redbirdexpress

OK…., it wasn’t quite the ‘Miracle on Ice’ or the ’88 Dodgers.  However, as the true underdog in a this Week 2 game with the beantown boys, you may as well just have given them the game ball and call it, right???  WRONG!  

So, If your team:

1. Has one of the best quarterbacks in the league - tom terrific (he was actually Tom Average on Sunday)
2. Being the current AFC champions, and
3. Your home opener (which you have never lost in that stadium)

Shouldn’t all this qualify you for an automatic Win?  There is that one little detail………….they still have to go out and actually play the game.

Everyone, pretty much the entire league, counted us out.  All the experts making their predictions, even some of our own fans didn’t give us a shot at winning the game.  So I hope all those people who had this game penciled in as a win for the Patriots take heed that even the unexpected can happen, when you least expect it.  Let’s take a look at the empirical evidence (as Brian H., our head tailgater, likes to say).

It is a team sport!  All players have to do their job to even have a chance to win.  Sometimes life is a team sport > family, work, and even play.  We rely on the people around us to work just as hard as we do, you usually need the rest of your team to make things meaningful.  If not for the life team who would be reading this and giving me feedback on how to get better.  I am trying and I rely on my team to make that happen………….every once in a while.  Our determination to be better each day can be supported by those who have an interest in not only being the best they can be but making sure their family, friends, and co-workers are encouraged to do the right thing and be the best they can be also.

So here are a few plays in this game that showed me this could be a very exciting year for The Cardinals.:

Offense: Kevin Kolb on the QB sneak for the touchdown > He took it upon himself to react to the current defensive formation and trust that his center was going to give him enough of a hole to score.  Touchdown - Nice Job!

Special Teams: Quentin Groves knowing that he had to beat just the one outside blocker to get to the punter, all others were in position to help make this play successful by taking on their blockers and working inside.  Blocked Punt (2 yard line) - Excellent work!

Defense: DD90 to Patrick Peterson;  1st offensive play of the game for the Pats, Darnell works hard to get his hands up in front to partially block the pass and PP makes an acrobatic catch on a tipped ball.  Interception – Well Done!

This was a great win to be celebrated and shows that alot of hard work may have a few NON-BELIEVERS thinking twice about making predictions during the rest of the season.  Don’t count the Cardinals or anyone out until you play the game.  Let’s try to have an understanding of how to keep improving and go out and actually play it, you may be surprised at the results.  As I watched the good New England fans turning around from the exits to run back to their seats after Ryan Williams fumbled the ball, it was all to bitter-sweet to see them so disappointed that their kicker missed the game winner…………….ouch!

Don’t you just love the emotions of the game and the highs and lows on each sideline?…….yes…But I also do enjoy seeing my team WIN!!!  This game is probably the Best reality TV show by far!………although my wife may argue for the first few seasons of ‘The Bachelor’or Idol’.

Bring on the Eagles………………..no I’m not making a prediction.  But we will address this matchup soon.

Go make me proud…………………to be a Cards fan!

OK, Here we go! 

Another football season is upon us and guess what……………there are still 16 games.  Every team has a chance right now and optimism is high.  No team has lost a game, nor won one.  But, after today there will be some teams that looked good, and others that really did not.   So the start of a season is always deceiving.  Those playoff team prognosticators and who will be in the Super Bowl predictions are made and will be scrutinized even after the first game.  I prefer to only make a few strong assumptions with alot of conviction.  Predictions are only exciting when you are right and can say…I told you so.  But be prepared to back it up with some facts.  Why did you make that prediction?  How did you know?  We all have opinions, that can be tempered by wrong predictions.  If you are always making wrong predictions, your opinion won’t matter. 

You can make changes in the off-season, during training camp, during the season and during a game.  These changes effect outcomes.  Gather the facts first.  Get the best players, look at your opponents strengths/weaknesses,  devise a game plan.  But ALWAYS be ready to make changes based on the actual facts!!!

We’ve all heard that saying “It’s not how you start…….it’s how you finish!”  Take last year for example.  The RedBirds were 2 different teams during the season.  Not so good in the first half and much better in the second half.  Last year we did finish strong.  But we didn’t get the right start.  All teams get a fresh start today.  The past means nothing.  Today there is no playoff teams or a Super Bowl Champion.

Everyone can get a fresh start,  you can make a fresh start tomorrow or do it today.  No matter how you start, you have the capability to finish strong.  So work hard, make changes based on facts, and then go out and JUST WIN BABY!

Let’s go Cardinals!!  ………….make this fan proud today!

Well….here we are 1 week away from the beginning of the 2012 season.  1) We haven’t selected a QB from the mediocre, if not, bad pre-season performances of Kolb and Skelton.  2) We still have an offensive line in flux, trying to work out how we replace the mediocre play of our injured left tackle.  Although the iteration of Batiste at LT and Massie at RT could work (may work…we will see).  3) Lastly, the defense seems inspired to be good, but has performed to a mediocre level in the ‘practice’ portion of our season.

As Cardinal fans we have suffered for many years.  Yes we did have our Super Bowl run and that was heavenly, because we proved that we can get there.  But we just didn’t quite finish.   They don’t remember the losers.  I was there 7 rows up behind the Cardinal bench watching it all take place.  I think from that day forward our vision has been adjusted to expecting more from this team.  The Cardinals may have changed their aura when we moved into the new stadium and the younger Bidwell starting making more of the moves, but we still, at times, see an inconsistent product on the field.   All we want is little more consistency on the field.  Not 1-6 then 7-2.

We don’t accept mediocrity anymore because we are passionate about winning.  The teams that get all the hype are consistent if nothing else.  They play without making mistakes, don’t beat themselves mentally, and execute at critical times.  I for one do not accept mediocrity anymore.  I see alot of positives with our team and if nothing else we can put some great players on the field, but they have to all play more consistently.  As a fan I have been a consistent supporter of The Cardinals for 15 years (missed 1 regular season game for my brothers wedding in Cali).  Day to Day consistency is what we produce in our jobs, family, and life to be successful, I’m just asking for the RedBird Gang to have some consistency this season.

I may be a little biased but…………………with consistancy , not mediocrity…………….we will be just fine!

Go Cards…………..make me proud to be a fan!