The Selection - Arizona Cardinals vs Kansas City Chiefs

People keep asking me who I'm going to pick, and they really don't believe me when I say "I'm not sure, yet". They think either a) I've known all along b) it's a given I'm going to pick the Cardinals because of what they did for me or c) I'm picking the Chiefs just to have an "upset" (though really, when did Vegas start putting odds on this?) But to be completely honest, I've changed my mind approximately 8 times in the last 2 weeks on this.

In all honesty, I've known since the playoffs began that barring something unforeseen these were going to the be the final 2 (though the Broncos and Ravens did give me something to think about). It's just that I've always thought one would become the clear choice in the meantime, but they haven't. The Chiefs have a fan-base that I'd be proud to call myself a part of. The Cardinals are trying to shed their perception of an NFL bottom-feeder and have put people (and facilities) in place to get there. Their future is unknown and exciting, but so is the Chiefs'. It's not an easy decision.

Rather than rehash the Pros and Cons that we've seen for a month now, let's look at each category these teams were scored on and see which team has the advantage.

History - This isn't either team's strong suit really. The Cardinals have been historically bad since the Super Bowl era, other than a run of recent success. The Chiefs started off strong, but have faded since other than a good run during the early 90s and a little resurgence in the Priest Holmes era. Neither has been a consistent winner by any means, but the Chiefs have had a handful of good runs and do have a Super Bowl Title.

Advantage - Chiefs

Location - Neither team is exceptionally close to home, so I'm either looking at a plane ride or an extended road trip to get to either city, so distance isn't a strong suit. Still, where am I more likely to want to spend a weekend? Phoenix or Kansas City? With all due respect to Kansas City, it's a no brainer.

Advantage - Cardinals

Logo/Uniform - If you look at my original rankings, the Cardinals had a slight edge in this category. I like the Cardinals logo, colors, and unis, but I think I was wrong here. The Chiefs red and yellow are distinctive, traditional, and Hulk Hogan's favorite color scheme. I can admit when I was wrong.

Advantage - Chiefs

Fanbase - This one isn't really close. One team is the pride of its city, filling its stadium week in and week out regardless of the record. The other almost didn't sell out a home playoff game.

Advantage - Chiefs

Current Makeup - This one has gotten a little tougher since the end of the season. The Cardinals have some established stars like Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Darnell Dockett, (and I would have said Antrel Rolle until the other day but we'll have to see where that goes). The Chiefs have some good young talent like Jamal Charles, Dwayne Bowe, and Matt Cassell. The Cardinals had this by a good margin until it looked like Matt Leinart would be the starting QB next season. Then again, with current NFL free agency, how much stock can you have on ANY player being back with a team the next year. It's a lot closer now, but I still think the Cardinals have the edge. How can you not love Larry Fitzgerald?

Advantage - Cardinals

Intangibles - The Chiefs sent a great response and I even got a follow-up email from one of the guys who helped put it together. It was above and beyond what I expected to get from ANY team and I got some great feedback from Chiefs fans. But…the Cardinals obviously took this to a different level. They sent a long, personal, touching letter and then treated me like a king when I made it out to Phoenix. They didn't "buy" me or "bribe" me so much as they "wooed" me.

Advantage - Cardinals

That's 3 categories for the Chiefs and 3 for the Cardinals. Now, do you understand why this is difficult?
But, I can only pick one. I've gone back and forth, considered delaying, thought I had my mind made up, changed it again, saw a SportsCenter piece on one team that made me want to switch again, etc. etc. etc. These aren't the two teams I would have predicted would have made it this far, but they separate themselves from the pack along the way. The problem has been separating them from each other.

I think one thing is without question, I'm a better fit with the Kansas City Chiefs fans. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm that kind of loyal to my teams, I've got that kind of passion, and I love BBQ. I think they are the most underrated fan base in the NFL and it would be an honor to call myself part of it.

The Chiefs have good young talent and while the product on the field hasn't been pretty lately, They've got leadership in place (like Scott Pioli) who have shown they know how to win. I think things are really looking good for this team. Now is a great time to jump on board with the Chiefs because I think the best is yet to come.

It makes a lot of sense. A fan-base I love, a team on the way up, and an excuse to wear the colors of Hulkamania. It makes tons of sense.

But I can't get past this one thing…

I remember watching the Saints and Cardinals in the playoffs this year. I remember watching the Cardinals make mistake after mistake and seeing the game get away from them. More important than any of that, I remember a feeling in my gut while this was happening. I was disappointed. It hurt a little. Do you remember the scene in "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" when the Grinch starts to actually feel emotion for the first time and is a little confused by it and not exactly sure what was going on? That was me. I was getting attached.

The Cardinals have a rough history. Fair weather is a nice way to describe the current fan base. I need to emphasize that they are most likely going to be starting Matt Leinart at QB next year. These, on the surface are not good things. I like their city, I like their colors, and I love their stadium, but if history predicts the future, I'm in for some rough times if I pick this team.

There was a little more to my Cardinals trip that I didn't write about, and those were my hosts (who have asked to remain anonymous). I've told you about the royal treatment I got and how they went all out, and that was great, but that wasn't what impressed me the most. What impressed me was talking to them, and hearing them talk about their team. They were realistic, they knew their fans weren't the die-hards that you see in Green Bay or Philadelphia, they knew they didn't have the championships of a Dallas or a Pittsburgh, but they were going to do everything in THEIR power to change that. For one of them, that meant writing a letter that completely nailed what this whole search was about. Then meeting the author of this letter and seeing where he wanted this team to go, I almost got chills. No they don't have the number of passionate, die-hard believers that other teams have, but I know for a fact they have 2 that would rival the 2 best from any other team.

Well, I want to make that 3. I choose the Arizona Cardinals. I want to be a part of where this team is going. I want to hurt when they lose and be on cloud nine when they win. I'm not kidding myself. Typing this and hitting post does not make me a die-hard fan, but I'm going to work at it. I'm going to follow them year in and year out, watch every game I possibly can, and do my best to get to Phoenix for a game when I can. I'm going to wear the merchandise, read the local papers, and treat them just like I treat the other teams I love. Hopefully 20 years from now, they'll be on that same level and have the same control over my heart. Maybe those 20 years will be full of championships and great memories, or maybe it will be two torturous decades, but isn't that always a risk we take and isn't that what makes being a fan so great? 

Why Do I Care? A Question of Fandom...

This is actually a note I wrote last May long before the premise of SWF, but I thought this would be a good place to share it as I get ready to hitch my wagon onto another team that will break my heart too many times to count. The good news is I can update the final paragraph with details of being in Orlando for Game 5 and watching the Lakers win the NBA Title in person, as well as being in Pasadena as Alabama did the same.  Unfortunately, I could also update the other paragraphs for another moment of mental instability as I watched Jonathan Broxton pitch around MATT STAIRS en route to blowing a crucial save against the Phillies that ultimately ended the Dodgers' World Series hopes.  I hope this sheds a little light on how seriously I take this and I hope you can relate. If you can't, I hope you get there one day...

---------------------------------------

I've started this note probably 5 times in the last two years and each time I've ended up just erasing it and forgetting it. It's too painful to write. I'm usually either trying to write it too soon after one of these catastrophic events or too far removed from the emotion to really capture it. But I'm kind of at the perfect time now. The playoffs are in full swing, flooding me with the painful memories of years past, but these are softened by the hope I have for this year. I'm watching the Bulls/Celtics series and wondering if I'd be able to survive this if it was the Lakers. I really don't think I could have survived it and I can't even imagine how anxious I'd be about Game 7. Bill Simmons pretty much nailed it in his article about Game 6 of the Bulls/Celtics (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090501&sportCat=nba)

I've been right there…more times than I want to admit.

I was there in 2005 when I refused to let anyone come into my apartment for Game 5 of the Finals because I knew this game was the end of the Shaq/Kobe era. I wanted to face this alone. I screamed at Shaq. I screamed at Kobe. I pleaded with Phil to go with a Shaq/Kobe/Fox/George/Fishe

r lineup and at least end this thing with the guys who started it. I threw everything that wasn't nailed down in my apartment. When it was over, I sat there…like I always do. I watched the Pistons celebrate. Then I had the conversation with my Dad that I have after every one of these games. The one where he tells me not to get too down, that we'll be back next year, and that it's just a game. The last conversation either of us want to have, but at the same time the only conversation either of us want to have.

I was there last summer after Game 5 of the Finals. I sat there on the couch, stunned for over an hour after the game. I forced myself to watch the post-game interviews, the press conferences, the highlights on SportsCenter. I was completely numb. I went to Wal-Mart at midnight, by myself, and walked around for two hours (literally) thinking about nothing but that game. How do you blow a 24 point lead in the 2nd half of the most important game of the Finals?

I was there in Bryant-Denny stadium too many times to count. The Arkansas OT game in 03. 4th and 19 in OT against Tennessee. I think I was the last one to leave the stadium after the LSU game in 07. Then there was a long drive back from Auburn in 05, and a long drive back from Atlanta this year. Then there were the threats I made against a certain kicker from my friend's basement after the '99 Orange Bowl…

I've got hundreds of stories like this. In the words of Louie De Palma, "that's just the tip of the iceberg. I got stories that will rip your heart out".

And I'm yet to even mention the Dodgers…

This is probably why I have a hatred in my heart for bandwagon fans that is rivaled by few things. Because they haven't been there. They've never had their hearts shredded by a team they've spent entirely too much of their lives following. They don't have to deal with the bad years, they just look elsewhere. If "their team" loses on a buzzer beater, it's not the end of the world. At least they got to see a great game. They've never had the postgame phone calls with their Dad where he talks them off the ledge, promises better times are ahead and reminds them it's just a game, even though they know he is just as crushed as they are.

It's at these moments that I envy the bandwagon fans. I find myself wondering "why do I care so much?" Wouldn't my life be much easier if I could just detach from this, watch as a casual fan and just enjoy the good times? Why did I lose the genetic lottery and end up wired so that a loss by a bunch of guys who I will most likely never meet can emotionally wreck me worse than almost anything that anyone I actually know could do?

Then I think about the other side of the equation…the payoff.

I think about driving back home from Papa John's pizza in 2000 during Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, everyone insisting to leave against my protest because the game was "over" at the end of the 3rd quarter. I remember searching my radio dial feverously trying to find ANYTHING that might let me know what was going on and finally stumbling across a static-filled broadcast for which I could understand an occasional word. As I got closer to home, I started to make out a little more excitement in the commentator's voice, and heard phrases like "the lead is down to 8" and "Lakers are within 4." I remember speeding into my driveway, running inside and celebrating with my Dad as I came in just in time for the replay of the Kobe-Shaq oop that capped off the comeback that I completely missed…but at that moment I didn't care.

I think about Derek Fisher's "0.4" shot. How I wanted to turn the TV off when Tim Duncan banked in that 3. How I was biting my tongue from saying things I'd regret to everyone I was watching that game with that was celebrating just because they "hated the Lakers". Then when that shot went in, how I didn't even have to say a word.

I think about hugging complete strangers in a state of euphoria when Matt Caddell brought down a TD catch as time expired against Arkansas. I think about watching Neyland Stadium and Death Valley empty out long before the games ended in 2002, then celebrating in those stadiums as time expired with nothing but Alabama fans. I think about just sitting there after the Iron Bowl, staring at the scoreboard, almost expecting the 36¬-0 on it to just disappear because I didn't deserve anything that good.

The saddest part is that I have way too many of the "bad" memories and too few of the "good". But that's what makes the "good" so great. It's remembering how low you were and knowing for that one moment it was well worth it. It's gladly accepting having your heart ripped out hundreds of times for that one time that you're on the other side. It's calling your Dad and neither of you even knowing what to say, but not needing to say a thing.

It's at these moments that I truly feel sorry for the bandwagon fans.