Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
With such parity in the NFL, why is it that year in and year out a franchise like the Arizona Cardinals are mired in the stigma of losing?
I have thought about this a lot. I imagine you have too.
Why is it that franchises like the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots are perennial Super Bowl contenders?
Here are some of the reasons:
1. Fan base. When the fans create an expectation for winning...and embrace the history of the franchise...the bar is set high for the coaches and players...and it is easier for the players to "buy into" the tradition.
2. Ownership. The real good owners are the ones who make consistently astute decisions about (A) who the coach and staff should be; (B) what players to dish out the big bucks to; and (C) who the organization will count on to bring in new personnel through free agency and the draft.
3. Coaching. Elite franchises in the NFL attract the most talented coaches and usually hold on the them.
4. Team Discipline. The elite programs expect the coaches and players to be professional and to be 100% committed to helping the team win. Anything short of that is not tolerated. It all starts with the head coach...if he is not the most professional and committed individual in the organization, he usually is shown the door. The coach serves as a role model for the players. The thing is...with winning franchises, the team comes first, so much so that some players actually sign contracts below market value to stay with their teams, and in doing so, try to help the organization spare enough cap space to re-sign or bring in the right players that will help them win as a team.
Football is such a grueling sport that if the players sense that they can get away with playing less than 100%, so as to save their bodies from the weekly punishment...some of them will. Not the Anquan Boldins of the world. He's special and is a consummate winner.
Teams have to be willing to pay the price week in and week out...and if none or only some of the tangibles listed above are prevalent (good fan base, good ownership, good coaching and team discipline), the players will place more of their attention and commitment into their lavish lifestyles to build themselves (what they hope will be) a safe haven from the grueling NFL routine. This means that some players turn it on just enough to try to flash their value, but not enough to get their teams over the hump. This means that some players will try to act like they are committed, and look like it one week, and hardly show up the next. That's what's been happening to the Arizona Cardinals for what seems to be forever.
The reality for the Cardinals is:
1. Fan Base: Up until recently the Cardinals have had the worst fan base in the NFL. The excitement over the new stadium and a venue that will allow the fans to watch the games in a comfortable and alluring setting (rather than in the sweltering heat at a college stadium) have already started to pay big dividends. But...those of us (fans) who have suffered for years rooting for the perennially inept Cardinals are few and far between because there has been no bandwagon to jump on....and no tradition of winning whatsoever.
2. Ownership. The Bidwills have shown signs of getting up to par with the times, but in all honesty they still don't make the best football decisions (although they have been trying) and they just can't seem to catch a break either.
3. Coaching. The Bidwills have historically put the franchise's fortunes in the hands of novices or over the hill coaches. Mr. B, should have learned something when he rolled a lucky seven by hiring Don Coryell ages ago. Coryell was innovative and cunningly brash...and he brought something very special to the postion: a genius-like understanding of offensive designs and play-calling. The Bidwills thought they had hired a defensive genius in Buddy Ryan, but Ryan's arrogance and his disdain for human kind rendered him a failure as a head coach. Since Ryan, the Bidwills handed over the keys to head coaching neophytes...they were fortunate that Vince Tobin was up to the task (albeit an unlikely choice due to the fact that Tobin was never mistaken for a charismatic motivator), at least in 1998 when the Cardinals miraculously made the playoff and won a playoff game. All Tobin's momentum was dashed when the Bidwills decided to play hard ball with key players on that playoff team, thus losing them from the roster...all but QB Jake Plummer who they signed to a lucrative contract that, in retrospect, they must have wound up regretting.
Dave McGinnis was a very odd choice...since the Bidwills put all their eggs in Jake Plummer's basket, it behooved them to get Jake an offensive guru, not an old linebackers coach.
So, the Bidwills turn to a proven winner, Dennis Green...and thus far have watched Green raise expectations to a new height because of the talent he has assembled...but thus far have reaped no benefits from that talent due to lackluster, undisciplined play, shoddy preparation and ill-advised coaching decisions.
Green came to Arizona with the reputation of being an offensive mastermind...and immedaitely talked of HIS offense and how it would be a top five offense..yet, mystifyingly, no one in Arizona really knows yet what HIS offense is because Green coaches from a distance...he's about as hands-off as they get. When his rookie offensive coordinators have struggled, Green has not elected to call any plays or take any semblance of the onus on his shoulders.
4. Team Discipline. This franchise has been about as undisciplined on the field as any in the NFL, for a long, long time. The players, other than Boldin and Fitz and a select few others, think that playing for the Arizona Cardinals is a paid vacation disguised as a job. These players don't lay it on the line every week...some hyped up free agents sign here strictly for the money and the lifestyle...there is no commitment to winning here on the players' part and we are kidding oursleves if we think otherwise.
Edgerrin James has been heralded as the savior free agent...yet, here's a guy who came to Arizona because as he said the coach won't beat him up in practice or in pre-season...and thus far, James, after playing a token few plays in the pre-season, has not looked in sync with the offense (yes, blame much of that on the line)...but he hasn't played fast or that instinctive when he's had some daylight and the way Frank Gore outran and hustled James, if one didn't know, one would think Frank Gore was the $34M RB.
James came to Arizona...because it would be easier to call his own shots. And because the money was green and up front. It's that simple. And this only perpetuates the Cardinals' problems. The Bidwills should have been out shopping for smashmouth guards and tackles...and put the horses before the cart, not the other way around.
James has apparently been good for team morale and is a great guy in the locker room...plasma TV and all. Maybe that is a good thing. But it won't mean anything if the team doesn't start playing hard and disciplined week in and week out.
When the team's QB doesn't even have a sense to spike the ball after a sack with twenty seconds left, or to get his offense into a hurry-up down 11 points and under five minutes left...one has to wonder what is really going on. Team discipline starts with the coaches...but it inevitably has to come from the players...they have to demand it from themselves...and half the battle is recognizing what the situation calls for and going out there and executing it.
This stigma of losing...and all the condoning and excuse making that goes with it, all boils down to one stark reality...we, the fans, who have to endure the throes of this stigma, year in and year out...we are getting flat-out ripped off...by owners who condone the mess...by coaches who in reality don't demand a stop to the mess...and by players who don't have the integrity, nor the determination to change it.
I have thought about this a lot. I imagine you have too.
Why is it that franchises like the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots are perennial Super Bowl contenders?
Here are some of the reasons:
1. Fan base. When the fans create an expectation for winning...and embrace the history of the franchise...the bar is set high for the coaches and players...and it is easier for the players to "buy into" the tradition.
2. Ownership. The real good owners are the ones who make consistently astute decisions about (A) who the coach and staff should be; (B) what players to dish out the big bucks to; and (C) who the organization will count on to bring in new personnel through free agency and the draft.
3. Coaching. Elite franchises in the NFL attract the most talented coaches and usually hold on the them.
4. Team Discipline. The elite programs expect the coaches and players to be professional and to be 100% committed to helping the team win. Anything short of that is not tolerated. It all starts with the head coach...if he is not the most professional and committed individual in the organization, he usually is shown the door. The coach serves as a role model for the players. The thing is...with winning franchises, the team comes first, so much so that some players actually sign contracts below market value to stay with their teams, and in doing so, try to help the organization spare enough cap space to re-sign or bring in the right players that will help them win as a team.
Football is such a grueling sport that if the players sense that they can get away with playing less than 100%, so as to save their bodies from the weekly punishment...some of them will. Not the Anquan Boldins of the world. He's special and is a consummate winner.
Teams have to be willing to pay the price week in and week out...and if none or only some of the tangibles listed above are prevalent (good fan base, good ownership, good coaching and team discipline), the players will place more of their attention and commitment into their lavish lifestyles to build themselves (what they hope will be) a safe haven from the grueling NFL routine. This means that some players turn it on just enough to try to flash their value, but not enough to get their teams over the hump. This means that some players will try to act like they are committed, and look like it one week, and hardly show up the next. That's what's been happening to the Arizona Cardinals for what seems to be forever.
The reality for the Cardinals is:
1. Fan Base: Up until recently the Cardinals have had the worst fan base in the NFL. The excitement over the new stadium and a venue that will allow the fans to watch the games in a comfortable and alluring setting (rather than in the sweltering heat at a college stadium) have already started to pay big dividends. But...those of us (fans) who have suffered for years rooting for the perennially inept Cardinals are few and far between because there has been no bandwagon to jump on....and no tradition of winning whatsoever.
2. Ownership. The Bidwills have shown signs of getting up to par with the times, but in all honesty they still don't make the best football decisions (although they have been trying) and they just can't seem to catch a break either.
3. Coaching. The Bidwills have historically put the franchise's fortunes in the hands of novices or over the hill coaches. Mr. B, should have learned something when he rolled a lucky seven by hiring Don Coryell ages ago. Coryell was innovative and cunningly brash...and he brought something very special to the postion: a genius-like understanding of offensive designs and play-calling. The Bidwills thought they had hired a defensive genius in Buddy Ryan, but Ryan's arrogance and his disdain for human kind rendered him a failure as a head coach. Since Ryan, the Bidwills handed over the keys to head coaching neophytes...they were fortunate that Vince Tobin was up to the task (albeit an unlikely choice due to the fact that Tobin was never mistaken for a charismatic motivator), at least in 1998 when the Cardinals miraculously made the playoff and won a playoff game. All Tobin's momentum was dashed when the Bidwills decided to play hard ball with key players on that playoff team, thus losing them from the roster...all but QB Jake Plummer who they signed to a lucrative contract that, in retrospect, they must have wound up regretting.
Dave McGinnis was a very odd choice...since the Bidwills put all their eggs in Jake Plummer's basket, it behooved them to get Jake an offensive guru, not an old linebackers coach.
So, the Bidwills turn to a proven winner, Dennis Green...and thus far have watched Green raise expectations to a new height because of the talent he has assembled...but thus far have reaped no benefits from that talent due to lackluster, undisciplined play, shoddy preparation and ill-advised coaching decisions.
Green came to Arizona with the reputation of being an offensive mastermind...and immedaitely talked of HIS offense and how it would be a top five offense..yet, mystifyingly, no one in Arizona really knows yet what HIS offense is because Green coaches from a distance...he's about as hands-off as they get. When his rookie offensive coordinators have struggled, Green has not elected to call any plays or take any semblance of the onus on his shoulders.
4. Team Discipline. This franchise has been about as undisciplined on the field as any in the NFL, for a long, long time. The players, other than Boldin and Fitz and a select few others, think that playing for the Arizona Cardinals is a paid vacation disguised as a job. These players don't lay it on the line every week...some hyped up free agents sign here strictly for the money and the lifestyle...there is no commitment to winning here on the players' part and we are kidding oursleves if we think otherwise.
Edgerrin James has been heralded as the savior free agent...yet, here's a guy who came to Arizona because as he said the coach won't beat him up in practice or in pre-season...and thus far, James, after playing a token few plays in the pre-season, has not looked in sync with the offense (yes, blame much of that on the line)...but he hasn't played fast or that instinctive when he's had some daylight and the way Frank Gore outran and hustled James, if one didn't know, one would think Frank Gore was the $34M RB.
James came to Arizona...because it would be easier to call his own shots. And because the money was green and up front. It's that simple. And this only perpetuates the Cardinals' problems. The Bidwills should have been out shopping for smashmouth guards and tackles...and put the horses before the cart, not the other way around.
James has apparently been good for team morale and is a great guy in the locker room...plasma TV and all. Maybe that is a good thing. But it won't mean anything if the team doesn't start playing hard and disciplined week in and week out.
When the team's QB doesn't even have a sense to spike the ball after a sack with twenty seconds left, or to get his offense into a hurry-up down 11 points and under five minutes left...one has to wonder what is really going on. Team discipline starts with the coaches...but it inevitably has to come from the players...they have to demand it from themselves...and half the battle is recognizing what the situation calls for and going out there and executing it.
This stigma of losing...and all the condoning and excuse making that goes with it, all boils down to one stark reality...we, the fans, who have to endure the throes of this stigma, year in and year out...we are getting flat-out ripped off...by owners who condone the mess...by coaches who in reality don't demand a stop to the mess...and by players who don't have the integrity, nor the determination to change it.
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