azdad1978
Championship!!!!
Too much drama to be preseason
Homecoming, revenge only part of story
Kent Somers
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 14, 2004 12:00 AM
Tonight's game
CARDINALS AT VIKINGS
WHAT: Cardinals' first 2004 preseason game.
WHERE: Metrodome, Minneapolis.
WHEN: 5 p.m.
TV/RADIO: KAZ-TV/KDUS-AM (1060), KSLX-FM (100.7).
GAME PLAN: Cardinals starters will play about a quarter, with the second team playing into the third. Third teams will finish the game.
Cards in Flagstaff
Next week's practice schedule. Workouts are held on the fields just east of the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome. If it rains, they'll go inside.
Monday: 8:45-11:10 a.m.; 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Tuesday: 8:45-11:05 a.m.; 4-5:30 p.m.
Wednesday: 8:45-11:15 a.m.; 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Thursday: 10:15 a.m.-noon; break camp at NAU.
MINNEAPOLIS - There are almost as many story lines for the Cardinals' preseason opener tonight against the Vikings as there are lakes in Minnesota.
Dennis Green returns to the place where he coached for 10 years. The Vikings seek revenge for the Cardinals' dramatic victory in the season finale that kept Minnesota out of the playoffs last season. Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald makes his professional debut in his hometown.
Those would make for an exciting evening, except one thing. It's a preseason game.
But it does prove the NFL, which scheduled the game, has a sense of drama, or humor.
"It's not coincidence it ended up this way," said Cardinals fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo, a former Vikings player. "As players, training camp is only in the second week. We have enough things to worry about without getting caught up in story lines."
That was the theme around Cardinals camp this week, a tone likely adopted from Green. The coach is not a publicly sentimental man, so he was not about to open a vein this week and detail his emotions, if any, about returning to the Metrodome to play the Vikings.
He wasn't interested in comparing the Cardinals job to his first year with Vikings. All jobs are different, he said. He understands the spotlight will be on him tonight, but he won't enjoy the glare.
"I'm not going to address it," he said.
He repeated his standard line about his time in Minnesota. It's a special place because he met and married his wife, Marie, there, and his two young children were born there. He'll remember the success the Vikings had.
Vikings fans aren't likely to be so subdued about it. Green polarized fans here. Some credit him with turning around a staid, unsuccessful organization and taking it to the playoffs eight times in a decade.
Others point to some poor playoff performances and the ego of a man who outlined a plan to assume ownership of the team.
"There are a lot of fans of Denny Green in Minnesota, and there are a lot of doubters of Denny Green in Minnesota," said Cardinals offensive lineman Everett Lindsay, who played with the Vikings.
Several Vikings players this week expressed vengeful feelings toward the Cardinals, who knocked them out of the playoffs with a dramatic 18-17 victory in the season finale.
The Cardinals scored two touchdowns in the final two minutes, the last a 28-yard pass from Josh McCown to receiver Nate Poole with no time remaining.
The Vikings' loss put Green Bay in the playoffs, and Poole was honored with an expenses-paid trip to Wisconsin. McCown received a basket of cheese.
Poole didn't want to touch the subject of the Vikings seeking revenge, saying he's just trying to earn a spot on the roster.
McCown imagines a loud, hostile crowd and an opponent that might be more motivated than usual for a preseason game.
"I'm sure their fans will be pretty excited about us coming there and have some choice words to say," McCown said.
If Green had his choice, tonight's game would be played at Sun Devil Stadium. A few months ago, he expressed his displeasure with the NFL's scheduling, saying the game could have helped the Cardinals build excitement about this year's team.
The Vikings traditionally draw big crowds in Arizona, and the Cardinals might have been able to win some converts.
Green has used that gripe with his team to create an underdog mentality. The message is that no one respects the Cardinals, so what are you going to do about it?
All of this would be more intriguing if the starters were scheduled to play more than a quarter. Still, seeing Green on the opposite sideline will be unusual for the Vikings and their fans, but not unexpected, said center Matt Birk.
"I think everyone knew he would be back," Birk told the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. "He's going to be a lifer, one of those guys who will always coach. You could just tell he's got that passion for the game and the zest for teaching. It wasn't a huge surprise to anybody who has ever played for him."
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/04cardscamp/0814cards0814.html
Homecoming, revenge only part of story
Kent Somers
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 14, 2004 12:00 AM
Tonight's game
CARDINALS AT VIKINGS
WHAT: Cardinals' first 2004 preseason game.
WHERE: Metrodome, Minneapolis.
WHEN: 5 p.m.
TV/RADIO: KAZ-TV/KDUS-AM (1060), KSLX-FM (100.7).
GAME PLAN: Cardinals starters will play about a quarter, with the second team playing into the third. Third teams will finish the game.
Cards in Flagstaff
Next week's practice schedule. Workouts are held on the fields just east of the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome. If it rains, they'll go inside.
Monday: 8:45-11:10 a.m.; 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Tuesday: 8:45-11:05 a.m.; 4-5:30 p.m.
Wednesday: 8:45-11:15 a.m.; 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Thursday: 10:15 a.m.-noon; break camp at NAU.
MINNEAPOLIS - There are almost as many story lines for the Cardinals' preseason opener tonight against the Vikings as there are lakes in Minnesota.
Dennis Green returns to the place where he coached for 10 years. The Vikings seek revenge for the Cardinals' dramatic victory in the season finale that kept Minnesota out of the playoffs last season. Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald makes his professional debut in his hometown.
Those would make for an exciting evening, except one thing. It's a preseason game.
But it does prove the NFL, which scheduled the game, has a sense of drama, or humor.
"It's not coincidence it ended up this way," said Cardinals fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo, a former Vikings player. "As players, training camp is only in the second week. We have enough things to worry about without getting caught up in story lines."
That was the theme around Cardinals camp this week, a tone likely adopted from Green. The coach is not a publicly sentimental man, so he was not about to open a vein this week and detail his emotions, if any, about returning to the Metrodome to play the Vikings.
He wasn't interested in comparing the Cardinals job to his first year with Vikings. All jobs are different, he said. He understands the spotlight will be on him tonight, but he won't enjoy the glare.
"I'm not going to address it," he said.
He repeated his standard line about his time in Minnesota. It's a special place because he met and married his wife, Marie, there, and his two young children were born there. He'll remember the success the Vikings had.
Vikings fans aren't likely to be so subdued about it. Green polarized fans here. Some credit him with turning around a staid, unsuccessful organization and taking it to the playoffs eight times in a decade.
Others point to some poor playoff performances and the ego of a man who outlined a plan to assume ownership of the team.
"There are a lot of fans of Denny Green in Minnesota, and there are a lot of doubters of Denny Green in Minnesota," said Cardinals offensive lineman Everett Lindsay, who played with the Vikings.
Several Vikings players this week expressed vengeful feelings toward the Cardinals, who knocked them out of the playoffs with a dramatic 18-17 victory in the season finale.
The Cardinals scored two touchdowns in the final two minutes, the last a 28-yard pass from Josh McCown to receiver Nate Poole with no time remaining.
The Vikings' loss put Green Bay in the playoffs, and Poole was honored with an expenses-paid trip to Wisconsin. McCown received a basket of cheese.
Poole didn't want to touch the subject of the Vikings seeking revenge, saying he's just trying to earn a spot on the roster.
McCown imagines a loud, hostile crowd and an opponent that might be more motivated than usual for a preseason game.
"I'm sure their fans will be pretty excited about us coming there and have some choice words to say," McCown said.
If Green had his choice, tonight's game would be played at Sun Devil Stadium. A few months ago, he expressed his displeasure with the NFL's scheduling, saying the game could have helped the Cardinals build excitement about this year's team.
The Vikings traditionally draw big crowds in Arizona, and the Cardinals might have been able to win some converts.
Green has used that gripe with his team to create an underdog mentality. The message is that no one respects the Cardinals, so what are you going to do about it?
All of this would be more intriguing if the starters were scheduled to play more than a quarter. Still, seeing Green on the opposite sideline will be unusual for the Vikings and their fans, but not unexpected, said center Matt Birk.
"I think everyone knew he would be back," Birk told the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. "He's going to be a lifer, one of those guys who will always coach. You could just tell he's got that passion for the game and the zest for teaching. It wasn't a huge surprise to anybody who has ever played for him."
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/04cardscamp/0814cards0814.html
