Questions about the Cards playing at Sun Devil Stadium

wa52lz

Hall of Famer
Joined
Jan 25, 2009
Posts
2,283
Reaction score
1,479
Oh yeah, I remember that game, too...Got carted off with the leg in an air splint...and morons cheered when he went down.
King of the Morons, right here.
 

Attachments

  • 00000089 (2).jpg
    00000089 (2).jpg
    22.1 KB · Views: 119
OP
OP
GatorAZ

GatorAZ

feed hopkins
Joined
Oct 17, 2011
Posts
25,621
Reaction score
18,612
Location
The Giant Toaster
Thank you so much guys! Sounded like a simple place but pretty cool that the Cards' fans stuck despite other fanbases invading.

Did hall of fame AFC quarterbacks like Marino, Elway, Brady and Kelly ever come thru Tempe?
 

Red Dawn

Go Big Red!
Joined
Dec 17, 2002
Posts
4,247
Reaction score
1,379
Location
The West Coast of Arizona
Thank you so much guys! Sounded like a simple place but pretty cool that the Cards' fans stuck despite other fanbases invading.

Did hall of fame AFC quarterbacks like Marino, Elway, Brady and Kelly ever come thru Tempe?

Future NFC HOF'er Warner came through in 04 when he was the Giants starter. I think he got sacked 4± times and was replaced soon after by Eli. The SEZ was a blast, watching all the fights in the NEZ was always fun.

I wasn't there, but didn't a couple seated in an upper deck section by themselves get caught making whoopee?
 
Last edited:

ajcardfan

I see you.
Supporting Member
Joined
May 13, 2002
Posts
38,830
Reaction score
26,149
I'm a weird one about this, but I always felt that SDS allowed the Cards to have the edge on hot days. The heat was our only home field advantage, and it was satisfying to watch visiting teams wilt in the fourth quarter...unless they were up on the Cards by 24, in which case, everyone on the field just wanted it to be over.

That's what everyone said, but that was never the case. Think about how many seasons we started off awful, with most of the wins in November and December games. It was like the heat was against the Cards, not for them.
 

Duckjake

LEGACY MEMBER
LEGACY MEMBER
Joined
Jun 10, 2002
Posts
32,190
Reaction score
317
Location
Texas
That's what everyone said, but that was never the case. Think about how many seasons we started off awful, with most of the wins in November and December games. It was like the heat was against the Cards, not for them.

One thing that sort of goes against the conventional wisdom is that at SDS you usually had a about a 50-50 chance of seeing the Cards win. To hear some of us old time fans you'd think they hardly ever won a game there. But most seasons the Cards would win 3- 4 home games. But never more than 5.

Now going to a Cardinals road game? The odds of a Cardinals win back then was around 12%. Unless they were playing Philadelphia.
 
Last edited:

Cheesebeef

ASFN IDOL
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Posts
92,047
Reaction score
70,110
Our halftime meets there reminded me of Henry V; "We few, we happy few."

those half-time meets kicked the snot out of our meets at the UOP. I mean, i can remember seeing like 20 people there almost every time I went. Everyone from 11 to Lex to Gee to KOC to Madcard to Nidan to Duckjake to Sanders... and that's when all those people HATED each other... and ME! I'll never forget that first half-time meet at a pre-season game in 2003... there were like 40 of us. Ridiculous.


That was both the most silly, and grandest, thing about scoring at SDS.

Yeah... that is actually what I miss the most. I loved that stupid ass song.
 

Cheesebeef

ASFN IDOL
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Posts
92,047
Reaction score
70,110
Thank you so much guys! Sounded like a simple place but pretty cool that the Cards' fans stuck despite other fanbases invading.

Did hall of fame AFC quarterbacks like Marino, Elway, Brady and Kelly ever come thru Tempe?

Marino destroyed us like 38-10 one year (I think it was Jimmy Johnson's first year)... Elway and the Broncos laid a 36-0 ass-kicking on us in 1989 I believe and Brady beat us 23-12 back in... 2004? If those scores are correct, I'm going to be afraid of myself and my useless knowledge because those are pretty much all from memory.
 

Cheesebeef

ASFN IDOL
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Posts
92,047
Reaction score
70,110
Marino destroyed us like 38-10 one year (I think it was Jimmy Johnson's first year)... Elway and the Broncos laid a 36-0 ass-kicking on us in 1989 I believe and Brady beat us 23-12 back in... 2004? If those scores are correct, I'm going to be afraid of myself and my useless knowledge because those are pretty much all from memory.

my bad... the Broncos beat us 37-0 in 1989. I was one point off in all of the above. I terrify myself with amount of crap stored in my head.
 

LoyaltyisaCurse

IF AND WHEN HEALTHY...
Joined
Aug 10, 2004
Posts
53,873
Reaction score
19,669
Location
CA
those half-time meets kicked the snot out of our meets at the UOP. I mean, i can remember seeing like 20 people there almost every time I went. Everyone from 11 to Lex to Gee to KOC to Madcard to Nidan to Duckjake to Sanders... and that's when all those people HATED each other... and ME! I'll never forget that first half-time meet at a pre-season game in 2003... there were like 40 of us. Ridiculous.




Yeah... that is actually what I miss the most. I loved that stupid ass song.

It seems it takes the entire glad time to get to the meets at UOP...I've headed over a few tines in the past few years only to denied by time...
 

ap11

Rookie
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Posts
71
Reaction score
17
Well it seems the worst play people experienced was the bootleg and the 10 second run off vs the rams. Does anyone else remember a game against the chiefs (probably like 2000 ) where jake had a chance to win and he threw it right at a LB on the chiefs for a 30 yard TD or so. Seeing that play from the South Endzone row 30 was pretty awful.

I think it might have been Donnie Edwards?

Any way here is the bootleg. Another bad view as that slow fool ran into the South Endzone.

Good god.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=QjQI9Xzivv8&desktop_uri=/watch?v=QjQI9Xzivv8
 

ANDY440

Registered
LEGACY MEMBER
Joined
Oct 8, 2004
Posts
1,176
Reaction score
30
Location
Mesa
Future NFC HOF'er Warner came through in 04 when he was the Giants starter. I think he got sacked 4± times and was replaced soon after by Eli. The SEZ was a blast, watching all the fights in the NEZ was always fun.


Warner guaranteed the Giants would win so we made this poster for the bus we would sometimes take to lot D It said "Hey Warner Guarantee this"
 

Attachments

  • cardinals tailgate 007.jpg
    cardinals tailgate 007.jpg
    32.5 KB · Views: 118

splitsecond

ASFN Addict
Joined
Jan 16, 2009
Posts
5,582
Reaction score
1,536
Location
Chandler, AZ
Rushing the field after the comeback win against the Cowboys. I still have a chunk of grass somewhere.
 

Section108

Newbie
Joined
Aug 26, 2008
Posts
14
Reaction score
0
Location
Scottsdale
Remembering the Wild Cards dancing the upper north end zone at the very top.

Tailgating and having the players so willing to stop and sign autographs.

Section 9, having half my face sun burned.

Kicking the Vikes out at the playoffs in 2003 - McCown to Poole last second TD.

These are some of my favorite things..
 

denverbirdfan

thanks for flying
Joined
Mar 11, 2003
Posts
460
Reaction score
0
Location
Marion, IL
sleeping in on a sunday at my dorm at ASU, walking up palm walk to SDS. pacing around the south entrance, waiting for someone who was leaving to give us their used tickets, then literally searching the trash cans for "readmittance" passes to go along with your ticket. once you had both, it was free cardinals football.

then, sit in the oven-like heat and watch usually dog-breath football - with some magic moments thrown in. a couple of my favorites being the jake plummer almost-comeback-and-should-have-been-had-they-called-pass-interference-in-the-end-zone against the cowboys. oh, and the 16-15 "stadium vote" win against the redskins - mcginnis holding the game ball over his head and yelling to the crowd afterwards. anything in 1998.

great times.
 

Kel Varnsen

Moderator
Moderator
Supporting Member
Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Jun 28, 2003
Posts
33,369
Reaction score
11,994
Location
Phoenix
Coldest game I've ever been too. I remember the Hot Chocolate selling out before halftime. Miserable game to attend.

Oh, man...I'm still shivering from that game. That was insane.

I also remember catching a Bill Gramatica field goal during a preseason game when they forgot to put the net up.

But chanting Larry! Larry! for the one guy who always played hard is probably the best memory.
 

Solar7

Go Suns
Joined
May 18, 2002
Posts
11,178
Reaction score
12,120
Location
Las Vegas, NV
I have pretty fond memories of it, even though I was only there for the final two years. I'd always been a Cardinals fan, but growing up in Vegas, the closest I had ever come to that many Cards fans at once was a quick 2003 trip to Flagstaff for a day of camp. So, it was mystifying being able to wake up in my dorm at ASU and just walk over to the games. Unfortunately, we were so bad, and it'd be so hot out sometimes, that I remember offering tickets to friends for free, and they'd decide they'd rather stay in their room. I caught a few games all by my lonesome.

I was only around for the '04 and '05 seasons, but there were a few highlights... The Tillman ceremony, getting to see up and comers like Boldin, Dansby, Fitz, Dockett, etc. before going into the new stadium, and even some of the silly stuff, like watching Emmitt Smith play, even though I've always hated the Cowboys.

But like everyone else has said, I'll miss the camaraderie. Most anyone that was in there in Cardinals gear, you could be pretty sure was a die-hard. There was no such thing as getting kicked out for excessive standing, having to be ultra-polite to opposing fans, or having to explain to those around you who 60% of the players on the roster were.

The only real negative that I can identify past S.A.F.E. when it comes to UoP vs. SDS though is the location. When I was still living in Tempe, it was always a hassle to track down a DD for the drive back from the game, and flying in, it's just as much of a hassle having to rent a car or beg a buddy for a ride from Sky Harbor all the way to Glendale.
 

MigratingOsprey

Thank You Paul!
Joined
Jul 20, 2003
Posts
13,943
Reaction score
6,874
Location
Goodyear
On the opposite end of the spectrum was the 38-0 season opening loss to Seattle when it was about 150 degrees.

That was my first time at SDS - not my first time to an NFL game, just the first time at an NFL stadium that made the Vet look like a palace

I had been in AZ for under 2 months .... plenty of available seats for this one and there was a large group of hawk fans on the visitor sidelines .... but a few of us decided to move up to the shade of the press box in the upper level ...... that was a hot day and the game was over pretty quickly .... still remember that nasty hit on boldin

For the 2nd half worked my way back down to the sideline and at the end of the game the seahawk players were throwing a bunch of stuff into the crowd - hats, arm bands, etc and then a bunch of us got to cool off on Mill Ave after the game

Also the first time I was able to meet a few of the characters on this board .... hard to imagine that's now coming up on 10 years

As an away fan there were a few impressions of SDS - the first was that it was a dump .... not even nice by college standards .... metal bleachers with faded painted seat numbers that would make an airplane seat seems spacious, horribly inept concessions, the trough was a joke and the overall game day experience was trying

Was also a trip to be at an away game and have the road defense pumping the crowd for more noise

From that though I noticed a small, dedicated group of fans .... not a bandwagon runner in the bunch ... it wasn't the cool place to be, nothing trendy and frequently miserable from a pure sports fans perspective .... however, that core 20k or so was loud, into the game, the players from both teams interacted with the fans more than i've seen as typical ... tailgating was surprisingly good for standing on melting concrete .... so overall I got it and figured that there was a football pulse in this city that really hasn't been captured - even with a little effort they've done well by upgrading the facility ... but there is still so much more potential left untapped
 

Redheart

Stack 'em up!
Joined
Aug 9, 2002
Posts
4,391
Reaction score
3
Location
Mesa
This thread rocks.

You all have brought back some precious memories and feelings.

Really was a "band of brothers" feeling among the 20k hard-cores, although we always told ourselves that we had 30K at the games in optimism that our numbers were increasing.

In those times we made 30 K by the hard-cores that didn't live close enough, but I still remember them because they were on this board (SKORP's baby) or the previous (which I will not mention due to my poor memory).

They internet hard-cores should have stories, too; we all lived through it.
 

Darkside

ASFN Addict
BANNED BY MODERATORS
Joined
May 27, 2010
Posts
8,107
Reaction score
191
Location
Tempe, AZ
This thread rocks.

You all have brought back some precious memories and feelings.

Really was a "band of brothers" feeling among the 20k hard-cores, although we always told ourselves that we had 30K at the games in optimism that our numbers were increasing.

In those times we made 30 K by the hard-cores that didn't live close enough, but I still remember them because they were on this board (SKORP's baby) or the previous (which I will not mention due to my poor memory).

They internet hard-cores should have stories, too; we all lived through it.

Kickass Avatar man.
 

TruCard

Banned
BANNED BY MODERATORS
Joined
Nov 20, 2012
Posts
272
Reaction score
0
Location
Mesa
Man it hot.

The best games I attended were actually the Fiesta Bowl in 1989 and the Monday Night Football game after the Earthquake in San Diego. Miami and San Diego played here and the game was free. That was the CRAZIEST game I ever attended. People were fighting everywhere. People were smoking pot all over. A streaker was tackled. Crazy game.

My most memorable moments was,
Before kickoff, Me and a few buddies were the last ones standing up right before the kick and we all pointed to Martay Jenkins and he saw us. Right before he caught the ball, he acknowledged us and shook his head yes.
He had a nice 30 yard return. Nice for him to recognize us.

Kevin Butler nailing a FG as time expired, I was sitting in between a group of Hog fans and had to listen to "Hail to the Redskins" all game until the very end, I had the last laugh.

Larry Centers plowing over everyone in his path.
 

Staff online

Forum statistics

Threads
556,073
Posts
5,431,386
Members
6,329
Latest member
cardinals2025
Top