Happy Madden Day!

Happy Madden Day! If you are one of those that got your copy at 12:01 am this morning, kudos to you! As far as video games go this is probably the biggest day of the year.

I have had a chance to play Madden 2010 and I have noticed a few things:

• This year’s version seems to be the most realistic version of Madden I can ever remember.
• It has the best presentation of any Madden ever.
• The player ratings are toned down a bit (for the mid level players).
• There is a lot more dink and dunk type passing, short plays than in older versions of Madden. The big play doesn’t happen as much. It is more realistic.
• The Cardinals are actually good!

Enjoy my Madden friends. If anyone wants to play me online and has Xbox 360, my gamertag is: the9293suns (don’t judge me)

Remembering Ryan Torain

Former ASU RB Ryan Torain was released by the Broncos on Wednesday. Torain has had one of the hardest luck careers I can remember for someone who has a lot of talent. It is unclear what is going to become ofTorain , hopefully he gets another chance in the NFL but the fact that he is an unproven commodity that is coming off a serious knee injury hurts his chances.

When Torain first came to Arizona State he was a JuCo transfer that no one really knew about. ASU’s running back situation was up in the air in 2006. Torain ended up winning the job and ran for 1,229 yards with a 5.5 ypc and scored seven touchdowns. I remember him bursting on the scene against California with 24 carries for 191 yards. How good wasTorain? ASU led the Pac-10 in rushing that year, even with pass happy Dirk Koetter coaching the team. He was the first ASU RB since 2001 to go over 1,000 yards. He was a hard, downhill runner who always fought for extra yards. His nickname was the “Train” for the way he ran over people. He wasn’t totally elusive, but he had good speed and movement for someone who had the power he did. While watching Torain in 2006 I thought I was seeing a first day NFL draft pick. Under Dennis Erickson in 2007 Torain got off to a good start, running for 553 yards in the first six games. His season was derailed by a serious knee injury, a similar one he experienced in Denver last year.

It is sad to see what has happened to Torain but we wish him all the best in his future career. He was one of our favorites here at Desert Ball.

Arizona Cardinals Season Preview

Head on over to Butthegameison.com to read my Arizona Cardinals Season Preview I wrote for them. It is long, but I think it is pretty solid. Thanks to Mark for letting me post over there.

Check out more of his blog too, its pretty cool.

The Cardinals New FB

The Cardinals new fullback, Reagan Maui’a, runs through walls . . .  literally

Link Me

Just popping in real quick to share a few links with y’all.

From ESPN.com, they have a pretty cool College Football Mock Draft going. They basically pick the top 40 football teams in the nation and assign them to ten different conferences. Pat Forde explains it a lot better than I do. I like it because ASU gets picked with the very last pick, 40th overall. Overall, five Pac-10 teams got drafted. That makes me feel good too.

IGN.com also did their NFL season preview using Madden’s engine. How did the Cardinals do? They finished in first place in the NFC West with a 12-4 record, which was the fourth best record in the league. The Steelers went 15-1 and the Packers win the NFC North with a 7-9 record.

The Cardinals host the Falcons again in the first round of the playoffs but lose on an overtime FG. The Patriots end up defeating the Saints in the Super Bowl, 21-14.

Another Year of No Respect

ESPN’s first NFL power rankings are out, it looks like the Cardinals can expect another year of the national media hating them. The defending NFC champions aren’t even in the top 10 (they are 12th). ESPN was never kind to the Cardinals last year, often having them middle of the pack even when they were 7-3 at one point. Actually, it is probably a good thing the national media is going to disrespect the Cardinals again, it is a great motivator and that helped get them to the Super Bowl in the first place. I feel much more comfortable with no one believing in the Cardinals than everyone singing their praises.

I understand it is hard for the national media to wrap their heads around the Cardinals being good, but they need to get over it. Them being ranked 12th is ludicrous. Open your eyes, guys. Just because the team doesn’t hail from a major media market or have a star logo on their helmet doesn’t mean they have no chance.

The media got sick of the Cardinals playing the “no one respected us” card last year, but if no one is going to ever respect them might as well keep playing it, right?

At least Mike Sando’s got our back.

Introducing Tommy Football!

Hi!

Hi!

I’m Tommy Football and I’m here to be your guide to the football season.

Training camp and fall practice is only a few weeks away! I sure am excited!

I’ll be back to update you with some unique insight!

The Cardinals Are Our Only Hope

Of Obi Wan Kenobi could perform at this age, Kurt Warner should be just fine

You know what I always found interesting about the first Star Wars movie? The complete act of desperation on behalf of the Rebel Alliance right as the movie starts. Princess Leia, in a final attempt to avoid the capture of the secret Death Star plans, enlists the help of Obi-Wan Kenobi. As her hologram, projected by R2-D2 of course, states, “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.” Really? An old hermit living in obscurity in the desert that hasn’t been relevant in the galactic scene in over 20 years is your only hope? This is who you are basing your entire rebellion on? Obviously, it worked, but initially the idea is crazy.

What the hell does this have to do with anything? Well, on the Arizona sports scene the Cardinals are our only hope. A franchise that has had two winning seasons in 21 years is Arizona’s only hope to produce a winning professional team in 2009. This isn’t as far fetched as it would have been in, say, 2008 because the team is coming off a Super Bowl appearance but it is still hard to fathom. The Cardinals are all we have in 2009. The Suns and D-Backs both let us down and the Coyotes almost moved.

For 2009 the Cards are all we got, but I believe they will succeed where most others have failed. I feel I should elaborate on this statement, so here is a super brief season preview:

Coaching

The Cardinals lost both their coordinators in the off-season. Clancy Pendergast was fired and Todd Haley left to become head coach in Kansas City. I am unsure how much Pendergast will be missed, Ken Whisenhunt never really wanted him here. Haley is a tough loss, his play calling was great last year. He, along with Whis, wasn’t afraid to take chances and go for the home-run. Haley’s creativity and fire on the sidelines will be missed.

I have faith the coaching staff will be just fine because of Whis. He has proven to be one of the better head coaches in this league and has earned the benefit of the doubt from all Cardinals fans. He is the best head coach Arizona has ever had, he can walk away today and he would already have done enough to prove himself forever in the eyes of Cardinals fans. Forget his Super Bowl appearance, Ken Whisenhunt has NEVER had a losing season as head coach of this team. That trend will continue in 2009.

Offense

The Cardinals’ offense is full of play-makers. Kurt Warner has managed to rejuvenate his career and should be efficient for the next two years. Perhaps he can’t avoid injury in 2009 like he did in 2008, but the Cardinals will survive if he misses a few games. If he misses a prolonged period of time they will be in trouble, even though I have more confidence in Matt Leinart than most. Obviously, the receivers are good and deep. Anquan Boldin is always going to play hard even if he is squabbling publicly about his contract. Larry Fitzgerald has elevated himself from one of the best receivers in the league to one of the best receivers of all-time. He is a god, I pray to him. Steve Breaston, Early Doucett and Jerhame Urban are solid receivers in their own rights. The offensive line is better than it has been in a while. They may have trouble run blocking but they can protect the QB as well as anyone in the league. If Beanie Wells lives up to his promise and brings a physical and speedy option in the backfield I am unsure if there will be a better offense in the NFL this year.

Considering that this offense will be very good if Beanie is a bust and great if he gives them anything, I think this unit is pretty promising going into 2009.

Defense

We are lucky in Arizona because the Cardinals’ defense is as exciting as their offense. They are not as good as their offensive counterpart and they will occasionally suffer a bad performance, but the unit is chalked full of play-makers. It starts with Darnell Dockett, who was almost unblockable in the Super Bowl. Dockett has excelled at the end in the 3-4 defense this team plays and is a fantastic pass rusher. Karlos Dansby gives this team an athletic linebacker that is going to command big money on the open market in 2010. Dansby is going to have a big year because he is in his contract year, which means he is probably going to bring it every single game (something he hasn’t always done). Dockett and Dansby are the two play-makers in the front seven but the rest of this unit is filled up with multiple talented players that are great in support. Chike Okeafor, Clark Haggins and Bert Berry are veterans that still play well. Gerald Hayes has quietly become a very efficient compliment to Dansby on the inside. This team can survive an injury or two, which hasn’t been the case in previous years.

The secondary was the weak spot of the team last year, but now it is just as strong as the rest of the defense. Dominique Rodgers-Cromratie (DRC as he is more commonly known, but I prefer to call him Dr. C) has become a stud. He was a fantastic draft pick by the Cardinals and has all the tools to become an elite NFL CB, if he isn’t already. It says something about the kid that he started as the nickel back last year and became their #1 CB on the way to the Super Bowl. Signing Bryant McFadden was important in the off-season, he gives the Cardinals maybe their best 1-2 punch at CB since the days of Aeneas Williams and Corey Chavous. What more can we say about Adrian Wilson? He is one of the best SS in the league and a team leader. Antrel Rolle played well at FS last year. He is hit and miss but he can make a lot of exciting plays.

Schedule

Let’s face it, the Cardinals’ got off easy on their 2009 schedule. They are always going to benefit from playing 6 games against the NFC West. The division should be a little better this year but the Cardinals could very easily go 6-0 again. The only real tough game will be their road trip to Seattle, always a hard place to pull out a win. Outside of their conference they only play five playoff teams in 2009. Their toughest home game is against Indy, the Cardinals will be favored in every other home game. Somehow, the Cardinals received a game with the 0-16 Detroit Lions . . . that should be a fun one.

We’re looking forward to 2009 because, well, there isn’t much to look forward to now.

A Rough Day in AZ Sports

Today, I consider ourselves, the unluckiest fans on the face of the Earth.

Well, maybe us fans of Arizona sports aren’t that unlucky. We did get to see everything fall in place for the Cardinals to make the Super Bowl. Ever since Larry Fitzgerald caught that go ahead TD pass in the Super Bowl nothing has gone right for Arizona sports. It hit a crescendo today when Arizona sports had, what we can classify as, an awful day.

The Phoenix Coyotes of Glendale had their bankruptcy hearing today. Nothing is going right with this franchise. They play hockey in a market that couldn’t care less about the sport, they have lost fistfuls of money almost every year for a decade and they are just starting a long legal battle that will probably end with them relocating. Personally, I’m not rooting for the Coyotes to leave town but I don’t care if they do. I, like 95% of the state, could care less about hockey. Since the Coyotes are never good, clueless when it comes to upper management and play their home games where no one likes to go (Glendale . . . shudder) I don’t see the point in them staying. If they relocated to Canada it would be better for everyone, except the die hard Coyote fans. If I were Jerry Moyer I would be trying to do everything I could to sell the team to the highest bidder, no matter where that bidder wants to move the team. When one losses that much money owning a team, it is a lot harder to be picky about selling the team to someone who doesn’t want to move it.

The 2^nd big event of the day was Arizona’s bid to host the 2013 Super Bowl. The bid went to New Orleans, and apparently it was never in question. The 2013 Super Bowl is being billed as something the city of New Orleans needs to help recover from Katrina. By the time 2013 hits Katrina would have happened seven years ago, will New Orleans still desperately need an economic boom of the Super Bowl by then? It makes sense, Katrina was basically a city killer. Arizona has been denied the Super Bowl two years in a row, this is starting to get annoying. Arizona boasts one of the nicest stadiums and climates in the league. They should get the Super Bowl as often as Miami gets it. There is something at work here, there is something the NFL doesn’t like about Arizona that they aren’t saying publicly. At least we know it has nothing to do with Martin Luther King Jr day.

The 3^rd big event of the day was the NBA draft lottery, where the Suns a 1.8% chance to land one of the top three picks. It is kind if like when a guy walks into a bar and sees a girl way out of his league, he knows he has no shot with her but maybe, just maybe something will happen. That’s what it was like watching the draft lottery. At least there was no agonizing wait, we knew right away that the Suns didn’t move up in the lottery. The Suns are getting zero luck lately, it is getting frustrating. Now we have all off season to debate topics like “Should we draft Johnny Flynn or Earl Clark”. Count me out of that debate.

Something good has to happen to Arizona sports soon, right? The D-Backs are not going to be the one to deliver it. Are we going to have to wait until the Cardinals start their season again? Or we really relying on the Cardinals to quench our thirst for a winner?

I have good news, we won’t have to wait that long. In about three weeks the College World Series starts and ASU has a real chance to win it all.

Farewell, Edge

Congrats Edge, you got your wish. You were released today. You’ve been waiting for this day since the middle of last season, when you were riding the bench and watching Tim Hightower average two yards a carry.

The lingering question is: What is Edge’s Legacy in Arizona?

Many will say he is a bust, that he was given a ton of money and underperformed for three seasons. After seeing Edge overvalue himself this year we now know why he came to Arizona in 2006, the Cardinals were the only team would would come close to thinking Edge was worth as much money as he thought he was worth. Maybe at the time we thought he came here to turn around a franchise, but deep down it is always about money.

Edge still managed to do what no Cardinal running back had done in years, put together back to back 1,000 yard rushing seasons. He got those numbers because of the amount of carries he received, his rushing average was never spectacular. Ironically, his average was highest this year at 3.9 yards a carry. In Edge’s defense he was playing behind a terrible, and I mean terrible, offensive line. He never really had the burst you wanted out of a running back, but he almost always ran for positive yards. He was never great in Arizona, but he was a workhorse. Some say, with the state of the offensive line, that was enough. Others will say you don’t spend that type of money just for a workhorse.

Edge will always be defined in my eyes by what he did in the 2009 playoffs. He went from being totally irrelevant to being a big part of the Cardinals amazing run to the Super Bowl. He did everything in the playoffs that the Cardinals hoped he would when they signed him back in 2006. He ran for tough yards, picked up the blitz, gave the team an identity and won them football games. Was that giant contract worth four playoff games? Considering the Cardinals’ history at the time, I would sure say so.

Now Edge is gone, the prime of his career is over and his last chance to win a Super Bowl as a team’s top back is out the window. He will probably sign somewhere else, although he is for the stark realization that no team will value Edge as much as he values himself. It was an up and down relationship with the Cardinals, but when he came here they were losers and when he left they were NFC Champions. I am sure everyone would have taken that back in 2006.

Cuts, Cuts and more Cuts

Along with Edge the Cardinals cut CB Rod Hood and LB Travis LaBoy today. I am pretty shocked by both these releases because I thought they would be able to provide solid depth for the Cardinals this year. Hood was the team’s starting CB last year, but he often gave up the big play. Still, I thought Hood would be a solid nickelback but I guess the Cardinals trust Ralph Brown and the rookies they drafted to handle that role. LaBoy shocked me as well, he was the Cardinals marquee free agent signing last year and I expected him to last a lot longer than one year. He had some injury concerns, but I liked him as a player. When he came to Arizona he brought some attitude to the defense, I think that will be missed. The Cardinals cleared almost $10 million in cap space by cutting these three guys. If the team reinvests that money into extensions for Anquan Boldin, Adrian Wilson, Karlos Dansby and Darnell Dockett then all will be good. If these were the Cardinals teams from a few years ago, the fan base would be up in arms over these moves. Now everyone trusts the Cardinals and they deserve the benefit of the doubt. Yes, times sure have changed.