I’ll admit it. I am a huge sports fan. Especially pro football. From September to February, I am glued to all things football. SportsCenter, Sirius radio, all sports Blogs, etc.  I am an Arizona Cardinals fan and, for most of my life, I have had to suffer through the pains of less than stellar performances. One playoff appearance in 30 plus years couple with chronic failures of finishing games. And then came last year.

Now,  I am a huge fan of the writings of  Peter King. I have never met him, but, in my opinion,  he is one of the best sports writers on the planet and his Monday Morning Quarterback is a must read for all sports  fans especially NFL junkies. And don’t miss out on his Monday Morning Quarterback Tuesday edition as well. So during my Cardinals rocky season, every Monday I would wake up and see if Peter would give my Cardinals any credit. Fail. But, although disappointed, I still loyally read his articles.

My Cardinals stumbled our way into the playoffs and made the most improbable Super Bowl run on the planet, 3 minutes short of a miracle championship. I was there in section 114 watching this incredible Super Bowl sitting next to a 6 year old boy whose dad took him on a road trip from Wichita, Kansas to root for their Steelers.  For three quarters, they were happy fans and I was just happy to be there. My Cardinals were down 20-7.  We were talking a bit, but I could not help but feel that my Cardinals would come back and claw their way in this game.

Then comes the Larry Fitzgerald touchdown with around 3 minutes left. My elation at that moment was at a near all time high. We were going to win the Super Bowl. We were going to win. As, I jump up and down, I turn and look over to my 6 year old neighbor. He was balling his eyes out on his dad’s shoulder. I felt like the biggest heel ever. I’m celebrating (prematurely) and this young kid is devastated.  So, I put my arm around him and say — “The game is not over. Pittsburgh can come back and win this.” Of course, I just lied to a 6 year old child. But he is a Steelers fan, and so my remorse is a short lived as a Jack Bauer apology.

And there is no need to recount the final 3 minutes but you know what happened. The Steelers came back and won. But once the game was over I looked over at the little kid. He is celebrating with his dad.  I turn my head in disgust and the little guy looks at me and says “It’s ok. You guys played great. ” (of course, I was balling my eyes out. The irony) And you know what? This kid was right. We played better than any one ever thought we would. Even Peter King. I left the stadium in my Cardinals jersey and mostly every Steelers fan shook my hand and said that it was an incredible game.  But you know what I was waiting for? The Monday Morning Quarterback from Peter King.

I wake up groggy and still sick from this loss but That article made my year.  I want to quote Peter’s comment about my Boys. 

“Arizona (12-8). Super Sunday never yields a moral victory. But the Cardinals deserve the respect of the football world — and the sporting world, and any world you’d care to mention — for what they’ve done in the past 30 days. They started the playoffs as the worst division winner since the league went to 12 playoff teams in 1990. They finished the playoffs a millimeter behind the best team in football. Heads high on that long trip west today, Cards.”

That comment was what I waited for all year from my hero and guru Mr. King.

Last night, I am up late and see Peter King tweeting and I read his tweet.

“@acforever : My fault, guys. Woke up in the middle of the night, tried to answer a question from Sean Jenson about my Twitter name … and I hit the button too quick when I meant to write “pkingmmqb is not my Twitter name.” cut off after “pkingmmqb”….And so, because I did it in the middle of the night, now I’m an alcoholic. I can assure you it was not a drinking thing. It was a …… blackberry thing.”

Mr. King tweets and has a BlackBerry. He wins my SportsWriterwhoTweets Lifetime Achievement award. He may never read this blog post but if you are sports fan you need to be following him. Follow him on twitter. @si_peterking. Perhaps one day I will get to buy him a drink or interview him but you can probably bet it will be at a Starbucks with an Egg Nog Latte in hand.

PS: If you read his MMQB yesterday, you realize that he ranked my Cardinals 12th as of now.  (Deep Sigh)