When we covered last weekend’s NFC Championship Game in charming Glendale, AZ, for SPORTSbyBROOKS, we spoke rather disparagingly about Eagles fans and with some affection for Cardinals fans, especially since the latter tried to get us drunk and the former were the worst guests since Paris Hilton on “The Tonight Show”.  (Trashed gang green room, indeed.)

We won’t retract our previous opinions even though they echo the stereotypical Philly fan, but we must add that a few Cardinals fans apparently lived up to their own caricatures as the 49th state to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

According to Michael Silver of YAHOO! SPORTS (hat tip to THE 700 LEVEL), Cardinals fans allegedly burned “Go Cards” and other nonsense into Donovan McNabb’s lawn at his offseason home in the East Valley of Phoenix last week while Donovan’s wife and children slept.

Don’t worry; the trail didn’t run cold, exactly.  The lawn artists left a box on the scene with a mailing address attached.  Barney Fife could solve this one before the first commercial break.

It’s fair to suggest yesterday and today aren’t the most casual of days in Arizona.  Yes, Barack Obama feted local hero John McCain last night, but it’s not all skittles and beer here.  There’s been better times to burn the lawn of an African-American.  Like, never.

Last time the Super Bowl and racial matters mixed here, the NFL took away the Super Bowl until Arizona got around to honoring Dr. King with a holiday (which was eventually named “Dr. Martin Luther King Civil Rights Day” in a scramble for the moral high ground).

In a just world, burning the lawn of the opposing team’s quarterback where his six-week-old twins rested would be like downing the Fizzy Lifting Drink.  No Super Bowl.  It’s all there, black and white, clear as crystal! You played the race card through a heavy wink to the camera or an embarrassing level of ignorance. You bumped into the race ceiling which now has to be washed and sterilized through multiple news cycles, so you get nothing. You lose! Good day, sir!

Since we can’t have that, though, let’s hope for decorum throughout the state today for a historic occasion.  Better late than never, same as before.