Step away from that ledge, fans

Friday was a bad day to be a fan of the Cardinals. The weird thing is that nothing that happened was surprising: Anquan Boldin's trade was two years in the making, I think everyone expected Karlos Dansby to leave, and while Antrel Rolle's signing with the Giants was surprising, the surprise was not that he signed with them, but that he (not Darren Sharper, Bob Sanders, Ed Reed, Adrian Wilson, Troy Polamalu, Nick Collins, or Brian Dawkins) is now the highest paid safety in NFL history. Combine these with Kurt Warner's retirement (which, as we remember, was not all that surprising either), and I could sense uneasiness in the Redbird Nation, as if all those years of misery were approaching again like Lost's black smoke monster (ticking sounds and everything).

I, myself, felt the uneasiness and wondered if there simply would be too many holes to fill, too many changes, too many starters and leaders gone, for the Cardinals to stay competitive. I had a night of doubt. But then, on Saturday, moments before leaving to pick up my oldest daughter from a friend's birthday party, the familiar sound of the guitar intro for Chris Cornell's "You Know My Name" (my phone's text message tone) brought great news- an ESPN breaking news text message stating that Adam Schefter is reporting, "Jets trade S Kerry Rhodes to Cardinals for 4th-rd pick in 2010 and 7th-rd pick in 2011." That moment reminded me that I was being foolish, considering I just wrote this not long ago after the breaking news of Coach Whisenhunt's new contract (in "Cards Bus Going in Right Direction"):

Right now, the team is at a turning point. It has lost its elite quarterback. It is losing one to 3 key starters on defense. It may be dealing a starter on offense. Normally, I would be back to bracing myself for meagerness. I'm not saying that won't take a step back this year. It might. But knowing that The Whiz is in the driver's seat and that the organization has packed its bags and loaded them onto his bus, I trust that joining them for the ride is going to be enjoyable on the whole for many years. I can't wait to see where the next stop is going to be.


I had momentarily (ok, maybe it was about 20 hours, but in my defense, I was spending the night and early morning at the Phoenix Zoo with my oldest and about 30 other 4th graders- it was great daddy-daughter time, but you do realize that there were another 30+ 9 and 10 year olds there, too) lost sight of the fact that these Cardinals have a plan. The Whiz knows what he is doing. Here is what he said on the trade:

"We had a good contingency plan in place if we lost Antrel and we acted quickly. We all know that the safety position was a hole we needed to fill. Kerry has the experience and ability to step in right away. He fits a lot of things that we do."

This deal looks great. Personally, I have NEVER drunk the Antrel Kool-Aid. He has been, for years, my least favorite player on the team- just ask my buddy, Nate. He can confirm this for you. When he was named to the Pro Bowl, I was dumbfounded. I am glad he's gone. I don't deny that he is exciting to watch when he gets the ball in his hands, but I never felt, as a fan, that he made much of an impact. As a cornerback (and he was expected to be dynamic- much like Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie), he was a bust. He was dreadful in pass coverage. He is known as a physical player, but he never showed great tackling- acceptable, but not elite. He has been a bonehead, being called for numerous personal fouls. It has been said that he was good in the slot, but the only thing memorable he did was the one game against Cincinnati, and his interceptions were not the result of good coverage, but rather ok instincts on horrible throws right at him. I've always thought that Rolle has been simply one of the luckiest players in the NFL because, for all the things he has not done well, he happens to be remembered for scoring touchdowns. On half of his touchdowns, he got the ball and there was no one in front of him. My wife (who is beautiful, but anything BUT athletic) could have scored on those plays. When he was given punt return duties, it was downright scary. He didn't come up on kicks he should have caught and caught ones he should have let go, and did absolutely nothing special if he happened to actually get the ball in his hands (which is his supposed strength). As a safety, he wasn't bad, but I never saw anything to think that he was good. He, in my eyes, was simply serviceable as a free safety, and that status was barely for me. Rolle was one excruciating overthrow by Aaron Rodgers in overtime from being another Aaron Francisco (are you still as mad as I am about him and his play in the Super Bowl? Yeah, I thought so). Rolle got beat badly on that play.

Fortunately for him, he was considered a free agent prize. The New York Football Giants now have made Antrel Rolle the highest paid safety in league history. Does anyone else find this weird? In any case, the Cardinals now have Kerry Rhodes, and had to give up very little for him. To be fair, Rhodes does come with a fed flag. He was considered the bust of the Jets defense. He was benched for two games, although he returned later as the starter and made solid contributions to the league's #1 rated defense. It turns out that he had some differences with the new defensive coaching staff. Even so, he is the same age as Rolle, he is bigger, and while he is not known for his physicality, he is much better in coverage than Rolle. But that's not all- he is signed through 2013, and gets paid only a portion of what Rolle now makes, or even what he would have made here in Arizona. This is a GREAT thing. For less money, we get an upgrade (and on a more personal level, my TV screen may have been saved from the remote control violence that Rolle had the potential of provoking). There's no way to convince me otherwise (but I do welcome attempts).

Does this answer all the questions I have? Not yet. But one thing I do know is that, unlike in times past, these Cardinals are not just letting important talent run away. There is a vision, a plan. There is hope. So, Redbird faithful, do not fear, the Whiz is here. He is the leader of this team and will not let it take too much of a backward step, if in fact there will be a step back. If you had the urge to move toward the ledge to begin contemplating jumping again (because we all have done that before) into hopeless, faithless fandom, step back, pull up a chair, and enjoy the view and the ride. That's what I will be doing.

Money or a Championship? Are We Hypocrites?

This afternoon on the Gambo and Ash show, they discussed Amar’e Stoudemire, his trade scenarios, and his contract situation. What it came down to was that Amar’e would rather play for a woeful team (such as the New Jersey Nets) and get paid $20 million more in a contract, than play for a team like Cleveland, where he could win a championship. This led to a discussion between my wife (Señora Sports) and I about athletes, money, and winning, and how we expect our athletes to be more principled than we are.

We expect more of athletes than we do of ourselves when it comes to money. We vilify those that leave looking for a bigger paycheck. We can be near pious with other people’s money. We want our athletes to take much less money than they can make in the open market so they can win, or have the chance at winning. (Now, to be clear, for purposes in this article, I will not refer to cases of players like Cardinals player Darnell Dockett or Anquan Boldin, who signed contracts that they outperformed and have no contractual way to change that. I refer to free agent players or players that have opt-out clauses in their contracts, allowing them to forfeit the money left on their deal to seek more money and/or years of security.) To be honest, could we expect ANYONE to turn down $20 million for a job (excluding moral/ethical beliefs)? Is Stoudemire less of a player because he wants to maximize his earnings? Should he take less money or even a pay cut for the possibility of winning a championship?

I am sure that there are a few players and former players that retrospectively would say that they would pay some millions of dollars (maybe even up to $10 million) to be able to have won a championship or for the guarantee of one. However, the problem is that there is NEVER a guaranteed championship. It was all but a forgone conclusion that the 2003-04 Lakers were going to win it all, giving Karl Malone and Gary Payton rings that they never before were able to get, but then a key Malone injury in the Finals contributes to the Detroit Pistons shocking he world and beating the seemingly unbeatable Lakers.

A look at the other side, and we can find a familiar face. Joe Johnson wanted to leave Phoenix, wanting to be paid more and to be the leader for the terrible Atlanta Hawks. A majority of people here were very disappointed that he would not want to come back and play with Steve Nash and the chance to win one or more titles, wondering why anyone would want to go and play for an awful team like the Hawks. Look at him now- rich, a four-time All-Star, on a team that has already been competitive in the playoffs, and is now one of the best teams in the East. AND he looks to possibly score another huge contract after this season. So, a situation that at the time looks like a bad situation, aside from pay, can turn very quickly into a winning situation.

Now, the money that athletes earn is obscenely more than a person like me makes. But in any case, I wouldn’t, in my job as a teacher, take a pay cut to be a part of a better teaching team or in a better school. Nor would I turn down a significant raise to teach with a less talented group of teachers where I would be expected to be the leader or best performer. Not now- I am raising a family. It might be a consideration once my children are grown and I have earned a level of comfort that can warrant me to consider job situation or ambience over compensation.

There is a general rule for athletes. Make as much money as you can while you are young, because no one knows how long they will be able to play. After making their money, as an older player, they THEN should seek the best opportunities to win. In sports, owners don’t owe anything to their players other than the money agreed to in a contract. Players owe nothing to their teams when contracts end. If players like our local players with ending contracts or contract outs (Amar’e Stoudemire, Brandon Webb, Karlos Dansby) think they can make more money than their teams now are willing to pay them, we should not think less of them, even if we think that their best chance of winning or contributing is here. They are just doing what most of us would do in their situation.