The first month of the Arizona Diamondbacks season is over and it’s provided enough talking points to fill a whole season. Here are my top five. 1. The bullpen The D-backs have blown 10 saves. The Major League average through the first month of the season is three. The problem is that it’s not just […]
Saw this nugget from a man for whom if these nuggets were made of actual gold he’d be living like Billy Ray and Lewis from Trading Places…Darren Urban from azcardinals.com. The website footballoutsiders.com gathered together the most relevant draft grades for each team from the more respected names in the business, added them up and […]
With a chance to sleep on it, here are three quick thoughts about the Cardinals selection of Jonathan Cooper and what the future holds on Friday: • Coach Bruce Arians made it pretty clear Cooper was a starter. Refreshing. One of my major pet peeves (and you know I’m not alone of this one) of […]
Of course, there are more than five options, but I think the essence of the options come down to five choices. Besides, I’m a rule follower. It’s called The 5, not The 11. So here are the five options with conveniently included odds intended solely for the purposes of wagering. A Guard (3 to 1) […]
The news of Lance Blanks and the Phoenix Suns parting ways (and what precisely that means is unknown as I write this — was he fired? Reassigned?) is stunning in only one regard; it means the three amigos, the three L’s of Suns basketball, Lon, Lance and Lindsey, are breaking up. It was so easy […]
So many things to write about today. Justin Upton’s torrid start. Ken Kendrick’s dress code. The latest Cardinals draft rumors. Tiger’s gaffe. Blah. Blah. Blah. Normally I’m watching ESPN and the MLB Network; today I’m glued to CNN. Normally I’m following the twitter accounts of Pro Football Talk and Sports Illustrated. Today it’s the Boston […]
A struggling organization fires a popular leader and replaces him with the handpicked, my-guy-replacement that is short on experience or proven success but is long on front office endorsements. The stories of Lindsey Hunter and A.J. Hinch are similar, but with one distinct difference. And it’s that difference that gives the Suns the opportunity to […]
For the haters, it has done nothing but strengthen their position. For the true believers, an unavoidably uncomfortable pall has been cast on the first week of the season. Have you seen the start Justin Upton is off to? It’s a silly question; like asking if you’ve seen the Peterbilt truck parked in your living […]
These days, it’s a real challenge being a Suns fan. The mere act of watching a game can be tough to stomach. Ten losses of 25 points or more, including seven under interim coach Lindsay Hunter. The season has been reduced to a giant calendar with each game representing another opportunity to cross a day […]
Remember last season, when the Cardinals were scuffling with injuries at the running back position? Struggling with poor performance at the left tackle position? Do you remember what the Cardinals did about it? If you can’t, it’s ok. Because they didn’t do anything about it. Like the poets in Springsteen’s “Jungleland”, they just stood back […]
Two weeks ago, the talk of Carson Palmer to the Cardinals was an intriguing but distant possibility. Now, the story is taking on the tones of a fait accompli, with the league’s own website predicting that it will happen. It’s all random, sports-talk-radio speculation until he actually gets cut by the Raiders. But assuming he […]
There are certain things that just make everything…better. Bacon on your food. Gene Hackman in your movie. And the University of Arizona basketball team in your tournament. We’ve all got our brackets and our office pools. Everybody watches March Madness with the dreams of winning some money or at least the hopes of witnessing a […]
If we were making a list of the decisions that the Lon Babby/Lance Blanks regime got right…a full 8 ½ by 11 sheet of paper would probably be too big. A post-it note would suffice. They are all debatable with the exception of one. Goran Dragic. (Ok, maybe two. If the Suns end up squeezing […]
For a second, just a second, put down your bracket sheet and watch the games. Because this year, if you’re a Suns fan, it matters. Indiana isn’t just a one seed that may bust your bracket; they’re Victor Oladipo or Cody Zeller. Georgetown isn’t just that team that has lost to double digit seeded teams […]
I have a feeling the Arizona Cardinals are about to find out what their bird brothers from another mother have known for years: competing in a division with a couple of heavyweights trading haymakers is no fun. The Baltimore Orioles won 98 games in 1997 and 93 games in 2012. In between they never won […]
Sad about Adrian Wilson’s release from the Arizona Cardinals? That’s not the word I would use. Not even close. Appreciative. That’s the word. I’m not sad, because it was time. In a league where roster spots are coveted and controlled by younger, fresher players, Wilson was out of time with the Cardinals. He just wasn’t […]
We all have something (or a lot of somethings) that we know we shouldn’t do but do anyway. What did Sheryl Crow call it? ‘My Favorite Mistake?’ For me, most days, it’s eating peanut butter out of the jar. Whenever I want. That’s my ‘Favorite Mistake.’ Analyzing mock drafts. Not quite as high up on […]
Another offseason, and another Kevin Kolb bonus sitting squarely in the middle of the Cardinals’ plans. Last year it was a $7 million roster bonus due to Kolb that essentially forced the Cardinals to excuse themselves from Peyton Manning’s table. This year, it’s a $2 million roster bonus that Kolb is owed if he’s on […]
There’s nothing wrong with being the second choice. Harrison Ford wasn’t the first choice to play Indiana Jones; Tom Selleck was. Both Tom Hanks and Kevin Costner turned down the role of Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption. Thank you very much, says Tim Robbins. Keanu Reeves can also send a thank you note to […]
Have you ever been fired before? I have and to be frank…it was misery. Easily one of the worst days of my life. I can remember every specific detail of the day, including the movie my wife and I went to that night; the Harrison Ford suckfest “Six Days Seven Nights.” The film broke halfway […]
It would be a better column if I could remember the exact date. I could cheat and look it up but I won’t. So the story alone — absent of the hard-core facts — will have to do. At halftime of Game 1 of the 1996 NBA Finals between the Seattle Sonics and Chicago Bulls, […]
When you make your living talking about sports, through the sheer nature of quantity, you’re going to ending up saying some things that you don’t really believe will come to fruition. You discuss hypotheticals. You play devil’s advocate. Suffice to say, most of these what-if scenarios you end up discussing never happen. So last week […]
Pretty soon we’ll get a break from all the negativity. Then we’ll see if real change is in order. I could be talking about the election. I could be talking about Cardinals football heading into the bye. The two were woven together all Sunday morning. While candidates were busy attacking each other, this football team […]
I’ve always been impressed with the movies that can take several different stories, with several different characters and somehow intertwine them throughout the course of two and a half hours. I’m talking about movies like “Traffic” and “Crash” and even “Pulp Fiction” (in fact if you Google “movies with intertwining storylines” you get this). How […]
