Five years ago I didn’t know what a hashtag (#) was. A year ago I never thought I’d use that little sucker before the phrase “letsgoyankees” but I did and I meant it. And today I’m happy. At this point, I'm rooting for anybody but the Dodgers in the Tanaka sweepstakes. Including the Yankees. #letsgoyankees […]
Here’s wishing Ken Whisenhunt well. And I don’t mean that in a false, fakey, good-luck-go-get-em kind of way. It’s a genuine desire to see him succeed in his second go-around as a head coach, and it’s for a couple of reasons. First, he deserves another shot to prove his worth as a head coach in […]
My 16-year-old son recently got into his first car accident. Nothing got hurt except the car, which fell somewhere in the middle of the spectrum between dinged up and totaled. No matter how hard I tried — and believe me I tried — to get upset about it, I just couldn’t get angry. I’m not […]
It never occurred to me that I’d be the only one. After looking at Arizonasports.com Friday, I feel like the only guy who thought the Christmas party was of the ugly sweater variety. Now I have to mingle around the room and try to explain why I’ve got a giant Santa face embroidered on my […]
It was over, right? So much so that I left the camp in front of my TV where I had just watched the Cardinals position themselves to easily dispatch the Titans. Soon their record would be 9-5. It was a mere formality at that point. So I left. It only took about 10 minutes to […]
I just spent the last hour trying to figure it out. I jotted down all kinds of scenarios: What if this? What if that? I heard Daryl “Moose” Johnston say it this morning on Doug & Wolf. Will a 10-win season leave the Cardinals home for the playoffs? Is winning out (finishing at 11-5) the […]
Maybe I’m just in a Pearl Jam state of mind with the concert on Tuesday trying to equate one of their songs to the recent play of Carson Palmer. One of my favorite lines from a song that I just know they won’t play, “I’m Open,” goes something like this: …when he was six he […]
In some ways this game was like finding an old shirt you thought you had donated to Goodwill. It feels new again. Andre Roberts. Remember him? After five catches for 72 yards a crucial touchdown late in the game, sure you do. Rob Housler, the burner of a tight end who was pre-ordained for success? […]
Sometimes making a connection between something happening in the sports world and pop culture is obvious. But sometimes it’s not. Still, when that’s the case, things can turn out even better. The connection between the Miami Dolphins hazing scandal with “A Few Good Men,” which came out in 1992, wasn’t an obvious one to make. […]
Talk about a buzzkill. The Arizona State football team is 6-2, ranked in the BCS standings with a quarterback who is delivering results if not national headlines. Their win over Washington State scratched something of the to-do list that had lingered for far too long: a win outside the state of Arizona late in the […]
The issue of the day probably is Larry Fitzgerald. The Adam Schefter trade rumors. The strong Steve Keim rebuke. It could be Andre Ellington and the moment where the itch is scratched, where he gets the touches you’ve been craving for him to get. Despite the obviousness of Fitz’s future or Ellington’s present, the issue […]
ASU’s win against Washington was a significant step; they were basically playing themselves. Or at least, a mirror image of themselves. Both teams had established they were not elite (Washington lost to Stanford and Oregon, ASU to Notre Dame and Stanford), yet both wanted to prove they were very good, that they were the next […]
This column is brought to you by the number 74. Not seven, for the number of times Carson Palmer was sacked. Not two, for the number of times he was picked. Or even 16, for the number of sacks the Cards have given up in the last two times they’ve graced the Thursday Night Football […]
Maybe I’m just a typical guy. A guy who wants to fix what is broken. Yes, it’s unnerving that many (not all) San Francisco fans, in their thoughtless stupor, did the wave while medics came to remove Calais Campbell from the field. Yes, it’s classless that many fans in Houston cheered an injury to Matt […]
The reaction was inevitable; the words were too pointed to ignore. Considering the source and the circumstance, Kevin Towers can’t be surprised he’s making national headlines Wednesday. Maybe that’s how he wanted it. On the heels of the decision to dismiss pitching coach Charles Nagy and first base coach Steve Sax, the D-backs GM unloaded […]
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Like the duct tape you use to fix an old appliance or that lone cup of coffee that you call breakfast, the Arizona Cardinals’ 22-6 win over the Carolina Panthers is a short-term solution. A temporary fix. It’ll do, for now. For the second straight week the Cardinals can lay claim to […]
Here are some quick thoughts on the abrupt departure of Levi Brown: • I am trying — and failing — to recall the last time an athlete/personality who was this scorned by media and fans alike exited the Phoenix sports scene. Michael Beasley and Linsday Hunter weren’t here long enough. Justin Upton and Ken Whisenhunt […]
After a game like that, the factory lights come on, the machinery is fired up and the clichés roll off the assembly line. And the tongue. “A win is a win.” “We’ll take them however we can get them.” “There’s no such thing as an ugly win in this league.” As is the case with […]
When I go see a Tom Cruise movie, typically I know exactly what I’m getting into. He is playing pretty much himself in a movie that features a lot of action, a few wisecracks and at least one scene of him running….somewhere. No one in the history of the world walked out of Jack Reacher […]
It’s nearly impossible not to be impressed with Tyrann Mathieu at this point. Or with Cardinals GM Steve Keim for taking him in the third round of the draft. Mathieu has stood out on the field and blended in off it, the perfect marriage for such a high-risk/high-reward player. For those who thought it was […]
What’s that old Bill Parcells quote? You are what your record says you are? The Sun Devils are 2-0. End. Of. Story. It seems as if half of college football wants Todd Graham and ASU to apologize for the way they won on Saturday night. As if it was some kind of a fender bender […]
There are plenty of things I worry about: Paying for college, my soon-to-be-driving teenage son, too much debt, too much fried food, too much caffeine and not enough exercise, water and sleep. I worry about the Cardinals’ offensive line and the Diamondbacks’ bullpen. You know what I don’t worry about? Todd Graham taking over the […]
The journey felt different. The destination was exactly the same. In a world of black-and-white analysis, the end result was the same. The Cardinals lost a game they could have won, 27-24 to the Rams. For some, that is all that matters and perhaps that’s the way it should be. But how they got there […]
The formalities have been dealt with. Now if you’re an ASU fan, it’s time to get to what we came for. The Sun Devils trounced an unworthy opponent in Sacramento State, leading to more traffic snarls at halftime than at the end of the game. Typically this is the type of game from which very […]
