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     Greetings and Salutations everyone! My name is Stephanie Connery and I am a fan of the Arizona Cardinals! We have a very talented team with some remarkable players on and off the field. This is one of the many reasons why I absolutely LOVE my red birds! The charitable works that these guys do can't go unnoticed. It warms my soul when I see all the good they do for so many people here in the valley and across the world.

    

    My beloved Cardinals are slowly winning over the hearts of fans here in Phoenix, Arizona. With both current and former class act players like Larry Fitzgerald, Kurt Warner, Patrick Peterson and Sam Acho to name a few, how could they not? The hard work they produce every season is greatly appreciated. They never give up and year after year they show us that team is what it really takes in this league.

    It was my husband who influenced me into paying more attention to NFL football and how it's played. He taught me to give my allegiance to my team and once I did so, it could never be taken back. You stick with your team no matter what! No wife of his was going to be a fair-weather fan! This was intimidating in the beginning but once I started learning more by watching games, reading sports blogs and following players I started going a little Cardinals crazy! A couple of seasons later I created fan pages on social media sites and have been maintaining them in my spare time for a little over 3 years now.

   As we enter the 2014 season, there is some skepticism as to whether or not we will be able to live up to last year's record of 10-6 (being just short of a trip to the playoffs.) We are after all playing in one of the toughest divisions in the league alongside the current Super Bowl Champions, the Seattle Seahawks. We went 1-3 during our pre-season, only winning our first game at home, versus the Texans. But what a fantastic game it was! It turned out to be a blowout, 32-0.

      The Cardinals have undoubtedly lost some key players going into this 2014 season. Darryl Washington (ILB) is suspended the entire season for his 2nd violation of the league’s substance abuse policy. Darnell Dockett (DT) was injured during practice and suffered a season ending torn ACL. Tyrann Mathieu (S) was recently removed from the PUP list after his long road of recovery from a torn ACL and LCL last season; however he is not expected to take the field until after our BYE week in week 4. Just this week Andre Ellington (RB) suffered a foot injury during practice. His full injury has yet to be determined and announced.

    Our defense may end up in a vulnerable position with the loss of some of our playmakers but we have to believe in "Next Man Up" and allow others to step up and fill those voids. I'm looking forward to the possibility of developing a feared forward passing game. That would be a nice change of pace for the Cards! I suppose I will have to relax, be patient and allow the season to unfold. There is one thing I'm certain about though and that is football is back baby!