okay, up 'til now i've just thrown out quips and barbs, but haven't really weighed in on all this, so here's my two cents:
1) most importantly, we have a first rounder in camp. it doesn't matter to me whether or not it was pace or bj (and my juvenile sense of humor has to really be kept in check every time i see "bj" thrown around). i'm excited to see pace in early in camp (though i really thought we'd have him BEFORE camp), and hope to see him provide some help in the rush that is direly needed. bravo for at least gettin one of 'em in!
2) next most importantly, it seems that negotiations with yet another cardinal player have become acrimonious. that troubles me. i understand that negotiations are often contentious (i am, afterall, an attorney), but they don't have to be nasty, and i think that graves' actions (and perhaps segal's as well) have lead to what may be a bitter holdout. we need bj in camp as much as we need pace. what beef was trying to say is, yeah, we gots a lotta wrs in camp, but none of 'em are considered more talented than bj. if that were the case then they wouldn't have been drafted in later rounds (if at all). when do draft a player in the first round you're pretty convinced he's gonna be a special player (and i'm not talkin' takin' the short bus to the playing field). there can be no argument against the fact that the cards need all the special players they can get. now i'm not saying they're not gonna sign bj, i'm sure they will. what i AM saying is that it looks likely that yet another cardinal will begin his career with a bitter taste in his mouth and with a lot of valuable time missed. whoever is at fault, player, team or agent, the fact remains, the cards experience this year in and year out. it's a really bad habit. and it kills our chances at success.
3) if what skorp reports is true, well, then the cards are a little less to blame. but let's remember, it is the cards "PR" department with whom skorp spoke. and, while i understand it is most companies' policy to have only a pr dept handle such questions, it is also a pr dept's main job to spin facts in the most favorable light to the company (aka the cards). so just as you all wish to downplay len's reporting, also take into considering who's providing skorp with his data. also, as an aside, i want to thank skorp for following up on the story, any additional information is ALWAYS appreciated. and the fact that is somewhat "inside" 411 is all the more appreciated.
4) maybe the darkside is wrong and graves has a plan to get bj in sooner rather than later, but in the end i just miss howdy doody's analysis of graves' "plan."
after reading all this post i just feel a whole lot more stupider.
go cards! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEErookiesalarycapsuckseggsEEEEE!
