Oh, When the Saints are in the Crowd

-- Kevin Vaughn-Brubaker

My first entry for this blog deserves a subject that rises to the elevated occasion of a first entry, the NFC Wild Card game this past Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium (full disclosure, I teach for UOP Online) between the Arizona Cardinals and the Green Bay Packers. To be honest, I had never been to a Cardinals game at UOP Stadium before. My only attendance at the venue was for a USA vs. Mexico men’s soccer international friendly match. I bought a ticket at the last minute in the last row of the nosebleed section. Surrounded by Mexicans, I wondered if I would escape with my life if Mexico won or lost. On the contrary, the Mexican fans around me were quite jovial and high-fived me as they sang, danced and chanted throughout the game. USA ended up winning that game and those sporting the Tri Colores left the stadium in a peaceful manner. No soccer hooligans in AZ, I guess.

Brandon, a fellow founder of this blog, scored free tickets from his brother last Sunday and we were once again sent high into the top section of the stands for our seats somewhere in the middle rows up from the 30 yard line (sec 416 for those who know). I had heard about the proliferation of Packers fans previously this season where they had smoked the Cardinals and cheeseheads dominated the cheering and jeering. I wondered if these fans in green would be as friendly as those supporting our neighbors to the south. Despite nobody really cheering for Cards great, Frank Sanders (the original wide out to wear 81 for the dirty birds, thank you very much for honoring him, Mr. Boldin) and even less people playing the airdrum solo to Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight”, there was a good vibe in our section. No one was really razzing the Green Bay fans in front of us too much. And I know razzing; I’ve worn my Diamondbacks gear proudly to Wrigley Field and to Dodger Stadium. The guy at the ticket window at Wrigley told me I was a brave soul. That’s right, sucka.

Bravery be damned in the Toaster, as I’ve heard UOP stadium called, camaraderie was the word of the day on this most glorious day for the sport of football. Once a team scored, there was barely enough time to scooch out of the row, go down the stairs, pee and get a new beer before the other team was knocking on the doorstep of a touchdown. The emotional level started at jubilation after Rodgers’ first interception and went up from there. All week long, former Cardnials fullback, Ron Wolfley, had hammered home the point that whichever team won the turnover battle would win this game. The Pack were plus 24 turnovers for the season coming into the game, but when the Great Dansby tipped that first pass of the game into DRC’s awaiting hands, I knew the Cardinals were destined to make a game of it.

A game for the ages, it turns out. By halftime, the crowd was sure the Cards had this game in the books, but slowly the tide turned and the Packers fans came back to life. The teams went blow for blow until Neil Rackers, one of the few stud kickers in the game, came on to seal the deal and send the Cardinals to New Orleans. But Rackers missed. This was the only moment of the game where the Packers fans could be heard over the home crowd. Regulation ended, the Packers won the coin toss and you could feel the UOP stadium deflate. The team that wins the coin toss wins the game in overtime, right? Especially in a game where either offense could score at will. However, I did not despair, perhaps the only one of thousands who held onto my complimentary 2009 playoff towel in one hand and held onto hope in the other among the Red Sea at that moment, for I listen to Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio. Colin, mythbuster in his own right, recently crunched the numbers on teams that had gone on to win in overtime after having won the coin toss to prove that it was not automatic. The percentage was not alarming. I think it was near a 50/50 proposition. So I knew there was hope for the Cardinals. What I didn’t know is how unique and remarkable the play would be that would end the game.

The game’s TV ratings were off the chart and through the magic of Sportscenter and the replay of the game on KTAR 620, most of Arizona and the nation knows that the game ended with Michael Adams redeeming his pass interference penalties by sacking Aaron Rodgers, avoiding a facemask and dodging the infamous tuck rule while the ball bounced off Rodgers foot and into the arms of the Great Dansby who scored the first ever fumble recovery for a game winning touchdown in a playoff game. These facts have had time to sink in, but at the moment, even before Karlos crossed into the end zone, the crowd exploded with joy and sound, nearly blowing the useless retractable roof off the Toaster.

Fans, who had been high-fiving every score, leapt to their feet knocking into each other drunk with beer, spirits and joy. It was like the peace-be-with-you part of Mass but everyone really expressing it with every ounce of their being. Men were hugging, women were crying, Pakcers fans shaking their heads, some with smiles of disbelief, not really registering what had happened but knowing they had seen something special and a chance to own it had slipped through the holes in their cheesehead hats.

Everyone was caught up in the ecstatic maelstrom that enveloped University of Phoenix Stadium. People happily waited in their cars as the parking lots unloaded their full bellies as did the fans who had too much to drink. Horns honked at no one in particular and the hair on the back of necks still stood at attention. Memories slowly took shape in our heads on the drive home, memories of Larry Fitzgerald making an amazing catch over his head for a touchdown, memories of Early Doucet, the guy with one touchdown catch in his career who needed to step up in Boldin’s absence, catching a pass, pirouetting around a tackle like a ballerina and then pounding through another defender to score, memories of realizing how fast Kurt Warner makes his decisions and passes the ball on target every time, memories of one of the greatest football games ever played among fans who rose to the occasion, brought the energy and shared the love. The fates were shining on me last Sunday and offered me a chance to witness firsthand a moment of sports history.