redbirds

I grew up in Orange County, California a Dodgers fan. My father had grown up in Brooklyn during the 1930s and so loyalty to the team and to the sport was never a question. As far as football was concerned, we had the hapless Rams. Consequently, I was never much of a football fan. Until... The Raiders moved down to LA sometime in the 1980s, and everybody jumped on their bandwagon. My adolescent thought at that time was "screw that!" I decided that I would be a Rams fan.

Soon after, I moved down to San Diego to attend college at SDSU. Back then, it seemed that half of SDSU students were from Orange County and the other half were from the Bay Area, so the Rams-49'rs games were always contentious. In fear of stating the obvious, the 49'rs were somewhat more successful during those years. I don't mind routing for the underdog, but those years were brutal. Then, the Rams moved to St. Louis and I at that point lost all interest in the franchise.

In 1994, I moved to Arizona to pursue a graduate degree at ASU. For a few years, I was indifferent. But, after the 1996 perfect season of the ASU Sun Devils--led by Jake Plummer and Pat Tillman who were then drafted by the Cardinals--I became a whole-hearted supporter of the Arizona Cardinals.

It has been a difficult 15 years. Even at my regular bar in Phoenix, I was often the only Cardinal fan. Most people in Arizona come from somewhere else--mostly the mid-west, so we have plenty of Packer fans, Viking fans, Browns fans, etc. Plus, most native Arizonans are actually Cowboy fans, since they long ago drank the Kool-Aid of "America's Team" before Arizona had a team of their own. So, it was brutal there also.

When I moved to Rhode Island in June, I knew I was moving into a town that was drunk with the success of their Patriots, their Red Sox, and (soon) their Celtics. When I established myself at a local watering hole at the start of the NFL season, I boldly predicted that the Super Bowl would be contested by the New England Patriots and the Arizona Cardinals (Being pretty confident about the Patriots, but almost joking about the Cardinals).

So suck it, New England fans! My prediction was half true. Whether they win or lose, I don't care. The Cardinals already have the championship that has eluded them for 61 years: they are the NFC Champions of 2008 and nobody can take that away from them. But, I think that I have converted a lot of New England fans over to the Arizona cause. Normally, my drinking place here in Providence would be pretty empty if the Patriots were not in the big game. Now I know that a lot of my new-found friends will be there at least supporting me in this game. Here's to a good game!