitting on the east side of Sun Devil stadium in September or early October. Getting made fun of in elementary and jr high school for sporting my Cards shirts and jerseys...been through it all. I can't way I was a St Louis Cards fan, I just don't quite remember that far back. Anyway, 2008-2009 was the year all of us had been waiting for! Short story, but true none of the less.
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Post by texaz41 on Aug 4, 2009 0:16:44 GMT -8
Wow, where to begin...
Born and raised in Dallas, Texas. COWBOY COUNTRY!! For some reason, I never wanted to go with the majority. I had always had family in Arizona so I decided to become a Phoenix Cardinals fan. I remember when I was in school I always bought the NFL pencils but always saved the Cardinals pencil for last. I had family members send me Cardinals gear from Arizona so I could proudly wear at school since obviously I wouldn't be able to find anything in Texas. I had this one one Eric Swann t-shirt that I loved and always wore. I didn't care if anyone gave me crap for being a Cardinals fan, that's what I was. I flew out every few years to catch a game at SDS. I was at the Christmas Night game vs the Cowboys and even flew on the same flight as Jerry Jones. When I graduated high school I decided to move to AZ and attend Arizona State. I lived in PV West and ended up getting season tickets for awhile and ended up enduring many a game on those horrible bleacher seats. I've been there through the horrible years. I've seen Neil Lomax, Timm Rosenbach, Jake Plummer.....PAT TILLMAN, Larry Centers, Frank Sanders, Rob Moore...Larry Fitzgerald, Adrian Wilson, Kurt Warner, Aeneas Williams.....Leland McElroy, Andre Wadsworth, Kent Graham, Buddy Ryan, Leonard Davis....I've been through it all. I truly feel like it's all been worth it. The good times, the bad....it's fine. That's how we roll. We're Cardinals. Arizona Cardinals. We do this together!!!
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Post by cardinalnation on Aug 5, 2009 16:44:37 GMT -8
Hi there guys, As some of you may know from 'the other board', I am an international fan hailing from Cardiff, in sunny South Wales. I have close ties with the States though, and from a young age remember being taken on holiday over there, to Philadelphia and DC, meeting up with my Dad, who would have flown over on a business trip a few days before. At the time, I was young (about 8ish) and all I can remember is watching this strange game that everyone was talking about on the TV. Now, in those days, I was a rugby fan, and being British, you are brought up on it, you are born knowing the rules of the game. So, landing in a foreign country similar to home and have them playing a game that I couldn't understand was bewildering. So I sat down, and watched it, for 2 days straight. It was a Sunday Night game, followed the next day by a MNF double header. I sat there and belligerently watched until I knew the rough rules of the game, and as I sat there, I remember being sucked into it. It was the Raiders against the Redskins (I think), and from that moment onwards I was obsessed with the NFL. In those dark times, the only news I could really get hold of was in the newspapers, and that was just the results, so I began going to the local corner shop and sneaking as much reading of the international version of USA Today that I could, before being told to either buy it or leave (the things you let kids get away with, I could read 3/4 before this happened ). I drove my parents crazy. I used to follow my mother into work, just to use her internet to look at stats. Then, back in 2001, my dad had business in Phoenix, and my family followed him out. He knew it meant a great deal, so he organised for me, him, and a couple of business colleagues to go to SDS and watch the Arizona Cardinals vs the San Francisco 49ers. It was a blow out. The 49ers blew the Cards out of the water, but sitting there watching them, all I could think about was how much heart the Cardinals had. They had no chance, but they kept fighting and fighting, with no good cause. I didn't know it at the time, but I was hooked on Arizona. When I returned a week later, and looked in the papers, I remember looking at the Arizona score, and for the first time ever feeling upset about a loss. For the next few weeks I spent hours on my mothers internet, learning everything I could about the Cardinals. I wanted to be a fan, I wanted to be able to not just pass myself off as a supporter, but know and embrace my new team. And that was when I became a Cardinals fan.
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Post by carddan on Aug 5, 2009 20:57:54 GMT -8
Your stories are great, all of them. Cardinalnation, texaz41, aznativemike, what can I say? You have me fired up for our team.
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gum
New Member
Posts: 6
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Post by gum on Aug 6, 2009 9:55:10 GMT -8
Great stories, I am glad to be a member of this fan club. I was a member of the first fan club that was formed in 1988 when the motto was "To win is a Cardinals Rule". The club made it one year. I still have the golf shirt, although it sure does not fit any more lol. I look forward to this club withstanding the test of time.
I grew up on the eastern part of Long Island, born in 1960. My team was the Jets. I became a quasy Cardinals fan back then when I watched them playing on TV. I just remember how cool I thought the helmets looked when they were in the huddle. One Christmas I ordered a helmet tile of the St. Louis Cardinals out of a JC Pennys catalog for Chrismas one year and it hung on my wall my entire youth. I believe that somehow impacted my current love of the Cardinals.
After going to college in Virgina and the living there for threee years afterwards, I became an NFL orphan. Everyone loved the Redskins, whom I hated. I actaully became a USFL fan and followed the New Jersey Generals because of Doug Flutie and Hershal Walker. I would attend a few games in the Meadowlands driving the six hours to get there. I actually went to the last USFL ever played, the Championship between the Oakland Invaders and the Philadelphia Stars in 1985. It was three days after that game that I moved to Phoenix. The league offically had not folded, and I put down a deposit for Arizona Outlaw tickets. When the league disbanded, there was an offer to let your deposit ride with the promise of having a chance to buy tickets for an NFL team should one relocate to Phoenix. Since it's been 21 years now, I am a bit hazy as to what the deal was, but I believe I bought a mini package for four games that 1988 season, which I converted to a full season package that next year.
For years I had four seats SDS in what would be the equivelent to the ring of honor now. East side seats that got full sun, behind the vistors bench which was always full of visiting fans. After years of taking abuse, and never being able to find people to use the four seats, I dropped down to two seats in the loge, just below were I sat in the upper deck. I only missed a handful of games over those 18 years in SDS, and the Cardinals were and are the team closest to my heart.
I have been lucky enough to have been able to experience Super Bowl XXX and last years Super Bowl as a direct result of being a season ticket holder. In a chance meeting with Mr. B in Tucson several years back, I was able to thanks him for the opportunity to have been given the privilege of getting to a Super Bowl through the Cardinals and the fact that he took the time to listen to me in the manner that he did, made me appreciate the Cardinals experience even more. One of the craziest games I ever went to was when a local sports talk radio station put together a bus road trip to catch Buddy Ryans first game in LA against the the then LA Rams. I still curse Ricky Prole for dropping that wide open pass as he streaked down the sidelines. Losing that game had to make that one of the most painful six hour bus rides ever afterwards.
It's been a bumpy ride since 1988 that was rewarded with an amazing season last year. I was scheduled to be in Jamaica the week before the Superbowl, and getting tickets to the game required me to change all my flights around. We ended up flying into Tampa from Montego Bay. I thought Super Bowl XXX was cool, but going to a Super Bowl with our team in it has to be one of the highlights of my life. An amazing experience.
I look forward to meeting up with you guys during the season. I have enjoyed catching the Valle Luna bus a few times to the games, as it's great to tailgate with diehards. I still wear a #3 jersey in honor of my first Timm Rosenbaugh jersey, customized with Gum on the back which is an irrelevant nickname that stuck through my many travels to Jamaica. If you see me, say hello and lets have a beer.
Gum
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Post by waynescards on Aug 6, 2009 14:13:22 GMT -8
I have been living in the valley since 1964. The only professional franchise in the valley when I was young was the Phoenix Suns. My earliest memories of watching sports was watching the Dallas Cowboys on TV since they were force fed to everybody here. I followed the Cincinnati Reds, the Suns and the Cowboys. I remember attending the first home game for the then Phoenix Cardinals, which ironically was against "my" Cowboys. Sometime during the game I realized I should be rooting for the hometown team. Even though the Cowboys had won, I found that I had a new allegiance. Although I never attended other games at Sun Devil Stadium, I always followed the Cardinals. I spent 10 years living in Albuquerque, which was another forced Cowboy State. I still rooted for the Cardinals and I took a lot of abuse from my co-workers. One thing I have learned growing up in Phoenix is you need to have thick skin. Losing comes with the territory. I attended my first home game last year at the University of Phoenix Stadium for the Bills game. I became absolutely hooked on the incredible atmosphere. My best friend, who I am incredibly indebted to, took me to two other games for the 49ers and the Giants. It was shortly after the Giants game where I asked my friend if I could go in on the playoff package for the seats and then to become a season ticket holder with him. He said you bet, he couldn't believe my enthusiasm. So I attended the two home playoff games against the Falcons and the Eagles and could not believe the tremendous enthusiasm from the boisterous crowd. Both my friend and I were shocked as we watched the Eagle game unfold and realize that the Arizona Cardinals were going to the Super Bowl. We both attended the Super Bowl and although the result was not in our favor, I will forever remember being there and being a part of the incredible experience. I cannot contain my enthusiasm for this coming season and look forward to attending every home game. I will welcome every new fan for the Cardinals, just as someone welcomed me. Doug Hart Great story Doug. Him and his wife is joining The BigRedArmy gang to Seattle this year, as part of our only membership road trip this year.
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Post by BigDeal on Aug 6, 2009 20:24:07 GMT -8
Grew up in Phoenix with only the Suns to follow for years. 1988 Freshman year at Gerard Catholic High School and the new football team in the valley was looking for volunteers to help run the merchandise stands at the games. I asked my parents and was shocked that they agreed that I could go to the game. First game, Monday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys. Ended up working every game for the first three years there, spending majority of the games in the stands. Have missed less than a dozen home games since and have seen every single game live either in person or on TV since. I am the only one out of the five or so high school buddies that kept the faith the entire time. Had most of them over for the SB in Feburary and was the greatest feeling that I had never given up on the team and my loyalty had finally paid off.
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