Why so bad in Arizona?

[Duckjake]

The Cardinals in St.Louis had their share of poor seasons but they also posted several very good ones. 18 wins vs. 8 losses '63-'64. 3 consecutive shutouts in 1970 as well as winning two from the eventual Super Bowl Champion Cowboys by the combined score of 58-7. 9-7 in 1984 when Lomax and Co scored 423 points, most ever by a Cardinal team, and of course the Coryell years.

The conventional wisdom is that the move to Arizona coincided with the advent of Free Agency. First the infamous "Plan B" and eventually full fledged market testing for players. The theory is that the Bidwill's were unable to cope with the new system and watched as their best players left for greener pastures. Guys like Tim McDonald, Ken Harvey and Jay Novacek.

Their own forays into the FA market produced Gary Clark, Gary Hogeboom, Chuck Cecil, Clyde Simmons and Steve Buerlein. But for different reasons they never worked out. The Cardinals just kept losing the free agency battle.

Some said that it was bad drafts but the Cardinals had poor drafts in St.Louis as well. Of course with expansion the misses on draft day became magnified as guys that used to be 2nd or 3rd round material now went in the first.

Others contend that it is the stadium and lack of fan support but the Cards packed them in the seats in '99 and finished a dismal 6-10 with an opening 6 game stretch that contends for worst in team history, opening 2-6 and averaging a woeful 11 points per game.

Whatever it is one winning season in the last 15 years is unmatched by any other NFL team. Even the equally woeful Bengals managed two.

Is it the water? The weather? The women? Section 11? Or just a curse imposed by the disgruntled fans in St.Louis?

I don't know for sure but I'd put my money on the inability to manage free agency.

 

[AzCards21]

Truthfully? I think it just became a mind set, and in no single season can you get rid of ALL of the players that gave up.

Once we get over the hurdle of players, staff and fans BELIEVING we can win. It will come together. I hope Green is the guy to do that.

 

[Duckjake]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sp...dline=Air+Coryell+should+land+in+Hall+of+Fame

I think you are right and we need to do some stuff like the above to get the team into a winning mindset.

Go Dennis.

 

[AzCards21]

Why aren't the Cards bringing him in here for something like this? He never was a Ram!!!

It's like St. Louis is still feeding off of what the Cards did good and sending the credit to the Rams!

The Cards are really dropping the ball by claiming tradition and yet not bringing some of their past superstars here for some quality recognition.

 

[Duckjake]

Why aren't the Cards bringing him in here for something like this? He never was a Ram!!!

It's like St. Louis is still feeding off of what the Cards did good and sending the credit to the Rams!

The Cards are really dropping the ball by claiming tradition and yet not bringing some of their past superstars here for some quality recognition.

It's almost like the Cardinals did not exist prior to 1988.

 

[AzCards21]

It's almost like the Cardinals did not exist prior to 1988.

Truthfully? For me they didn't. But I find it hard to believe they wouldn't bring all the good they can muster here to show off.

 

[Wild Card]

Why aren't the Cards bringing him in here for something like this? He never was a Ram!!!

AZCards:

Don Coryell never coached in Arizona, either. It's the same old debate: Does the history belong to the community, city and state where it took place, or does it go with the uniforms and logo to the new town and stadium? No one simple answer, IMO.

In this particular case, I wouldn't be surprised if there were still some hard feelings on Coryell's part toward Bill Bidwill. Let's not forget, after taking the Cardiac Cards to consecutive NFC East titles in 1974-75, all it took was one 7-7 season for Coryell to lose his job.

But it's probably simpler than that. I doubt that it's ever occurred to Bill Bidwill to honor his most-successful coach. It's nice that the town Bidwill left behind thought to do so.

WC

 

[Fiasco]

AZCards:

Don Coryell never coached in Arizona, either. It's the same old debate: Does the history belong to the community, city and state where it took place, or does it go with the uniforms and logo to the new town and stadium? No one simple answer, IMO.


WC

I have a simple answer. The history belongs to the fans who support the team, wherever they may be.

So, someone like Jim Hart doesn't belong to the Rams organization or their stinking fans.

 

[WisconsinCard]

It's almost like the Cardinals did not exist prior to 1988.

I know That Johnny U. said that he is not a Indy colt and that he is more attached to the team that resides in Baltimore. So I guess it really depends on the player/coach on what they believe.

 

[CardLogic]

Personally it just pisses me off when I hear about the Rams claiming the Cardinals tradition and history. Pisses me off!!


I agree with the article that Coryell should be in the hall of fame; as a CARDINAL.

 

[CardLogic]

Oh, and DuckJake - good post, interesting insight and perspective...

Sorry for contributing to the hijacking of the thread.

 

[clif]

The Cardinals in St.Louis had their share of poor seasons but they also posted several very good ones. 18 wins vs. 8 losses '63-'64. 3 consecutive shutouts in 1970 as well as winning two from the eventual Super Bowl Champion Cowboys by the combined score of 58-7. 9-7 in 1984 when Lomax and Co scored 423 points, most ever by a Cardinal team, and of course the Coryell years.

The conventional wisdom is that the move to Arizona coincided with the advent of Free Agency. First the infamous "Plan B" and eventually full fledged market testing for players. The theory is that the Bidwill's were unable to cope with the new system and watched as their best players left for greener pastures. Guys like Tim McDonald, Ken Harvey and Jay Novacek.

Their own forays into the FA market produced Gary Clark, Gary Hogeboom, Chuck Cecil, Clyde Simmons and Steve Buerlein. But for different reasons they never worked out. The Cardinals just kept losing the free agency battle.

Some said that it was bad drafts but the Cardinals had poor drafts in St.Louis as well. Of course with expansion the misses on draft day became magnified as guys that used to be 2nd or 3rd round material now went in the first.

Others contend that it is the stadium and lack of fan support but the Cards packed them in the seats in '99 and finished a dismal 6-10 with an opening 6 game stretch that contends for worst in team history, opening 2-6 and averaging a woeful 11 points per game.

Whatever it is one winning season in the last 15 years is unmatched by any other NFL team. Even the equally woeful Bengals managed two.

Is it the water? The weather? The women? Section 11? Or just a curse imposed by the disgruntled fans in St.Louis?

I don't know for sure but I'd put my money on the inability to manage free agency.

I pin it all on one thing... no extra revenue to compete in free agency.. thus losing... with losing comes an attitude that not many players want to be apart of. It has been documented that the biggest thing DG has to contend with is a losing mindset.