No Denying It, We Are A Football Town Now!!

Now as some of you may be aware I’m an active duty Army Officer and I’ve been in for nine years now. Currently I am stationed out in Virginia and surrounded in freakin’ Redskin country. Usually I am forced to have my Arizona Cardinals experience limited to my couch, my tv, and myself as my wife usually lets me watch the games on my own because I tend to get “a little fired up” (as she so delicately puts it).

But not this past weekend, uh-uh……I got to be there for the home opener against Seattle, my first trip to the Cards new digs at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ, and it was unbelievable!! The Westgate area of restaurants, the sheer volume of fans, and the tailgating – now that was awesome! And what made it really great was walking around meeting superfans like David (pictured with me below).

I don’t know how many of you remember or experienced the days at Sun Devil Stadium, but for those of you who do remember will agree with me when I say that it never felt like a real home for the Cards. The facilities don’t compare in any way, and the city didn’t do enough to really support the Cards during their stay in Tempe. As a result, the fanbase suffered and found little reason to venture out to the concrete and dirt parking lots surrounding a stadium that was not within real walking distance to any resturaunts or bars in that desert heat.

But I can say with absolute certainty that comparing those days and those fans from that time to the fans I met on Sunday leads me to only one conclusion: NOW PEOPLE ARE PROUD TO CALL THEMSELVES CARDS FANS! I was just blown away by the amount of kids, families, older folks, twenty-somethings, everybody from every conceiveable demographic was represented out on that lawn drinking, laughing, playing catch, and having a great time all while sporting their favorite Cards jerseys or T-shirts; this was something that you didn’t see out there at Sun Devil Stadium before. This was the epitome of what Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt and his coaching staff were saying when they were talking about changing the culture of football in Arizona.

To say that this town is pumped up about the Cards would be the understatement of the year. The buzz, the energy, the absoulte excitement and electricity that I felt there is something that I have never experienced before at any Cards game, but have been begging for ever since the Red Birds rolled into town back in 1987.

Great Stadium, great players, great coaching staff, great community and GREAT FANS!!! There’s no denying it now, we are a football town – Welcome to Phoenix! Special shout out goes to E Morgan (pictured on the right with me) from azsuperbowlblog.com, for hooking me up with a fantastic ticket for the game. The seats were amazing, thanks girl!!

Now……on to Baltimore! GO CARDS!!!

Mike Duggan
AZCardsfan4life