A Few Thoughts on the Dollar Bill Years

[Cards Czar]

Idk how true it is but I've heard that BB wanted a domed stadium & didn't want beer sold? They offered a 70,000 seat open air stadium which he rejected. Have no idea if any of that is true or not? They ended up building the TWA dome to lure the Rams.

It had to do with the fine print in the offer. Also there were problems with the City and County on who would get the tax moneys generated from generated revenue. Both thought the cardinals were bluffing for over 3 yrs and in the end they lost when the Bidwills finally bolted for AZ.

 

[PACardsFan]

A non-biased source I trust (i.e. nothing to lose or gain) opined that the Town Fathers in StL weren't necessarily negotiating credibly.

All true. It's no secret that the football Cardinals were the redheaded stepchildren of St. Louis. I've also heard that the baseball organization didn't like that they shared the Cardinal nickname with the football operation.

 

[Diverdan]

I liked the post and learned from it. Thank you Harry.

 

[Card'em]

Idk how true it is but I've heard that BB wanted a domed stadium & didn't want beer sold? They offered a 70,000 seat open air stadium which he rejected. Have no idea if any of that is true or not? They ended up building the TWA dome to lure the Rams.

I live in St. Louis and was there at the time they left for Arizona. Many of the sports fans at the time were apathetic due to the poor on-the-field performance of the football Cardinals, especially when compared to the baseball Cardinals with their history of World Series championships.

The area's political leaders were also divided and the city leaders were fighting with the county leaders. St. Louis is divided into two separate governing entities, the county and the city. When the county supervisor at the time, Gene McNary, proposed a 70,000 seat domed stadium in the county, the mayor of the city, Vince Shoemel, said that he'd rather have the team leave town than have a stadium located outside of the city. Shortly thereafter, Bill Bidwill did exactly as the Mayor suggested and left town for Arizona.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I liked the post and learned from it. Thank you Harry.

Good to see you here Dan, keeping up your average of 1 post a year!

 

[Russ Smith]

For me it was reading a book about NFL players. in the Terry Metcalf section, my all time favorite player, it mentioned how and why we drafted him and some background. Coryell coached against Metcalf in college, Coryell was at SDSU, Metcalf at Long Beach state. SDSU won the game but Coryell was so impressed with Metcalf when he got the Cards job he basically insisted they draft him.

After the draft Coryell, Metcalf and Bidwill went out to lunch. Bidwill opened up the conversation with "so Terry how do you feel about playing Cb?" Before a puzzled Metcalf could say a word, Coryell said oh no Terry is my RB. Bidwill thought he was too small, we had Jim Otis coming over from the Chiefs and Coryell basically said he's my RB, they're going to play together and that's that.

Too bad it didn't last Coryell was obviously an offensive genius, but he just got tired of Bidwill.

 

[Cardsfaninlouky]

I live in St. Louis and was there at the time they left for Arizona. Many of the sports fans at the time were apathetic due to the poor on-the-field performance of the football Cardinals, especially when compared to the baseball Cardinals with their history of World Series championships.

The area's political leaders were also divided and the city leaders were fighting with the county leaders. St. Louis is divided into two separate governing entities, the county and the city. When the county supervisor at the time, Gene McNary, proposed a 70,000 seat domed stadium in the county, the mayor of the city, Vince Shoemel, said that he'd rather have the team leave town than have a stadium located outside of the city. Shortly thereafter, Bill Bidwill did exactly as the Mayor suggested and left town for Arizona.

Is it true about BB not wanting beer sold in the new stadium if it was built? I met a lady that was from St.Louis in the late 90's, she told me that story about BB not wanting beer sold in the stadium, she was pissed at the Cardinals, blamed BB for everything. I think she told me they were season ticket holders while still living there? Her husband bought the Midas Muffler franchises here in Louisville so they definitely had money lol. They were huge Cardinal fans she said, dropped them like a bad habit the minute they left & started following the Rams. Funny thing, that same season I drove to St.Louis & watched Jake the Snake light up the Rich Brooks coached Rams lol. Got plenty of nasty comments about my Roy Green jersey having the Arizona State flag on it. One fan told me "At least you could buy a Cardinal Jersey of a player that never played for the Cardinals in St.Louis" lol.

 

[PACardsFan]

I live in St. Louis and was there at the time they left for Arizona. Many of the sports fans at the time were apathetic due to the poor on-the-field performance of the football Cardinals, especially when compared to the baseball Cardinals with their history of World Series championships.

The area's political leaders were also divided and the city leaders were fighting with the county leaders. St. Louis is divided into two separate governing entities, the county and the city. When the county supervisor at the time, Gene McNary, proposed a 70,000 seat domed stadium in the county, the mayor of the city, Vince Shoemel, said that he'd rather have the team leave town than have a stadium located outside of the city. Shortly thereafter, Bill Bidwill did exactly as the Mayor suggested and left town for Arizona.

IMO, the politicians of St. Louis really screwed over BB. It saddens me, because I was a St. Louis Cardinals fan in both sports. But, F St. Louis!! We're now the AZ Cardinals & that's just fine with me. I'm glad the Rams left St. Louis. I just wish they never had won a SB.

 

[JeffGollin]

For me it was reading a book about NFL players. in the Terry Metcalf section, my all time favorite player, it mentioned how and why we drafted him and some background. Coryell coached against Metcalf in college, Coryell was at SDSU, Metcalf at Long Beach state. SDSU won the game but Coryell was so impressed with Metcalf when he got the Cards job he basically insisted they draft him.

After the draft Coryell, Metcalf and Bidwill went out to lunch. Bidwill opened up the conversation with "so Terry how do you feel about playing Cb?" Before a puzzled Metcalf could say a word, Coryell said oh no Terry is my RB. Bidwill thought he was too small, we had Jim Otis coming over from the Chiefs and Coryell basically said he's my RB, they're going to play together and that's that.

Too bad it didn't last Coryell was obviously an offensive genius, but he just got tired of Bidwill.

While we're on the subject of questionable talent evaluation, what can some of you old Cardinal fans tell us about George Boone?

 

[Diverdan]

Good to see you here Dan, keeping up your average of 1 post a year!

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.

 

[Harry]

While we're on the subject of questionable talent evaluation, what can some of you old Cardinal fans tell us about George Boone?

The only Scouting Director that enjoyed the same degree of success as George Boone worked for George Custer.

I won’t bore you with all of Boone’s failings, but attention to detail surely is near the top of the list. Consider the signing of John “Automatic” Lee. Selected by Boone in the second round (pick 32) of the 1996 draft he was signed to a 4-year $900,000 contract with a $250,000 signing bonus. Those were the highest numbers for a kicker in the NFL. Lee was indeed a great collegiate kicker. The problem came from the fact that in those days college kickers could use a tee. Perhaps Boone didn’t know NFL kickers couldn’t. Lee simply wasn’t accurate without a tee.

Boone also missed the fact that Lee didn’t kickoff at UCLA. In fact Lee said he gave up distance for accuracy. Lee had such a weak leg the punter ended up kicking off. As for field goals Lee only made 8 of 13 while also missing 2 extra points. The Cards even tried 3 different long snappers but nothing helped. The Cards coach, Stallings, was a tough coach. Lee said he couldn’t take Stallings criticizing him in front of the team. Lee seem to be very sensitive.

Things had started badly. Lee held out before he was signed joining the Cards just 4 days before the season started. Then in the November 16th game he injured his right knee. A scope showed no structural damage, but Lee was unable to play for the remainder of the season. Lee subsequently admitted he didn’t pick up a football until April. In year 2 Lee was terrible in preseason and was cut.

He attempted a comeback with the Raiders only to miss 2 of 3 field goal attempts in preseason. That was the end of his career. Worth noting, Lee was the first Korean born player in the NFL. Another odd piece of trivia. Rick Neuheisel was one of his college holders.

I’ll cover a few more Boone selections in the future. I covered the case of Clyde Duncan. He was a first round selection who caught only 4 passes in his career. Bidwill had demanded a cheap signing but presumably not an incompetent one.

 

[Card'em]

George Boone may have been the worst GM of his era. His scouting philosophy did not include having personal visits with draft prospects. Contrary to most GM's of his time, he believed that the individual personal meetings were a waste of time. He said that he'd rather talk to people that coached and worked with the draft prospects to get their opinions of the prospective draftee, rather than listen to the draft prospects opinion of themselves. Maybe that explains his miserable draft performance...drafting duds like John Lee, Clyde Duncan, and countless others.

 

[Carolinacacti]

I wanted the Arizona Blitz or the Border before the Cardinals. For years I laughed at Bidwill, when they hired D. Green I started to root for them instead of laugh.