In case you hadn't noticed, sports these days are all about Goliath. In 2009, the Steelers, Lakers, North Carolina Tar Heels and now the Yankees have all won titles in their respective sports. Cinderella is yesterday's news. The teams that win these days are the teams that always win, and if you think that's boring, well, tough. You can kiss one of Derek Jeter's five World Series rings.
So with that in mind, we need to be really careful about overlooking the Dallas Cowboys.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. All you ever hear about the Cowboys is what's wrong with them. Terrell Owens was a pain. Roy Williams is a loudmouth, too, and isn't good enough to replace T.O. Tony Romo's too concerned with his golf game and his high-wattage love life to ever attain his potential. The new stadium is ridiculous...
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- They flew all over the field all night, racing to the ball, harassing the opposing quarterback with a variety of aggressive blitzes. The defense was disruptive, deep and energetic, and the main reason its team won the game. All of this was to be expected, of course...just not from this particular team.
On this night, it was the Arizona Cardinals beating the New York Giants at the latter's own game, forcing four turnovers and out-muscling Big Blue 24-17 on national TV in the swamps of Jersey.
"We definitely fed off our defense tonight," Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner said.
When Justin Tuck showed up to watch film of the Arizona Cardinals this week, he was fired up. He knew what he was going to see -- Cardinals QB Kurt Warner sitting behind his line, taking forever to get rid of the ball while a swarm of receivers ran their routes downfield.
"I was licking my chops," said Tuck, the Giants' defensive end. "But then I went in there and...he's not holding the ball as long as he used to. We're looking at an average of 2.2 seconds, which is a drastic change."
You wouldn't think the Cardinals would have to change much, playing in the weak NFC West and coming off a season in which they represented the NFC in the Super Bowl. But starting with an opening-week loss to the surprisingly game division-rival 49ers, the Cardinals found life as defending conference champs to be tougher than they thought it would be.
It's July, the slowest month of the year for the NFL, and it's driving you nuts. You need a fix. A hit. Anything NFL to pull you through the dog days. FanHouse is here to help with an in-depth look at each division that should have you plenty prepared for training camp. We're calling it Summer Scramble, and this afternoon we look at some Burning Questions in the NFC West and offer a ridiculously early prediction.
The difficult contract negotiations between disgruntled receiver Anquan Boldin and the Arizona Cardinals took an interesting turn Tuesday with the news that Boldin has filed paperwork with the players' union to fire agent Drew Rosenhaus and seek new representation.
It's unclear who Boldin's new agent would be as he seeks a restructured contract or a trade from Arizona. The rules require him to wait at least five days after firing his agent to secure a new one. It's also unclear what this means in terms of where Boldin will play in 2009. Heck, it's not even really clear that he's through with Rosenhaus for good. At least not if you believe Rosenhaus's prolific and popular Twitter page.
If these reports are accurate, it doesn't appear the Arizona Cardinals were able to drum up much serious interest in disgruntled receiver Anquan Boldin in advance of the draft. The Bears apparently offered a second-round pick, and according to Kent Somers in the Arizona Republic, the best the Eagles offered was a third-rounder plus (also) disgruntled cornerback Sheldon Brown.
The Eagles may still be interested, though with first-round pick Jeremy Maclin in the fold they now have more leverage than they did before the draft. And there are still teams (Jets, anyone?) with glaring needs at receiver. But if all the Cardinals have been able to get are the offers mentioned above, it begins to look as if Boldin might not get his wish to be traded out of Arizona before training camps start.
For years we've heard agents say they wouldn't negotiate in the media. So what do we make of an agent negotiating on Twitter? It's likely far too early in human history to say for sure, but it looks like Drew Rosenhaus is giving it a shot to see how it works.
In a post to his Twitter account earlier today, Rosenhaus took issue with and denied reports that his client, disgruntled Arizona Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin, was seeking $10 million or more per year on his new contract:
But since this is Favre, can we really be sure he won't change his mind? And since quarterback isn't exactly a position at which NFL teams are overflowing with depth of talent, can we really be sure nobody will be interested if he does? No. Of course we can't. And so, with that in mind and your Saturday morning breakfast still warm, we hereby present the Five Teams That Could (Theoretically) Go Back Down the Agonizingly Painful Brett Favre Road in 2009:
Everyone keeps tuned to sports sites and ESPNews for the latest plumes of smoke from Memphis and/or Lexington regarding John Calipari and whether he stays at Memphis or goes to Kentucky. The flip side is that the move has paralyzed nearly every other coaching search as programs and coaches in-demand wait to see what happens.
TAMPA, Fla. -- We don't watch Super Bowls for the chip dip, as Bruce Springsteen wisecracked during his 12-minute party. We crave the emotional bull rush, a crescendo finish, the natural high that Michael Phelps finds in a marijuana pipe. The big game used to bore like a 4 a.m. infomercial, but Sunday, it delivered again, like last year, hijacking our senses with head-banging, back-and-forth drama that even might have thrilled The Boss, the rocker who hates football.
In case you hadn't noticed, sports these days are all about Goliath. In 2009, the Steelers, Lakers, North Carolina Tar Heels and now the Yankees have all won titles in their respective sports. Cinderella is yesterday's news. The teams that win these days are the teams that always win, and if you think that's boring, well, tough. You can kiss one of Derek Jeter's five World Series rings.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- They flew all over the field all night, racing to the ball, harassing the opposing quarterback with a variety of aggressive blitzes. The defense was disruptive, deep and energetic, and the main reason its team won the game. All of this was to be expected, of course...just not from this particular team.
When 
The difficult contract negotiations between disgruntled receiver 
If these reports are accurate, it doesn't appear the Arizona Cardinals were able to drum up much serious interest in disgruntled receiver 
For years we've heard agents say they wouldn't negotiate in the media. So what do we make of an agent negotiating on Twitter? It's likely far too early in human history to say for sure, but it looks like 
Because what would any of us have to gain by letting this 
Everyone keeps tuned to sports sites and ESPNews for the latest plumes of smoke from Memphis and/or Lexington regarding 
