Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Picture Chevy Chase walking through the desert in "Vacation" and you'll have an approximate visual of my experience hanging out with Cardinals die-hards outside University of Phoenix Stadium.

Only the slacks and long-sleeve dress shirt -- this does technically qualify as work, after all -- prevented me from hanging longer than 2 hours.

Here's the inside scoop:

• Jim Frank of the award-winning McFrankenboo BBQ knows how to cook. His grilled "fatties" were off-the-charts terrific. Picture bacon wrapped around ground beef stuffed with fire-roasted Hatch chilis with salt, pepper, onions and cheese. He even threw in some potatoes. Thanks to Jim, his wife Erin, Facebook friend Dan Loerch -- he's the guy with the face paint in this photo -- and the gang. I could have stood out there all day watching games on their satellite-powered TV. Here's a Facebook photo of Jim with his tasty creation. Extra credit to him for making do with a gas grill per stadium grilling stipulations. The bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers were excellent as well.
• From there I hoofed it over to the southeast corner of the grass lot, where Facebook pal Jim Miller and friends -- here's the photo -- had set up camp. They pretty much saved my life by providing three bottles of water and a bottle of Gatorade, letting me leave only once a little color returned to my face. Did I mention it gets hot out there? Jim invited me to stick around for a steak and I was tempted, but time was running low and I couldn't chance it.
• Apologies to Lloyd and Anand, who also extended invitations. The heat chased me back inside before I could catch up with them.

The coolest part of this 2-hour venture was how being fans of the Cardinals had brought together people who wouldn't have otherwise met, leading to close friendships. Jim Miller had end-zone seats at Sun Devil Stadium, which makes him a die-hard even by die-hard standards. These guys are rabid about their team and they provided evidence counter to ESPN.com's last-place ranking for Cardinals fans among NFL fandom (Dan gave me an earful over that ranking, by the way).

We also enjoyed talking some football. Dan was adamant that the Cardinals' comeback victory over the Eagles in the NFC title game killed any curses previously associated with the organization. Arizona lost a big lead in that game, but finding a way to win -- fueled by that gutsy fourth-and-1 conversion -- restored hope.

One of Jim Miller's buddies drove from St. Louis for this game. I won't out him here by using his name, but here is what you need to know: The friend convinced his wife and family to take a vacation to Arizona without mentioning anything about a football game being played that week. Once the family arrived, the friend "realized" the Cardinals happened to be playing the 49ers. You can figure out the rest from there. That call was gutsier than going for it on fourth-and-1. Well played, sir.