ARIZONA CARDINALS

Hamza Abdullah (seriously) calls out Cardinals fans

Oct 24, 2011, 11:06 PM | Updated: Oct 25, 2011, 12:43 am

The Arizona Cardinals lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 32-
20 Sunday.

The Arizona Cardinals allowed Ben Roethlisberger to throw
for 361 yards and three touchdowns and the Arizona
Cardinals lost their fifth straight game.

But the team’s motto is “We do this together,” and that
includes the fans. So, as safety Hamza Abdullah pointed
out on his twitter page after Sunday’s game, they
deserve part of the blame.

I’m sorely disappointed in the #BirdGang. You might be
disappointed in us, but we play well at home. And we lean
on y’all to pick us up.

True, homefield advantage can help. A loud, screaming
crowd can intimidate an opposing offense, sometimes even
making it difficult to run plays. But Abdullah saying the
team plays well at home, while accurate, is an assertion
largely helped by the team’s ineptitude on the road.

So in a way, “well” is relative.

20,000 out of 60,000 were Pittsburgh fans. That’s absurd
and uncalled for. The #BirdGang is better than that.

Indeed, there were a lot of Steelers fans at the game, and
they were a loud and boisterous bunch. Then again, the
players could have done their part and played well, giving
the visitors no reason to cheer. Maybe that’s just silly,
but the only thing at University of Phoenix Stadium Sunday
that was uncalled for was the Cardinals’ play.

Say what you want, but I’m a fan first. When my team is
down, that’s when you are the loudest, that’s when you
need the most support

That sounds all well and good, but the fact of the matter
is it’s hard to cheer when your team keeps losing and
looks bad in the process. University of Phoenix Stadium
was rocking when LaRod Stephens-Howling scored on a 73-
yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to three, but had
little reason to cheer after that.

It is what it is. Yeah, you can call us names, and say we
haven’t given anyone anything to cheer for, but it’s 17-
14, and we have momentum

Fair enough, if there were more Cardinals fans in the
stadium the Cardinals defense would not have allowed a 10-
play, 64-yard touchdown drive on Pittsburgh’s next
possession. Whatever the fans are making is clearly too
much, as they don’t deserve their high salary when they
are cheering like that. For shame.

But the crowd is pro steelers, so we can’t even use our
greatest asset, Our Home Crowd… Home field is huge in
sports.

If the team’s greatest asset is really the crowd then
they’re in trouble because, well, they’ll only have their
crowd in five of the remaining 10 games. Suffice to say
the team should not be expected to win on the road
because, of course, they will be without their greatest
asset. Pity their greatest asset isn’t talent, because
that could show up in any stadium.

That’s why they give it to the best team…all in all, if
your for me and for us, then be for me and for us.

If you’re a real #BirdGang member, I salute you, and we
need you going forward. Peace

That’s kind of Mr. Abdullah, saluting the real Cardinals
fans. But you fairweather fans, you know, the ones who
decided not to watch your team lose Sunday, do not get his
praise. So what if maybe you had better things to do or
decided to sell your tickets so you could pay a bill or
two, the point is you weren’t at the game and therefore
are not a real fan.

And your absence helped the Arizona Cardinals lose Sunday.
Really.

Arizona Cardinals

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Hamza Abdullah (seriously) calls out Cardinals fans