Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Yeah, try to never do this in sports

 I was hesitant to post something like this, because I didn't want to give it any more attention than it deserves.  But I am doing so - not just to ridicule, but also to make a call to all fans of all teams, to hold each other accountable. For my part, I try to condemn any time something low is done on Giants fans' behalf, such as calling the Cowboys the "Cowgirls," or changing one letter in Tony Romo's name to turn it into an insult.  We're better than that as fans, and the Giants are better than that as a team (save for Week 1).  

Okay, disclaimer up...
Oh, so much to take in.  Where to begin?

*Neither the Joker in general, nor specifically Heath Ledger's remarkable performance of the character in The Dark Knight, has anything to do with the Arizona Cardinals.  The team's mascot is a small red bird.  (Although, a friend I showed this poster to, remarked that the Joker is fitting because the Cardinals are a joke, so that is duely noted.)  Sure, I get it, because "Cards," but again, that isn't short for "Playing Cards" in this case.  This is like shortening "Panthers" to "Ants" and representing them with the characters from A Bug's Life.

"Cardinals Fan...Yes I Am!"

"Fan" and "am" don't rhyme.  I feel like I'm being asked to accept that it does.  Also, this couldn't be more opposite of the tone of the rest of what is going on here.  "Cardinals fan, yes I am!" is something a happy-go-lucky 7 year old is meant to chant.  Guy Who Made This, you kind of compromised your theme of anger; It seems like you just wanted to combine everything you've ever heard about the Cardinals into one thing.  Next time maybe make two separate posters, and put this phrase in the other one.

"F{cardinalslogo}CK THE REST"

Strangely standoffish for a fan of a franchise that the overwhelming majority of fans of other teams, are apathetic about.  Also, representing your team with implied profanity is always a good decision.  This part mainly just makes me sad, so let's move on.

"BIRDGANG"

Along with the overall tone of this picture - minus the cute near-rhyme of course - the term "birdgang" does nothing to dispel the stereotype about Cardinals fans, which says that, besides people who don't know much about football, and/or people who only root for them because they feel obligated to support the team who plays their home games geographically closest to where they live, Cardinals fans is a group largely made up of gang bangers who wanted a different team to root for than the Raiders. 


I'm not going to go as far as to say that something like this encourages or incites fan violence.   But it sure doesn't encourage or incite peace.

Stay classy, Cardinals fan.