azdad1978
Championship!!!!
Aug. 25, 2005 12:00 AM
PRESCOTT
The Cardinals broke training camp Wednesday, and with no offense intended to the folks here, they probably smiled all the way to the Valley.
Practicing twice a day, living away from home for more than three weeks and rooming with another large man is not a pleasurable experience, at least for most people.
That's exactly what coach Dennis Green likes about camp, where he says players need "three hots and a cot and a whole lot of football, a whole lot of practice."
The team's hastily arranged relocation played into Green's modus operandi. Prescott offers the basics for the football team: all business, no frills - like the coach.
Green likes the fact that a few people were able to get together and do what was necessary to host an NFL training camp. Obstacles were hurdled instead of constructed.
If Green has his way, and he usually does, that is precisely why the Cardinals will be back in Prescott for future camps.
He likes many things about training here. It's 30 minutes closer to home. The facilities are convenient and functional. The weather is fine.
What Green leaves unsaid, however, is that moving training camp would be another way to signify the organization has changed.
That motive should not be underestimated.
Not long after taking the Cardinals job, Green got rid of the team's massage therapists, chiropractor and nutritionist. He has directed the past two drafts, which experts have rated highly. He has brought in his "type" of players - veterans and workhorses, guys with something to prove.
The organization's altered logo and redesigned uniforms symbolize some of the changes, but establishing training camp in Prescott would delineate between the Cardinals of the past and the Cardinals of the future.
Flagstaff had been the Cardinals' only training camp home since the team moved to Arizona in 1988. That changed last year when Green, in his first season, decided to hold an additional week of camp in Prescott rather than return home to the heat.
A similar arrangement was planned for this year until the outbreak of norovirus on the Northern Arizona campus a week before the start of camp. In the span of a weekend, the Cardinals moved their whole training camp operation here.
While praising Flagstaff and NAU officials at every turn, team officials also seized the opportunity to mention that their contract with NAU was in its final year and, boy, isn't Prescott a nice place for a training camp?
Green has been effusive in his praise of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the team's home the first two weeks of camp, and Prescott.
He stops short, however, of saying which place he prefers: Flagstaff or Prescott. Between the lines, there are hints.
"I'm not going to get into that," he said. "I've been here (Prescott) twice. I've only been to Flagstaff once. So I think that's probably not fair."
As hard as people worked here, however, there's no question Flagstaff is a better site for camp.
There are three large, immaculate fields on the NAU campus. In Prescott, the team has practiced most often in the outfield of a softball complex.
In Flagstaff, the team can go inside the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome when it rains. Here, there's an armory downtown.
NAU also is considerably more fan friendly. A hill gives a nice view of two fields, and if it grows too hot, fans can take a few steps back into the shade of the pine trees. When workouts are over, fans can line the fields' only exit and ask for autographs.
They didn't have that kind of access here. When practice ends, players head for vans and buses on the opposite side of the field. Most of them have been good about occasionally signing autographs before they leave, but it falls far short of what NAU offered.
Maybe all that can be corrected with months, instead of days, to prepare. Maybe arrangements can be made for the Cardinals to stay the entire camp at Embry-Riddle rather than have to move into a hotel for a week or two.
Not that Green is that concerned about his players' comfort. Last year, he ordered that players share dorm rooms. He thinks camp should be hard and uncomfortable.
"Three and a half weeks of damn-near hell," he called it.
Those 3 1/2 weeks of damn-near hell are likely to be in Prescott next year, although the city might want to go with a different marketing slogan.
Player profile
Reggie Wells
Third-year guard from Clarion (Pa.)
Height/weight: 6-4/320.
Hometown: Library, Pa.
Wells is a rare Cardinals player. He's one of the few who was with the team before Dennis Green came in and has earned Green's respect. Wells is one of six current starters who were on the team before 2004.
Green likes Wells' athleticism and the fact the he came from a Division II college (Clarion), which means Wells has something to prove in the NFL. Wells, a sixth-round draft pick, started at left tackle the last game of his rookie season and earned the starting spot at left guard last season.
Wells Q&A
Q: Coming out of a small college, did you expect to start so many games in the beginning of your career?
A: "To be honest with you, I didn't know what to really expect coming up to this level. I'm sure it was going to be an eye-opening experience. But after my rookie year, I started getting the hang of it and I was looking forward to starting. Coach (Green) gave me an opportunity, and I was just trying to stay with it."
Q: We've heard you're the team clown. Is that true?
A: "I don't know if clown's the right word to use there, but I've tried to liven it up for camp this year. In camp you need a guy like that to make you laugh. I don't know, I think comedian would be the right word. I don't know if I'm quite the clown."
Q: Is there anyone you pick on?
A: "We get on (center Nick Leckey) a little bit. We give Leckey a lot of flack. His wardrobe isn't O-line acceptable. Sometimes he dresses like he's 240-250 (pounds). But you know, in all actuality, he's closer to three bills (300 pounds)."
Q: Any other jokes?
A: "There's stuff that goes on in the meeting rooms that probably wouldn't be printable."
Day at camp
The Cardinals weren't in pads and hardly worked against each other. There were some special-teams drills and some offense vs. defense drills. Green complained that the team dropped too many passes Tuesday. Wednesday was much better. Not many balls hit the ground. On one play, cornerback Antrel Rolle jumped for an interception, but the ball went through his hands and before it could hit the grass, receiver Dan Sheldon caught it off the tip. The afternoon practice was a one-hour walk-through.
Eye opener
Because of injuries, the team is so thin at center that Wells was practicing as the second-team center. Wells has practiced snapping during minicamp but has never played the position.
Quote of the day
"I don't even know if I want to go in there the way those guys have been going down. I want to finish the season." - Wells, on his new position, backup center.
Comings and goings
The Cardinals claimed center Shawn Lynch, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings, off waivers.
Training room
C Bill Conaty (left triceps contusion), C Alex Stepanovich (hand), LB Gerald Hayes (knee), SS Adrian Wilson (leg contusion), C Nick Leckey (ankle), LB Lance Mitchell (ankle) and TE Bobby Blizzard (back) did not practice.
Coming up
The Cardinals have a closed walk-through today in Tempe in preparation for Friday's game at Oakland. They will practice in Tempe next week. Call (602) 379-1714 - or go to azcardinals.com - for updates to next week's practice schedule. - Odeen Domingo
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/columns/articles/0825cardscolumn0825.html
PRESCOTT
The Cardinals broke training camp Wednesday, and with no offense intended to the folks here, they probably smiled all the way to the Valley.
Practicing twice a day, living away from home for more than three weeks and rooming with another large man is not a pleasurable experience, at least for most people.
That's exactly what coach Dennis Green likes about camp, where he says players need "three hots and a cot and a whole lot of football, a whole lot of practice."
The team's hastily arranged relocation played into Green's modus operandi. Prescott offers the basics for the football team: all business, no frills - like the coach.
Green likes the fact that a few people were able to get together and do what was necessary to host an NFL training camp. Obstacles were hurdled instead of constructed.
If Green has his way, and he usually does, that is precisely why the Cardinals will be back in Prescott for future camps.
He likes many things about training here. It's 30 minutes closer to home. The facilities are convenient and functional. The weather is fine.
What Green leaves unsaid, however, is that moving training camp would be another way to signify the organization has changed.
That motive should not be underestimated.
Not long after taking the Cardinals job, Green got rid of the team's massage therapists, chiropractor and nutritionist. He has directed the past two drafts, which experts have rated highly. He has brought in his "type" of players - veterans and workhorses, guys with something to prove.
The organization's altered logo and redesigned uniforms symbolize some of the changes, but establishing training camp in Prescott would delineate between the Cardinals of the past and the Cardinals of the future.
Flagstaff had been the Cardinals' only training camp home since the team moved to Arizona in 1988. That changed last year when Green, in his first season, decided to hold an additional week of camp in Prescott rather than return home to the heat.
A similar arrangement was planned for this year until the outbreak of norovirus on the Northern Arizona campus a week before the start of camp. In the span of a weekend, the Cardinals moved their whole training camp operation here.
While praising Flagstaff and NAU officials at every turn, team officials also seized the opportunity to mention that their contract with NAU was in its final year and, boy, isn't Prescott a nice place for a training camp?
Green has been effusive in his praise of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the team's home the first two weeks of camp, and Prescott.
He stops short, however, of saying which place he prefers: Flagstaff or Prescott. Between the lines, there are hints.
"I'm not going to get into that," he said. "I've been here (Prescott) twice. I've only been to Flagstaff once. So I think that's probably not fair."
As hard as people worked here, however, there's no question Flagstaff is a better site for camp.
There are three large, immaculate fields on the NAU campus. In Prescott, the team has practiced most often in the outfield of a softball complex.
In Flagstaff, the team can go inside the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome when it rains. Here, there's an armory downtown.
NAU also is considerably more fan friendly. A hill gives a nice view of two fields, and if it grows too hot, fans can take a few steps back into the shade of the pine trees. When workouts are over, fans can line the fields' only exit and ask for autographs.
They didn't have that kind of access here. When practice ends, players head for vans and buses on the opposite side of the field. Most of them have been good about occasionally signing autographs before they leave, but it falls far short of what NAU offered.
Maybe all that can be corrected with months, instead of days, to prepare. Maybe arrangements can be made for the Cardinals to stay the entire camp at Embry-Riddle rather than have to move into a hotel for a week or two.
Not that Green is that concerned about his players' comfort. Last year, he ordered that players share dorm rooms. He thinks camp should be hard and uncomfortable.
"Three and a half weeks of damn-near hell," he called it.
Those 3 1/2 weeks of damn-near hell are likely to be in Prescott next year, although the city might want to go with a different marketing slogan.
Player profile
Reggie Wells
Third-year guard from Clarion (Pa.)
Height/weight: 6-4/320.
Hometown: Library, Pa.
Wells is a rare Cardinals player. He's one of the few who was with the team before Dennis Green came in and has earned Green's respect. Wells is one of six current starters who were on the team before 2004.
Green likes Wells' athleticism and the fact the he came from a Division II college (Clarion), which means Wells has something to prove in the NFL. Wells, a sixth-round draft pick, started at left tackle the last game of his rookie season and earned the starting spot at left guard last season.
Wells Q&A
Q: Coming out of a small college, did you expect to start so many games in the beginning of your career?
A: "To be honest with you, I didn't know what to really expect coming up to this level. I'm sure it was going to be an eye-opening experience. But after my rookie year, I started getting the hang of it and I was looking forward to starting. Coach (Green) gave me an opportunity, and I was just trying to stay with it."
Q: We've heard you're the team clown. Is that true?
A: "I don't know if clown's the right word to use there, but I've tried to liven it up for camp this year. In camp you need a guy like that to make you laugh. I don't know, I think comedian would be the right word. I don't know if I'm quite the clown."
Q: Is there anyone you pick on?
A: "We get on (center Nick Leckey) a little bit. We give Leckey a lot of flack. His wardrobe isn't O-line acceptable. Sometimes he dresses like he's 240-250 (pounds). But you know, in all actuality, he's closer to three bills (300 pounds)."
Q: Any other jokes?
A: "There's stuff that goes on in the meeting rooms that probably wouldn't be printable."
Day at camp
The Cardinals weren't in pads and hardly worked against each other. There were some special-teams drills and some offense vs. defense drills. Green complained that the team dropped too many passes Tuesday. Wednesday was much better. Not many balls hit the ground. On one play, cornerback Antrel Rolle jumped for an interception, but the ball went through his hands and before it could hit the grass, receiver Dan Sheldon caught it off the tip. The afternoon practice was a one-hour walk-through.
Eye opener
Because of injuries, the team is so thin at center that Wells was practicing as the second-team center. Wells has practiced snapping during minicamp but has never played the position.
Quote of the day
"I don't even know if I want to go in there the way those guys have been going down. I want to finish the season." - Wells, on his new position, backup center.
Comings and goings
The Cardinals claimed center Shawn Lynch, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings, off waivers.
Training room
C Bill Conaty (left triceps contusion), C Alex Stepanovich (hand), LB Gerald Hayes (knee), SS Adrian Wilson (leg contusion), C Nick Leckey (ankle), LB Lance Mitchell (ankle) and TE Bobby Blizzard (back) did not practice.
Coming up
The Cardinals have a closed walk-through today in Tempe in preparation for Friday's game at Oakland. They will practice in Tempe next week. Call (602) 379-1714 - or go to azcardinals.com - for updates to next week's practice schedule. - Odeen Domingo
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/columns/articles/0825cardscolumn0825.html
