In front of millions I cheered for the Cardinals
Matt Wilhalme
r the three hour plus flight and the pilot came over the intercom.”We would like to welcome you to Tampa Bay, local time is 4:20p.m. with cloudy skies and a temperature of 68 degrees.”
A mix of mostly Steelers fans, even though we had just flown in from Arizona, and Cardinals fans we were greeted by a jazz band performing in the airport and multiple people wearing official Super Bowl XLIII t-shirts handing out maps of the area and coupons to local establishments.
As the underdog, Cardinals fan’s were certainly meant to feel that we had travelled a long way, nearly 2,100 miles, to sit in an unfriendly stadium and watch our beloved team get dismantled by the Steelers and their self described blue collar work ethic.
Flapping in the wind, our Cardinal window flag flew proudly on our red minivan, as we made another trek more than 30 miles to our hotel.
Game Day
Waking up after an intense celebratory blast, we got up slowly at first.
After seeing that the sun was up and the dolphins were splashing for tourist photographs, we packed our stuff and headed out to the stadium.
The Arizona Cardinals, with a regular season record of 9-7, had gone 3-0 in the playoffs, became the NFC Champions, and earned their right to compete in one of the biggest sporting events in existence, the Super Bowl.
Even after defeating team after team in the playoffs, the Cardinals did not receive any credit for the skills they possessed and were hated on by sports writers and fans across the country.
The intensity of the impending game seemed to weigh down the entire city and created a suffocating bubble around the stadium.
Entering the stadium felt like going through an airlock and being released into an alternate dimension.
One where all that existed was the 72,000 soon to be occupied seats and me.
The players were already beginning their pre-game warms on the field while three different panels of sports analysts and broadcasters spread around the field debated the intricacies of the Cardinals offense against the Steelers defense.
The national anthem was played, the players lined the field, a coin was tossed and fate took over.
The Day After
We slept in until 11a.m.
The steady drizzle of rain from the Gulf of Mexico coupled with overcast skies provided the perfect conditions to sleep off whatever knots we had tied on, and allowed time for our vocal chords to rest so that we could begin to talk again.
SportsCenter played in every room, bar and conversation we had that day.
We questioned play calls, argued penalties, but agreed that the outcome was sufficient.
On one of the biggest stages in the world the Cardinals did not let themselves get run over by the Steelers as the experts had believed.
They put up the biggest fight that they could and lit the entire stadium and viewers watching around the world with energy and the thought “Could this be happening?”
Super Bowl XLIII was one of the most incredible experiences of my life and I was extremely fortunate to have been in just the right place at just the right time for it to be even remotely possible, kind of like the Cardinals.
