Gambo’s random thoughts: Cards, CY and Doan

I think we are all surprised by the Cardinals being 2-0 mainly because they had to play New England on the road. Clearly this team is winning with defense and special teams, but Kevin Kolb is doing what good backup quarterbacks in this league do. And make no mistake — he came into this season as the backup and he came off the bench in week one and rallied Arizona past Seattle and he started for the injured John Skelton on Sunday and threw a touchdown pass and ran for a touchdown in the win over the Patriots.

I’m sure Kolb still sees himself as a starter in this league and maybe he will be again, but for now he is making a good case for having a role in this league even if it is as a backup. Because let’s be honest, good backup quarterbacks are hard to come by. Heck good starters are tough to come by.

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I can’t see any scenario in which Chris Young comes back to the Diamondbacks after next season because he is due $11 million in 2014, or a $1.5 buyout. There is no way Arizona is paying him that much so maybe just maybe they try to move him this offseason especially with the emergence of Adam Eaton who has an on-base percentage of around .400 in his brief time in the majors.

Moving Young will be difficult because he has one guaranteed year left next season at $8.5 million. It is likely the Diamondbacks would have to include him in a package to move him. I do not see an outfield of Eaton, Jason Kubel and Gerado Parra so maybe if they move Young, Justin Upton stays.

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I can’t say enough about Shane Doan and his loyalty to this organization and community. He is such a remarkable person and a damn good hockey player. He clearly is not as talented as past Coyote greats like Jeremy Roenick and Keith Tkachuk, but he is one of the best leaders in the sport and no one is more respected.

The fact he turned down a contract offer of $30 million from Buffalo means he left $8.8 million on the table to stay here in Phoenix despite not knowing for sure if there will even be hockey here beyond this coming season. Doan is a simple man, money is clearly not everything to him and he is content and happy in Arizona. And besides he did feel the weight of the organization on his shoulder, believing that if he decided to play in Vancouver it could have led to a snowball effect that eventually would lead the Coyotes out of Phoenix.

Doan worried that if he left, Mike Smith would not re-sign, the investors would pull out and then Greg Jamison would bail and the organization would be bound for some unknown city. He didn’t want that on him.

And besides his heart was here all along.

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