No way I hedge my Cardinals bet

I remember it like it was yesterday.

My wife and I were headed to a subtitled movie at the Suncoast. You know the type. It's a "film," not a "movie," shown at the "cinema," not a "theater." Whatever you call it, I've developed more of a tolerance for reading a movie and less of a tolerance for Hollywood mediocrity and gratuitous violence.

Anyway, if you're familiar with this fine local casino (and cinema), you'll know that when you park in the garage you must walk past the sports book to get to the movie house. I like to stop and look at the betting lines so if anyone asks me about the movie, I can say, "Well, it was good, but I liked the 'book' better."

But I digress.

On this day, we noticed that the futures bets for the Super Bowl were posted. The football season had not started yet, and the board showed the Arizona Cardinals with 40-1 odds to win. So I put $5 on the Cardinals. I remember the guy at the window saying, "Hey, miracles can happen."

Now, let me disclose that I am a full-on Arizona Cardinals fan. I'm a season ticket holder. I go to three or four home games a year. The games I don't see in person I watch on TV. And, yes, I tape the games and watch them again.

Call me a glutton for punishment, but each fall I look forward to Cardinals games. Each fall I root for them. And each fall I suffer.

Until this year. The Cards went undefeated in their division and clinched a playoff birth early. Then they proceeded to absolutely stink up their remaining games, resulting in some pundits calling them the "worst team ever to make the playoffs." When that first playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons rolled around, I promise you that Cardinals fans everywhere hoped for the best, but expected the worst.

Then, it happened. We won. Convincingly.

We next played the Carolina Panthers. We won. Convincingly.

We then played the Philadelphia Eagles. We won. Convincingly.

We shocked the world -- and ourselves. And now, as if all of the underdog karma in the universe joined forces with the fervent energy of every Hail Mary prayer ever said, the Cardinals play the mighty Pittsburgh Steelers today in the Super Bowl.

And here I sit with my 40-1 ticket. Some say I should hedge the wager by betting on the Steelers, too. That way I cash a ticket no matter what.

The people who say that don't have a clue why last August I bet the Cardinals to win the Super Bowl. They don't know the difference between a wager and a prayer. This ticket is like a votive candle. It's a sign of my faith and my suffering.

Steelers fans can't identify with this. Cardinals fans have been in football hell for so long, this new experience of winning and being competitive makes us not want to go back -- ever. Where once there was only misery, there is now joy. And I want more of it. If that means not hedging a 40-1 bet to keep the karma flowing, I'm all in.

If I lose, then I'm out $5.

If I win, well, I'll have won enough money to put $5 on the Cardinals to win the Super Bowl every year through 2049. Or, maybe, just maybe, I'll let my winnings ride next year.

Can miracles happen back-to-back?

Sherman Frederick (sfrederick@reviewjournal.com) is publisher of the Review-Journal and president of Stephens Media.