Five reasons the Arizona Cardinals are NOT like the Tampa Bay Rays

January 21, 1:57 AMTampa Bay Rays ExaminerRob Quinn

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Warner has more Super Bowl experience than most. (AP Photo/
Ross D. Franklin)

The Arizona Cardinals are a nice little underdog story. Congratulations are certainly in order on their NFC Championship victory and trip to the Super Bowl here in Tampa. They are not, however, a story equal to that of the Tampa Bay Rays – not even close.

Here are five reasons:

5. The NFL is not Major League Baseball

The NFL has a hard salary cap. There is parity. Teams often go from worst to first. Heck, four of last year’s eight last-place teams actually made the playoffs this year. It happens all the time. In baseball, it is much harder to turn a team around, especially in the American League East where the Yankees and Red Sox are constantly threatening to outspend you into oblivion.

In the six-year period from 1998 to 2003, the AL East final standings were exactly the same, top-to-bottom, every year. The bottom line here is that the cycle of losing is much harder to break in baseball than football (insert Detroit Lions joke here).

4. The playoffs are not totally uncharted territory for the Cardinals

Yes, they had eight straight losing seasons between 1999 and 2006. They did, however, go to the playoffs with Jake Plummer in 1997.  And Kurt Warner, their starting quarterback, has been to the Super Bowl twice and already has a ring.

Not only had the Rays as a franchise never seen the postseason, but only bit players on the Rays had ever even been to the playoffs before. I documented the lack of postseason experience for the 2008 Rays right before the playoffs and it was not pretty. Throw in Edgerrin James’ playoff runs with the Colts and Chike Okeafor’s experience with Seattle and the Cardinals become a totally different animal.

3. The Niners, Seahawks, and Rams are not exactly the Red Sox and Yankees

When you are the only team above .500 in your division, that division title is not exactly a monumental accomplishment. San Fran, Seattle, and St. Louis combined for a 13-35 record and the Cardinals went 6-0 against those doormats and 3-7 against the rest of the league. They had the division wrapped up by about week 11 because none of the other three teams could win a game.

The Rays, by contrast, competed in a division in which four out of the five teams finished over .500 (maybe next year, Baltimore Orioles). They also had to beat two of the last three World Series champions (White Sox ’05, Red Sox ’07) in the playoffs just to get to the World Series.

The Cardinals beat three good teams to get themselves to Tampa, but none of the three (Vikings, Panthers, Eagles) had ever won the Super Bowl. There is just no comparison as to how difficult the path for each team was.

2. The Cardinals are not the undisputed laughingstock of the NFL

Thankfully for Arizona, the Detroit Lions exist. The Oakland Raiders are actually on the verge of equaling the Lions in football incompetency as well.

Football has its share of cellar-dwellers.  And though it is never fun to be a part of that group, as Arizona certainly was, at least there are other teams to share the embarrassment with. Misery loves company after all.

For the Rays, there was no such company. Nine out of ten seasons in last place. Their empty stadium gets mocked all across the country. They were the undisputed Champions of Suck in Major League Baseball. No team could boast such a resume of ineptitude as the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays. Yes, the Cardinals suffered some embarrassment with the whole Dennis Green press-conference blow-up, but for the Rays, their entire existence was an embarrassment. Both teams rose from the depths, but for the Rays the depths were much deeper.

1. The Cardinals posted a miraculous improvement of ONE GAME from last year

The Cardinals weren’t even the most improved team in their own division. San Francisco went from 5-11 in 2007 to 7-9 in 2008, a two-game improvement. I know, I know, a one game improvement means a lot more in the NFL because they only play 16 games. Fair enough. They raised their winning percentage from .500 to .563. Not bad. The Rays only went from .407 in 2007 to .599 in 2008, an improvement of 31 wins. There is no comparison, folks.

I’m not trying to take anything away from the Arizona Cardinals here. I love the way they play and I’m rooting for them in the Super Bowl. I just want to end all that "the Arizona Cardinals are the Tampa Bay Rays of the NFL" nonsense once and for all. The Cardinals would love to further differentiate themselves from the Rays by actually winning the Super Bowl and becoming World Champs.

Agree that the Cards and Rays are different? Disagree? COMMENT ON IT or e-mail me at raysexaminer@live.com 

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