If Matt Leinart has a problem with the Cardinals signing Derek Anderson as a free agent, then the Cardinals should have a problem with Matt Leinart.
The Cardinals have done a lot for Leinart. They took him when his stock began to fall on draft day. They paid him well. They backed him when he became the TMZ poster boy and the international symbol for beer bongs. They made excuses for his play as backup for the last few years, attributing his play to rust and lack of snaps.
But if Kurt Warner, who more than any one player is responsible for taking the Cardinals from mediocrity a breath away from a Super Bowl title, had to win his job in training camp with a championship ring and MVP trophy in his locker, Leinart should have no problem showing Anderson who is the better quarterback in July and August.
To hand this team to Leinart and sign two clipboard holders as backups would have been a disservice to all those still wearing red in the desert. Arizona’s running game has and will improve, but the success of the offense will still lean heavily on getting the ball to Larry Fitzgerald controlling the ball. Leinart has had plenty of time to learn, mature and assume the persona of a leader – but there is still a question whether he can produce,
Anderson has been in the league just as long and has played more. Unlike Leinart, he’s thrown more touchdowns than interceptions and been to a Pro Bowl. Statistically, he had about the same numbers as Leinart but there is one caveat – when he gets under center in training camp, he will be surrounded by the best offense and team he’s ever had.
It’s a level playing field for both. May the best man win. And as long as you know you are the best man, there’s no reason to feel threatened or slighted.
Arizona will be better off if Leinart accepts the challenge, wins the job, beings a mobility factor that was missing with Warner and shows that he has learned how to manage a football game. But it shouldn’t be an all-or-nothing proposition. It shouldn’t be swim or Charlie Batch.
The Cardinals have had a predictable, Bidwill-like offseason that has fans uneasy as free agents head for the hills (circa 1998). But I can’t make a compelling argument for wildly overpaying Antrelle Rolle and Karlos Dansby – leaders of an underwhelming defense – but the best thing you can say about the replacement is they are cheaper.
The Anderson move makes sense. Instead of trying to find lightning in another aging arm, Anderson is a decent alternative if Leinart gets hurt – or if Leinart proves he deserves to be the starter. It’s time for that guy who led USC to national titles to show up for work…
I WAS among those touring the virtues of Arizona State’s basketball team. Predicted to finish seventh in the conference, the Devils won 22 games and finished second in the Pac-10 despite a roster devoid of star power or go-to-players.
But ASU proved they weren’t an NCAA-worthy team in the last week – first losing to a Stanford team they had handled easily twice earlier in the season and then imploding at home against Jacksonville Tuesday in the first round of the NIT.
This is the same Dolphins team that lost to Cal – a team that barely made the tournament themselves – by 32 points and had also lost to the likes of Belmont and Lipscomb (that sounds more like a cross street than two college basketball teams).
Missing “The Dance” on Sunday should not have come as a surprise to anyone in Tempe, especially after Washington won the Pac-10 Tournament and knocked everyone in a weaker conference down a peg. But coach Herb Sendek didn’t appear ready to let it go at Monday’s press conference, once again going over the Devils’ resume and their place in history as the first second-place, BCS-conference team not to be invited. With an NIT game 24 hours away, it might not have been the best tact…
GREAT fun to watch the Suns roll up 152 points on Kurt Rambis and the T-Wolves Tuesday. And for those who say “So what, they couldn’t beat the Lakers,” I counter that a Suns team that has won 16 of the last 21 games might be peaking at the right time on several levels.
*Amar’e Stoudemire is 100 percent. Leandro Barbosa is back. Steve Nash, after a week of intense workouts with physiotherapist Rick Celebrini, is getting there.
*Robin Lopez in the starting lineup is part of a domino effect that has made Channing Frye and Lou Amundson more effective. And if one of them isn’t clicking in a specific game, he sits and watches the other two.
*A Phoenix team that could never get to the free throw line is suddenly there all the time. More inside offense. More slashing to the basket. More scoring in the half court, and more pressure on defenses.
*Jason Richardson finally looks like the player the Suns thought they had obtained from Charlotte. He’s still not a complete player and cal still shoot you out of a game, but at least he’s bring the J-Rich that was advertised, the J-Rich that scored at will in Golden State. Hopefully, he’s also the J-Rich that rose to the occasion for the Warriors in the postseason.
No one will mistake the Suns for a championship contender. But their makeup and personnel might be more difficult to counter in a seven-game series than year’s past. You can’t just slow them down and exploit Steve Nash with a pick-and-roll and expect the Suns to fold. They could be a tougher out.
Tournament time is upon us and the first handful of opening round games in the “Phoenix’s Most Hated” tournament are ready to kick off.
We’ve got some big names in our first match ups with the Team Region’s No.1 seed Los Angeles Lakers taking on the No.8 seed ASU/UofA (depending on which school you hail from).
In the Coaches Region we have the No.1 seed Phil Jackson, architect of both the 1993 Bulls and the Lakers for most of the last decade, up against the No.8 seed Terry Porter, who deconstructed Mike D’Antoni’s Suns in a matter of months.
In our final opening day match up, the No.1 seed in the Random Region, NBA Referees who cost the Suns numerous wins, are up against the No.8 seed 1969 Coin Toss that cost the Suns the draft pick that would be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Let your hatred be heard and vote below. Polls will close Saturday. The No.4 vs. No.5 match ups will be open for voting Thursday.
The Arizona Cardinals and head coach Ken Whisenhunt didn’t hide the fact that they wanted Matt Leinart to compete for the starting quarterback job in 2010. Today’s reported signing of Derek Anderson made it crystal clear that Leinart will have to fight for the job.
According to ProFootballTalk.com’s Gregg Rosenthal, Anderson’s deal is for 2-years $7.25 million. The contract includes $3.25 million in guaranteed money and incentives that could reach $18.25 million.
Numbers like that aren’t what you’d give to a quarterback whose primary duties will be to hold a clipboard. That is the kind of guaranteed money and incentives you give to a player you fully expect to push for the starting job.
Earlier in the week it looked like the Cards were in hot pursuit of San Diego Chargers’ third string quarterback Charlie Whitehurst, a quarterback who had never thrown a pass in a regular season NFL game and not much competition for Leinart. Instead, they wind up with a young, former Pro Bowl quarterback in Anderson who should push the former USC star.
Confidence in Leinart, from the organization and fans, has always been a question mark. The Anderson signing just perpetuations that thought.
Changing that perception will squarely be on Leinart’s shoulders this season. The only question left is, does he have enough fight in him to beat out Derek Anderson?
So it is that, just a few hours after I write about how great a season the Sun Devils have had and how they had the chance for something special, they drop a stink bomb in the last part of their first round NIT game against Jacksonville. Up 60-49 with under four minutes remaining, the Devils couldn’t shut the door and move on. Instead, they treated us to missed free throws in clutch moments and giving up a game-winning three point shot with a little more than a second left in the game, ending their season in gut-wrenching fashion with a 67-66 loss.
I still hold to my previous statements that the season was still great, beyond any expectations that anyone outside of the locker room may have had. However, the last two losses still sting. The Devils, before the NIT and PAC-10 Tournament, played gutsy basketball, winning almost every game that they needed to to stay alive for the PAC-10 championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. That is, until it came down to one game elimination time.
I guess this is just another case of “Phoenix fan disappointment-itis.” You would think that we are all immune after all the bitter disappointments that all of our teams give us (except for 2001 Dbacks and 1997 Wildcats- although it makes me want to vomit a little in my mouth to even bring up the team that plays in the place that I prefer not to mention by name). The problem is that in this case, with the Sun Devils, they lost to two teams that most would say they should have beaten. Most of the other instances of disappointment came in situations where the Arizona team was the underdog. In any case, it still stinks.
Perhaps in a few days, after the the pains of disillusion wane a bit, I can cheerfully look at the fact that ASU has now made the postseason for three consecutive years, something worth cheering about. The future still looks promising for the Sun Devils. I suppose it could be worse, I could be a UofA fan, but for today, even after a season of overachieving, let me be bitter. I’ll get over it. I always do.
(TUCSON, Ariz.) — The Arizona Diamondbacks announced today that they have agreed to terms on a minor league contract with right-handed pitcher Kris Benson, according to D-backs’ Executive Vice President & General Manager Josh Byrnes.
Benson, who will be assigned to the D-backs’ minor league camp, has a 69-74 record and 4.41 ERA in 203 games, including 197 starts, during his eight-year Major League career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers. He was the No. 1 overall selection in the 1996 First-Year Player Draft by the Pirates and went 21-26 with a 3.95 ERA from 1999-2000 after making his Major League debut. Benson missed the entire 2001 season after having Tommy John surgery and was later traded to the Mets near the trading deadline in 2004. He compiled a 10-8 mark and 4.13 ERA in 28 starts for the Mets in 2005 and then was traded to the Orioles prior to the 2006 season, when he was 11-12 with a 4.82 ERA in 30 starts.
Benson missed the entire 2007 season after having rotator cuff surgery on his right shoulder. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in February 2008 and posted a 1-4 record and 5.52 ERA in 11 starts at Triple-A Lehigh Valley over a two-month period before being granted his release on Aug. 30, 2008. Benson made the Rangers’ 2009 Opening Day roster as one of their starting pitchers, but after a short stint on the disabled list, he was relegated to the bullpen in long relief and was 1-1 with an 8.46 ERA in 8 games, 2 starts, overall.
According to Sports 620 KTAR’s Paul Calvisi, the Arizona Cardinals will officially announce the signing of quarterback Derek Anderson this afternoon.
Anderson, the former Cleveland Browns starting quarterback, made the Pro Bowl in 2007, has over 7,000 yards and 46 career touchdowns over four seasons. He was cut by the Browns’ last week as part of the team’s rebuilding process.
Most recently Anderson was best known for his comments about how poorly the fans in Cleveland treated him and that they didn’t deserve a winner.
The Timberwolves had to have something positive to talk about after last night’s mauling at the hands of the Suns. Too bad Robin Lopez was the victim. And we mean victim (see below). Still, aside from being a foolish poster boy, Lopez had a good night (along with everyone else wearing a Suns uniform). Devin likes the bench with Barbosa’s scoring at its disposal, but agrees with Gentry that he’ll have to earn his way back into the rotation.
Were we too harsh on Lopez? Not harsh enough? And what’s your take on LB’s return? Let us know by e-mailing sevenminutesorless@fanster.com, and we’ll respond this Saturday.
S.M.O.L. is a Phoenix Suns podcast for the fans, by the fans, in seven minutes or less. Saturday features a full 24-minute shot-clock for the show, with a more in-depth look at the Suns, including responses to e-mail questions/comments from fans and listeners. If your comment/question is good, you could be asked to make an appearance on the show.
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Nothing like following up your worst performance of the season, you know, the one that kept you out of the NCAA Tournament, by opening up the NIT with a loss on your home floor to a team who hasn’t had a postseason win in 36 years.
That, in a nutshell, was the plot line for the Arizona State Sun Devils as they were stunned 67-66 by Jacksonville on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Arena. Jacksonville guard Ben Smith hit a long three-pointer after a Sun Devil turnover with just 1.5 seconds left to give the Dolphins (I bet you didn’t know what their mascot was) the win.
Jacksonville moves on to the second round of the NIT to take on Texas Tech. ASU’s season is over.
Smith, Jacksonville’s leading scorer, was not a factor in the first half, scoring just 3 points on 1 of 8 shooting. But he took over in the second half, scoring 23 points, including 7 in the last 1:12 of the game, in which he also added 2 steals and an assist.
The Sun Devils led by 11 points with just under four minutes to play after Jamelle McMillan hit a layup. From that point, ASU scored only 6 points, all on free throws, but two misses at the charity stripe killed them. McMillan missed the second of two tosses with :20 left that could have put the Devils up by six. Instead, Jacksonville got a layup by Ayron Hardy to cut the lead to 3 with :16 left. McMillan then turned the ball over against full court pressure from Jacksonville, and committed a foul on a layup attempt by Chris Edwards (fouling on a layup up by 3 with under :20 to go?). Edwards hit both free throws to cut the ASU lead to 1 at 65-64.
Edwards then fouled Derek Glasser, the school’s all-time leading free throw shooter, with :08 to go. Glasser could have put the Sun Devils up by 3 with just seconds left, ensuring that overtime would be the worst-case scenario for ASU, but he missed his 2nd free throw attempt. Hardy rebounded, got the ball to Smith who banked in a long three with 1.5 left. Stunned, the Sun Devils turned the ball over on the inbounds pass, ending the game and their season.
“It was a difficult way to lose at the end, and end the season,” ASU head coach Herb Sendek said after the game. “It doesn’t take away from the season our guys had, but you’ve gotta give Jacksonville great credit for making the play at the end.”
Sendek also opined on what did his team in. “We didn’t put it away the right way, there’s no question about it. If we make our free throws, if we convert, if we have a couple better press offensive situations, then we’re not having this conversation.”
McMillan, who finished with 10 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists spoke for the team after the loss. “The last two games have been two of the toughest of my career here. We didn’t take care of business, and as a consequence, we have to deal with this,” he said. “But you have to give a lot of credit to both the Stanford team and Jacksonville for doing what the ultimately came to do.”
The roller coaster of feelings those who follow this team have experienced in the last five days has been amazing. Last Thursday, there was optimism and hope that a win over Stanford in the Pac-10 Tournament would give the Sun Devils’ resume’ the improvement it needed to qualify for the “Big Dance”. After the loss to Stanford, there was embarrassment. After not being selected to the NCAA Tournament there was somewhat of an angry “we’ll show you” type of attitude. And Tuesday night there’s just disbelief that the Sun Devils blew a double-digit lead late in the game against a team they should have disposed of when they had the chance.
Weekends are my most productive time. Plowing through piles of laundry, eliminating clutter and whipping up a few dozen cookies are all in a Sunday’s work. This past weekend I came across the copy of Free Throw I grabbed back in November when the Phoenix Suns played host to the New Orleans Hornets. At the time, save for Steve Nash, I knew none of the Suns by name so stats and polls meant nothing to me.
Back to Sunday. I flipped a few pages into Free Throw and came across something entirely surprising. The Burning Question of the November 11th edition asked: Which young Suns player are you most interested in seeing develop? The results had Alando Tucker and Taylor Griffin at 10% and 11% respectively, Robin Lopez clocked in at 17%, 22% for Goran Dragic and Earl Clark was the overwhelming favourite with 40%.
Clearly Goran Dragic’s performance in the ‘08/’09 season left much to be desired and Robin Lopez spent much of the start of the current season benched with a broken left foot. Understandably, Suns fans had put their hope in Earl Clark to shine. Fast forward a handful of months and we have a team entirely different than what was expected. Clark has since been assigned to the D-league team in Iowa, Lopez has emerged as the Suns’ star center since mid-January and Goran Dragic has proven to be nothing short of inspiring on the hardwood.
With little more than a dozen games left to play in the regular season, let’s revamp and revisit the question. Which of Goran Dragic and Robin Lopez has proven to be more effective for the Suns this season? Which of them will have an even bigger year in the ‘10/’11 season?
We here at Fanster.com have March sadness since no team’s from Arizona will be representing the state in the “big dance”. Instead of letting that get us down, we channeled that negativity and came up with the “Phoenix’s Most Hated” Tournament where you the fans will decide what is most hated in sports.
The tournament is made of a fiendish field of 32 and is comprised of four different regions (Team, Coaches, Player and Random). Just like the NCAA tournament, each region is seeded –1-8 in our case– with the winner of each region advancing on to face each other in the “Forsaken 4″ round.
The tournament is fully interactive where you the fan will get to vote on each match up eventually leading to the crowning of the “Phoenix’s Most Hated” later this month. Voting for the No.1 vs. No.8 match ups are now up.
Print your bracket, fill it out, vote in the polls and let the unnecessary and petty hatred begin!
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If Matt Leinart has a problem with the Cardinals signing Derek Anderson as a free agent, then the Cardinals should have a problem with Matt Leinart.
Tournament time is upon us and the first handful of opening round games in the “Phoenix’s Most Hated” tournament are ready to kick off. 
The Timberwolves had to have something positive to talk about after last night’s mauling at the hands of the Suns. Too bad 
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