Arizona sports notebook

It's late September, which means Arizona has a full plate of sports to dissect:

The appetizers

- One of the good guys in Arizona journalism, Paul Coro, made a point to mention Marion's waiting till the last second to report ... again. story. Suns staffers have been checking their Marion Mood Rings and upgraded the Marion Alert to Orange for Surliness. The power forward/drama queen is possibly upset because the Suns don't care to talk about contract extensions as long as Marion is asking for $60 million over 3 years.

So will Marion be a Sun by next week? Coro waxes about the possibility of the AK-47 deal and also Lamar Odom, who will never get a deal to do milk ads. In fact, Odom should be talking to the people at Flex All 454 and Medic Alert.

Can't see the Suns trading Marion to a Western Conference playoff opponent, and definitely not to a Pacific Division team. If Marion is really angling for a trade, I hope he has a warm jacket; I would expect him to head to the East Coast. Now you just have to find a team that (a) has a desirable player or two w/matching salaries (or room to take on salary) and (b) actually wants to take on Marion's $33 million salary commitment the next two years and maybe you have a deal.

First person to suggest Jermaine O'Neal gets the, "I haven't put much thought into how O'Neal fits with Mike D'Antoni and the offensive scheme" award. C'mon, even if O'Neal was worth the money, D'Antoni would give him 15 minutes a game and destroy his confidence by February.

- Some of you must be wondering what Bob Melvin has been doing in the locker room to get his no-hitting, sketchy-starting-pitching team to the best record in the National League with just six games remaining.

I'm happy to report I've found photos of Melvin's pre-game ritual.

The "magic number" is now 4, which is probably one more run than the D-Backs will score in a 5-game playoff series with anyone, but just getting there was one of the most impressive feats of any pro team ever to take the field, court, or ice in the history of Phoenix pro sports. Anyone thinking '75-76 Suns? I am.

Now all Melvin needs is John MacLeod white-boy 'fro and it will be a nearly perfect connection.

The main course

I'll make this short and sweet: Kurt Warner should be the starting quarterback for the Cardinals, but not because of his performance in the no-huddle on Sunday.

Warner should've been the starter coming out of camp. Young quarterbacks are supposed to earn every minute of action lest they misplace their confidence and fail to learn that every NFL game requires World War II type of preparation and strategy.

Warner threw for 250+ in relief of Leinart while taking advantage of a Ravens defense that much prefers stops in action to exchange personnel and throw 100 different looks at an offense. Take away the Ravens ability to move people around and all of a sudden they can do little to hide their personnel deficiencies in the secondary with key players out with injury.

Leinart didn't have the benefit. Warner still would've been more productive under typical game situations, though. The question needs to be asked: Is throwing a young QB into the NFL starting fire a place of learning or a place of mental and emotional destruction? IMO, history suggests, "Death to newbies!," and I'm certain the talented veterans did not go into the season thinking this year was going to be about training the rookie QB. If Leinart continues to start, that's all it will be about, because Edge, Boldin, and Fitzgerald can't get this team to the playoffs in that role.

Dessert

- I don't talk much about Arizona football, in real life or on the Internet, but this needs to be discussed:

Is UA football beyond salvation?

No. Of course not. If you can win at Rutgers, you can win in Tucson. However, with the Pac-10 coaching talent now as good as its been since the 70s, Arizona will need to send Stoops to the Arena Football League and try to hit a head coaching home run.

I'm usually on top of the "coach on the rise" scene, but it looks to have been picked over by massive upheaval the last three years. They might as well start running want ads now:

- Last but not least, ASU takes its first road trip to California this season. Under Koetter, traveling to California was akin to a Disneyland roller coaster ride with faulty railing. I honestly don't know what to expect, but if ASU travels without defensive tackle Michael Marquardt and linebacker Robert James, take the bloody over.