With a win, Cardinals can own the Valley

With a win, Cardinals can own the Valley
January 3
East Valley Tribune columnist Scott Bordow
"This always has been a Phoenix Suns town. The Suns were born here. They grew up here. They were our first and enduring love, their memories our memories.

No team has been able to sever that relationship. The 2001 Diamondbacks club that won the World Series captured our hearts, but not to the extent of the 1992-1993 Suns team that went to the NBA Finals.

That can all change starting today.

If the Cardinals beat the Atlanta Falcons, it won't be Shaquille O'Neal and Steve Nash everyone is talking about around the water cooler Monday morning. It will be Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald.

"We're trying to get on top so the Cardinals can own the city," fullback Terrelle Smith said.

Given the franchise's history and the fact Arizona needed an extension from the NFL to sell out today's game - likely a direct reflection of the dire economic times - Smith's boast might seem preposterous.

But think about it. The Suns are no longer a championship-caliber team. The Diamondbacks have taken two steps backward this winter. The Coyotes are in financial distress. This is the Cardinals' chance to finally ride the coattails of the NFL and become the Valley's hottest sports team.

Cardinals players already have begun to notice the transformation. When quarterback Kurt Warner arrived in 2005, the apathy in the community astounded him.

"At the beginning it was a welcome change from what I experienced before, and we kind of enjoyed it as a family," Warner said. "But then you come to realize it was more because they weren't really excited about football and that was disappointing."

Smith vividly remembers what fans were saying about the Cardinals in 1999, when he was a senior at Arizona State.

"We need to get a stadium, we can't get it right, we let good players go. Moaning, moaning, moaning," Smith said. "They sounded like one of my kids."

But when the Cardinals go out these days, rarely a complaint is heard.

"Now they open the door for you when you walk into the store at the mall," Smith said.

Of course, Arizona has to take advantage of this opportunity. Lose to the Falcons, and the momentum it gained from winning the NFC West title and hosting its first playoff game in 61 years will slow considerably.

The Cardinals also can't let this season be a one-trick pony. In 1998, Arizona was on the verge of something special when it won its last three games to make the playoffs then shocked the Dallas Cowboys in a wild-card game. But stalwarts Jamir Miller, Larry Centers and Lomas Brown were let go in the offseason, and the team nose-dived, finishing 6-10 the following year.

Just like that, they were the Same 'Ol Cardinals again."
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