In a year that has been anything but sane, Sunday night in Glendale helped provide a little sense of normalcy for us all. As a group, we forgot about what divides us and remembered what can galvanize the Valley as one united and powerful force. For decades this city has come together over our sports teams. Sure, like the national media that was in town to broadcast the game, we usually only show up like that when our teams are winning, but that’s beside the point.
What was supposed to be just another October afternoon game got thrust onto the national stage due to COVID-19 concerns with the Tampa Bay Las Vegas game. Both the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks didn’t disappoint on the field.
The night quickly became unforgettable. Budda Baker woke up memories of Super Bowls past playing the role of Malcolm Butler for Russell Wilson and Seattle fans while, on the same play, DK Metcalf showed Cardinals fans what they were missing during James Harrison’s interception return in the 2009 Super Bowl. Kyler Murray proved he was more than just a Russell Wilson knock off as he introduced himself to a national audience in a big way. Larry Fitzgerald took another step in his long road to canton as he joined Jerry Rice as the only two receivers ever with 1,400 or more receptions in their careers. Oh, and that’s before you mention the game itself which was one of the craziest back and forth battles we’ve seen in years.
It was like the first time you play spin the bottle, you know the kind of game you never forget. The type of moment you point back to as the start of something special. The kind of event you remember where you watched it or, if you’re lucky enough to attend, brag about having seen in person.
That last part will be extra special thanks to the aforementioned reason we all badly needed a game like this. Thanks to COVID-19, the game had the feel of a concert at Marquee Theater rather than a nationally televised NFL game. That’s because only 1,200 people were on hand to witness it.
With so few tickets being sold you’d think it would easily be a sea of red. Unfortunately, you’d be wrong.
Despite the Cardinals have tens of thousands of season ticket holders who would love to have witnessed one of the most thrilling regular season wins in State Farm Stadium’s history, there was more hideous neon ‘action green’ in the stands than in the highlighter section at your local Staples. That’s because Cardinals fans failed to ‘protect the nest’ as the team likes to say.
Instead of the Red Sea rising up, some of it sold out.
That’s right, some of the 1,200 lucky Cardinals fans failed their team and their fellow fans by selling their tickets to members of Seattle’s 12th Man.
In most seasons I’d treat selling your tickets to opposing fans much like I treat Tik Tok videos, something I don’t fully understand but accept it’s something people do. This year, and especially this game is different. In a regular year, I’d say it’s your investment and do what you will with it but when only 1,200 fans are allowed to enter the building, a building that holds almost 60x that many people, it’s practically unforgivable to let those seats fall In the hands of an opposing team’s fans.
You can’t tell me there were thousands if not tens of thousands of Cardinals fans who would have willingly paid well over market value for the privilege of being at the game. Yet, somehow, much like Starbucks, it seemed like there was one from Seattle on every corner. It’s not just a bad look, it’s embarrassing.
If I were magically made czar of Arizona sports, and luckily for all of us that won’t be happening anytime soon, I’d make each and every person who sold their tickets to an opposing fan have to forfeit their season tickets for the remainder of the 2020 season and, subsequently, require them to only be able to re-sell their seats to the team and not third parties in the future.
Sunday night was an unforgettable one for Cardinals fans and while many of us watched the game, few of us got to see it in person. Even fewer than should have thanks to the action of some. At least, even in these difficult times, we can all find some solace in the fact that those Seattle fans who spent big money to buy tickets were sent home with nothing but disappointment, and those who sold them the seats are filled with the regret of missing something truly special.
