Talk about wow.
If you can't get excited for the direction this franchise is taking...and the only "reasonably possible thing" that would excite you ("at least for a little while) would be to watch Reggie Bush...then you really ought to take up Sunday tennis or hitch your pony to another bandwagon.
You made it clear that you wanted to keep CKW this year and, not only that, you felt it was best to re-sign him to a new multi-year deal. That's what would have excited you?
Maybe I'm wrong but I sense a greater excitement surrounding the Cardinals and what they are trying to do than I have felt since Kurt Warner was running the show.
I wanted the Horton/Turner duo---but to be honest, I think Michael Bidwill hit a grand slam with Bruce Arians. This guy exudes enthusiasm and confidence---and to think that Tom Moore is a part of the package and that we now have 3 offensive line coaches and teachers all across the coaching staff---
Bidwill had to spend a lot of money for owed coaching contracts and new added ones---and the way Bidwill has done this with such conviction and determination, I have to salute him.
Arians talks the talk---but you don't win NFL Coach of the Year if you don't walk the walk. He won with a bunch of mostly average at best veterans and precocious rookies.
You know what? There's nothing wrong with getting a little excited.
This team is going to be a joy to watch because they are going to take their shots and they are going to play to win. They are going to be so much better coached----we will actually see evidence of game planning and tweaks and nuances from week to week.
The effort is going to be worth the price of admission alone. And there will be real star power on display on both sides of the ball.
C'mon, K9. Hop on board. Besides, Sunday tennis is over-rated.
Maybe you just need a little pep talk.
Here---check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o
As Kid President says:
"But what if there really are two paths....I want to be on the one that leads to awesome."
"This is your time---this is my time---this is our time."
Make no mistake: I'm seriously considering taking 2013 off as a Cardinal fan, and based on the conversations that are going around the board regarding Adrian Wilson's release, the moving of training camp, the QB situation, etc., I'm not alone.
But what you're talking about here really highlights the differences you and I have with the philosophy of football. What I think that you don't get about the NFL is that it's not about the Xs and Os; the NFL is about the Jimmy's and Joes.
You clearly believe that the NFL is a coach's league where you can win football games with inferior talent but a strong coaching staff. This is true at the level you're used to in small-state high school and college, but it's not possible in the big time.
Bruce Arians' gravitas isn't going to help this team convert 3rd and 7.
Tom Moore hasn't been a part of an NFL team in a meaningful capacity in five years. I'm sure that his reported knee injury is a possible cause, but in the past two years he's coached two of the more disappointing pro quarterback prospects in Mark Sanchez and Jake Locker.
I think you'll forgive me if I'm skeptical that this old man is capable of generating an productive offense in the NFL.
Meanwhile this bevy of offensive line coaches are imported from one of the worst offensive line units in the NFL in the 2012 Indianapolis Colts, a team widely expected to invest heavily in offensive line personnel in 2013 free agency and the draft.
The Head Coach in which you have so much invested wanted to hire your reviled Ken Whisenhunt as his offensive coordinator and Russ Grimm as his offensive line coach in Chicago.
The 2012 Indianapolis Colts were not a good football team. They had a good record against literally the easiest schedule in the NFL, and managed to beat just 2 teams by more than a TD.
I know that you love to see scrubs making a strong effort in the midst of a 17-point loss. That's completely your perogative. But I wonder when you're going to decide that investing in scrubs like Max Hall and D'Anthony Batiste is not the right direction for founding a winning football program.
In the NFL, "effort" doesn't translate to wins. Talent does. You may revel in watching Fred Wakefield try hard on the way to losing 44-7 in Cleveland, but I do not.
I'm glad you're happy with what's going on right now with the team. But I'm equally excited to see the moment when you turn on this coaching staff the way you did with the previous two--instantaneously and irrevocably and for capricious and inscrutable reasons.
This team right now just doesn't have the talent to compete. Based on the consensus view of this draft and the personnel moves made thus far (shedding good players for financial gain), there's little reason to think that--barring signing a game-breaking player like Reggie Bush--this team is going to have the talent by August to compete.
Kurt Warner isn't walking through that door.
So, enjoy the process. I'm sure you're happy that Arians is saying the right things, but knowing what you want to do and surrounding yourself with the weapons to execute it are entirely different things.
I am interested when you say that "there will be real star power on display on both sides of the ball." Besides Larry Fitzgerald shaking his head sadly when another pass sails outside his huge catch radius on 3rd and 9, what offensive "star power" do you really expect to see on Sundays this fall?