Bordow: Can't Believe It? You're Not Alone

[Evil Ash]

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=61004

Can't believe it? You're not alone
By Scott Bordow, Tribune Columnist
March 13, 2006

Edgerrin James has a gold tooth and a silver tongue.

The Cardinals have never looked so good. And sounded so sexy.
I still can't believe it.

Edgerrin James a Cardinal?

That's truly March Madness.

This isn't just the biggest free agent signing in franchise history. (There's not even a close second, by the way.) The Cardinals have reinvented themselves.

Never before have they signed a premier player at the height of his career. Arizona has been a great place to visit; the league's best players just didn't want to live here.

James altered that reality with one stroke of the pen. He's 9,226 yards and 64 touchdowns of credibility, the most unexpected free agent signing since Reggie White joined the Green Bay Packers in 1993.

Yes, the Cardinals gave James more money (four years, $30 million) than he would have gotten from any other team. But Arizona has been the highest bidder before, and players have taken the first plane out of town.

James left the Indianapolis Colts. He left Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison.

To come to Arizona. To one winning season in 18 years.

Fifteen paragraphs later, and I still don't believe it.

"I'm not scared to take a chance," James said. "I'm not scared to do something different. . . . OK, it's a risk. But, hey, I'm a poker player."

While we're marveling at James' decision, how about a round of applause for the Cardinals? They haven't even played a game in their new stadium, and they're throwing money around like Donald Trump.

Next thing you know, Bill Bidwill will have a comb-over.

"We said we'd be very aggressive. This was the ‘very’ part of it," vice president Michael Bidwill said.

Not that this is a big deal, but the Cardinals' Web site crashed for 15 minutes Sunday because traffic was so heavy. The site's hosting company said the volume of hits was 10 times higher than the previous high, set the day Pat Tillman died.

You can bet, too, that the Cardinals will sell a few thousand more season tickets now that there's an Edge to their team.

"If there was one team that could benefit from signing the marquee free agent this year, it was definitely the Cardinals," said Drew Rosenhaus, James' agent. James will be the face of the franchise this season, and if his press conference Sunday was any indication, he'll be an easy sell.

He jokingly asked Green if the players could follow his fashion statement and wear black shoes. He talked about playing in the Cardinals' new "convertible" stadium — "the weather is nice, tell Mr. Bidwill to drop the top," — and suggested Arizona should have "victory Mondays" off like the Colts did.

He also dismissed the Cardinals' history as old news.

"I went through it in Indianapolis," he said. "We didn't have nobody coming to the games. It wasn't automatic sellouts. We had the blackout looming every week. Now it's a big ticket."

James doesn't change all that's wrong with the Cardinals' world. There's that soft offensive line to fix, and Green better find a competent backup for quarterback Kurt Warner. John Navarre isn't going to get the job done.

But you have permission to let your imagination run wild. Warner, James, Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald could be the gridiron version of the Phoenix Suns. If the defense is just good enough, the playoffs won't be a foreign language.

"If Edgerrin James averages 100 yards a game, we will be a successful playoff team," Green said.

For once, Green may not be blowing more hot air than the Goodyear blimp.

Edgerrin James is a Cardinal. I've written it.

But I still can't believe it.

Contact Scott Bordow by email, or phone (480) 898-6598

 

[D-Dogg]

Great article by Bordow.

 

[PortlandCardFan]

Now that is what I'm talking about.

 

[arthurracoon]

 

[dmoney]

Agreed good article........Now lets see what DICKLEY has to say? Probably hiding in a hole.

 

[arthurracoon]

Agreed good article........Now lets see what DICKLEY has to say? Probably hiding in a hole.

he had a nice article too. for once, none of the local media are bashing the cards

 

[okcardzona]

Great read.

 

[dmoney]

Agreed good article........Now lets see what DICKLEY has to say? Probably hiding in a hole.

Ok so I call him Bickley now.....@ least till his next piece of crap. Kudos to Bickley on this article though=

Signing adds a needed boost

Dan Bickley
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 13, 2006 12:00 AM


Edgerrin James is a handful.

That applies to would-be tacklers and giddy new employers.

This is wonderful news on all fronts, and to give you a better idea of the free spirit, freewheeling football player the Cardinals just signed, consider: advertisement




He is already working Dennis Green to implement "Victory Mondays," where the coach gives the players a day off following each win.

"I can't go play for a coach that's going to be killing me through the week, " James said.

He is already working the organization to switch to black shoes, and if you're thinking culture shock, imagine how Bill Bidwill first reacted to James' mouthful of gold teeth.

"Look at these uniforms," James said. "You put black shoes with this thing . . . now that's sweet."

Thank you, Anquan Boldin, for the marvelous recruiting job. Edgerrin James is exactly the jolt of energy the Cardinals needed.

"I don't want to be going down now," James said. "I'm not used to that losing (expletive)."

For many hours, Sunday was as surreal as it gets around here. Snow blanketed the mountains. Our football team signed the best free agent on the market. You could've sworn we became Denver overnight.

Instead, the woeful Cardinals was the franchise making national headlines, becoming credible and a playoff contender with one powerful stroke. That's a good deal for $11.5 million up front, especially when the Cardinals may yet use ticket and line in the same sentence. Whatever, no one will snicker when Green drops the p-word this off-season, and no one will roll their eyes the next time Michael Bidwill talks about outspending Redskins owner Daniel Snyder.

The Cardinals are merely adding a franchise back, a star who wants his yards, a player who has exceed 1,500 yards in a season four times in seven seasons.

"I told them, 'Don't mess it up,' " James said.

James has got the star personality, too. He's cool. He carries enormous street credibility. He says exactly what's on his mind and is not the kind of conforming personality Green likes in his locker room.

If he thinks he isn't getting the ball enough, he will say so. If he thinks the offensive line isn't giving him full effort, he will say so. James will certainly make things interesting.

"OK, it's a risk on (my) part," James said about coming to Arizona. "But, hey, I'm a poker player. Take it to the river. I'm cool with it. Let's go, see what happens."

And that's exactly how he ended up in Cardinals gear.

When James boarded the plane from Miami, he was wearing shorts. He brought no change of clothes. Of course, when he landed, he discovered it rains and snows in the desert.

The Cardinals tried to warm up their visitor, offering a team jacket. James refused on principle.

"I didn't think it was right, wearing their jacket when I didn't play for them," James said. "I told them, 'I can't wear that yet.' "

So Boldin took James to the mall. Later that night, a Valley dweller by the name of Donovan McNabb told James the benefits of desert living. And when the Cardinals put enough chips on the table, the game was over.

Even though they had the money and needed to spend the money, it was a stellar show of work by a franchise that often drags its heels pondering the smallest details. Instead of getting used, the Cardinals convinced James with their plans and with their checkbook. They didn't give him time to change his mind, and my, how times have changed.

James is the best free-agent signing in the history of the Cardinals. He is Emmitt Smith when Emmitt Smith had fresh tires and heavy fuel. He is unfazed by the reputation of his new employers, having performed similar miracles in Indianapolis.

And now that they've gotten their jaws off the floor, you can forgive all Cardinals fans if they're a little distracted this morning.

"I'm not scared to go out on a limb and do something different," James said.

Around here, that would be called winning.

 

[dmoney]

he had a nice article too. for once, none of the local media are bashing the cards

Good for him. I saw that. My 1st racoon!

 

[MastersofCombat]

Remember this Card fans?

Reggie White visits the valley:

Joe Montana visits the valley:

neither planned on signing, I personally thought our biggest signing was Seth Joyner that had me kinda excited.

 

[SeattleCard]

Both, very good articles.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Remember this Card fans?

Reggie White visits the valley:

Joe Montana visits the valley:

neither planned on signing, I personally thought our biggest signing was Seth Joyner that had me kinda excited.

i remember that all too well. for me the excitement was not so much seth as much as the combo of seth, clyde, marshall, and booty. that was a lot of defensive talent coming in at one time.

 

[MastersofCombat]

True dat... especially with Buddy coming in, it all seemed like a dream until I was in Flagstaff watching our first pick in the first round* being told to carry a wheelbarrow around the practice field since he couldnt contribute in team practices * Garrison Hearst

The next blow to me was when we started signing all those players from some little college in Tennessee that was like 6-4 in division II or something.
I thought maybe one was overlooked but Buddys kid had his dad sign like 3 or more of them.

 

[football karma]

True dat... especially with Buddy coming in, it all seemed like a dream until I was in Flagstaff watching our first pick in the first round* being told to carry a wheelbarrow around the practice field since he couldnt contribute in team practices * Garrison Hearst

The next blow to me was when we started signing all those players from some little college in Tennessee that was like 6-4 in division II or something.
I thought maybe one was overlooked but Buddys kid had his dad sign like 3 or more of them.

That would be Tennessee State -- I think the Cardinals had 4 players on the roster from there at one point.

 

[Dback Jon]