photo from azcardinals.com

Alright everyone, I’ve come out of my hole to finally talk about the Super Bowl loss. I apologize for the delay in doing so but it was tough to get to the computer after that game. I also couldn’t decide which angle I wanted to take. I have about 20 different emotions going on inside of me and didn’t want the wrong one to come out.

Looking at the game now, I see it as both a great thing for the Arizona Cardinals and their future, and devastating. A lot of my friends that were rooting for the Cardinals were happy that Arizona got the respect they deserved and put up a good fight. I’m very happy about all of the good things but I still have trouble getting over a loss like that. I’ve invested 20 years of my life in a football team and was a play away from ecstasy. I was trying to explain my hurt to a not so understanding girl I know by giving her an example. My example was my feelings are similar to that of a women standing on the altar getting ready for the greatest moment of her life. Only to have the guy not show up and make it the worst moment of her life. My point is there was one play between me having the greatest moment of my life and the most painful. Similar to that of a girl being left on her wedding day. It was the best way I could describe it to a girl who felt I was being dramatic.

Once I get out of this funk I’ll be able to realize the greatness that will come from this all. I don’t know if Arizona will ever be in a Super Bowl while I’m alive, but I do know they built a fan base and a future with that game. Somewhere in Spain there is a kid that’s now a Larry Fitzgerald fan, somewhere in Africa a kid wants to be the next Anquan Boldin. Somewhere in Sweden a kid wants to throw passes like Kurt Warner. Those things have never happened before for the Cardinals but they will now.

The Cardinals confidence should be through the rough going into next year. This season we were all hoping Arizona would make a run at the playoffs. Next season we will expect the playoffs and hope for another shot at the Super Bowl. There’s a lot of personnel decisions to be made but the core of the team should still be strong.

I know everyone is upset about the refs in this game. There’s no question they did a bad job and missed some calls. But I won’t say we would have won had the refs called a fair game. Maybe Arizona would have I don’t know. But there was never one specific call that we can look at that took points off the board for the Cards. I still don’t cut the refs any slack for such a poorly officiated game. The one call that I think shocks me the most was the last play of the game when they didn’t even review the play. That’s just stunning and the NFL should be embarrassed. Another one that no one is talking about is the play where Mike Gandy got a holding called on him when the play was already whistled dead. It’s either offsides or false start, how can there be a hold? That killed the drive but Arizona did recover next time with that amazing touchdown by Fitzgerald. That was almost one of the great plays in football history had they won the game. I get chills just thinking of it. I was excited but realized the time left on the clock. We all know what happened from there. It was too good to be true I guess.

Three other things I wanted to mention… One, Kurt Warner was named the Walter Payton Man of The Year before the game. I know that trophy was as important as any award to him so congratulations to Kurt for winning that, he definitely deserved it. Two, Warner is now the all time passing yards leader in Super Bowl history. That’s a pretty good credential to put on your Hall of Fame resume. Kurt has the 3 highest passing yard games in Super Bowl history as well. He certainly showed up and played clutch at the end. Three, Larry Fitzgerald shattered every NFL playoff receiving record. Larry has more receiving yards, receptions, and touchdowns than everyone including Jerry Rice. He showed that he might just be the best player in the World.

It was very important to me that Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, and Anquan Boldin play good games because they needed to show the country how great they are. Warner I wanted to play good just because I like him and was hoping people would recognize him for the great QB he is. But Fitzgerald and Boldin have been two of the best receivers I’ve ever seen but have been hidden on a team that didn’t get any media attention. These are the two best WR’s in the game today and could go down as the greatest duo ever if they stay together. I want Boldin to be in Arizona next year so they can show the World once again how dominant they are.

Well for now that is all. The future is bright and the draft is right around the corner. There’s lots of decisions to be made by Rod Graves and Ken Whisenhunt so we should have a fun and busy offseason.

This has been the wildest football season of my life. I’m sad it’s gone and that it didn’t end with the bang I wanted. But I think someday when I’m an old man I’ll look back at 2008 as the greatest season I’ve ever watched as a fan. Even with the Super Bowl loss. Never will a team be more unexpected to be in a championship game. Never will I find a better quarterback and person to cheer for. The excitement this season brought can’t be topped in my mind. I hope you all feel the same way. My hopes of winning it all were almost fulfilled, but we can at least hope for greatness in the future. Remember hope that is seen is no hope at all. We will hope for another shot at a Super Bowl next year.