Cardinals can take ugly play to Mexico - literally
When the Arizona Cardinals announced they would play the 49ers in Mexico City, a smattering of Cardinals fans grumbled. They wondered why a team that had only three victories away from home in the past three seasons would choose to hit the road.
As it turns out, the Cardinals might have done their fans a favor. Another road game spares the fans from paying to watch the same sorry act.
Heading into Sunday’s game against the 49ers, Arizona is 0-3. It was supposed to be different this year. With a commanding coach in Dennis Green, a well-regarded draft class and notable free-agent signings such as quarterback Kurt Warner and defensive end Chike Okeafor, the Cardinals’ hopes were the highest in memory.
The Sporting News picked Arizona to win the vulnerable NFC West. Football Digest featured Warner on the cover with a story about the team’s high hopes.
And now?
“It’s not working,” said Green, in his second season, at his Monday news conference. “Things I felt real strongly would work for us, right now they are not working for us. The job I felt I could do, I have not been able to do right now. I am not happy about it.”
Disappointment is practically an annual tradition in the desert. The Cardinals have finished .500 or worse in 16 of 17 seasons since moving to Arizona from St. Louis. The Cardinals have won just one playoff game since 1947, when the franchise, then in Chicago, won the NFL championship.
Arizona lost 37-12 to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Warner (groin), defensive tackle Russell Davis (triceps), cornerback Antrel Rolle (knee) and tackle Oliver Ross (hand) suffered injuries, and it is unlikely that any of them will play against the 49ers.
It keeps getting worse for the Cardinals. In Week 1, they lost 42-19 to the New York Giants and were outscored 35-6 in the second half.
In Week 2, against the St. Louis Rams, they trailed 17-12 but were in position for a comeback victory in the fourth quarter. The Cardinals moved to the St. Louis 5-yard line with about 30 seconds left before unraveling with a sack and a false-start penalty that ran out the final seconds of the clock.
More: miami.com
NFL in Mexico: A good idea with bad teams
The strange but surreal scene of flash bulbs popping throughout Azteca Stadium in the opening shot of ESPN's prime-time Sunday night football telecast told us the first NFL regular-season game outside the United States should be something special.
Oh, well, close enough.
The ho-hum matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers ended up being a disappointment in spite of the enthusiasm of almost 105,000 fans in Mexico City who cheered like it was the Mexican Super Bowl.
Literally, a real snoozer
The NFL scheduled two of its least competitive franchises to
NFL will find football thriving in Mexico
When the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers play at Azteca Stadium on Sunday, they’ll discover something Mexicans have known for some time: Football is alive and thriving in this country.
And that’s without the NFL.
Consider the annual Clasico, a nasty rivalry that goes back decades and pits the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s Pumas against the Aguilas Blancas, or White Eagles, of the National Polytechnic Institute.
This is Redskins vs. Cowboys, Raiders vs. Chiefs — Mexican style.
“What a game,†gasped the stadium announcer, his voice straining over the din of 45,000 fans. “And you, the
NFL - 49ers, Cardinals set for historic Mexico trip
Sunday 2nd October 2005 will be a momentous date in the 86-year history of the NFL, as it will be the date of the first ever regular season game to be played outside the United States.
The San Francisco 49ers will take on the Arizona Cardinals at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, with a crowd of 85,000 expected.
The event is part of Hispanic Heritage Month, and could pave the way for further games to be held outside the USA, including a proposed game in London.
The game will be broadcast by 18 broadcasters
NFL looks for big play in Mexico
The NFL is the monolith of professional sports leagues, so powerful in its hold over fans and sponsors that it's hard to imagine that it could grow in popularity.
Yet that's the plan, and a chief target is Mexico and the burgeoning Hispanic market in the United States.
Like most large, powerful entities, the NFL isn't the most nimble of organizations. It admittedly has been a bit slow off the ball in selling itself to Mexico and Hispanic markets.
The NFL sees those markets as vital to continuing the phenomenal growth the league has enjoyed over the
Don't expect a huge crowd in Mexico
Go for it. You know something's phony when the NFL doesn't blow its own horn. Take Sunday night when league history will be made by playing the first regular-season game outside of the United States.
The game is in Mexico City at Estadio Azteca. But there's been hardly a promotional peep.
The catch is that the teams are the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers. That's like promising diamonds and sending zirconia. In the case of the Cardinals, cheap zirconia.
No wonder the NFL has abandoned its original prediction of 105,000 fans. Oh, check that
Mexico to play five exhibition games in U.S. next year before World Cup
Mexico will play five international friendlies in the United States next year before the World Cup, including a March matchup against Ghana, a first-round opponent of the U.S. team.
Mexico will play Ghana on March 1 in the Dallas area, Soccer United Marketing said Wednesday. The United States plays the Black Stars on June 22 at Nuremberg, Germany, in the final first-round game for the Americans at the World Cup,
Mexico meets Norway on Jan. 25 at San Francisco, four days before Norway plays the United States in Carson,
Football: Mexico City to stage NFL game
merican 'tackle' football is coming to Mexico. The National Football League (NFL) announced the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers would play the first regular-season contest outside the United States on October 2nd.
If the game is well received, it could mean more NFL games played outside the United States.
The league will evaluate all of the markets that have indicated an interest in hosting games around the world, including several in Europe, Canada, Asia, according to Roger Goodell, the league's executive vice president.
Goodell spoke at a news conference to talk about the
Mexico to stage 1st regular season game outside US
Organizers are hoping to attract a record 105,000 crowd to Mexico's Azteca stadium when the San Francisco 49ers play the Arizona Cardinals in October, the first regular season NFL game outside the United States.
San Francisco safety Tony Parrish said his team were pumped up about the contest on Sunday October 2.
"This game right here is going to be all business," Parrish told a news conference on Friday. "I've never played in front of that many people and I'm excited about that."
The Azteca stadium, which normally hosts soccer matches and rock concerts, holds
Lloyd, 49ers bring warm reception to Mexico City
Before he makes those twisting, leaping, diving, over-the-shoulder, finger-tip catches, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Lloyd has seen them before - in his mind.
Two weeks ago, there was a running, no-look, one-handed grab that generated a rare first down in the 49ers' lopsided loss.
"It was like, `I've been here before, catch it and go,'" Lloyd said.
That's largely what he did last week ago against Dallas in pulling off the NFL's longest pass play of the season. Lloyd got by Cowboys cornerback Anthony Henry, caught Tim Rattay's in stride at midfield and outran
In Mexico, NFL has untapped market
Tony Parrish, the 49ers defensive back, spent three days in Mexico during the summer promoting his team's game Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals in Mexico City. He found he didn't have to do much promoting.
The NFL estimates there are 20 million football fans in Mexico, making it the largest fan base outside the United States. Reporters from more than 150 news outlets attended Parrish's news conferences. At youth camps, he met some of the 250,000 players involved with organized football.
At some point, it dawned on him that he wasn't there as a novelty.
``They don't just
