My email to the guy at
[email protected]
Subject: Was it loud enough for you?
“If you have to play on an opponent’s field in January, you pray Arizona is the opponent.”
Famous last words? You will be happy to know, that particular quote was plastered on our JumboTron before kickoff. You will be unhappy to know that it added jet fuel to a raging fire already burning out of control. That’s your special contribution to your home team’s loss on Saturday.
In the last two seasons, we are 12-4 at home under Whisenhunt (oops, make that 13-4). It’s the best home field advantage in the NFC and the third best in the NFL. I forgive you for not understanding this, because you weren’t a fan like me who sat in the desert sun in Sun Devil Stadium, blistering and seeing opposing fans fill the joint, watching fights break out from the drunk and disorderly, often between fans of the same team, because booze and sun exposure do strange things to a fan, especially one whose team is getting killed on the regular.
But in UOP, things changed. Drastically. Those 30,000 diehards were joined by people scared to brave the college field and its metal bleachers. And we’ve taught them how to be fans. To scream on defense every down. To shut up and let the offense work.
No, you couldn’t have known that the Bird’s Nest is an ungodly unfriendly place for an opposing team to play.
But you know now. Oh, how you know. Your team knows even better.
Was it loud enough for you, Mr. Bradley? Because I think we might even have another gear. God help anyone who walks on that field if we find it.