Of Course Nobody Needs Mail

We didn't get to a few e-mails this week during show No. 8, no doubt for legitimate reasons. Still, in the interest of not biting the hands which feed us.....

Dang we're popular.

--Captain Savings referred to Skinny Pete as an "idiot," and notes his affinity for Top Chef : "If your palette is going to be refined past minute steak, frozen peas, and pospsicles, and you're over 18, you should enjoy this show. I don't eat at fancy restaurants (often) but I do love reality shows, chefs, and upper arm scars."

It's unanimous when it comes to a need for refinement (there's also the cereal without milk) but there's no need to go back two decades and discuss those yester-year needs for refinement. Plus, as one who has eaten matzah often in his lifetime, further comment is being withheld. When it comes such verbal sparring, flame on!

--Tina from Scotland: "Mark- I didn’t know you were single! We Scottish ladies go crazy for dark-haired Yanks—especially internet celebs like yourself!! You should come visit me. I’ll meet you at the rest area off the M90 about 50 kilometers north of Edinburgh. Hope to see you soon.
P.S. What happened to the bagpipes???"

The Internet celeb portion is making this show blush, but no explanation regarding the choice of rest stops will be revealed here.
BTW en route to M90, if you drive by a golf course near Inverness which features many cliffs, there are approximately 13 golf balls beneath those cliffs I'd like to have back. They're strictly on holes No. 1 through 8.
The bagpipes are still going strong, but this isn't a funeral, so there's no need to showcase them daily.

--Ad writer guy: "I need you guys to settle an argument. I work at an ad agency and we are creating a custom calendar to give to our clients for the holidays. Each month has a different theme. The June theme is ‘funnyness’ so to help people improve their senses of humor, I included in that month a list of things that are funny:

Japanese game shows
A man wearing a dress
Skateboard injuries
Flatulence
Monty Python
Monkeys
Conan O’Brien
Uranus

"See? You laughed. However, my boss took out ‘uranus’ on the grounds that it is offensive. This led to a heated argument that I lost because I’m not the boss. (The only redeeming part about the whole situation is that I get to go home and tell my wife, 'I got in a fight with my boss about Uranus.' )"
"Is my boss right that it is in poor taste to put 'uranus' on a calendar for clients? Or is he being absurd because Uranus is a gift from the comedy gods and nobody in their right minds would seriously take offense at seeing it in print. I’ve spent several hours on this problem. Please help. Love your show."

Sorry we're out of space.

Episode Eight

Our eighth episode is up to your right. You can listen to it by all of the usual means.

We discuss the University of Arizona's pair of crazy football games against the Oregon schools, Arizona State basketball's trip to to Anaheim to play in the 76 Classic and, of course, the Cardinals Thanksgiving game in Philadelphia.

We delved into a mailbag and played our song of the week.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!



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Mark My Words

--It's not quite Curb Your Enthusiasm (sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst) but can be equally painful to watch.
Doesn't matter. Season 4 of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" showed the best could still be yet to come for this FX network gem.
The wind-sprint to greatness between "Sunny" and "30 Rock," is underway. The only thing left to do, is to kneel, raise thy head, and ask the TV wonks in suits to stay away for years to come.
They couldn't do it for "Arrested Development." Let's hope they learned some painful lessons this time.

--This just in: The New York football Giants are really good.
In other news, the Cardinals can't run the ball or play defense.
Result: An ugly but predictable loss, and possible foreshadowing (even with home-field advantage) to January.
The world isn't going to end, however, and while the NFL did a huge disservice to the Cardinals for sending them 2,000 miles East again on three days rest, the Eagles are suddenly in disarray.
In another fortunate twist of fate, there's no stopping the NFC West pummeling.

--The pimple in downtown Minneapolis has hosted many-a-memorable Saturday football (and a Friday night fourth-quarter meltdown against Michigan in 2003. It wasn't rewarding being a Minnesota alum living in Ann Arbor that night). The Gophers' Metrodome era concluded with a hard-fought 55-0 loss to Iowa, and while it's technically the worst Big Ten loss in Minnesota history, there have been so many "worsts" it wouldn't be fair to single-out any one wasted afternoon. Rickey Foggie, Lou Holtz, wacky Jim Wacker, Mase, Tyrone Carter, Laurence Maroney-Marion Barber III, Louisiana-Lafayette, North Dakota State, and so many lame opposing quarterbacks with 500-yard passing days (mostly by Purdue, Northwestern and Michigan State) it's impossible to count.
The swansong was only fitting.
How fast does Teflon burn?

--Sure it happened last Sunday (my bad), but the Pittsburgh-San Diego bizarro finish and subsequent Vegas "fallout" of betting lines and point spreads only reinforced how idiotic the sports gambling slappies can be.
Whether or not the officials correctly ruled the Steelers' final touchdown of the game - which would have been an 18-10 victory instead of the 11-10 final - is an issue only because it's inexcusable to get a call wrong with instant replay technology.
The bigger problem with the betting line backlash was the inability to grasp a reality that sports are sometimes flawed, and to raise hell over something as stupid as covering (or not covering) the spread, or how much money was lost at the Bellagio sportsbook because of a call or non-call, only reinforces how deep into the abyss one's brain can get.
This is elementary education: If you're pouring money - in this case tens of millions of dollars - into such entertainment, it's buyer beware.
That's why they call it gambling. It's a pretty vanilla concept to grasp.
Of course, there's no chance at seeing the light of day if you thought the final score was fixed on behalf of Tropicana Ave., and David Stern's "playoff police" is out to keep the Suns down.

Clearing off My Plate

-- The Lakers/Suns matchup on Thursday night seemed to be another sign that the Suns are playing for a bottom-half spot in the Western playoffs. The Lakers are going to win the Pacific division running away.

-- As mentioned on Friday’s show, here’s one fan rooting for UA to lose to Oregon State and ASU to beat UCLA. That causes both the Territorial Cup game and the Civil War game (Oregon/OSU) to get a lot more interesting. ASU and UA could wind up finishing the season with identical records in that case (with teams headed in opposite directions to finish the year) and the Beavers would host Oregon for the chance to go to a Rose Bowl. Might as well inject a little extra flavor into those two games if possible.

-- Oklahoma is going beat Texas Tech on Saturday (let’s say, 41-35). And then all hell breaks loose. Who should represent the Big 12 South in the conference championship? I’d say Texas should, if only because they’re the only one of the three that never got a home field advantage among them. Texas beat OU on a neutral field, then dropped the game to Tech in Lubbock. Meanwhile, OU gets to host Tech, and the Raiders hosted the Longhorns, obviously. Any of the Oklahoma/Tech/Texas group would be heavily favored over Missouri in a few weeks, and if they win the game, that team would (and should) play in the National Championship. My gut says Texas would stay ahead of Oklahoma in the BCS, but none of us should be surprised if the Sooners jump up into the No. 2 spot.

-- Daisuke Matsuzaka said he’ll play in the World Baseball Classic, which is refreshing. Baseball needs its big stars there. USA Baseball executive Bob Watson told D-backs Insider earlier this year that Americans are lining up to play for Team USA in the tournament, but we’ll all believe it when we see it.

-- Kevin Garnett is back in Minnesota tonight for the first time since being traded to Boston, and he should wind up getting the standing-O he deserves. He’ll probably be in the Hall of Fame as a Timberwolf, and he essentially built that franchise. Garnett was hurt when the teams played in Minny last year.

What I’m Watching this Weekend:
Football: Arizona/Oregon State, Oklahoma/Texas Tech, Cardinals/Giants, Patriots/Dolphins, Jets/Titans
Basketball: Suns/Blazers

What I’m Listening to This Weekend:
Wilson Pickett, The Essentials. Started spinning some Wilson Pickett last week, and wound up picking “Funky Broadway” as our song of the week, in reference to the Cardinals and Giants both playing in cities with a Broadway (“Every town I’m in/There’s a street/Name of the Street/Funky, Funky Broadway”). Love listening to some old soul every once in a while, and it makes great sing-along stuff in the car.



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Episode Seven

Our seventh episode -- and second of the week -- is now up here on the blog.

Welcome, again, all of our listeners who might have found their way here from Echo From the Buttes.com.

We've got some ASU talk, we wonder about the effect Ryan Dempster's contract might have on Brandon Webb and the Diamondbacks, we've got our second mailbag and, of course, the song of the week.

You can download the MP3, stream it or play it in the player to your right.

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Most Valueless Prattle

As mentioned on the show, I filled out MVP ballots for the National League and American League at the end of the season and sent them in to, oh, who are we kidding, just friends. I’m no BBWAA member, and almost certainly never will be. And with the papers dying these days, you have to wonder who will. If they’re so reluctant to let the dot-commers into the club, who is going to be left when the papers finish their rounds of lay-offs and going-out-of-business plans?

Anyway, without further ado — my American League MVP ballot:

1. Dustin Pedroia 

2. Joe Mauer

3. Kevin Youkilis

4. Evan Longoria

5. Grady Sizemore

6. Alex Rodriguez

7. Carlos Quentin

8. Cliff Lee 

9. Roy Halladay

10. Jon Lester

I fared well toward the top. Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis ended up where I had them, and Justin Morneau, in real life, was in the spot I’ve got Joe Mauer in. Home runs and RBI and all that, but I can’t value Morneau over Mauer. There’s more than one part of the game, you know. Mauer is (by good measure) more important to Minnesota defensively, and is a decent enough baserunner. And really, if voters wanted to pick a first baseman, why didn’t they go with Youkilis, who is every bit the defensive player as Morneau and, here we go, every bit the bat, too.

Youkilis……. .312/.390/.569 … 29 HR … 115 RBI … 91 R … 143 OPS+

Morneau…  .300/.374/.499 … 23 HR … 129 RBI … 97 R … 137 OPS+

Say you want Morneau over Mauer for the power stats. Whatever. But I’m not sure I’ve heard a good explanation for why Morneau would be anyone’s clear, top first baseman, when he had more runners on base when he came up than Youkilis, and the two were in virtually identical offenses (Boston 845 runs, Minny 829 runs). Oh well. He didn’t take home a second award, so it’s probably not a fight worth fighting.

On to the National League:

1. Albert Pujols 

2. David Wright

3. Chase Utley

4. Carlos Beltran

5. Hanley Ramirez

6. Aramis Ramirez

7. Lance Berkman

8. Chipper Jones

9. Ryan Ludwick

10. Ryan Howard

OK, so there was a fascination with Ryan Howard that I just never understood. I’m not going to try to comprehend why he could ever be an MVP over Pujols with the year each had, so I’ll just wonder this: If you want a player from a playoff team, and maybe you want a player from the City of Brotherly Love, then my goodness, why was it Howard? Why would Howard be ahead of Chase Utley on anyone’s ballot? See the part above about how baseball is more than just batting, and factor in that Utley is an elite defensive player while Howard’s a lousy one.

Utley had the exact same amount extra-base hits as Howard (78), with considerably better batting average (.292 to .251) and on-base percentage (.380 to .339… and, please, don’t ramble about a guy with a .339 on-base being any sort of impact offensive player…). Howard had a better September, but Utley had a better year, and they give the award for the whole thing.

I can’t help but wonder if I caved to all of the attention Howard was getting by putting him on my ballot at all, albeit in the 10th spot. I can’t imagine I’ll ever feel like I made a mistake by putting him so low, only possibly regretting putting him so high.

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Episode Six

Our sixth show is up on the blog here. 

With the Cardinals' big game coming up against the Giants this weekend, we've got a fair amount of Cardinals talk. 

Our guest is AZCardinals.com writer Darren Urban. 

You can download the show, stream it, or play it in the player to your right.

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Mark My Words

--Two weeks in a row the Cardinals won a close game it should have (who would have thought that playing in Seattle). Again, the Cardinals shouldn't apologize for escaping with a narrow victory against a division opponent, in a house of horrors (0-for-5 in Seattle since 2002) against a healthier Seattle offense. The Cardinals secondary showed a pulse when the offense failed, Seattle never ran the ball, and a team notorious for flag football showed enough discipline to pretty much clinch the division.

--Neil Rackers is something of an odd fellow, a little too inconsistent since his suberb 2005 season - which he sure (overly)cashed in on - but Rackers (4 FG including one a yard shy of his career high going into halftime) and the kick coverage should get a game ball after Sunday. They needed every one of those points (again).

--The defense came through again in the closing stanza for the Cardinals, which again masqueraded their offense's inability to get a key first down with the game on the line.
The running game continues to be troublesome, which sounds absurd for a team which is No. 2 in scoring (29 points per game) in the NFL and has an MVP-caliber quarterback with three receivers who could go over 1,000 yards.
But it's there. It happened last week against San Francisco and it happened again Sunday. With the clock cranking and the Cardinals holding a narrow lead, they couldn't push the pile and gain the one first down necessary to end that glimmer of hope against a bad team.
It's escapable against the rugrats of the NFC West, but not against the rest of the NFC's playoff brethren - especially on the road - in November and December.

--Giants (9-1) vs. Cardinals (7-3) is a matchup featuring two of the three best records in the NFC. It's hard to even type.

--Ah, the struggles of scheduling. Mississippi Valley State opened its season by getting worn down at Wells Fargo Arena on Friday night. On Saturday night, they had to play in Pullman against Washington State, where they proceeded to fall short, 76-25. The 51-point margin was the second-largest margin in Cougars history. And Wazzou also played a boatload of freshmen.
Paging Arizona State non-fans of Herb Sendek's nonconference schedule: Careful what you wish for.

Mark My Words

--Perish the thought, but the NBA got this one right. The Suns' Matt Barnes should grab some bench for two games for shoving Rafer Alston, who also got a two-game break (although the officials embarrassed themselves yet again by staring at the play in question, deciding it was your typical NBA screen and allowing play to continue).
Steve Nash did his best instigating by pushing a Rockets player who hadn't done anything (plus Nash was on the other end of the floor so he couldn't have seen what already transpired).
And Leandro Barbosa is out this weekend because of his mother's death.
So here comes the newfound depth Terry Porter craves. Of course, it helps to be playing Sacramento.
Note to self: Make sure Shaq-Fu is an ally in all future altercation. If you lined up ten players like pins on a bowling lane, Shaq could probably make them all fall down with one push.

--The day after this program broke down Randy Johnson's murky - but seemingly optimistic - future with the Diamondbacks, he files for free agency.
Johnson's 50 percent pay cut willingness makes us all tingly (it's a lot easier when you've made at least $150 million in salary through your career), and the Diamondbacks refusal to offer incentive-laden contracts is worth chucking out the window in this case.
Johnson doesn't need the money - $5-6 million for 2009 should suffice - nor has he endeared himself in the clubhouse.
The Diamondbacks are wise not to break the bank here. His post All-Star break performances were terrific (5-3, 2.41 E.R.A. and 16 walks to 78 strikeouts), but he's also 45 years old with a back that's one pitch or stretch away from being finished. Given this point in his career and the economic woes, it's hard to imagine getting more money on the open market. He'll go into the Hall-of-Fame as a Diamondback, wants to live here and won't get more money from a better-contending team.
There's an old episode of The Simpsons (this won't be the last time it's referenced on the Greg and Mark Show) where Springfield Elementary teachers go on strike because of wages and lack of adequate teaching supplies and an early summer vacation ensues. After a while, the lure of extra vacation takes its toll, so Bart locks union representative and 4th grade syncophat Edna Krabappel and principal Seymour Skinner (who had no budget) in a room together, and they won't be allowed out until a deal is done.
Who says cartoons can't be educational?

Episode Five

Holy weasels, there's another episode already?

You're damn right there is.

Sometimes we figure there is just too much to discuss in one hour, so we broke up the Greg and Mark Show to multiple episodes this week. And we plan to keep doing it if the demand is there from our growing fan base.

Enjoy it!

Episode Four

Episode four is up.

Play it in the player to your right, download it or stream it on Windows Media/iTunes.

We're trying something new this week. We'll have two shows this week, first today, and then another on Friday. This should be fun, and it will help with our quest to saturate the market with the Greg and Mark Show.

Enjoy this week's first episode!



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Mark My Words

--While Matt Holliday's departure out of Colorado is, on the surface, a personal and competitive demotion, it's also the best of all worlds for the Diamondbacks (gets him out of the National League).
Still, it's harder to figure what the Athletics see in this move, a franchise which has done nothing the past three years but send away its top talent. Taking on Holliday's salary, even if it's one year, is a bold move in a mediocre A.L. West, but it doesn't put them over the top without significant upgrades elsewhere, and it's hard to believe the A's are going to do a 180 on their organizational philosophy.

--Michael Robinson? MICHAEL ROBINSON? That's the best San Francisco's tag-team of Mike Singletary and the Nutty Professor of Offense (Mike Martz) could come up with at the 2-yard-line with the game's outcome riding on one play? Halfback dive with Michael Robinson?
No Frank Gore. Not even giving any options for quarterback Shaun Hill, who spent most of the second half avoiding pressure (thus showing a little mobility) and carving up the Cardinals secondary.
The ploy was an obvious attempt to make it clear of how Singletary wants to play the game with "toughness," and put the outcome on his offensive line. That's all well and good, honorable even, but sometimes a team going nowhere which managed to have a golden chance at a big upset needs to be given the most options to win any game it can. Like a passing play. Or even giving it to your best player (Gore).
Give San Francisco credit for playing almost to their potential and not giving into the ridiculous notion that they were going to get taken behind the shed on a national stage (how could anyone expect the Cardinals to blow out any team outside St. Louis?).
But it's further proof of the Cardinals progress. In this case it's not because they somehow managed to win a game while desperately trying to imitate their yester-year brethren of no pass defense and no running game, but because now there's the 49ers and Rams to re-direct such exasperations.

--32 of 42 for 328 yards, three touchdowns, zero turnovers, with zero help from the running game, and two touchdown drives (one in each half) in which the game was on the verge of being out of reach. Plus there's the thought of Matt Leinart trying to operate this offense.
Kurt Warner for MVP today? You bet.

Herm Edwards Plays to Win

Six years and one week ago, then-Jets Head Coach Herm Edwards gave us one of the greatest quotes of all time, "You play... to win... the game!"

Sunday, Edwards heeded his own advice. With less than a minute to go, trailing by one after a Tony Gonzalez touchdown, Edwards went for two. The conversion failed, but Edwards' decision, ultimately, was to play to win rather than play to tie (and hope to win in overtime).

Applause for Herm Edwards. You're 1-7, your team is in a losing streak. Play to win the damn game.

Clearing Off My Plate

With my regular Friday notes dealie…

What I’ve Learned Today:
I have to get my column up on Friday morning, or at least beat Mark to it. He already jumped the gun on the Pistons/Nuggets trade, though we may disagree.

-- I’m anxious to see how the trade that sent Allen Iverson to Detroit in exchange for Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess affects the Phoenix Suns. If nothing else, it has an effect on the west. Recently, several trades have sent talent eastward (Shawn Marion, Elton Brand) without sending a whole lot out west. This trade gets more playing time for J.R. Smith, who should handle a lot of the scoring load alongside Carmelo Anthony, with Billups feeding them. It eases up some of the ball-sharing issues the team had with too many scorers last year. If the Lakers run away with the division, as many of us think they will, then the Suns will be fighting for one of the bottom five spots. I think they were a good distance ahead of Denver coming into the season, but I think this improves the Nuggets enough that they’re better contenders for one of those spots in the West.

-- Incidentally, it’s the second go-round for both players heading to Denver. Billups and McDyess were teammates on the 98-99 and 99-00 Nuggets teams. With Billups developing into a perennial All-Star, it’s easy to forget that he played in Boston, Toronto, Denver and Minnesota before landing in Detroit.

-- The Suns should beat the Bulls handily tonight, but tomorrow already marks the third time the Suns will have played games on back-to-back nights, and they have had to travel between games in all three situations. I’d pick the Suns if I was in Vegas for this one, but that’s a brutal way to play the first seven games of a season.

-- The Sun Devils have to win this one, right? The Washington Huskies are the only winless team among all Bowl Subdivision squads, and they’ve been downright awful since nearly knocking off BYU earlier in the season. In a lost season like ASU is in now, there aren’t a whole lot of statement games, but the Sun Devils need to beat Washington handily on Saturday.

-- Say what you want about the Baseball Writers of America, but at least they routinely do a better job on their awards (Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, MVP, Coaches of the Year) than the coaches do in selecting the Gold Glove winners. Michael Young? Is that a joke? He’s a second baseman playing shortstop, and he might not be among the 15 best defensive shortstops in the 14-team American League.

What I’m Watching This Weekend:
Basketball: Suns/Bulls, Suns/Bucks, Celtics/Pistons
Football: ASU/Washington, Alabama/LSU, Oklahoma/Texas Tech, Giants/Eagles, Patriots/Bills

What I’m Listening To This Weekend:
AC/DC, Black Ice. Hell yeah, I am. I’ve only made my way through the first five tracks so far, and while I could’ve gone without the poppy “Anything Goes,” I’m pleased so far.

Correction:

Elton Brand was not traded east, he signed in Philly as a free agent. I don't really know what happened there. And we move on... 

Mark My Words

Once again, Ryan Torain will have to wait for next year. Sadly for the former Arizona State leading rusher, it's becoming a broken record.

--It was Ryan Torain's chance, thanks, oddly enough, to the very things which kept him out of "Best of" discussions and the first four rounds of the NFL Draft last spring: Injuries.
The Denver Broncos backfield was dropping like flies. Torain began the season with a broken elbow he suffered during training camp, right about the time coach Mike Shanahan compared him to Super Bowl stud Terrell Davis.
But he was back, and with three other running backs on the shelf, Torain's first 12 carries of his pro career weren't far removed from Davis-esque. That is, until a second-quarter tackle shredded his knee.
Those 12 carries equal the number of games he's missed between his senior season at ASU and now Denver. Let's hope he returns to health in time for the 2009 season. And, for once, stay that way.

--Denver and Detroit exchanged shoot-first guards this week, with Allen Iverson going to the Pistons, and Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess moving to the Mile-High.
The move could ultimately prove brilliant on the Pistons part, since Iverson and LeBron James (James of the "Head of the free agent Class" circa 2010) share the same representation, while the Pistons are still contenders in the Eastern Conference this season (and probably next season).
Meanwhile, the 32-year-old Billups isn't getting any younger, and the Pistons were no closer to winning a championship than they were since they won in 2004.
Suns fans have enough to wonder about with this year's transformation under coach Terry Porter. So far, so good, and the arrival of Billups should be welcome in Denver, but scare few in Phoenix. For now, the Nuggets haven't suddenly evolved into a top three seed in the West, and the Suns still look like a better team.

--The second-best part of Amare Stoudemire imitation of Oscar Robertson against Indiana on Wednesday night was everything outside of the scoring (49 points) and rebounding (11) columns. Six assists, five steals and two blocks. Consistent all-purpose nights like that are how you quiet your critics and get that maximum contract. Everyone knows he can score and rebound and are a physical freak. Everyone doesn't yet know if he can be the passer and defender he insists he is.

--The second-best part of Wednesday night was that the second-best player wasn't Steve Nash, Grant Hill or Shaq-Fu. It was Boris Diaw. He made 7 of 15 shots off the bench, the most he's attempted in his career when coming off the bench. He also had five rebounds and five assists.
One game means nothing in the big picture, especially with Diaw, but when you've shown more malaise than muscle for the better part of five years, it's easy to cling to rare nights like those.

--Outcome aside, the best part of the 2008 Election's conclusion is also the conclusion of junk mail and automated phone messages pedaling the local county commissioner and sanitation superintendent. They were coming in at three phone per day for a week, and cell phone numbers aren't listed in phone books. Note to future candidates: Rare is the person who decides to vote for you because they'd forgotten, and then were pleasantly reminded of your existence because of an automated phone message.
It doesn't work!

Episode Three

The third episode of the Greg and Mark Show is available to stream, download or listen to right here.

Our guest this week is Matt Simpson, founder of Echo From the Buttes.com

We also address the Suns burning hot out of the gate, ASU women's hoops being ranked and ready to start the season, the D-backs having some offseason changes to make, the news and the song of the week.

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Mark My Words

All isn't so peaceful and calm in Edgerrin James' head these days, and though it may have been the right decision, the Cardinals still need the biggest free-agent acquisition in team history to be on the level the rest of the way.

It could be a redux of As The Backfield Turns, but probably not. The Edgerrin James-Tim Hightower handoff was weeks in the making, but this is actually similar to and opposite "Quarterback-Gate" from training camp.
One is declared the starter (veteran James, or, in August, youngen Matt Leinart) and supplemented by its polar opposite (youngen Hightower or, in August, veteran Kurt Warner) due to production, which forces coach Ken Whisenhunt's hand to do the obvious both on the field and in the locker room, consequences be darned.
What's opposite Quarterback Gate, however, is that the proven, highly-respected veteran doesn't leave the bench (James), which creates a stir and potential complications given James' already-tenuous attitude toward how he's being used in Ken Whisenhunt's system (remember, James came when Dennis Green was coach). But he's been a mentor to Hightower and, similar to Anquan Boldin, isn't the type to constantly whine about himself publicly amidst this season of playoff possibilities.
The Cardinals aren't Indianapolis, either in style or in ability along the offensive line. At 30, James insists he can still play at a high level, but whether it's diminished skills or a bad systemic marriage, there's been little evidence of late to support his claim. It's also a distinct possibility Edgerrin will continue to keep to himself while guiding Hightower and being a consummate teammate, but it's hard to believe in Whisenhunt's dream comparison to this being Jerome Bettis/Willie Parker exchange from his Pittsburgh days. There's nothing voluntary about one side of this backfield switch.
Since most of the fourth quarter was a mere formality given the Cardinals' three-touchdown lead, Whisenhunt's blathering about how the game didn't unfold conveniently enough to use James - even for one series - is garbage.
But to his credit, Whisenhunt insisted Hightower needs more than one, two or even three games' worth of success before being hailed as another Shaun Alexander. Given the game's violent nature and O-line's penchant for inconsistency in run-blocking, Whisenhunt and James need to come together, have a private airing of grievances, and let the player offer enough trust to his coach that, however unhappy James may be with this situation, he's still getting a wheelbarrow full of money this season.
Edge is still highly-valued in the locker room and the Cardinals still need his commitment to the front of his jersey for the next few months.
One good game from Hightower won't get him years of Pro Bowls, and the smart, thoughtful rookie knows it.
Everyone also knows one good whack from a linebacker could have Edgerrin back in the lineup, and given what's happened the past couple weeks, will he still be ready, willing and able?