Am I the only person who finds something ironic in the Arizona Cardinals’ 32-25 victory Sunday over the Philadelphia Eagles, thereby making the Cardinals the “champions” of the National Football Conference for 2008?When the game ended with the Cardinals taking the lead in the final minutes, team ownership was presented with the NFC trophy – named for Chicago Bears’ founder George S. Halas.
IT WAS HALAS’ hardball politics within the NFL back in the 1950s (meant to benefit the Bears financially) that put the old Chicago Cardinals at such a business disadvantage that caused the Bidwell family to decide in 1960 that St. Louis (and later Phoenix) were more attractive home bases than the South Side of Chicago – where they won the lone championship in team history (1947), although they came close to repeating the following year.
What thoughts (if any) went through the Bidwell brains as they accepted the Halas Trophy? Or has the passage of time erased any unpleasant memories?
So now, the Cardinals prepare to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl, even though their 9-7 regular season record on paper makes them look identical to the 9-7 win/loss record (but no playoff appearance) compiled by the Bears during ’08.
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EDITOR’S NOTES: A bit of sports trivia, the Cardinals achieved their last victory as a (http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nfl/azchi/cardschi.html) Chicago-based football team on Nov. 1, 1959 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Of course, they still had six more games after that (http://www.sportslogos.net/team.php?id=183), all of which they lost.
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