Having Cards in Super Bowl would unite Ariz. in celebration

Greg Stanton, mayor of Phoenix:

How about what happens when our Cardinals make it!

Phoenix is preparing to throw the biggest party of the year this February. My vision for the decorations: Cardinal red.

It will be a true holiday around the Valley: family and friends gathering around the table, creating memories, and sharing buffalo wings and sevenlayer dip.

Cards fans from every corner of our state will flock to Super Bowl Central to support our team and be part of the action.

Tailgates will fill every parking lot, hotels will be packed, and the pool parties will overflow.

We have the local leg-up: Arizonans will know the scoop on where to watch, where to play, where to eat and where to cheer on our boys in the big game. It will unite our state as a single community.

Whether you’re from Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Mesa or Glendale, we’re all rooting for the same Birds.

Forty-nine is my lucky number, and I have a feeling that we’re going to be the first team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl at home. And when we do, Central Avenue will be ready to host the parade.

I am a bit worried for the team shop, though. When Larry Fitzgerald catches Carson Palmer’s winning touchdown pass as the clock hits zero, jerseys sales will break records. They better start stocking those shelves now!

The high-school shooting Friday in Washington state will once again bring out the gun-control zealots, including the president, who will soon make a speech claiming another senseless act of violence resulting from guns.

Again, they will ignore the need for mental-health considerations, the fact that the shootings take place in gunrestricted zones, and that many other tragedies very recently were stopped by guns. They include the terrorist attacks in Warren, Okla.; Ottawa, Canada; and the New York hatchet man.

The “knee-jerk” administration will once again deliver nothing but predictable talking points and demonization.

—

Charles Lopresto,

Phoenix

Keeping names out of news may take away shooters’ motivation

Regarding the shooting in Canada:

Regarding “Arizona public-school teachers self-funded their own pensions” (Opinions, Friday):

Never thought I would say this, but I can’t wait to see a local car dealership commercial on TV! —

Scottsdale

Bud Lake,