David Leibowitz
(Submitted)
It began as a Sunday outing with the guys but ended as a psychology exploration.
An estimated crowd of 60,968 people showed up for the Oct. 11 game between the Detroit Lions and the Arizona Cardinals — myself included for the first time in 17 years.
About half the fans sported Lions blue. That left approximately 30,000 hardy souls in Cardinals red. The excitement peaked for them precisely 7 minutes, 54 seconds into the game, when the Cardinals took a 7-0 lead.
They were right to be thrilled: The home team engineered a 16-play, 73-yard drive that culminated in quarterback Jacoby Brissett throwing a two-yard touchdown.
Sadly, quarters two through four followed.
The Lions scored on seven consecutive possessions. This included three TD passes, three TD runs and a field goal — an offensive onslaught that would have made Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian army proud.
With the Cards down 24 points in the final quarter, I found myself staring at random Cardinals fans and wondering what level of psychological trauma leads one to defy the definition of insanity often attributed to Albert Einstein.
“Insanity,” it’s said, “is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
All week I explored this topic with friends who love this team, including my buddy Drew, a longtime Cardinals season ticket holder who recently gave up his five club seats in favor of suffering heartbreak from the comfort of his couch.
Had he suddenly seen the light? Nope. In fact, he just bought a dozen tickets for the Cardinals Oct. 25 game against the Denver Broncos. Because how could he not make it to celebrate Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald having his jersey retired and entering the team’s Ring of Honor?
“I would like to not love the Cardinals, but I can’t,” Drew said. “I’m the same way with the Diamondbacks and the Suns. I’m a homer. I’m from here, and you know we were lucky enough to get a team in the 1980s. It’s like I can’t quit them.”
Drew is one of the most successful folks I know. He’s a self-made entrepreneur who married his Arizona State University college sweetheart, Casee, 26 years ago. Together, they’ve raised three smart, beautiful daughters who appear happy and well-adjusted — except on Sundays when it’s time for kickoff.
Last week, Drew was discussing this with our friend, Tom, another girl dad who has raised Cardinals diehards.
“I think that relatively we’re pretty good dads, but this is borderline child abuse,” Drew recalled saying. “Like we are basically forcing our kids to love the Cardinals. We’re forcing jerseys on them and forcing them to wear the gear every Sunday. And now they have the same exact problem I have. They can’t not watch the game.”
A shrink might cite hypotheses like social identity theory, which posits that humans derive self-esteem and identity from belonging to a group. They may also reference B.F. Skinner’s theory of intermittent reinforcement, which is what’s created by anomalies like the Cardinals making the 2009 Super Bowl or winning 13 games in 2015 before getting crushed by Carolina in the NFC Championship game.
When you lose constantly, the occasional win feels all the sweeter.
Drew isn’t insane, he explained, even if last week he ordered a new Trey McBride jersey to wear when his team plays the Rams this week. He’s like that guy who loves rewatching “The Sixth Sense” even though he knows the surprise ending.
“There’s some camaraderie (in) the depression, where everybody completely understands exactly what’s going to happen,” he says. “There’s probably some sort of solace with Cardinals fans, knowing that you know what’s gonna happen.”
I get it now. That’s the Arizona Cardinals. A support group with its own merch department.