azdad1978
Championship!!!!
Kent Somers
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 19, 2005 12:00 AM
A 1-4 start evaporated most of the interest in the Cardinals this year, leaving behind only droplets of intrigue.
That's why reporters were packed around the lockers of quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Josh McCown on Monday, snooping for any hint of which one coach Dennis Green has chosen to be his starter Sunday against Tennessee.
It's not an original story angle, just our only one.
This saga is expected to continue through the week, because Green isn't eager to do Tennessee any favors by naming a starter before Sunday.
That's fine, because as coach of a bad team Green is entitled to enjoy the only morsel of gamesmanship left to him. Keeping it from media, fans and the Titans is one thing; hiding it from his quarterbacks and other players is another.
Most coaches faced with this situation would have called McCown and Warner on their day off Tuesday and told them which one is starting. Then they would have informed the rest of the team this morning, before the majority of the game plan is implemented.
That way, one quarterback goes through the week getting most of the practice repetitions and will be fully prepared Sunday. His teammates also can settle in and feel comfortable that the head coach has a plan.
Maybe Green did that. And if he wants to keep it a secret from the rest of the world, fine. He can tell his players to keep their mouths shut around reporters.
That's not an unusual message from Green anyway.
What Green can't afford to do is keep everyone in the dark all week, have the quarterbacks split practice time and then announce his decision to his team at a Saturday meeting, as if he were awarding an Oscar.
Green tried that last year, when he informed McCown on a Saturday night he wouldn't be starting the following day against Carolina, even though the Cardinals had won three of their past four to improve to 4-5.
Players had a feeling something was brewing when backup Shaun King's practice role increased the week before. Suddenly, King was working occasionally with the starting unit, and players were left to guess Green's thought process.
He didn't let them in on it until he named King the starter at a Saturday night meeting at a Charlotte, N.C., hotel.
King said he felt like he had been handed the keys to a Mercedes. That was laughable, until you considered that the Cardinals were the only team that would give King a job. If you're desperate for a car and someone hands you the keys, any hood emblem is going to look like Mercedes'.
After what happened the next three weeks, Mercedes should have sued. King was horrible in his two starts, and Green made him hand the keys to rookie John Navarre, who wasn't ready to play.
When Green tossed the keys back to McCown, the Cardinals had lost three straight, and a season was lost.
To repeat that folly would take a large degree of stubborn ignorance.
No trade
Tuesday's trading deadline passed without the Cardinals making a deal, which wasn't a surprise.
Teams are reluctant to trade at this time of year for various reasons. Sometimes salary-cap implications are involved. It also can be difficult to teach a new player an offensive or defensive system this far into the season.
The possibility of injury also looms. One game could turn a position of strength into a weakness.
The Vikings called a few weeks ago to offer running back Michael Bennett. Green was said to be intrigued, but others in the organization were less enthusiastic. The Cardinals called back the next day to say they weren't interested.
Cardinals biggest fan: Don Snyder, Peoria
To nominate a Cardinals Biggest Fan, go to cardinals.azcentral.com. Selected submissions run Wednesdays, with a winner to be named after the regular season.
Don Snyder of Peoria has been a Cardinals season ticket holder since the team moved to Arizona in 1988. "He was there when the Bidwills landed at Sky Harbor Airport," his wife, Susie, writes in her nomination letter.
Snyder has never missed a home game, and he religiously observes away games on TV. "No matter what any of us are doing, we must all come into the family room and stand for the kickoff," Susie writes. Snyder schedules his Sundays around the Cardinals.
"So much so that we go to church on Saturday during football season." Fellow fans may recognize Snyder's patented "Rrrrrooooollllllllllllllll, you Cardinaaaaalllllllllssss!" yell or his custom Cardinals jersey, with "Big Daddy" on the back.
He has Cardinals attire for every season, and the Snyders' daughter has grown up in a Cardinals cheerleader outfit, Susie writes. Their home is similarly decorated. "Our TV is adorned with Cardinal mugs, bobbleheads, footballs and helmets. His home office has every year's team picture. Our patio door has every Cardinal sticker made. We have Cardinal tissue boxes, towels, banners, you name it. There is no doubt in anyone's mind what team this house roots for. He is a walking, talking advertisement for the Cardinals."
Susie compares her husband's anticipation of every season to the giddiness of children as Christmas draws near.
"Every year he looks at me with such hope and says, 'The Cardinals are going to be really good this year. They're going to make the playoffs, and when they go to the Super Bowl, I'm going to be there.' "
Three and out: Robert Tate
Question: Do your teammates give you a bad time about driving a full-size van?
Answer: "Yeah, they give me a bad time about everything around here - my van, I rent a scooter out to players on the team, I ride a scooter to work, I put some spinners on a Daewoo, a $1,200 car. That's just a few of the things the guys like to give me a hard time about."
Q: You just like doing different things?
A: "Yeah, I like to be different, and I've always been a guy who's always wanted to save my money. You're in the NFL. Everybody is going to know you've got things, so you don't have go out and buy thousands of dollars (worth) of chains and all that. You can wear chains that are $20, $30 and it will all look the same. That's how I live my life. I kid the guys that my van cost less than what they paid for their SUVs, and I have more room."
Q: Anybody taking you up on renting your scooter?
A: "Yeah, I got two guys. The running back, J.J. (Arrington), and our punt returner, (Reggie) Swinton. I charge $100 a week, and Swinton is taking it today." - Kent Somers
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/columns/articles/1019cardsinsider1019.html
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 19, 2005 12:00 AM
A 1-4 start evaporated most of the interest in the Cardinals this year, leaving behind only droplets of intrigue.
That's why reporters were packed around the lockers of quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Josh McCown on Monday, snooping for any hint of which one coach Dennis Green has chosen to be his starter Sunday against Tennessee.
It's not an original story angle, just our only one.
This saga is expected to continue through the week, because Green isn't eager to do Tennessee any favors by naming a starter before Sunday.
That's fine, because as coach of a bad team Green is entitled to enjoy the only morsel of gamesmanship left to him. Keeping it from media, fans and the Titans is one thing; hiding it from his quarterbacks and other players is another.
Most coaches faced with this situation would have called McCown and Warner on their day off Tuesday and told them which one is starting. Then they would have informed the rest of the team this morning, before the majority of the game plan is implemented.
That way, one quarterback goes through the week getting most of the practice repetitions and will be fully prepared Sunday. His teammates also can settle in and feel comfortable that the head coach has a plan.
Maybe Green did that. And if he wants to keep it a secret from the rest of the world, fine. He can tell his players to keep their mouths shut around reporters.
That's not an unusual message from Green anyway.
What Green can't afford to do is keep everyone in the dark all week, have the quarterbacks split practice time and then announce his decision to his team at a Saturday meeting, as if he were awarding an Oscar.
Green tried that last year, when he informed McCown on a Saturday night he wouldn't be starting the following day against Carolina, even though the Cardinals had won three of their past four to improve to 4-5.
Players had a feeling something was brewing when backup Shaun King's practice role increased the week before. Suddenly, King was working occasionally with the starting unit, and players were left to guess Green's thought process.
He didn't let them in on it until he named King the starter at a Saturday night meeting at a Charlotte, N.C., hotel.
King said he felt like he had been handed the keys to a Mercedes. That was laughable, until you considered that the Cardinals were the only team that would give King a job. If you're desperate for a car and someone hands you the keys, any hood emblem is going to look like Mercedes'.
After what happened the next three weeks, Mercedes should have sued. King was horrible in his two starts, and Green made him hand the keys to rookie John Navarre, who wasn't ready to play.
When Green tossed the keys back to McCown, the Cardinals had lost three straight, and a season was lost.
To repeat that folly would take a large degree of stubborn ignorance.
No trade
Tuesday's trading deadline passed without the Cardinals making a deal, which wasn't a surprise.
Teams are reluctant to trade at this time of year for various reasons. Sometimes salary-cap implications are involved. It also can be difficult to teach a new player an offensive or defensive system this far into the season.
The possibility of injury also looms. One game could turn a position of strength into a weakness.
The Vikings called a few weeks ago to offer running back Michael Bennett. Green was said to be intrigued, but others in the organization were less enthusiastic. The Cardinals called back the next day to say they weren't interested.
Cardinals biggest fan: Don Snyder, Peoria
To nominate a Cardinals Biggest Fan, go to cardinals.azcentral.com. Selected submissions run Wednesdays, with a winner to be named after the regular season.
Don Snyder of Peoria has been a Cardinals season ticket holder since the team moved to Arizona in 1988. "He was there when the Bidwills landed at Sky Harbor Airport," his wife, Susie, writes in her nomination letter.
Snyder has never missed a home game, and he religiously observes away games on TV. "No matter what any of us are doing, we must all come into the family room and stand for the kickoff," Susie writes. Snyder schedules his Sundays around the Cardinals.
"So much so that we go to church on Saturday during football season." Fellow fans may recognize Snyder's patented "Rrrrrooooollllllllllllllll, you Cardinaaaaalllllllllssss!" yell or his custom Cardinals jersey, with "Big Daddy" on the back.
He has Cardinals attire for every season, and the Snyders' daughter has grown up in a Cardinals cheerleader outfit, Susie writes. Their home is similarly decorated. "Our TV is adorned with Cardinal mugs, bobbleheads, footballs and helmets. His home office has every year's team picture. Our patio door has every Cardinal sticker made. We have Cardinal tissue boxes, towels, banners, you name it. There is no doubt in anyone's mind what team this house roots for. He is a walking, talking advertisement for the Cardinals."
Susie compares her husband's anticipation of every season to the giddiness of children as Christmas draws near.
"Every year he looks at me with such hope and says, 'The Cardinals are going to be really good this year. They're going to make the playoffs, and when they go to the Super Bowl, I'm going to be there.' "
Three and out: Robert Tate
Question: Do your teammates give you a bad time about driving a full-size van?
Answer: "Yeah, they give me a bad time about everything around here - my van, I rent a scooter out to players on the team, I ride a scooter to work, I put some spinners on a Daewoo, a $1,200 car. That's just a few of the things the guys like to give me a hard time about."
Q: You just like doing different things?
A: "Yeah, I like to be different, and I've always been a guy who's always wanted to save my money. You're in the NFL. Everybody is going to know you've got things, so you don't have go out and buy thousands of dollars (worth) of chains and all that. You can wear chains that are $20, $30 and it will all look the same. That's how I live my life. I kid the guys that my van cost less than what they paid for their SUVs, and I have more room."
Q: Anybody taking you up on renting your scooter?
A: "Yeah, I got two guys. The running back, J.J. (Arrington), and our punt returner, (Reggie) Swinton. I charge $100 a week, and Swinton is taking it today." - Kent Somers
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/columns/articles/1019cardsinsider1019.html
