Arizona Cardinals: The Inspiration to Historically Futile Teams Everywhere

Few things are certain in life.

Among them are death, taxes, government waste, weather to complain about, car trouble,  the Chicago Cubs not winning a World Series, and the Arizona Cardinals dropping off everybody's radar in January...or December...or October.

Another year has passed us by, and business continues as usual. Wars rage, taxes persist, corporations are getting huge portions of free money, I haven't seen the sun in two weeks, my brakes are going bad, the Cubs got blown away in the playoffs again, and the Cardinals are in the NFC Championship game.

Wait, what?

It's the middle of January, and I'm writing about the Cardinals, who are not playing basketball in Louisville or flying around the hundreds of bird feeders at my grandmother's house.

That I am even thinking about them right now is a sports miracle, and I, for one, am inspired.

The Cardinals have long been a punchline. Joined by the New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions, New York Islanders, Los Angeles Clippers, and Chicago Cubs (among others), they are a team largely disregarded at the beginning of nearly every season.

Even upon clinching the NFC West this season, the Cardinals were ignored as a playoff team, playing as home-team underdogs to the Atlanta Falcons, and double-digit underdogs to the (formerly) undefeated-at-home Carolina Panthers.

Now that they are one of only four teams left standing in the NFL, it's impossible to ignore them. If the Arizona Cardinals are not for real, then they're sure doing a good job of faking. They might just get lucky all the way to a championship.

Even if they lose by 50 to the Eagles, they send a clear message to futile franchises worldwide: This can be you.

Despite a tradition of losing, poor coaching, lack of talent, dumb ownership, curses, whatever your franchise's problem is, your team can win.

I say this as a Lions fan, so perhaps I am desperately looking for a reason to believe. After all, the Cardinals have never had a winless season, much less one this decade, or this season.

Still, the Cards are one of many storied franchises that have had only marginal success in the last 50 years. They had some success as the St. Louis "Football" Cardinals in the 70's, but never even hosted a home playoff game in their time there.

Case in point: This is the Arizona Cardinals' first NFC Championship Game since the inception of the Super Bowl, which means, obviously, that they are playing for their first Super Bowl.

If the Arizona Cardinals can play for the NFC Championship (and at home, no less), then either the Rapture is upon us, or losing is a curable disease.

Either way, I'm jumping on the Cardinals' bandwagon now, as should all fans of bad teams. The Cardinals are finally making some playoff noise, representing all of the underdogs, futile teams, and cursed organizations everywhere.

If they can do it, so can we.

Go Cards!