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Post by carddan on Aug 6, 2009 20:51:27 GMT -8
BigDeal, Never give up, never quit, never stop believing...those are things we share...Cardinal Qualities.
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Post by darthllama on Aug 7, 2009 6:36:36 GMT -8
I have probably the most boring story of all, but what the heck, I'll post it anyway.
I was generally bored on Sundays because most of my friends worked on that day. I was never really into Football when I was younger, but I started watching Football on the Weekends because well.. it was on. I was just watching and learning the game, I didn't really have a favorite team, this was in 1992.
Some friends of mine came by one day and mentioned that they had some tickets to a Cardinal game, tickets they had gotten for free. We were all bored so we said "what the heck, lets go watch the game." We went to Sun Devil Stadium and watched Chris Chandler and the rest of a pretty bad Phoenix Cardinal team lose to the Dallas Cowboys. The place was about half empty with the bulk of fans supporting Dallas. Still, for some reason I got really into the game and we were cheering the Cards as loud as we could every chance we got. Part of it was because they were the "home town" team, but a lot of it was just to spite the Cowboy fans next to us.
After the game, we traded some barbs with Cowboy fans and I found myself adimatnly defending a team I was now calling "my team." I don't honestly know why, but on that day I became a Cardinal fan and it's stuck ever since.
So in a nutshell, I became a Cardinal fan because I was bored and had free tickets. ;D
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lazy85249
New Member
Section 222, Row 9, Seats 1-2
Posts: 2
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Post by lazy85249 on Aug 7, 2009 9:51:26 GMT -8
I was born in Wisconsin and grew up there during the Lombardi years so my team-of-birth was the Green Bay Packers. I moved out here in 1973. My first Cards game was the 1976 Raiders/St Louis Cards exhibition game at SDS. The only real memory that I have of that game is sitting just north of the Raiders bench on the east/visitors side of SDS. I had to research that game on the web to find out that the Raiders played the Cards and that the Cards won as the "home" team (that's a tad Twilight Zone).
The first time that the Cardinals really rocked my world was the 1988 win over the 49ers. From 1988 through 2003, I attended games using freebie or scalped tickets. Between 1973 and 1978, I had gone from blue collar to white collar. Those years included weeks that I worked 120+ hours holding two full time and a couple of part time jobs. And, two and a half years of full-time work combined with full-time school. Even though the Cards had me excited, I wasn't about to spend those hard earned dollars on season tickets.
Then, I met my wife in April of 2004. During the 2004 season, I won tickets to the Giants game in a drawing at work. I asked her if she wanted to go. She said, "YES!" As it turns out, she had been a STH; but, she did not renew in 2004 for various reasons. We had such a great time at the Giants game (Kurt Warner was their QB - more Twilight Zone!) that we bought a 4-pack to finish out the 2004 season. We became joint season ticket holders in 2005 and have been ever since. During the 2005 Christmas season, we tried to get family and friends interested; but, no one was - some people even pitied us for being Cardinals fans. Well, no sooner had the stadium sold out than people started asking us if we could take them to the games. In 2007, we acquired two more season tickets for family and friends. That paid off in a big way last season when we were able to take people to the WC playoff and NFC Championship games. We also went to Tampa for the Super Bowl - the first time either of us had been to one in person.
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Dagio
New Member
Posts: 1
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Post by Dagio on Aug 7, 2009 11:50:59 GMT -8
I was born in Phoenix in 1989, right after the Cards moved to Arizona. My dad became a fan when they moved, and so I was a fan by default. For the first several seasons I was too young to know what was going on, so the first season I actually followed was 1997, the wonderful Kent Graham era. First game of the season, I watch the Cardinals jump out to a 21-3 lead over the Bengals. 4th quarter arrives, we give up 3 unanswered scores and lose 24-21.
When I'd go to school, all the kids would be in their Packers, Broncos and Cowboys gear. I literally can't remember seeing another Cardinals fan in elementary school. On the Monday following a loss, I would get at least one "How 'bout them Cardinals!" comment. The most I got after a game was following the 49-0 Chiefs game. Ugh.
I've only been to one game, against the Bills in 1999. We lost 31-21, but it was still fun. The memory I'll never forget from the game is Chris Jacke's onside kick getting returned for a touchdown. That was the worst onside kick I'd ever seen.
20 years as a Cards fan and still going!
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Post by cardsfan4life on Aug 7, 2009 15:16:47 GMT -8
I was born in 1981 in Phoenix. First Cardinal game I saw on tv was back in 1998. Thats when I became a fan. I have a Cardinal flag for my car. When the first preseason game starts I will be putting the Cardinal flag back on. I have a Cardinal shirt that i got for my 27th bday.
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Post by rocketman on Aug 8, 2009 10:30:00 GMT -8
[Great story Doug. Him and his wife is joining TheBigRedArmy gang to Seattle this year, as part of our only membership road trip this year.[/quote]
Wayne,
Thanks for the props. I can hardly wait for the season to start and especially the road trip to Seattle! I have to say a great thanks goes out to you and Dave for starting the Big Red Army fan club and providing me the opportunities to meet some of the other Cardinal fans who are just as excited as I am. I hope to see you up in Flagstaff this weekend.
Doug
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Post by dumacac on Aug 11, 2009 14:41:58 GMT -8
Well i moved to AZ about 5 yrs ago. Being raised by a single immigrant mother I never watched football as a kid. Without a male role model or bigger brothers i never was taught the game. As a troubled teen my mother finally was fed up with me and sent me to live with my dad at the age of 16. One day i saw my dads and his friends yelling at the tv and long behold it was football. i sat down and asked why they were so excited, turns out my dad and his friends bet on the games. i said i dont understand it. my dad said something to me i will never forget. "Son put 50$ on a game and you will understand by the end of it." lol it was true by the end of my 1st bet i understood ALL the basics to make me fall in love with the game of football! I never had a team, i just loved football for what it was. fast forward 6 yrs later, i move to AZ. All my cousins and relatives had teams that they loved. so i decided to make AZ as my team. Not being so serious about it, just to have a team... until the faithful day when we lost to da bears after being ahead the whole game. i never felt such heartache seeing a team lose. it was worst then losing money by half a point on the spread. i mean i was heart broken!!!! that was one i realize the cardinals was not just a team for me to root for. They were MY team! Now i live and breath BIG RED. I am a fan for life! i know i havent been around as long as most of you guys but i feel my love for them is unmeasurable. i just cant put into words how much i love the cardinals, its insane! well thanx for listening.
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Post by carddan on Aug 12, 2009 10:55:53 GMT -8
The stories here are giving me a good feeling. I don't care how well you write or what you have to say. When was the last time any of us tried to put into words when and how we fell in love? I could imagine wives and girlfriends saying "why don't you say that about me?" (There are a lot of Cardinal Ladies out there that I'm sure have a story to tell also. So how 'bout it girls? Get writing!)
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Post by nharper on Aug 19, 2009 12:11:40 GMT -8
I was born Jan. 30 1988, one day before the Redskins destroyed the Broncos in Super Bowl XXII. I know this because my grandfather held me while he watched the game from the hospital. So i was a football fan from the get go. That year the Cardinals moved to Arizona and started to play in Sun Devil Stadium, just a few minutes from my house and my grand parents bought season tickets. So needless to say growing up i become a very big Cards fan. However growing up a Cards fan is very difficult as a kid... as i'm sure some of you may know. Instead of wearing the cool Emmit Smith or Jerry Rice jerseys to school and always being able to call yourself the best team i wear my Simeon Rice while others make fun of me for being a Cardinals fan.
From losing season after losing season we finally had your day in the Headlines... The Cardinals were going to the playoff's to play the most hated Cowboys. I can remember that day as if it were yesterday. The defense shutting out the potent Cowboys offense for 3 quarters, Jake Plumer's 213 passing yards and 2 TD's. But nothing hit me as much as when they flew back that night and the Crowd that was there to welcome them home. I'd never been more proud to wear my jersey and celebrate the team i so love. Sure we may have been beatin pretty handily by the Vikings the next game, but nothing can take away from the greatest season i'd ever been apart of.....
...That is until this past 2008 season. Having just bought season tickets back after having to get rid of them due to money issues, nothing had prepared me for the season that i would come to in my first full season back at the stadium. I felt it was all done to welcome me back to the place i love so much and the people i make friends with in my section.
For the first time in my life i cried in celebration after years and years of "You guys will never amount to anything" as the clock counted down to 0:00 against the Eagles. I was finally going to watch my team play for a championship just like the first one i ever watch some 21 years before in my grandpa's arms as a baby. And nothing can describe having him walking back to the car after the game and having him just stop in the middle of the walk way, look around and start to cry. Because of the Cardinals i will always have my favorite memory of him and of our time we spend together watching the team we love.
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Post by azcards4life on Aug 21, 2009 11:32:45 GMT -8
I may not have quite the story some of you have but I will share with you my Cardinal fanhood. I am 20 years old and I have lived in Phoenix my entire life. I know nothing else than to root for my hometown teams because I love them just about more than anything. I am an Arizona boy probably for the rest of my life. I am proud to say I have never ever rooted for another team like some of the other pathetic season ticket holders...you know the type that are cards fans 7 out of 8 games until the Cowboys/Steelers/Raiders/Packers/Vikings/Broncos game comes and they switch allegiances. That to me is incomprehensible. You're either a Cardinals fan or not pick a side. Anywho, I am a diehard fan and I represent the future of Cardinals fans. Most all of my friends are diehard fans and you can be rest assured the future of Cardinals fans is in good hands. I've been a fan since I was born I remember going to the Chargers game in 98 and wanting to rush the field but my Dad told me no. I remember when we knocked off the Vikings to end their playoff hopes when Plummer connected with Nate Poole in the back of the endzone. I remember how proud I was to have a guy like Pat Tillman on our team. In the last 2 years at U of P stadium I've been to probably about 10 or 11 games including the Falcons playoff game. I was one of the few who waited in line for 24 hours to get free tickets to that game outside of the AT&T store at Tempe Marketplace. It was a freezing night for Phoenix standards it dipped to about 30 degrees at night but it was a night I'll never forget sleeping on some random Cardinals fans pull out chair. That is what being a Cards fans is about. Unlike most teams, I believe our past failure has drawn us as a fan base closer. We are a select group because not many fans could take all the heartbreak we've endured. I sat row 1 in the endzone for the Falcons game and lost my voice completely(like I always do at games). I'm proud to say I MAKE A DIFFERENCE at the games because people all around me in my section I usually sit in 123 know me as the guy who won't ever sit down and won't ever stop prodding the crowd to yell DEFENSE or make noise or bang on the chairs. I always have to take Advil after the game and my throat feels like it's on fire because it's completely hoarse after the games. But is it worth it? Absolutely. I had the pleasure of meeting Carddan at this game and he told us to be leaders in our section. Carddan you are a leader my friend and the epitome of what a Cardinals fan should like. LETS GO WHO'S READY FOR SEPTEMBER 13!!!! GO CARDS NFC CHAMPS ;
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Post by carddan on Aug 21, 2009 16:26:08 GMT -8
azcards4life, I read your whole post and was surprised when you mentioned me. You remind me of my sons. We all want the next generation to have it better, and be better than ours. It sounds like I met you walking in while we wait to be searched, I sometimes try to fire up the crowd at that time. It also sounds like you don't need any encouragement from me, and that's the way it should be.
I Am Ready To Protect The Nest!
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Post by azcards4life on Aug 21, 2009 18:15:49 GMT -8
Yeah Carddan I met you outside waiting to get checked for security the day of the Falcons game. What a great day. First home playoff game in our history. Plus sitting row 1 for free and almost getting Anquan Boldin's touchdown ball was awesome. Getting high fives from Whisenhunt, Terrelle Smith, Gabe Watson was awesome too.
Carddan are you going to Seattle? A couple friends and I are considering going. If so what section are you in? It'd be great to sit with a fan as passionate as I.
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Post by cardiaccardfan on Aug 28, 2009 9:39:19 GMT -8
I lived in southern Illinois, until i was 9. We were about an hour from St.Louis, So I started cheerring for the Cardinals when I was 4(as soon as I new what football was). I have always cheered for the Cards, in football as well as baseball. We moved to the Dallas area in 1973(I was 9) I continued being a Cardinal fan (The rest of my family started pulling for Dallas). I never swayed not when they left St.Louis to go to Phoenix, nor when they left Phoenix to become Arizona Cardinals. My mom bought me a Dallas Cowboy Jacket when I was 9, and I refused to wear it. I would go see the Cardinals and the cowboys play, and I would wear my Jim Hart shirt and cheer for the Cardinals (while my brothers and Dad pulled for Dallas). I stood by them through good and bad. I remember watching Conrad Dobbler, Tom Banks Mel Gray, Terry Metcalf, Jim Hart, later it was Neil Lomax,Leland Mcelroy Rob Moore Fran Sanders, even Boomer Esiason, Jake the Snake Plummber Eric Swan and you can never forget PAT TILLMAN the list goes on and on. The bottom line is, I have always been there and WILL alwys be there to cheer them on. Texaz41, I bet you thought that you were the only CARDINAL FAN in texas. Well, I live in the Dallas metroplex area (have since 1973), I always thought that I was the only Cardinal fan there. It is good to know there are others.
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Post by boldin81 on Aug 28, 2009 11:45:12 GMT -8
Good story. I live in the St. Louis area still. Always loyal to the Big Red. The players you mentioned from the 70's bring back a lot of memories for me when I attended games in the old Busch Stadium.
Take Care,
John
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