Painful but True

In between my tears, I read this. He feels my pain.

My Faith is Shaken

How can they be this bad?

We all heard about Oliver Ross and how he would energize the offensive line, but between him and Davis, the main thing they energized was the market for flags. Surely they wore out the officials' pockets yesterday.

But that wasn't the worst of it. The Cards have given up touchdowns on the opening drives of each game this year. And not because the other team got lucky. The defense was decimated each time. Is this the same defense we saw last year? Clearly it isn't.

So what do you get when you combine a porous defense, an offense that seems incapable of scoring touchdowns and a whole pile of penalties? You get 0-3. Coming into this season, San Francisco was the consensus pick as worst team in football. Sunday night (boy, how happy is ESPN to have this game?), the 49ers will probably be heavy favorites.

Maybe I should learn to love hockey.

The End of Depression

I have dreaded this for some time. Another post after another disappointing performance. As I left Sun Devil Stadium, dazed as a result of the surreal end to an exciting final drive, I started visualizing the future.

Monday, I would come to work to hear my coworkers laugh at me for being a Cardinal fan. Then Brian would come in and find new ways to make fun of my devotion. I seriously considered calling in sick.

So here it is, Thursday, and life is not yet over. I enter yet another NFL weekend fully expecting the turnaround that I know is coming. Seattle is in for quite the surprise. And when Dallas and Tennessee also win, we'll get the humor of noting that all the teams in the NFC West are 1-2. So be it. Go Cards!

Okay, I Was Off a Little

So my 15-1 prediction did include the expected win over the Giants, so I guess I'll have to modify my prediction to 14-2.

Boy was that depressing. As halftime approached, I was giddy. With the Cards dominating in all phases of the game, victory was just a matter of not letting up their guard. Even after giving up a drive to start the second half, I rationalized it as being equivalent to the drive at the start of the game.

And when the team responded to the second score in the quarter with the Fitzgerald TD, I was calm again. Then the wheels came off. My only solace is knowing that only San Francisco managed to win among the teams in the division. The season now begins on 9/18.

Already Someone Who Agrees with Me

I bring you the Houston Chronicle and Norman Chad with his prediction for the 2005 season, "He (Kurt Warner) and his earthly Cardinals teammates are destined for Super Bowl 40 in Detroit."

Uh, Coach Slouch, for the record, I bought my ticket to win on 8/22/05, but I appreciate someone who agrees.

If they can do it, so can I

Since every sports pundit in the country has taken the time to inform us of how this season will end up, I have decided to do the same. So, on to my dubious, at best, predictions.

NFC West

It should come as no surprise to anyone who can read the name of my blog how I pick this division to end up. What may surprise some is that I think that this will be a surprisingly powerful division this year. While I respect the Rams offense, the overall balance in Seattle should provide them with a wild card entry into the post season.
Cardinals (15-1)
Seahawks (10-6)
Rams (8-8)
49ers (1-15)

NFC North

While I would love to see Favre wind down his career on a high note, I have little confidence in his team. The Vikings look tough, though I don't think a Mike Tice led team will ever be truly great.
Vikings (13-3)
Packers (6-10)
Lions (4-12)
Bears (3-13)

NFC South

Here is the other tough NFC division. While I like the Falcons, they sure have a rough schedule compared to the Panthers.
Panthers (12-4)
Falcons (10-6)
Buccaneers (8-8)
Saints (4-12)

NFC East

Yet another weak year for the East. I don't see Philadelphia being as dominant as last year, but with little competition in this division, they'll have a better record than they deserve.
Eagles (12-4)
Cowboys (9-7)
Giants (6-10)
Redskins (4-12)

AFC West

The AFC, once again, appears to be tougher than the NFC. As a result, teams that otherwise would have made it to the post season will be stopped due to the volume of quality in this conference. And the West will be the toughest division of them all.
Chiefs (14-2)
Chargers (10-6)
Raiders (7-9)
Broncos (7-9)

AFC North

This division will come back to earth after last year's stellar showing by Pittsburgh. I still expect greatness from them, but Ben could not have two consecutive lucky streaks.
Steelers (12-4)
Ravens (10-6)
Bengals (6-10)
Browns (5-11)

AFC South

And now for the obvious choice of the list: who will win this division?
Colts (14-2)
Jaguars (11-5)
Titans (8-8)
Texans (3-13)

AFC East

And now for the weakest division in football. Not only do I expect a weak showing from the defending champs, but the division around them will be awful. Expect a cake walk for the Patriots, at least until playoff games begin.
Patriots (11-5)
Jets (8-8)
Bills (3-13)
Dolphins (2-14)

As I've already stated before, I've already placed my bet on the Cardinals to win Super Bowl XL (over the Colts, in case you're curious). I look forward to seeing how stupid I was in very short order.

Enough of the Practice Games

So I forgot to bring my camera to work last Friday. I remembered my ticket. So when I picked up my father to go to the game, I borrowed his (also a 5 MP model, but with a bit less configuration ability). Curiously, while all of my photos have 0.07 fewer MP, his averaged 0.9 MB per photo while mine averaged 2.9 MB per photo. I have no idea why. But on to the meager photos.

First, we have an action shot (the only one that was even remotely usable).

But there came a point where I decided that the only people doing their jobs properly were the cheerleaders, so I got a fuzzy image of them.

Sure hope next week goes better.

Getting My $61.20 Worth

Last year, season tickets in the seat I have were $56.70 per game ($63 - 10%). This year they went up to $61.20 ($68 - 10%). Since preseason games were never that good to begin with, I always justified it as 8 games at full price and two preseason games at half price. So 8*63+31.5+31.5=$567 for the full season.

With the new pricing combined with a game in Mexico City, it is 7 games at the new, higher, full price and two preseason games at $37.40 each (or 55% of normal games). In other words, this year's preseason, on a relative cost basis, are 10% higher than last year's (not even accounting for the price hike that was also sent our way).

So adding to the disappointment of a significantly more expensive preseason, we get a Broncos team that does not intend to play their starters. We're paying to see a scrimmage of second teamers. Whoop-de-doo!

Easy to be a Fan Now

I realize that it's still just preseason, but they've looked so very good in their first team offense. I fully expect to watch a win on Friday simply because it means more to Dennis Green than it does to Mike Shanahan. As I understand it, Plummer and crew won't play more than a single series.

Still, It'll be nice to go to New York with a load of confidence at their backs. Go Cards!

But What About the Chiefs?

It occurred to me that in my rush to happily note my purchase of a ticket to win for the Cardinals in the Super Bowl that I haven't made any comments about their most recent encounter in Kansas City.

I didn't see all of it. Being away from home, I couldn't watch live (I was competing) and the hotels don't carry the NFL Network. So I watched when I got home and kind of wished that my Tivo would have failed to record it. As most fans know, the Cards won, but only because the second and third teams made up for the ineptitude of the first team. Up front blocking seemed to be the key, and there are plenty of reasons why, so I won't be too frustrated. That's why they play in preseason.

Vegas, Baby!

I shoot pool. Not very well, mind you, but I'm in a handicapped league, and our 9-Ball team made it to the national finals last weekend at the Riviera. We did well. Not great, but well enough. Of the 287 teams that qualified for the event (from among many thousands of teams), only 32 progressed farther than we did.

As long as I was in Vegas for the tournament, however, I decided to get in my bet for the Cardinals to win the Super Bowl. That's right, my $20 is down on the Cards to win (with a payoff of $1000 when they do). Go Cards!

New Uniforms, Old Frustration

A couple of pictures from last Saturday's game...


First, we have a picture of the opening kickoff. You'll note that the sun is still slightly out at this point. By the way, no matter what the people on ESPN say, I like the new uniforms. Note the sparse crowd even though it's the Cowboys. Hmmm.


And an action shot. But in this case, I was limited on the shots I could use. Since this was a night game and my ISO was not properly set, there was quite a bit of action that just turned out too blurry to use (this one is really not an exception to the rule). Note that this is the second team getting a very Cardinal-like one yard gain on a rushing play.

That Was a Beautiful Thing

It was great to go to a game surrounded by Cardinals fans for a change. The seat I have is not in a cheap section of the stadium, but since it is in the shaded portion (and has a back), the people who buy there tend to be loyal. That said, all too many of the seats just go unsold, and we regularly have visiting family of the opposing team. Maybe when the Eagles come to town, TO can serve his suspension in my section.

But I digress. This team looked fantastic on Saturday night. How many more days until 9/11 in New York (wonder what the halftime will be like)?

26.5 Hours and Counting

It's finally (almost) here. The opportunity to go to Sun Devil Stadium, with all the hope and expectation that attends a new football season.

How exciting to see my acquaintances over in Section 9, complete with the ability to glare at people who deign to bring beer into our section; the deep green of a carefully manicured, yet thoroughly unused football field ready for a new season; the view of millionaires getting ready to work themselves to exhaustion simply for my benefit (we don't thank the players enough).

For this season, my goal is to document the beauty that is football, and to be on the bleeding edge of the legion of Cardinals fans that will instantly sprout as so often happens when a team finds success.

Go Cards!

Hallelujah!

And I'm not even religious. With today's news, all the pieces are in place. It's time for the Cards to shock the NFL.

I was out today and drove by the stadium (my future cathedral). It was amazing to see so many workers standing on the roof doing their work. Ah, and now for Saturday to come.

Go Cards!

I'd Feel Better if Rolle Was Signed

But then that goes without saying.

As many people making blog entries do (I hate to call myself a "blogger" since I'm not that serious about it), I waste entirely too much time on the Internet. Today, I visited the ESPN site and looked at the SportsNation polls.

They had one about NFL jerseys. Which player would you buy? Would you buy Terrell Owens? How many do you own? I had to laugh when I got to the last question. "Are you wearing a jersey right now?" Yes, I'm wearing Rob Moore right now.

I love the scene in "Fletch" where Larry (Geena Davis) observes him and says, "Magic today?" He replies, "Yeah, Kareem's in the wash."

On any given day, for me, it will be one of Joyner, Hill, Williams (35), Plummer, Tillman, Moore, Smith (22), Boston, Wadsworth, Sanders. Notably, I tend to buy a player right before he leaves the team (true of all but Emmitt).

T-3 Days

Okay, so only two draft picks are signed so far, but I'm not panicking. That said, I've done some predicting among my friends. It's shocking how many of them are not on board with my 15-1 prediction.

Okay, so Tennessee might present a bit of a problem. Sure, Philadelphia is good, but are they that good on the road? 15-1, here we come!

Prescott, Here They Come

My first thought was to say, "Here We Come", but then I realized that I'm just an idiot with a blog. That was one of my favorite moments in "Fever Pitch".

• They let you go to their camp? Actually we just observe. To see who should go and who should stay.
• And the team takes your advice?

Ah, to understand the true fan. This year is gonna be special.

Just What Are They Saying?

Another preseason poll is out, and the Cards rank only 10th in the NFC in this list. Why, oh why do the Cowboys get so much respect? And why does an aging Brett Favre garner so much hope with a coach who has not yet inspired success for the team? And how in the world did they pick the Lions higher?

I know I'm a homer. But I see the team jumping out to victory in their first five matchups (at NYG, vs StL, at Sea, vs SF, vs Car), then they get two weeks to prepare to host the Titans. Again, I know I'm biased, but I don't see why they can't be 14-0 when they meet the Eagles on 12/24. So 14-1 or 15-0 when they go to Indianapolis in a meaningless game (having locked up homefield advantage throughout the playoffs).

I love the view through these rose colored glasses.

Ten Days and Waiting

While I'm nervous about the lack of signings of draft picks, at least I know that it's common to all of the NFL.

In my Internet wanderings yesterday, I came across an anti-Cardinals site run by someone who has a bit too much time on his hands. His site proclaims his love of the Cowboys (hey, they won six games last year, too) and even boasts a forum for bashing the Cards. I actually enjoyed reading it due to the large number of posts he was forced to delete for violating the "bashers only" rule.

I sure can't wait until even greater success breeds frustration on his part.