Ron Wolfley Blogs

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Ron Wolfley

The Palmer Principle: Free agent QB might be a temporary solution for Cardinals

If/when the Oakland Raiders cut Carson Palmer, he could be an option for the Arizona Cardinals at quarterback. But I hope he isn’t looked at as a long-term solution. Palmer is 33 years old and although he had a very productive season in Oakland last year, the Cards need to find a guy they can […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

Ravens Repeat?

The Joe Flacco dynamic is going to be interesting to watch in 2013. The Ravens signed Flacco to a big money contract while teammates with Super Bowl rings are pushed out the door. Think of all the players the Ravens have lost from their Super Bowl team: Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, Paul Kruger, Dannell Ellerbe, […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

Winning in March

I am fascinated with the West Region in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Although I believe it could be the easiest march for the eventual winner, that also makes it the most dangerous. Preconceived notions and assumptions will be the death knell for coaches in this tournament. One of the most difficult things for a coach […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

Mea culpa Kevin Kolb

I still remember the e-mail I got from a guy that said Kevin Kolb would not be the guy the Cardinals were looking for because he couldn’t stay healthy. He talked about the problems Kolb had in Philadelphia and I ignored him. In this case, I owe that gentleman a formal mea culpa: you were […]
11 years ago
Ron Wolfley

The thing that cannot be in the NFL

I am all for protecting players, but the competition committee is considering making a rule change in the National Football League that I cannot bare. 6. Player safety: Initiating contact with the crown of the helmet is a foul if the runner or tackler delivers a forceable blow against his opponent when both players are […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

Free agency is a non-sequitur

Free agency has not been the panacea everybody thought it was going to be when it was introduced in its full-blown form. The NFL is replete with examples of teams and players that have proven free agency, when misused, is a non-sequitur, a logical fallacy. The 2011 Philadelphia Eagles will forever stand as Exhibit A […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

Got ‘Quan?

Anquan Boldin is back in the NFC West and this is not good news for the Seahawks, Rams or Cardinals. Seattle made a splash by acquiring Percy Harvin, but I don’t think it makes them king of the pool. Harvin only played in nine games last season and, according to the Vikings, he’s a bit […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

End of an era

Adrian Wilson was a gatekeeper for the Arizona Cardinals, a man revered among his peers. He was a physical specimen, one of a kind, who played the game with a chip on his shoulder, desperately trying to win the respect of players, fans and coaches across the league. This man’s career will be defined by […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

The Miami Heat define greatness

The Miami Heat are showing what it means to be great. They have won 16 games in a row and are continuing to serve notice to the rest of the league that they will not give up their title easily. The Heat are a great team because the individuals they have on the floor are […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

It’s Black and Dwight

The differences between Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard are vast and varied; they are also well-documented. Kobe is a fighter, Dwight doesn’t like confrontation. Kobe plays with passion, Dwight plays with puppy dogs. Kobe loves to compete, Dwight avoids conflict. If anyone needs further convincing of this dichotomous divide, note Exhibit Z: Serge Ibaka hit […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

Spoelstra knows LeBron

So much of coaching great players involves managing their personalities. Coaches need to determine what kind of animal they’re dealing with before they know how to domesticate them. Some guys need a kick in the pants, some a pat on the butt, and some merely need to be left alone. I think Miami’s Eric Spoelstra […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

Is it time to move Sam Acho to ILB?

Mike Allen (@Mjallen728) made a suggestion via Twitter that hit me in the face like Harry Carson’s (Google it, My Young Crunks) bucket head on an iso: The Cardinals should move Sam Acho from OLB to Mike backer. I like the idea knowing Mike backer is an area Big Red needs to address. Paris Lenon […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

The Shot Heard ‘Round the Wes?

Wes Johnson is an unknown commodity for the Phoenix Suns but he’s making a case that he is in the process of filling his considerable potential. The three he hit against San Antonio to tie the game up in regulation and send it into OT could become the shot heard ‘round Planet Purple. Jermaine O’Neal’s […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

Prado could be Poseidon

Martin Prado is making an impact on the Arizona Diamondbacks, and they’ve just started Spring Training. Kevin Towers, the D-backs’ GM, is raving about Prado’s weight-room antics, work ethic and his competitive fire. Towers told us D-backs players are having a hard time beating Prado into work in the morning, an easy time leaving before […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

NFL Draft: When it comes to reports, trust no one

This time of year always fills me with anticipation, fascination and speculation, but I put my trust in no man. The NFL Scouting Combine in still underway in Indianapolis and reports are starting to trickle into the matrix and hysteria is mounting. I love the combine but I hate the fact that it kicks off […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

At the Combine, words mean more than numbers

The NFL Scouting Combine is getting ready to start this weekend in Indianapolis, but the most important part of it has already begun. The interview process — where prospects sit down and speak with front office luminaries, has become more important than the 40-yard dash. Most scouts can look at a prospective player on film […]
11 years ago
Ron Wolfley

Dr. LeBron and Mr. James

When LeBron James transformed himself last season and became the competitor he needed to be and won a championship because of how well he played, he became King James and the sky was the limit. The demons were excised and LeBron’s house was clean, figuratively speaking. And it was clean because he found The Button, […]
11 years ago
Ron Wolfley

The Coyotes Way

The Phoenix Coyotes beat people not by having better talent, but by being more disciplined, having a great goaltender, and generating scoring opportunities from being buttoned up in their zone. The Coyotes Way is a defense-first system that demands discipline with the puck as well as getting a body on somebody. As soon as the […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

Paterno family is focused on the wrong things

The Paterno family is trying to restore the legacy of Joe Paterno and have responded to the Freeh Report by former FBI Director, Louis Freeh. The family conducted their own investigation and maintains that Joe Pa was not complicit in a cover-up of child sexual abuse by former assistant Jerry Sandusky. “The Freeh Report reflects […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

Wolf’s Super Bowl XLVII primer

Although I will never understand getting together with tens of people under one roof to watch the Super Bowl, staggering through the hallways and rooms of another’s house as though you were a peasant roaming the streets of 17th century London, I do understand that tens of millions of Americans engage in the revelry, pageantry […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

The NFL in 2043

Mucus is one of the most disgusting products the human body manufactures but it plays a pivotal role in our existence. To make a long story short, without mucus we’d be dead (Ron Wolfley, reporting). One of the major functions of mucus is to protect against infectious agents such as fungi, bacteria and viruses. The […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

Patience, sports fans, you’ll have your day

The past two weeks have been sports radio nirvana, a veritable cornucopia of drama, mayhem and change. Coaches getting hired after coaches were fired; general managers making moves, personnel men getting promoted, local legends getting snubbed, VPs and presidents boldly putting their stamp on billion dollar franchises. It doesn’t get any better than that in […]
11 years ago
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Ron Wolfley

Scouting Bruce Arians

Bruce Arians was named the Arizona Cardinals head coach. The more research I did on Arians, the more I like the hire. This guy’s résumé looks like the greater metro Phoenix phone book. His reputation precedes him, indeed. I talked to many coaches, players, analysts and personnel men in the National Football League and their […]
11 years ago
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Vince Marotta

The most important hire in the NFL isn’t a head coach

Players win games in the National Football League, coaches lose them. That’s an axiom that’s been around for a long, long time but one that I generally agree with. Even if Albert Einstein coached the game of football and crafted the most effective, diabolical, genetically superior scheme the world has ever known that made the […]
11 years ago