Revenge of the Birds
Once upon a time, the Cardinals had a game that ended with the winner taking home a trophy. Do you recall the game?
From 1968 to 1988, the St. Louis Cardinals participated in a contest every time they competed against the Kansas City Chiefs. Both clubs were located in the State of Missouri, and it was therefore conceived that when the two teams were on the schedule, there should be an additional incentive.
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The contest began in 1968, eight years after the Chicago Cardinals had relocated to St. Louis and became the St. Louis Cardinals. Or, as the media called them, because the city already had the baseball Cardinals, the St. Louis Football Cardinals. This was similar to New York City, where the New York Giants baseball team existed, and the NFL team became known as the New York Football Giants, a name they still use today.
The Chiefs were a member of the American Football League (AFL), whereas the Cardinals were an established club in the National Football League (NFL).
The two leagues had already agreed to merge into one large entity beginning with the 1970 season. But starting in 1967, the two leagues shared a common college draft, had inter-league games during the preseason, and then held a game at season’s end that pitted each league’s champion against the other.
After the third championship game against league champions, the game’s name was changed from the “AFL-NFL Championship Game” to the “Super Bowl.”
For 1968, a preseason game was scheduled with the Cardinals playing at Kansas City. Since it was the first game ever with the two in-state teams, the media referred to the game as “The Battle of Missouri” and “The Show-Me State Showdown.”
Just a few seasons ago, the Cardinals had competed in the “Playoff Bowl,” an additional postseason game that pitted the league’s two division runners-up against each other. The Chiefs had gone to the very first Super Bowl as the AFL champion, so both teams had recent success.
In 1967, the Chiefs had gone 9-5-0 while the Cardinals finished 6-7-1.
During this time frame, the inter-league preseason contests were viewed as serious games and played to win. Neither league wanted to lose to the other league and appear to be inferior.
The idea was floated that “The Battle of Missouri” should be amped up a bit since this was the first one ever. A trophy was ordered, and officially, the name of the contest would be known as “The Missouri Governor’s Cup.”
The Cardinals played their home games at Busch Stadium, which was also the home of the baseball Cardinals, with a capacity of 30,500. The Chiefs also shared their venue with the Kansas City Athletics baseball team. They played in Municipal Stadium, which had seating for 34,165.
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