With Cardinals, Sun Devils both playing Thursday night, Arizona fans forced to choose

It was a busy Thursday night for sports fans in the Valley. For the first time in the regular season, the Cardinals and Arizona State football played on the same night.

The kickoffs were separated by about 40 minutes and 27 miles. With overlapping fan bases, a lot of people had to chose which way they'd head on the I-10 for the midweek matchup.

For many years, this overlap was not possible, as both teams shared Sun Devil Stadium. While the two schedules have overlapped during the Cardinals' preseason, Thursday night presented a unique clash. 

For some fans, the choice was easy. Others grappled with the decisions -- first, on which game to watch, and then on how to follow (or avoid updates) from the other.

"We're trying not see the (ASU) score tonight," said Barb Hammitt, who was outside State Farm Stadium sitting in an ASU chair. "We're taping the game, and we hope they do not show the score."

Reppin' three sides

With the clashing colors from multiple teams, Jon and Angie Krenkel were a perfect visual representation of the the scheduling conundrum. 

Jon was in a Cardinals shirt; Angie in a Broncos. But both were sitting under a maroon and gold Sun Devils tent in ASU branded chairs. The two are season ticket holders at Sun Devil Stadium, but the professional matchup pulled them away from Tempe.

"Because the Cardinals are playing the Broncos, and (those are) our teams at home, we decided to come here," Angie said. 

Their season tickets didn't go to waste - their son is an ASU student who was able to snag the tickets for himself and his wife.

The Krenkels would be checking their phones for updates - "We won't be able to wait" - and were DVR-ing the game as well. No matter the results of the two games, the Krenkels weren't stressed about their professional teams colliding. 

"We'll be fine," Angie said.

That was one thing the divided house could both agree on. 

"We've been married for 22 years," Jon said.

A slower game day to start

Up to an hour before ASU’s 6 p.m. kickoff, activity around Sun Devil Stadium was significantly less than for a Saturday game.

There was almost no line to pass through the security gates at the stadium’s southeast plaza at 5 p.m. An ASU regular game-day volunteer speculated that the overlap with the Cardinal game, traffic concerns on a weekday and the Sun Devils’ 3-3 record contributed to what is projected as a crowd of 40,000. Renovated Sun Devil Stadium now seats 53,599.

The football doubleheader worked out well for Ben Bradley and his wife Karie, who were given ASU tickets for free from friends who chose to attend the Cardinals game.

“I was surprised to see this much traffic (at 3:40 p.m.),” said Ben Bradley, attending just his second ASU game since a recent move from Kansas. “I thought we were going to be beating the traffic a little bit, but I also understand they’ve got a lot of roads blocked off too.”

On the roof of the parking structure directly south of the stadium, Jeff McKenna was setting up his usual tailgate around 4:15 p.m. The ear, nose and throat surgeon packed his car Monday so he would be ready to come straight to the stadium after completing work Thursday.

“We usually have 10-20 people that come to our tailgate,” McKenna said. “We try to have it every time right here. It’s a great place to have it even in the dead of summer (unlike Thursday’s 80-degree pre-game temperature). University (Drive) was more busy than usual, but I got right in.

“Some football fans are siphoned off ASU, too, because they’re going to be paying attention to the Cardinals game. They may be a little more NFL people. If ASU was a little bit more successful this season, it would be busier.”

McKenna said he is a former Cardinals season ticket holder and ASU graduate. “The Cardinals we love, but Glendale is a long way for us.”

In lot 59 on the east side of the stadium, Dan Snyder and his son Steve were tailgating like usual with Pat and Dan Griffin. All but Steve are retired, making it easier to arrive early.

“I keep thinking it’s Saturday and forget it’s Thursday,” said Dan Snyder, who gave himself an extra half hour to get to the game. “Traffic wasn’t as bad as I thought I got in the parking lot smoother for whatever reason.”

Pat Griffin gave his Cardinals tickets away in favor of his “first priority” ASU.

Near Sun Angel Track Stadium, Jim Capono and his family (Al and Mike) were tailgating close to their usual location along with Rudy Berumen.

For semi-retired Berumen, a weekday game is “more enjoyable. Getting in was a piece of cake. I’ve been looking forward to this all week. Stanford is a quality team. If it was Utah State, it might be a different story.”

Asked if he had to choose between ASU and the Cardinals, Berumen couldn’t resist taking a shot at the 1-5 Cards: “Yes, someone broke my car window and left four tickets on the front seat.”

A family affair

Chris Henderson of Glendale decided it was finally time to take her parents and her sister Cindy to a football game and although her mother, Jan, is a graduate of Arizona State, the choice was easy.

“It’s the Broncos,” Henderson, a longtime Denver fan, said. “Mom didn’t have a choice. They’re both in their 80s and they’ve never been to an NFL game and since the Broncos haven’t been here for a regular-season game in a while, I decided this was the game I was going to take them to.

“We’re all wearing Broncos’ gear.”

Before the game, the Hendersons spent time at the Westgate Entertainment District, where Chris Henderson made sure to point out how many Broncos’ fans were populating the place.

“It was literally a season of orange,” she said. “It was probably 10 to 1 Broncos’ fans. Yeah, sorry about that.”

The streak stays alive

For Phoenix resident Doug Anderson, a fan of the Sun Devils and Broncos, the decision to attend Thursday’s ASU game was interesting, but not difficult.

He had to leave work in central Scottsdale a few hours early to beat traffic, but as an ASU season-ticket holder, Thursday’s game will be his 109th straight. There was no need for much deliberation.

“I wasn’t thrilled because I only get to watch about one or two (Broncos) games a year,” said Anderson while walking along Sixth Street toward Mill Avenue. “This is one I thought I could see, and then we got the Stanford game.”

Anderson said he would keep up with the Broncos’ game in Glendale, but he was not anticipating a must-see affair. More than anything, he wasn’t too excited that ASU was playing on a weekday.

“I wish they wouldn’t do Thursday games,” he said. “I understand it’s national exposure on ESPN, but. … Tempe’s not exactly super well-equipped for something this dense on a weekday.”

Tailgate traditions

Friends Stephen Acevedo and Greg Cruz are Cardinals season ticket holders, so they know the drill when the Cardinals play on a weeknight: leave early.

They left their homes in Tempe at 12:45 on Thursday and didn’t encounter much traffic. By 2 p.m., 3 hours and 20 minutes before kick off, they had their sun shade set up and were enjoying cold beverages on the great lawn at State Farm Stadium.

“We’re veterans,” Acevedo said.

Both are ASU fans but not ticket holders.

“I was kind of mad they both played on the same night,” Cruz said.

With the Cardinals kicking off before the Sun Devils, the friends hoped to catch the end of the ASU game near their homes in Tempe.

“If our wives are O.K. with it, we’re going to watch it in a bar,” Acevedo said.

An early start

ASU season-ticket holder Craig Ostrander was almost too prepared to set up his tailgate on Sixth Street between Forest and College avenues in Tempe on Thursday.

Ostrander, who works for the City of Phoenix water department, has had the day off months in advance. So, he arrived to set up his tailgate at 6 a.m. only to find that he was the only one doing so.

“I don’t know if people are willing to put in the time and effort,” Ostrander said.

Three hours before kickoff, Ostrander’s flag-adorned tailgate was only one of three along the street, which he said is not the case on a typical Saturday game day. He was also surprised by the general lack of fans in the area.

“There’s no people. They’ve got all these special things set up around here,” said Ostrander, gesturing to ASU-organized tailgate events on the south side of Sixth Street, “and there’s no people in them.”

Fans come in late in Tempe

The crowd started to fill in more about 10 minutes after kickoff.

Carletta Shaw, who was handing out programs at Sun Devil Stadium calls the crowd of arriving “steady.”

“It really picked up after the fireworks during the (national) anthem,” Shaw said. “Before that there really wasn’t anyone coming up these stairs.”

Martin Wells and his son Tyson were late arriving to the game, but said they weren’t going to pass of the chance to see the game. A family friend had tickets to the Cardinals and Sun Devils Thursday and gave away both sets of tickets because he couldn’t make the trip from Ash Fork.

“We got here late and we problem won’t stay for the whole thing, but it’s his first time,” Martin Wells said, referring to 10-year old Tyson.

A unifying force

Besides geographic proximity, there is one bond that always unites Cardinals fans and ASU fans: Pat Tillman.

With a banner recognizing Tillman hanging from their tent set up on the Great Lawn outside State Farm Stadium, Todd Korey and Tim Tekulve were both excited for a big night of football.

Even on a night this busy, Korey still noted that one other game caught his eye.

"I wanted to DVR (the ASU game), but I also wanted to DVR the Coyotes-Blackhawks game, so I had to choose," Korey said. 

It was a strong family environment at the tent, with multiple generations all in Cardinals jerseys celebrating together. The group got there around 1:30 p.m., so traffic was never an issue.

There were some Broncos fans there too, as Korey and Tekulve graciously welcomed one and all to their tailgate. The competition would come later; the tailgate was about camaraderie. 

Tekulve noted that the lawn was a little sparse two hours ahead of the game, at least compared to the usual weekend crowd.

"On a normal Sunday, you would never, ever see that," Tekulve said.

"It's wild, that even though there's social degenerates like myself that show up here at 1 o'clock in the afternoon for a 5 o'clock game, a lot of people still have to work. I took the day off just to be here."

Kent Somers, Bob McManaman, Chris Cole and Jeff Metcalfe contributed to this report.