Man did I miss me some football!

By Mark Asher/ArizonaSports.com
Published: August 11, 2011 @ 9:49pm

I would first like to take a moment and thank all of you that have reached out to me through email, Facebook and Twitter. Your comments have lifted my spirits and made me feel good about the 13 years I had on the air. Life is full of challenges and this is just another in my life. I will be just fine and look forward to my future.

With that being said...how 'bout that football game?

Sometimes you forget how good something is until it's gone and that is how I feel about football finally being back. This off-season was a complete drag. I was so sick of talking about the lockout and whether or not Kevin Kolb was going to be the Cardinals' quarterback. It really made me lose a little love for the sport.

Well, guess what? That love is back in full force after one meaningless Cardinals preseason game. This sport is king for a reason. We all need it in our lives!

A few observations that I took out of the first game. Kevin Kolb looked OK. Not bad, not great, just OK. I do like that he hooked up with Larry Fitzgerald a couple of times, but let's be honest. That play was made by Fitz.

Ryan Williams is going to be the starting running back for this team by Week 2, maybe earlier. I love Beanie Wells and I don't think he played bad, but I just think Williams is the real deal and Coach Whiz will lose patience with Wells quickly.

Max Hall should be the starting quarterback of this team after that 4th quarter drive! Sorry, that was from the hundreds of emails I received last year during the preseason.

Stephen Williams did his annual "I am going to kick serious ass during the preseason" routine. In all seriousness, these young kids performed in the preseason last year and then didn't really do much during the regular season. This year they need to do more all season long.

Todd Heap in one preseason game just became the best tight end the Arizona Cardinals have ever had. I think Heap will be a big asset to the Cards all season long.

I also think John Skelton has a chance to be a very reliable backup and, in case of an emergency, could do just fine in Kolb's place. In all, I was pleased with the teams performance and look forward to the next game.

Mark Asher can be reached with your questions and comments by e-mail here, you can follow him on Twitter @Ash620, or you can be friends with him on Facebook. All of Mark Asher's past columns.
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  • Abuse
    Stu B. wrote...
    Miss you Ash
    August 15, 2011 12:15 pm
    As I stated in comments after news of your departure, I have moved to 910 for their p.m. drive show. Bick and MJ aren't as good as you and Gambo were, but Dave Burns is soooo redundent in his delivery and shallow in his insight I can't handle him for more than a minute or two. I pretty much know more than he does after reading the sports section in the morning. And all the humor that Gambo and Ash generated and I appreciated is TOAST! I look forward to hearing you on a new station. Until then its XM and 910 for me. Good luck!
  • Abuse
    Jason W. wrote...
    bad move by KTAR!
    August 15, 2011 4:11 pm
    As others have noted, I'd MUCH rather have Ash & Burns, than Burns & Gambo! If they were going to move one of them off the show, they picked the wrong one!!
  • Abuse
    Katie W wrote...
    What??? No Ash???
    August 15, 2011 4:34 pm
    I'm done with KTAR. I listen to Gambo and Ash most days. Gambo and Burns? Not a duo. Gambo and Ash are perfect harmony. Gambo and Burns? Not so much.
  • Abuse
    Desertdback wrote...
    Will follow wherever you go...
    August 15, 2011 6:35 pm
    I know you have till the end of this year on arizonasports.com or so I have heard on this site in comments. So here is hoping that you find a radio gig or something big so that I and everyone else that followed you all those years on Gambo & Ash will be able to get their QUALITY LOCAL SPORTS KICK. Just letting you know you are missed.
  • Abuse
    Andrew R. wrote...
    This is CRAP
    August 16, 2011 1:52 pm
    What the heck is 620 thinking? Come on Ash, this is stupid! Take Gambo and go to another station, this makes me sick!!!
  • Abuse
    lddubois wrote...
    Missing Ash
    August 17, 2011 10:50 am
    Good to see your still alive Ash. I can't believe they sold out and went with more boring national shows and shook everything up. Mike and Mike are two stiffs. How sad that we have no local sports talk until lunch time now. How can 620 say there home to every team in PHX and not give us anything local to listen too until we've already searched the web all morning to find out the news. Just embarrassing!!! You were awesome, and will be missed. Hopefully 910 gives you a call. I'd listen to you wherever you went. Go Cards!!!!
  • Abuse
    camskye87 wrote...
    NOT THE SAME!!!
    August 17, 2011 1:23 pm
    I am leaving KTAR just because you are no longer on the air ASH! Looks like Bickley and MJ with get a spike in ratings because you left KTAR! You should just go over there and get on the air! You made sense when no other broadcasters could! Miss you on the air maine!
  • Abuse
    Big AZ FAn wrote...
    Ash you need to get back on the radio!!!!!!!!!!!!
    August 17, 2011 2:16 pm
    Every day after work I look forward to hearing you and Gambo. You guys are like the ying yang. You know how to spell and he doesn't, but that's entertaining. I have been listening since the 910 days. I switch over from listening to fm radio and you guys had me at "Gooooood afternoon...."
    Ernesto Quintero Jr
  • Abuse
    otrain211 wrote...
    No one to put Gambo in his place
    August 17, 2011 2:42 pm
    Ash, I was hoping you were on a vacation, I somehow missed Gambo's article about the split. Since reading this article, my hope is gone and so am I...Good luck in the future and I'll keep hope alive that you can reunite with Gambo sometime soon!
  • Abuse
    David D. wrote...
    NEED ASH BACK ON THE AIR
    August 18, 2011 3:00 pm
    Hope management can admit to making a mistake and get Ash back on the air "Quickly". Otherwise, me and a lot of other sports fans here in the Valley will be turning to another station (910?). It's this kind of change that opens the door for regular listeners to change and switch stations........
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