Spammers have wrecked havoc on this place, so we’re going to flee to the land of no spam — which turns out to be anywhere that isn’t Russia or China. Who let those guys on the internet? Anyway, you can still keep up to date on Cardinals news on the mother site, the Damox Sports Blog.
The Cardinals should be proud of what they accomplished this season, but at the same time they have reason to be upset at how it ended. The Super Bowl last night was one of the most exciting ever, but it was also not without controversy. I think anyone who watched it, including Steelers fans, noticed the calls from the officials seemed to be going the Steelers way time and again.
In a key play that ended the first half, an interception returned for a touchdown by the Steelers included some of the most obvious holds I’ve ever seen. I’m talking about Cardinals players being brought down with behind-the-back-headlocks right in front of the official.
The end of the game also had some controversy. Kurt Warner was hit as he threw, but his arm appeared to be going forward with the ball (not an “empty” hand, as the rulebook requires for a fumble). As there were less than 2 minutes left in the game, there should have been an automatic booth review and the call on the field, which was a fumble, should have been overturned. This seemed obvious. Even John Madden and Al Michaels acknowledged that the play was going to be reviewed and likely overturned. Instead, less than a minute after the play, the Steelers offense lined up on the field and downed the ball for the final play. Michaels noted just before the snap that the previous play had been reviewed and the ruling on the field would stand, but how? They literally would have had less than a minute to review the play, and what would they have seen that the other 200 million people watching the game didn’t?
To add more salt on the Cardinals wounds, there was a personal foul penalty on the Steelers after the controversial fumble when a player took off his helmet to celebrate. That would have advanced the Cardinals attempted comeback drive by 15 yards and given them a first down, so they would have had time for 3 or 4 plays from the Steelers 29 yard line, which would hardly make it a hail mary situation.
The way this game managed to end with Madden and Michaels both ignoring the controversy makes me wonder if something was going on that the rest of us didn’t know about. The previous Steelers Super Bowl victory, over the Seahawks 3 years ago, was at the time recognized as the most controversial Super Bowl in history.
The Sports Illustrated mock draft can tell us a lot of things. First off, it can tell us that Sports Illustrated is predicting the Steelers will win the Super Bowl. SI is giving the #31 pick in the draft to the Cardinals, with which they will select LeSean McCoy, a running back out of Pitt. This would make sense, as Edgerrin James is leaving and Tim Hightower is not the guy you want in there for every down. McCoy is fast but small, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing for a runner. He has ample size for his height at 210 pounds, which when combined with his sub-4.5 second 40 time will make for a hard to catch-and-bring-down running back.
Who said the Cardinals didn’t have a devoted fan base. It seems a few fans found out the location of Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb’s offseason home in Chandler, Arizona and decided to vandalize his yard. They burned “Go Cards”, “I heart AZ”, and “Go Kurt” using diesel fuel on his beautifully maintained lawn. They also hung a Cardinals flag from a tree in the front yard. Two Chandler residents were arrested for the crime.
Anquan Boldin was visible upset with the Cardinals coaching staff during the second half of yesterday’s NFC championship win over the Eagles. At one point, he was seen arguing with offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Boldin was likely upset that he was not getting the ball late in the game. After it was over, Boldin left without celebrating with his teammates. He told the San Francisco Chronicle that the situation was “not an issue”. We’ll be watching this situation for the next two weeks as the Cardinals prepare for their first ever Super Bowl.
The Cardinals almost blew it. After building up an 18 point lead at halftime, they let the Eagles slip back into the game at the end of the 3rd quarter and beginning of the 4th. The Eagles held a 1 point lead with just a few minutes remaining, but Kurt Warner led the Cardinals on a career-defining drive that brought them the go-ahead score and a trip to the Super Bowl.
Kurt Warner has a perfect QB rating and Larry Fitzgerald has 3 touchdowns as the Cardinals are humiliating the Eagles, 24-6 at halftime.
Larry Fitzgerald cards and autographs
The roof will be closed for today’s NFC championship game between the Cardinals and the Philadelphia Eagles. Kurt Warner requested that the roof be closed, perhaps because he wants to keep the sound in to make it harder on the Eagles offense. He also might be trying to keep his old body out of that Arizona sun. Skin cancer should be a bigger concern for older Americans.
Well, it was an exciting weekend for me. The Cardinals advanced in the playoffs and silenced some of their critics, and this Cardinals blog was hijacked by “Islam Defenders” from the “Arabian Media Center” who decided to hack my website and replace it with their own crap. I had no idea the Koran supported Paypal phishing scams.
Although all of the old content is now gone thanks to my lax backup schedule, the future is still bright. In many ways, it’s like the Cardinals organization. Who cares about the past, because we’ve got a lot of good in our future.
- December 2012 (1)
- February 2009 (1)
- January 2009 (7)
