It's been a long cold snowy winter's night in New England.
I am home today because school has been cancelled for the day.
Good thing because last night I couldn't sleep...I think it was well past 2 AM when I finally was able to drift off...but it was a restless sleep...
I personally feel about as disillusioned about the Cardinals and Warner as I could possibly be.
Quite frankly, I feel betrayed by both the Cardinals and by Kurt Warner...neither of them right now are who I thought they were (you know I'm losing it when I am quoting the infamous Dennis "Pie Chart" Green).
On the Cardinals' part, this is one of the only times I feel they should have paid more than they wanted in order to keep a player. My feeling is that the Cardinals' offense with Warner under center is about as good as an offense gets...this offense scored 30 points per games against the Falcons, Panthers, Eagles and Steelers in pressure packed playoff games that only Warner and Edgerrin James had ever known of or played in.
In my way of thinking, you do all you can to keep scoring 30 points a game. If it means anteing up more money than you want to, you have to.
I also believe in preserving momentum...all of which the Cardinals had following their remarkable, inspirational and unprecedented Super Bowl run...
But now what we are seeing looks more like a mutiny of epic proportions...the OC is gone...the QB coach is gone (fired)...the RB coach is gone...there is no new OC as responsibilities are now being shared among two coaches...the DC was fired...yet replaced by the LB coach who failed miserbaly his first time around as DC (whether it was entirely his fault or not)...one half of the "as Dockett and Smith go, the Cardinals go" mantra is now gone...and now it appears our Pro Bowl, NFC Championship, Super Bowl QB is on his way out...and with him, the thirty points a game that got the Cardinals farhter than they've ever been since 1946.
And it looks like more will follow...Anquan Boldin? He is a time bomb waiting to explode...Edgerrin James? He no longer wants to be "held hostage"...Darnell Dockett? Now that his homey Smith is making $7M a year elsewhere and got $12.7M in guarantees, Dockett is going to be far more disgruntled than he was last year, and Dockett has a good case in that he's clearly the better player.
As for Warner...his handling of this situation has been so out of character, it has made me question his character. Is he a fraud?
What a teaser he has been to us, the Arizona fans. In the afterglow of our finest glory, first he has us worried he will retire...then he assures us that if he does play it would only be in Arizona...then we are subjected to the rhetoric of his avaricious, overzealous agent...then Warner tells us he thought it would be easy to re-sign with the Cardinals (what Kurt, you thought dropping a two year $29M tab on Rod Graves' desk was going to be easy? Who in the world are you kidding?)...and all you've told us about how indebted you are to the Cardinals? That now appears to be a crock of puppy dung. And now, after the Cardinals have offered to make you the highest paid player on the team, at yes 38 years of age, your agent says your feelings have been hurt.
Sorry, Kurt, all of this is lame. And what's worst about this is, it's all coming from you and your agent...and your collective lack of character is now conspicuous.
If there were no salary cap...you'd have a better argument.
if you really didn't care about Anquan Boldin and other teammates...you'd have abetter argument.
You CAN'T CARE about Boldin if you want to hog the salary cap. YOU CAN'T.
It makes all that fretting and worrying about Boldin you did on the field and on the bus in NY while and after Boldin was laid out unconscious, seem nothing more than maudlin.
When you leave Arizona, Kurt, you'll be leaving Anquan behind..again...only this time for good.
And what about the fans? We're the one who stay up till 2 AM worrying about you...we're the ones who scrape and claw for every nickel and dime we make in a now impossible econony...and unlitmately we are the ones who PAY your salary on five figure (for most of us, myself included) incomes.
For any of us to feel bad about how your feelings are hurt after you've been offered a two year contract worth at the minimum $20M dollars, is pure absurdity.
I always thought you were different Kurt. I thought you knew a little something about humbleness...that's what makes you so lovable...
But yesterday watching you smirk and say "I have no idea" why things haven't worked out with the Cardinals...watching you say "we thought it would be easy" after you've dropped a $29M bill on the table, I lost valuable vestiges of the faith you had built up in me...and I have been on your side as much as any fan on this board.
You want to talk about feelings, Kurt?
How disillusioning is it for any fan of yours to now realize that you are really no different than any other greedy football player...???
That's what hurts my feelings, Kurt. I believed you were a refreshing anomaly...a modest and kindred soul...a true philanthropist...and an all-out force for the good.
The Kurt Warner I saw on ESPN yesterday is not that man.
) should take into consideration that any extra $$$$ he gets in SF won't take him as far as it would if he stays here in the desert.
