Cardinals 32-Eagles 25: "You're Killing Me, Larry!"

On this Championship Sunday, I did some channel flipping in the advent of Barack Obama taking his role as the new leader of the free world.

I briefly tuned in to the Obama Inaugural Concert, "We Are One," broadcast on HBO. But after the Marine butchered the ending of the "Star-Spangled Banner" on stage, it was a message from the gods: Return to the football playing live on FOX.

The timing couldn't have been any better.

As Washington D.C. concludes its preparations for its moment in history, another moment in history took place in the confines of the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ.

The Arizona Cardinals, in its 110-year history, are off to their first Super Bowl. You are not seeing things, and no, I did not lose my mind when I was writing this.

Ken Whisenhunt's Cardinals, regarded for many season as a doormat in the National Football League, are ACTUALLY going to play in a Super Bowl.

THE Super Bowl. The big one.

Super Bowl XLIII, that is.

Holding off a late rally by the Philadelphia Eagles, Kurt Warner's game winning touchdown and two-point conversion sent the Cardinals to Tampa's Raymond James Stadium in a 32-25 victory.

The X-factor for the Cardinals, however, was one Larry Fitzgerald.

There is a famous line in a set of commercials for a regional mattress store chain called Sit-n-Sleep. The line goes, "You're killing me, Larry!"

Indeed, Fitzgerald was killing the Eagle defense.
 
Having one-upped a pack of Panthers (Fitzgerald is a University of Pittsburgh alumnus) from Carolina the week before, the number 11 ripped through the linebackers and secondary, hauling nine passes for 152 yards and three of Warner's passes.

Fitzgerald's receiving massacre tied an NFC championship record. Thanks to his heroics, the Cardinals jumped to a 24-6 lead at halftime.

The home fans, decked in cardinal red and white were feeling a little bit uneasy late in the game, with Philadelphia and QB Donovan McNabb rallying Andy Reid's troops with 19 unanswered points.

But with 10:45 remaining in the fourth quarter, Warner showed the leadership and composure that gave the St. Louis Rams their first world championship in 1999, conducting a 14-play drive that took nearly eight minutes off the clock, and put Arizona up by seven.

After a controversial incomplete pass on fourth down by McNabb, Arizona could have iced the game on their last series by converting on 3rd-and-1 with less than a minute to go.

But Cardinals punter Ben Graham pinned the Eagles inside their own seven-yard line with 0:09 remaining in the game, and Philadelphia's fate was sealed.

Not only that, Arizona ended 60 years of failing to win a conference championship.

I suppose it was a good thing that the national anthem in Washington was butchered. Otherwise, I would have butchered an opportunity to see history in the making.

And with the Arizona Cardinals heading to their first-ever Super Bowl, perhaps a little more history could be in store for them. Only time will tell.