Two things:
One, Bickley and Jurecki.
They spent a full hour and a half this morning talking about the Cardinals. One of their best shows ever. I'm sure joeschmo can fix anything I get wrong and add what I missed.
Lots of talk about tickets, the stadium and sellouts or blackouts. Many pseudo fans selling Dallas and New York seats. Mike thinks there may be only three or four sellouts, hence some blackouts but he's not sure yet.
Lots of intelligent fans calling too, chiming in to say they won't sell any cowscum tickets (Mike congratulating them warmly and encouraging that behavior). Some people making the valid point that we are seeing the natural fallout of the casual fan who was drawn to a new stadium, chances at super bowl tickets and is easily abandoning us absent big winning. Bandwaggoners.
Jurecki is sold on our front seven rotation group on defense. Loves them. He thinks all our malcontents will be in camp on time.
Both of them are solidly on the side of starting Kurt Warner at QB and think maybe Whisenhunt erred a little annointing Leinart the starter.
Then Mike added, with conviction, that he knows Whisenhunt and his entire staff will not accept any QB play that might lose some games, in bringing Leinart along.
They will not accept any backslide in the win/loss record, for any player, at any position. All of the coaches are agreed, these Whisenhunt teams will always play to win right now.
Short term, here is the problem. Cards and Warner both want and need to extend Warner's contract. So, if you're Kurt, and you're going to start, you want to be extended at starter's pay.
But you don't know if you'll start, and Whisenhunt can't tell you right now, how do you agree to a fair extension? Fair to both parties?
And ... both parties know that lowering Kurt's cap hit before July 15 would help tremendously in negotiating with Dansby.
Then throw in Mike's personal opinion that Leinart really has improved in all areas and that Whisenhunt's positive assessments of Matt are genuine and Matt might very well be the long term answer.
Right now, every observer watching the QB battle in person sees a Kurt Warner who is a real top 5 NFL QB with more than just one good year left. To a man, they are amazed. (The players see it too, says Mike)
A Warner who took Haley's coaching criticisms to heart and practices sound ball protection on every play, keeping both hands on the ball on every rollout and every scramble until the moment he throws it. Same when sitting in the pocket.
Kurt told Jurecki and anybody who will listen, he feels better than he has in years and believes firmly he has a lot left. Mike says that Kurt won over a lot of people in that locker room last year, playing hurt, going 5-3 in the last 8 games while throwing 21 of his 27 TDs in that period.
Anyway, Jurecki and Bickley think highly of Whisenhunt and wonder how he'll alot the preseason playing time if Warner keeps his level of dominance through the first few weeks of camp. Will Ken give each guy good PT with the first team offense, maybe alternating games as starter?
If he doesn't, Kurt will then know for sure the competition is not open and other players at other positions may think that maybe they too won't get a fair shot. Players are not dumb. They'll know.
So Whisenhunt's annointing of Leinart has set up a self-made conundrum. It will be interesting to watch it and to see if Ken has that special something it takes to be super bowl contending coach.
That's how the discussion went. No negativity. Just excellent info and analysis.
Enough of that. Item two from a national writer on Kurt Warner:
http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/10870186
One, Bickley and Jurecki.
They spent a full hour and a half this morning talking about the Cardinals. One of their best shows ever. I'm sure joeschmo can fix anything I get wrong and add what I missed.
Lots of talk about tickets, the stadium and sellouts or blackouts. Many pseudo fans selling Dallas and New York seats. Mike thinks there may be only three or four sellouts, hence some blackouts but he's not sure yet.
Lots of intelligent fans calling too, chiming in to say they won't sell any cowscum tickets (Mike congratulating them warmly and encouraging that behavior). Some people making the valid point that we are seeing the natural fallout of the casual fan who was drawn to a new stadium, chances at super bowl tickets and is easily abandoning us absent big winning. Bandwaggoners.
Jurecki is sold on our front seven rotation group on defense. Loves them. He thinks all our malcontents will be in camp on time.
Both of them are solidly on the side of starting Kurt Warner at QB and think maybe Whisenhunt erred a little annointing Leinart the starter.
Then Mike added, with conviction, that he knows Whisenhunt and his entire staff will not accept any QB play that might lose some games, in bringing Leinart along.
They will not accept any backslide in the win/loss record, for any player, at any position. All of the coaches are agreed, these Whisenhunt teams will always play to win right now.
Short term, here is the problem. Cards and Warner both want and need to extend Warner's contract. So, if you're Kurt, and you're going to start, you want to be extended at starter's pay.
But you don't know if you'll start, and Whisenhunt can't tell you right now, how do you agree to a fair extension? Fair to both parties?
And ... both parties know that lowering Kurt's cap hit before July 15 would help tremendously in negotiating with Dansby.
Then throw in Mike's personal opinion that Leinart really has improved in all areas and that Whisenhunt's positive assessments of Matt are genuine and Matt might very well be the long term answer.
Right now, every observer watching the QB battle in person sees a Kurt Warner who is a real top 5 NFL QB with more than just one good year left. To a man, they are amazed. (The players see it too, says Mike)
A Warner who took Haley's coaching criticisms to heart and practices sound ball protection on every play, keeping both hands on the ball on every rollout and every scramble until the moment he throws it. Same when sitting in the pocket.
Kurt told Jurecki and anybody who will listen, he feels better than he has in years and believes firmly he has a lot left. Mike says that Kurt won over a lot of people in that locker room last year, playing hurt, going 5-3 in the last 8 games while throwing 21 of his 27 TDs in that period.
Anyway, Jurecki and Bickley think highly of Whisenhunt and wonder how he'll alot the preseason playing time if Warner keeps his level of dominance through the first few weeks of camp. Will Ken give each guy good PT with the first team offense, maybe alternating games as starter?
If he doesn't, Kurt will then know for sure the competition is not open and other players at other positions may think that maybe they too won't get a fair shot. Players are not dumb. They'll know.
So Whisenhunt's annointing of Leinart has set up a self-made conundrum. It will be interesting to watch it and to see if Ken has that special something it takes to be super bowl contending coach.
That's how the discussion went. No negativity. Just excellent info and analysis.
Enough of that. Item two from a national writer on Kurt Warner:
http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/10870186
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YOU give it up.
