Statement Games

I lived the first half of my life in the Long Island suburbs of New York City, the second half in Arizona. When I was ten years old, Broadway Joe Namath (who just might have been the coolest guy on the planet back then) led the New York Jets to a legendary, almost-mythic upset win over the heavily-favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. From that point on, I have been a Jets fan for life. In 1982, I graduated from Law School in Albany, NY, on a Saturday, and moved out to Tucson, Arizona the next day. Arizona had no pro football team then, but the St. Louis Cardinals moved out to the desert a few years later. They landed in Phoenix (Tempe, actually) and called themselves the Phoenix Cardinals back then, but they became Arizona's team. And, although they pretty much sucked and had a total putz for an owner, they became my second team. In retrospect, I don't know what I ever did to deserve such abject misery.

Since the legendary Super Bowl victory in January of 1969, the Jets have not once returned to the Big Game. They've made it to the Conference Finals only twice since then. In 1982, Richard Todd (remember him?) led the team to the Conference Finals, where they played division rival Miami in the Orange Bowl. It rained for about a week before the game, and the field was a muddy mess. The Jets gained about 15 yards in total offense that day, A.J. Duhe of Miami deflected a Todd pass into the air, waited for about three minutes for the ball to fall into his arms, and then slogged through the mud into the end zone. The Jets were shut out in that game, 14-0. It was painful to watch.

In 1999, Vinny Testaverde, who I don't think has ever won a championship game at any level, led the Jets to the Conference Finals again. That year, the game was played in Denver in frigid conditions. Somehow, the Jets kept John Elway in check for the first half, and actually led at halftime 6-0. But the real Elway showed up in the second half, and the Broncos romped to a relatively easy win.

And that's been it. There have been a couple of other playoff appearances, maybe three or four, but they have all been early exits. For the most part, the Jets have been pathetic for the last forty years. They have been soft and inconsistent, and have usually let good players slip away. Cheering for them has been a chore.

But if the Jets have been bad, the Cardinals have been absolutely horrific. In the twenty years since they landed in the desert, the Cardinals have had only one, yes one, winning season. In 1999, the Cardinals somehow managed to go 9-7. The last game of that season was a last-second victory over San Diego, which secured the Cards only playoff berth during their entire tenure in Arizona. The quarterback was Jake Plummer, local college star from Arizona State. The Cards faced the dreaded Cowboys in their playoff game. Now, the Dallas Cowboys, for reasons that make me sick, were at that time Arizona's team. In the many years that Arizona was without a pro football team, Cowboys games were featured on TV, gear was sold in stores, and this state became a Dallas Cowboys stronghold. Indeed, if you go see a Cowboys/Cardinals game here (at least until this year), you would find more Cowboys fans than Cardinals fans. It's sickening, especially to someone like me who has always hated the Cowboys.

Anyway, I digress. Somehow, the Cardinals beat the Cowboys in that playoff game. The next week, they faced a much stronger opponent (it was either Green Bay or the Rams, I can't remember) and they were done. But the future looked bright. That is, until the putz of an owner broke up the team. And so, that one glorious moment remains the only playoff game won by the Cardinals in the twenty years they have been in Arizona. One game. Unbelieveable. Even the Jets have been better than that.

Which brings us to this year. The Jets were coming off a four win season last year and not much was expected for this season. I was in Las Vegas in either May or June, and just for laughs, I put down a five dollar bet for the Jets to win the Super Bowl. The odds were 65-1, and I figured what the heck, it's only five bucks. What did I know? And then, all of a sudden, none other than Brett Favre ends up being the Jets quarterback. Tom Brady of the Patriots is lost for the year due to injury, and Peyton Manning has been decidedly mortal. The Jets were 6-3 going into last night's game against the Pats and were tied for the division lead. Holy crap, you mean to tell me there's a chance I might actually get to cash in that 65-1 five dollar bet?

The Jets went out to a big first half lead in the game last night. The Patriots fought back. After all, they're still the Patriots, with or without Tom Brady, and they were playing at home. The score was tied at the end of the third quarter. The Jets came back with a long drive to go up by a touchdown with three minutes left. The Patriots tied the score with a miracle touchdown pass with one second left. Uh-oh. Here it comes, reality time for the Jets.

And then a funny thing happened in overtime. Favre led the Jets on another long drive; and the Jets kicked the game-winning field goal midway through overtime. Against the Patriots. On their field. The national pundits are saying that the Jets, by barely beating the Patriots in overtime on a game that they led handily in the first half, missed an opportunity to make a "statement", whatever the hell that is supposed to mean. Well, I've got news for you clowns. The Jets made a major statement last night. Any other Jets team would have easily lost that game. That's the statement, and for long-suffering Jets fans like me, that is enough. At least for today.

And the Cardinals? The Cardinals have quietly put together a solid team the last few years. The receiving tandem of Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald are the best in the league. The defense is loaded with studs. And Kurt Warner, former two-time league MVP, won the starting quarterback position from Matt Leinart, and has played this season as good, if not better, than he ever did for the Rams back in his glory days. When all that is added to the fact that the other teams in the division, the 49'ers, Rams, and Seahawks, are all having major down years, the Cardinals find themselves leading the division. Pivotal home wins against then-undefeated Buffalo and Dallas (yes, the dreaded Cowboys) on consecutive Sundays back in October vaulted the Cardinals to first place in the division. Before last Monday night's game against San Francisco, the Cardinals were 5-3 and led the division by three games. The Monday night match-up, nationally televised, against an inferior opponent on the Cardinals' home field in brand- new University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale (a West Valley suburb of Phoenix) was supposed to be a "statement" game.

Well, the 49'ers made a statement on the first play of the game, as the kickoff was run back for a 104 -yard touchdown. The Cardinals were forced to play catch-up the rest of the way, as that first play seemed to suck the life out of the home crowd and home team. The Cards made mistakes, committed stupid penalties, had horrible tackling at times, and allowed the 49'ers to almost beat them. Any other Cardinal team from any other year would clearly have lost, and blown this opportunity at a "statement" game. Yet, somehow, unbelievably, the Cards denied their legacy, and came out with an ugly win, thanks to a last-second, improbable goal-line stand. Still, ugly as it was, a win is a win, and the Cardinals, at 6-3, now find themselves four games ahead in their division.

Again, the national pundits have been merciless, castigating the Cardinals for failing to make a "statement." And to that, I say, you morons are clueless!! The Cardinals made a statement, they won the damn game!! That's the statement, don't you idiots get that??!! These are the Cardinals you're talking about!

As I sit here today, the Jets are 7-3 and lead their division. The Cardinals are 6-3 and, incredibly with seven games still to go, have almost clinched their division. My mind wanders with fantasies of the Jets barely edging out the Cardinals in the Super Bowl this coming February and me going up to Vegas to cash in that ticket. I can almost taste the sweetness of that fantasy, and I long for it to happen. I have hope, I have faith, and I'm loving this football season.

And that, all you ridiculous so-called national experts, is the statement these two teams have made. They have ceased to be themselves, and they have actually learned how to win. They have given their fans hope, and joy, and excitement. They're not the best teams in the league, they probably won't reach the Super Bowl. But they have clearly made statements to their fans. And we're lovin' it!!