Boldin's Bailout: A backstory

For those who don't know...

Boldin wants trade

Sure, sure, Boldin SAYS he doesn't talk to head coach Ken Whisenhunt and says he's not treated fairly. But...I beg to differ.

The night before...

SCENE: Boldin's mansion that he affords with his unfair 4 million a year.




Boldin: I have a feeling that we're going to do good things this season. I, and every NFL pundit for the past ten years, think this is the year that we make the playoffs.



Boldin: I don't know anyone from the 206 area code...oh well.

(Picks up phone) Yo, who is this?



Marcus Trufant: Oh, you remember me...

Boldin: Wait...those footsteps, that closing speed...you're, you're....M-m-m-marcus

Trufant: The one and only. I was just calling to see if you were ready for two games of absolute punishment this year?

Boldin: More than ready...I got a good feeling?

Trufant: Is that douchenozzle still your staring QB?





(fun fact: googiling Matt Leinart Drunk yields 77,200 results and 5,670 images)

Boldin: hey an, Matt's had his adventures this offseason, but he's focused.

Trufant: Yeah right, in the same town as Arizona State...Leinart will be focused on football. What do you do after week 3?

(awkward pause)

Boldin: Hey man, why you doing this?

Trufant: Just giving you a heads up, wanting you to know we're coming for ya.

Boldin: You do this with all your opponents?

Trufant: Yeah man, you should have heard the talk Lofa was giving Stephen Jackson the other night. He went to training camp so when he gets smacked around in week 3 it doesn't hurt too bad.

Boldin: Well, I'm at camp. What should I do?

Trufant: I hear Miami's nice..maybe go to Tennessee, play with Vince.

Boldin: I'll talk to coach about it...

Trufant: No, you don't TALK to coach at all. Use it as leverage.

Boldin: Oh...o...ok.

(Phone line goes dead)

Paul Harvey: And now you know...the rest of the story.

Which bird will rule in '08?

It was December 29, 2002. In San Diego, the Seahawks put on a furious comeback in the fourth quarter. With a second remaining, Matt Hasselbeck plunged over the goaline to force overtime against the Chargers. Ten minutes later, Rian Lindell his a 24 yard field goal to propell Seattle to a 31-28 win.

It was the second overtime win in three weeks. Seattle's 3 game winning streak brought the team to a respecatble 7-9 season, good for 2nd in the NFC West. It may not have seemed like much, but suddenly there was a buzz around the Seahawks. I personally remember this season as being the one my parents did not renew their season tickets more than anything. But still, my frustrations grew bigger after the season ended with a flurry. For once, the Seahawks, MY Seahawks, could make some noise.

The next year, at 9-7, Seattle grabbed finished 2nd again in the NFC West but made the playoffs. The next season, it was a division title. As Paul Harvey says, you know the rest of the story. 4 division titles later, a Super Bowl appearance, and a certain mastery of the NFC East in the playoffs.

Good times.

This past year, down in Arizona, the Cardinals won their last two games to reach a respectable 8-8. There were quality wins over Cleveland and Pittsburgh in the season. Three of Arizona's losses were by three points or less. They lost in overtime once.

This doesn't mean that Arizona is going to wrestle the division title away from Seattle this year. But, for the first time in a long time, the preseason buzz that will undoubtedly accompany the Cardinals will have some merit. Its been 10 years since the Cardinals had a winning record. Now, they're learning how to win, slowly becoming contenders.

Arizona still has flaws, but Seattle is not the team it was two years ago. Both teams head into the offseason with their sights set on eachother for the division title.

Whose going to blink first?

Five Questions for an Enemy Blogger: Cardinals

Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas or Kwanza, everyone can agree that this is the season for gift giving, like the victory we handed the Cardinals in Week Two.

What I've noticed over the years though, is that the gifts I buy for other people are usually the things I would want myself, thus explaining the cordless drill I gave my wife on our anniversary (as well as the 3/8th diameter scar on my left thigh).

My point is, when I read the finely crafted Five Questions that AOL Cardinals Blogger Dan Benton sent to me, I thought it was very generous of me to paraphrase them and give them right back to him, which might explain any similarities between his blog piece and the item below.

1) I don't really want to start this with a question ... just a statement. THREE in a row! Mmm, yeah. Let that sink in.

DB: Three wins over the Seahawks in a row would be pretty sweet, let me tell you. luckily for you, you won't have to hear from me again until these two teams meet in the playoffs. At which point, I can only assume you'll stop returning my e-mails.

2) Do these games make you sweat any more? They used to be difficult on an Arizona heart, but with winning the past two games against the Seahawks, and beating teams the Seahawks lost to, like the Steelers and Browns, you're probably pretty confident about Sunday, right?

DB: Some teams play with talent, others with heart. And while the injuries concern me, the Cardinals aren't giving up. There have been plenty of times this season where they could have packed it in, but instead they opted to battle back and keep themselves in this thing.

Now, with their fate in their own hands, I have 100% faith that Arizona will return to the playoffs for the first time since ... well... yeah.

3) Looking ahead to Sunday, what concerns you about Seattle? And don't say everything!

DB: Don't say everything? No problem, because my answer would have been nothing.

The Seahawks have not been impressive this year and Shaun Alexander looks like he's running on empty. Not to mention, the team has really had their hands full in the last few weeks, barely beating the Bears, Eagles and Rams; all of whom are far worse than the Cardinals.

But if I had to pick any one thing, it'd be the crowd. Then again, who doesn't get worried by an extremely large gang of stumbling drunks? The only thing worse is Eagles fans.

4) Here's one I haven't asked you before. If you could pick another player off the Seahawks and add them to the Cardinal roster, who would it be and why?

DB: It would be Shaun Alexander because the Cardinals need a quality third string running back. J.J. Arrington hasn't been what Arizona hopes for, so Shaun would settle in nicely behind Edgerrin James and Marcel Shipp.

Actually, we could take Matt Hasselbeck as well. With Matt Leinart already down with injury and Kurt Warner always on the brink of being hurt, a clipboard carrying third-stringer could be very useful.

5) Prediction time! How bad will it taste when the Seahawks beat Cardinals and wrap up their fourth consecutive NFC West title?

DB: Well, if the Seahawks do find some way to pull this out -- which I don't think they will -- I'll be OK with it. That would just give the Cardinals more motivation to go into Seattle and knock the Seahawks out of the playoffs.

That said, the Cardinals will probably win this game, end up winning the division and knock the Seahawks out of the playoffs anyway.

Yeah ... that sounds much better. As for a score? I'll say ... Cardinals 24 - Seahawks 21 in overtime.

Don't forget to check out Dan's Five Questions post on AOL Fanhouse, and to leave your feedback in the comments section on each site.

What I Learned From... Pissing Away a Win

I'm calm enough to write something now.

Maybe.

I'm pretty much a day behind in all the post game write ups anyway, and by now everyone knows that Shaun Alexander (and a couple of other players) thought Matt Hasselbeck called an audible on their last offensive play, resulting in a botched handoff and hundreds of thousands of Seahawks fans cursing at their TV. But I have some of my usual crap that no one else seems to be writing about.

What did I learn?

• Don't bother with all the fancy-schmancy faking of audibles when all we need to do is run out the clock and make a field goal. Really. And why are we handing the ball to a guy with a cast on one hand in the final seconds of the game anyway?
• LeRoy Hill adds a ton of physicality to the defense that Kevin Bentley does not. Bentley is a walking, talking weak spot.
• We really do need Mo Morris. Alexander is scary this year, but not in a good way. More like a, 'hmmm, is he going to be with us or not' way.
• Losing to the Cards by self-destruction is a bit like rubbing your scrotum with a cheese grater and sitting in a bowl of lemon juice in front of a crowd.
• Rob Sims quietly had a great game.
• Kelly Jennings' size (or lack thereof) is a massive liability in single coverage.
• This offense has got to stop hanging the defense out to dry in the first half.

Nope, still pissed. Time to take it out on the Bengals. Ocho Cinco, where art thou?

Bloof's Postgame Thoughts

W2: Seahawks @ Cardinals GameDay Thread

Welcome to Week Two of the 2007 National Football League schedule, where the Seattle Seahawks look to separate themselves from the rest of the NFC West in their first road game at Arizona. Should the Seahawks play as expected, they'll end the day 2-0 with one divisional win. And should the Rams take care of the 49ers, again as expected, the Seahawks will enjoy a 1 game lead over the 9ers and Rams, and a 2 game lead on the media darling Cardinals.

Stuck by your computer today? Check out the SeahawkBlue Game Day Chat, and these links below. Feel free to add links to this list as the local papers publish their game day stories.

(ironically, the folks in that picture won't be home on their computer, but actually be in attendance at the Pink Taco.)

Five Questions on AOL Fanhouse

Lamest Smack Forum Ever

12SS Knockout Pool

Five Questions For an Enemy Blogger

I was very happy to get an email from Dan Benton from the AOL Fanhouse, who was interested in resurrecting the Five Questions for an Enemy Blogger schtick from last season. This is where we each come up with five questions for the other about the upcoming matchup, and they post each other's responses on our respective blog sites.

But before we get to that, my co-Streeter Bloof wants me to remind everyone that the Five Questions bit was actually a brain child of Bloof's and it was Bloof who posted the first Five Questions piece while Bloof was blogging for AOL too. (I'm just playing with ya Bloof, but I hope five Bloofs is enough credit for your Mr. Incredible sized ego!)

Now, back to the Five Questions for Dan Benton, who I tried to bait with these questions, but who apparently decided to take the high road instead. Anyone wanting to read some good smack can check out my responses to Dan's five questions at the AOL Fanhouse. (I'd also like to thank Alan for providing awesome question #5.)

1.It seems like every year the Cardinals are the pre-season sweethearts of the media pundits, but by the bye week, the team is usually postioning itself for a high draft pick. Does all this pre-season hype make the mid-season disappointment more depressing for Arizona fans, or do you live for August, when your team is the talk of the town?

DAN BENTON: I tend to think the Cowboys and Redskins are the preseason sweethearts of the media, but I get your point. Look at it this way. For every year that the Cardinals disappoint, it will make a championship that much sweeter. I'm sure you understand that concept. While the Seahawks may play a game or two a year more than Arizona, the outcome is generally the same.

2. Last week the fast and aggressive Seahawk defense knocked Cadillac Williams out of the game, and hit Jeff Garcia so hard it cured his lisp. Is it true that Matt Lienart and Edgerrin James were lobbying the team to change it's feathered logo to the AFLAC duck?

DB: Cured Garcia's lisp? You're usually so careful with your words, but you left that wide open. In fact, there are so many directions I could go with that, it's caused a mental road block. My goodness.

3. The two biggest off season acquisitions for your team were new head coach Ken Wisenhunt and asst. head coach Russ Grimm. Honestly, doesn't one guy's last name just make you giggle, and the other one seem to be a bellweather for your team's playoff chances?

DB: As funny as that may be, it's the best coaching staff Arizona has had in quite some time. While it didn't look pretty last week, we'll see how long it is before everything in Phoenix is clicking and the Cardinals become the team to beat.

4. Your stadium, which holds 63,400, narrowly avoided a rather unsavory and laughable name when the University of Phoenix Stadium stepped in its sponsor, while Matt Lienart has been romantically linked to celebrity socialite Paris Hilton. Can you tell me which Pink Taco holds the record for the number of men to pass through its tunnels?

DB: Unsavory and laughable? Well, I guess it would have been laughable, but I was all for it. I, for one, truly wanted it to be Pink Taco Stadium -- can't get more original than that.

5. I was just wondering, just one more time for shits and giggles, can you clarify just who the Bears are?

DB: The Bears are who we thought they were. And we let them off the hook!

While I truly appreciate Dan's responses, and rabid Cardinal fans are welcome to use the Comments section to provide your own responses with a higher smack content!

Who's Ready for Some Football?

Hat tip: Psychobabbler over at SeahawkBlue.com

The Arizona Cardinals Are Mentally Fragile

Put yourselves in the shoes of the Arizona Cardinals for a minute:

It's the day after game one of the regular season. just like every team in the NFL, you have a chance to win it all, with 15 more important games ahead of you. You're hungry for success, having acquired lots of talent from high draft picks after lousy seasons, and made some noise with agressive moves in free agency.

This could be the year-- the talent is in place. All you need to do is keep improving, work hard in the film room and practice hard on the field.

You started the season with a key divisional matchup, and lost by a narrow margin. Fundamentally, there were some good things, like a solid running game, some tough tackling, etc..

But next, you face the reigning division champs, the Seattle Seahawks. They are a balanced, well coached, talented team. If you want to beat them, you need to correct some mistakes, right? You need to get better, if you want to have any chance of winning the division, right? The Seahawks are watching film, seeing where they can improve--they will be improving, will you?

It all makes perfect sense. They were pretty close last week to being a leg up on San Francisco (whom many favor to take the NFC West crown), and would have been tied for the division lead with Seattle, heading into the this week's game. They were that close.

But what do we hear coming out of Tempe? A weak bunch of mentally fragile pussies who can't bear to look at the film.

WR Larry Fitgerald:

"We didn't even watch the tape. We want to put that one behind us as fast as possible."

What a bunch of candy-assed douchebags. They are so emotionally downtrodden from losing their first game of the season their solution is to deny it ever existed. Well, guess what? Without watching film, you are who you think you are. And now you let yourself off the hook. No accountablity whatsoever.

It's no wonder Seattle was won more playoff games in one season than they have in their entire 48 years of existence.

To quote JoSCh, "pphhhfffftt."

Found on Talkin' Hawks