Dallas Cowboys will find hospitality in the desert
The Arizona Cardinals finally have their first home game of the season. Unfortunately, it’s against the Dallas Cowboys who possess a heavy fan base in the state.
As much as Cardinals fans hate to admit it, Dallas Cowboys nation is definitely strong within Arizona borders. It’s proven every time the ‘Boys come pay the Cardinals a visit. The red sea that Arizona prides themselves in turns into a blue and silver sea in a hurry, and it’s almost like the Cowboys have a home field advantage.
Although I was born and raised in southern Texas and grew up a diehard Cowboys fan, Arizona has been my home for the last 15 years. So, over the years I’ve asked a lot of questions of why the Cowboys are such a loved franchise here.
The consensus that I get is that before 1988, the Cardinals were based in St. Louis, Missouri. Therefore, Arizonans had no professional team to root for up until that point. This pretty much forced football fans to either focus their love of the game to college or simply pick a professional team that seemed like a good idea at the time.
As diehards, we all know the ‘Boys were dominant and nationally loved in the 70’s. It was when they were dubbed America’s Team by John Facenda. So during that time frame, the Cowboys grew in the heart of Arizona.
That basically started a whole generation of Cowboys fans out west in the Sonoran Desert. And being away from my home state, I’m extremely grateful for those fans because they make life easy for me being a Cowboys supporter.
I feel for my fellow fans who are in hostile territory like Philly or New Jersey.
Here, it’s like a home away from home. Even during pregame, Cowboys fans from all over the area flock to the tailgate scene and you can almost feel the home field advantage slowly shift into Dallas’ favor.
When you tune in to the game on Monday Night Football, just take a glance at the stands, and I would bet at times you’d think the game was in Arlington.
It almost feels like a college football Red River Shootout atmosphere with the fan base being split down the middle for each team.
The last three times the reigning NFC East champions have visited University of Phoenix Stadium, it has resulted in heartbreak, but the team was not without the roaring support of Cowboys nation.
After a rocky 1-1 start, the ‘Boys need some kind of momentum to get the season back on track.
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I have no doubt Cowboys fans will flood the stands on Monday and help give our guys a visiting edge over the hometown Cardinals. I’ll be one of them!