by Tariq al Haydar
"I am going to get back here. I promise you that."
I remember Kurt Warner uttering those words, his eyes glimmering with the sheen of defeat. The Greatest Show on Turf had just been defeated by the upstart New England Patriots.
Now, I'm not going to wax lyrical about how Warner got back to the Super Bowl through sheer determination. I don't believe he "willed" his way back to the Game. There are many variables which determined whether or not Kurt Warner would ever play in another Super Bowl after that ill-fated 2001 edition, and the play of Warner himself was only one such variable. Although Warner certainly fulfilled his end of the bargain.
But this isn't really about Warner. It's about me. Because when I heard Warner say:
"I am going to get back here."
Here's what I thought:
"Fat chance."
I don't know why I thought that. After all, the St. Louis Rams had Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt. They had the makings of a dynasty, but I just felt that I was witnessing the end of a cycle.
Cut to 2008.
I saw the Arizona Cardinals beat the Dallas Cowboys in impressive fashion. I enjoyed Darnell Dockett and the Cardinal defense. I really enjoyed Larry Fitzgerald. And yeah, Warner looked pretty darn good.
And then Wes Welker made those snow angels. On December 21st, the New England Patriots buried the Cards in an avalanche of touchdowns and tears. They beat them down 47-7, and after that blizzard, I wrote off the Arizona Cardinals. "They'll only make the playoffs," I thought, "because the NFC West is an armada of vaginal pretenders." Yes, my private thoughts are both vivid and vulgar.
And yet here we are, 3 games and 14 Delhomme interceptions later, with the Arizona Cardinals thisclose to greatness. Kurt Warner has the chance to cement his place in the Hall of Fame. so will the Arizona Cardinals pull off one more upset and win it all?
Fat chance.
Welcome
"We, the elite Linkstigators, have formed like Voltron, We could have used our powers for evil. It was quite tempting, actually. But instead, we have decided to bless the internets with the most slammin' blog (no pun intended). A blog which is dedicated mainly to the game of basketball, but also to diverse topics such as Mountain Dew Code Red, Democratic primaries, Guitar Hero 3 and post-structuralism. We are sponsored by Nabisco."
The Players
Cheryl
Cheryl will offer “A Sistah’s Point of View” (ASPOV) to this madness, because as you will read over the next few months, it will be needed. I see connections, like Haley Joel Osment sees dead people. Connections between modern sports, culture, politics, race and racialization, art and dance, religion and myth. I will try to point these out without being too esoteric or dogmatic (but if I am, sue me). But what you can always expect is that I will be open, honest, and often catty. (That was an awfully un-feminist thing to say, huh?)”
Eboy
White Hot Eboy, or just plain E, is a polarizing figure. On the SLAM site, the place of his e-origin, Eboy seems to move between love for his regular foils to sheer unbridled hate for his detractors. Here in this blogventure, look for Eboy to speak on basketball in all forms, movies, tv, politics, sports in general and anything else that he can throw his opinion at. Besides, he's legally obligated to be truthful and forthright, so stay ready, an E-storm is brewing.
TADOne
TADOne, or just plain TAD, is quite possibly the most sane member of this blog group, although, that is not saying much. My sarcasm, or just plain lack of empathy, has been known to reach epic levels of true disdain. Because of this, I have a love of binge drinking and mindless humor. Therapy is good.
Tariq
I am a sensitive, delicate soul. I use sarcasm and cynicism as self-defense mechanisms, douchebag. I do this to protect my faberge-egg-like psyche. If only I could increase my self-confidence, maybe then I could achieve a moment of sincerity. But I can't. So instead I have to be content with writing sublime pieces which delve into the realms of basketball, football (American), football (real), literature, religion, The Legend of Zelda and Reese's Pieces. I may even occassionally shed some insight into the complexities of the human condition. No promises, though.
My turn-ons are non-smokers and world peace. My turn-offs include crystal meth and springtime.
AR
You may (though most likely don't) know me as commenter H to the izzo from SLAMonline.I will no longer answer to that moniker-ever.I'm retiring only to return again,but this won't be no Linkin Park collaboration.My list of lifetime achievements include being the second most foreign member.The youngest member,the least educated member.I roughly rank as the 3rd most white member and am three time Vodka chugging champion in my district.I intend to prove that basketball opinion and having little else better to do are a dangerous mix.I am usually wrong and am possessed by the ghost of Charles Oakley's right fist.
15 comments:
Dude...
I don't even like football anymore...
Damnit man!
Mizzo,
That made me snort approvingly. I was pulling for the Eagles, man. Sorry!
What a great year . . . 2001. Super Bowl . . . Drew Bledsoe injured . . . Brady in . . . ahhhh. Great stuff, that year. My second year as a true football fan . . . . and that's why I'm pissed off that NE killed Arizona and then they got to the Super Bowl. And we didn't make the playoffs. Meh.
I meant football year. I didn't mean that 2001 was a good year without mention of 9/11 and all of that. It was purely from a football standpoint. I was a huge fan in Kindergarten (that's where I was). No lie. I knew all of the players, everything. Just know that in my last comment I wasn't referencing how good the YEAR was, just the football season.
I know I'm rooting for the Cards.......you know...the whole underdog thing is enticing.
This is professional American football, right? I've heard of it, but am otherwise unfamiliar.
I agree with Eboy, but mostly because I hate the Steelers. But I love rooting for the underdogs as well. That's why sometimes the Red Sox and Pats get boring. The Celtics haven't gotten boring; just fun after all of the lean years when I was alive. Go Revs! And, for SLAM writers: We had Lang Whitaker, but you guys got Ryan Jones! Wow. Great comment as well, Mr. Jones.
Ryan owes us residuals for giving him a feature interview, Moose.
You're right, E. I should get off my butt to do some interviews, myself.
"14 Delhomme interceptions later"
My answer to that
!
But Delhomme without Steve Smith = Arena Football League backup
BET:
Did u not see the Panthers-Cards game?
lets not talk about it
I like that screen name, BET.
Is it sad that the thing I'm most looking forward to in the Superbowl is Springsteen at halftime.
CHECK HIBACHI 2.0.
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