Top 10 Events in Cardinals Glendale Stadiuum

Wow, the Arizona Cardinals' "new" stadium in Glendale AZ (called "University of Phoenix Stadium" by those who think corporate sponsorships matter) just opened three years ago, yet it has already hosted some awesome sporting events. Here are my top 10. Frankly the list is pretty impressive. Even better, I had tickets to every game on the list except SB42.

1. NFC Championship Game. Jan. 18, 2009. Cardinals 32-25 over the Eagles in a back and forth game that had fans on edge. Thunderous noise and joy throughout.

2. Super Bowl 42. February 4, 2008. Giants edge the Patriots 17-14 in a great game. Not #1 because it featured no local teams and was full of "fans" who didn't really care about the game.

3. Fiesta Bowl Jan. 1, 2007 Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42 (OT). Huge upset with amazing play after amazing play to finish the game.

4. NFC Wildcard Game January 3,2009. Cardinals defeat Falcons 30-24. First home playoff win ever.

5. Fiesta Bowl Jan. 5, 2009 Texas 24, Ohio State 21. Great game between two traditional powers when many were predicting a Texas blow-out.

6. International Soccer February 7, 2007 62,462 fans saw the U.S. National team defeat Mexico, 2-0. Raucus, pro-Mexico crowd made the whole event a blast.

7. Fiesta Bowl Jan. 2, 2008 West Virginia 48, Oklahoma 28. Huge upset by the Moutaineers.

8. Cardinals v. Dallas October 12, 2008. Cardinals defeat Dallas on a blocked punt in O.T. Though a regular season game, this result sent notice that this was a very different Cardinals team. Alot of Cowboys fans left the Stadium as Cardinals fans.

9. BCS National Championship Game. January 8, 2007. Texas blows out Ohio State 41-14. Not much of a game, but it was the National Championship.

10. First Game. August 12, 2006 Cardinals 21-13 win over the Steelers. Pre-season, but it was long sold out and we beat the Super Bowl Champ, and was an exciting start to a beautiful stadium.

2 years at $20 million sounds pretty good

This hurts to say, but the Bidwills are right with respect to Warner. Hey, Kurt, there's no "i" in team or in John 3:16. $10 million for the only year you're likely to be any good, plus another $10 million in case the team wants to hang on to you in 2010 as well, and we'll throw in a receiver who will catch anything you can throw at him. Hey, man, if you want to cadge a free steak dinner off the 'Niners, that's cool, but there is no way those guys are gonna fork over more money. You're a perfect fit for the Cardinals, and they are treating you fairly.

Mind you, my inability to criticize the Bidwills only goes so far. If you all want to make Warner settle for less than he wants (i.e., be treated like everybody else in America during a recession), you better make sure you use all your cap room to get us a running back (not Lamont Jordan -- a running back) and some big fellas on the D- and O-lines. And if you need even more cap room, trade the sulky California kid; as dumb and immature as he appears to be, Leinart will command a decent trade to make the rest of the team better.

UFL is here

Not exactly the launch I hoped for, but the United Football League will begin play this October --but with only 4 franchises playing in 7 cities. You can read the full announcement HERE.

As a sort of explanation for the modest barnstorming start, those clever lads at the UFL are calling this season the "UFL Premiere Year."

In its "Premiere" year, the UFL will have four teams playing in at least seven cities. The four teams selected for the "Premiere" season are Las Vegas/Los Angeles, New York/Hartford, Orlando and San Francisco/Sacramento. During the course of the six-week season, these four teams will travel to each city for games. The season will culminate with a Championship Game tentatively scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend in Las Vegas.

Hmmmm... since the original goal was 8 teams, I guess the UFL decided they had to launch now if at all. Only 4 teams in seven cities with the hope that they'll expand to all 7 cities in the following year. But if I live in Vegas, why would I root for a team based in LA? Or vice-versa? Will they have different nicknames in each city? Or will we see the Los Angeles-Las Vegas Vagabonds against the New York-Hartford Commuters and the like?

Allegedly a TV Deal is forthcoming, and they have already hired Jim Fassel to coach Vegas, and given they plan to pay much more than the CFL, there is still some hope that the UFL folks will pull this "Thursday and Friday Night TV" league off.

Soccer Time

With the end of the NFL season and the pending onset of another boring summer of baseball, the only fun left is soccer. (The Suns and Coyotes stink right now, so the NBA and NHL playoffs don't offer much solice). MLS doesn't start until April, but the good news is that we'll have a pro game in Phoenix on March 14 -- Los Angeles Galaxy v. Chicago Fire. On paper this is an excellent matchup. Galaxy has Beckham and Fire has Blanco. But at this point it seems unlikely that Becks will even show.

Get your tickets now HERE.

Good Times

I had a great time at Super Bowl 43, even though the good guys lost. What a fun game and a pretty fun city. Tampa wasn't that impressive, but Ybor City (old section of Tampa) was very cool and we enjoyed St. Pete as well.

Go Cardinals

Hey, for a team that wasn't even supposed to be there, the Cardinals showed themselves to be championship-caliber on Sunday night. Way to go, team. I can't be too disappointed.

Maybe a little frustrated, though, at the Steelers. What a bunch of inbred, hillbilly coalminers. A dirty bunch of mother-f***ers, too. Who was that thug punching Aaron Francisco in the kidneys? I guess we should be lucky they didn't go all Deer Hunter on us, but seriously, folks, when the nastiest team wins, we can all have pride in a clean, second-place finish.

Sour Grapes

My friends and I have had Cardinals season tickets for 13 years. We have been loyal fans, sitting in the sun (at Sun Devil Stadium), drinking beer, buying products, and watching some really bad football and even worse team management. No need to document the well-known foibles of the AZ Cardinals here. We've been loyal as fans and we love the players. We love Arizona. We love our team. And now that love is finally being paid off- The Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl!

Today we received the bad news.

Dear Season Ticket Holder:
Thank you for your tremendous support throughout this historic season. It was certainly true when Coach Whisenhunt said the team could not have made it this far without the incredible home field advantage the team receives at each and every home game.
The drawing for season ticket holders to determine which accounts are able to purchase Super Bowl tickets has taken place and notification letters were mailed Friday, Jan. 16. Unfortunately, your account was not selected.
Please see below for a number of Super Bowl related links including the contact information for fan travel packages including game tickets.

The bad news is certainly frustrating. But we understand it. There are only so many tickets to go around. After all corporate sponsors and team bigwigs need their share. Heck some of them even like football!

But the outrage came at the end of the form email. The link they provided for ticket packages was to a so-called "travel promoter." The promoter offers packages that include tickets to the game. Check out this ticket broker's site HERE.

That's right. The Cardinals' "Official Fan Travel Partner" is offering special packages to CARDINALS FANS to go to the game. You get a room, a gift bag, and tickets to the game for only $6k or so. So in other words, World Events Packages" is not really a travel partner. It is a TICKET SCALPER. They are making money selling tickets to long-time fans that include lame hotel rooms, SB trinkets, and "parties" in order to justify the outrageous profits they are making selling tickets.

There is NO justification for this company having a single ticket to sell, let alone several thousand. The Cardinals are finally a success, due in large part to the HUGE TAX PAYER SUBSIDY they received in the form of their new stadium in Glendale. They are making plenty of $. Yet that is not enough. They took the tickets away from loyal fans and gave them to a ticket broker in return for a fee. Sickening. Pathetic. Just plain wrong.

The Cardinals will have some excuse about "NFL requirements" or the like, but they'll have nothing legitimate to say. They turned their backs on fans in return for just a few more dollars. Basically the Cardinals just spit in our faces.

UPDATE: We got tickets! But my criticism of the sale of tickets to scalpers remains.

Bizarro Nation

Within about fifty hours this coming week, the Arizona cardinals will host the NFC Championship Game, and the nation will watch as an African-American is sworn in as the leader of the free world. Neither event would have been predicted by any sane person even a decade ago, but enjoy these bizarro moments while you can. Let's just hope Mister Mxyzptlk will be strolling the sidelines in Cardinal red.

Sickening.

Peter King of SI.com reports:

"About New York'' column in Saturday's New York Times about the Yankees' request to the city for $370-million in additional taxpayer financing, on the heels of already getting $942 in prior financing; in addition, the city has committed $660 million to replace the open spaces used by the next stadium and for parking improvements. On the heels of a superb ESPN report last summer on the vanishing play spaces for Bronx youth because of the stadium, this is more of the same. For improvements to the video and sound systems in the stadium, the Yankees want $34 million. This is a team that just spent $423 million on three players? What unmitigated gall.

All I can say is "How dare the Yankees?!" Have they no shame? They make crazy, buttloads of money, completely unbalance the MLB financial structure, buy playoff teams and then ask for a handout? If they get it, the officials who approve it should be impeached.

I WANT this belt

Check out the WWF-Style belt won by Bertrand Berry for having the most sacks on the Cardinals this year. Former Steeler Clark Haggins brought the idea from Pittsburgh and had the belt made at the beginning of the year. Very cool.

Here comes the UFL!

Interview with the UFL's founder and the UFL's commissioner.

Charles Barkley for Governor?

Though Sir Charles gets points for honesty, I think his chances of being Alabama's governor just went down to zero.

Read the police report of his DUI arrest on The Smoking Gun by clicking HERE.