GM Byrnes on a limb with selection of Hinch as manager

New Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch shares a laugh with third base umpire Casey Moser prior to Arizona's game against the Nationals on Friday in Phoenix.

PHOENIX – Josh Byrnes is a visionary. Or he’s a classic meddler consumed with regaining his wonder-boy status.

Either way, it’s his neck on the line now.

The Arizona Diamondbacks general manager just fired a consummate professional and deep thinker, replacing him with a man who has never coached or managed on any level. And this is progress?

Bob Melvin is gone. A.J. Hinch, 34, is the new boss, inexplicably signed through 2012. For the second time in their brief history, the Diamondbacks are acting as if they’re smarter than everyone else in baseball.

They acted this way under the little dictator, Buck Showalter. They’re acting that way now.

During the news conference, Byrnes dropped phrases like “organizational advocacy” and “collaboration” and how Hinch had a “greater understanding of standards and concepts.”

He talked so far above the room that he might as well have been standing on Pluto. It’s unbecoming, and this stuff makes other teams extremely motivated.

“(Hinch) has never done a double switch,” Byrnes said. “But he knows what it looks like. He’ll figure it out.”

You can convince me that this team needed a new voice, a new leader. After losing 5-4 to Washington on Friday, the D’backs are 12-18.

Many fans are extremely disgusted with this group and envisioned a new manager who would flip tables, throw coolers and light a fire under listless players struggling to hit their own weights.

They would have gladly embraced a Mark Grace, a Kirk Gibson, and maybe even Chip Hale, an ex-Arizona Wildcat who will stay on as third base coach.

“Why so unconventional? Why did we choose A.J.?” Byrnes said. “I’m very happy to answer that.”

Byrnes went on to paint Hinch as a great untapped leader who can connect the organization “from top to bottom.” He intimated that Melvin had created a bad vibe, a negative energy in the room that exacerbated the failure.

That’s very possible, and possibly very insightful. But the solution is bizarre.

After the news conference concluded, managing general partner Ken Kendrick engaged in heated exchanges with skeptical members of the media.

It was beyond comical. At one point, Kendrick asked why he should follow conventional wisdom and hire from the traditional talent pool when that pool is full of losers who had failed in the past.

It’s a good point. Of course, that doesn’t explain why he once hired Melvin, who was fired in Seattle.

And nobody had a good answer how a manager with no experience can turn a fragile team around, or why they didn’t just place the interim tag on Hinch and see how he performed.

“I understand the enormity of the job,” Hinch said. “I have a lot to learn.”

Inside the clubhouse, many players are scratching their heads.

They know Hinch is Byrnes’ right-hand man. They are free to wonder whether the new manager expedited the departure of their ex-manager. They might wonder what the new manager is telling the general manager on a daily basis, realizing now that no secrets are safe.

They also know that Melvin’s daily lineup was beginning to have Byrnes’ fingerprints all over it, a fact that Byrnes did not dispute or apologize for before Friday’s game.

That dynamic grated on Melvin, but it will assuredly continue under the Hinch reign.

“At game time, the manager is the manager, there’s no question about that,” Byrnes said.

To the paying customers, the selection of Hinch only adds to the Diamondbacks’ credibility problems.

This organization has some strange ideas, from embarrassing in-game entertainment to a broadcast that’s often sophomoric and self-serving.

The best coach in the organization, Bryan Price, just quit out of respect for Melvin. It’s a long way from 2007, when the Diamondbacks were considered the model franchise in Major League Baseball.

But don’t feel sorry for Melvin. He’s the big winner here. This early termination turned him into a martyr and a scapegoat, and his popularity is higher today than it has been in over a year.

As for Byrnes, he better hope this unusual maneuver turns into an inside-the-park home run. After all, the general manager’s batting average is plummeting, just like some of his prized players.

Notable

Former Arizona Wildcat Jack Howell, a Palo Verde High School grad, was named the Diamondbacks’ hitting coach and Mel Stottlemyre Jr. the pitching coach.

Howell for the past five years has been the organization’s minor league field coordinator, a role in which he helped oversee the club’s minor league operations.

Stottlemyre, the son of longtime pitching coach Mel Sr. and brother of former Diamondbacks pitcher Todd, has been the organization’s minor league pitching coordinator the past two-plus years.

Anquan Boldin goes for extra yards against Cincinnati.

The NFL has never been a cornerstone of justice. Through cunning and brute force, you take whatever you can get. Anquan Boldin, who never resented the man who shattered his face in New York, should know this better than anyone.

Except the Cardinals’ Pro Bowl wide receiver is blinded by anger, or jealousy, or greed. He should know the cost of his actions.

As a child in Chicago, I loved the stinky Bears for one reason: the singular toughness and greatness of Walter Payton. His nobility made losing bearable. The punishment he dished out on defenders was enough retribution to get us all through the week. For years, football fans in Arizona felt the same way about Boldin and the Cardinals. Along with Adrian Wilson, Boldin is the foundation on which the current team stands.

But as his pity party continues, the love affair is ending. People are getting tired of Boldin’s sour mood, and by design, his Q rating is plummeting. He’s trying to make you, me and the team so sick of him that he must be traded elsewhere. What a terrible way to go.

Look, Boldin’s beef with the Cardinals organization is surely legitimate, and I’m sure the facts support his case. He’s long been an underpaid contributor, and the Cardinals have often been a heartless organization.

Boldin is most angry with General Manager Rod Graves, alleged to have made contractual vows he had no intention of keeping. And in the end, we all understand the great inequity at wide receiver, how Larry Fitzgerald has banked $50 million in bonus money, and that his most recent contract effectively prevented the Cardinals from giving Boldin what he deserved.

But that’s life. That’s football. And in a league that will break your face any given Sunday, it’s a bit hollow for Boldin to get hung up on a broken promise.

With his leverage reduced to a water pistol, Boldin should stop this fight immediately. His sulking is getting old, and he may have just lied to the team to avoid practicing in the first minicamp. This stuff adds up. He needs to smell the roses, and note the shifting winds.

Boldin should realize he has no chance of winning sympathy. Not in this economy, and not after the team ripped up his original contract earlier in the decade, rewarding him with $10 million in bonus money. Boldin took the short-term security then, diminishing his case in 2009.

It should be enough to Boldin that this team has a special window of opportunity. If he comes back and plays with a pure heart, the Cardinals are good enough to return to the Super Bowl. If he swallows his pride and honors his contract, it can be his team again. He can restore his good name and get that big money in the near future. Come on, Q. This should be the time of our lives.

It’s not fair that rookie Matthew Stafford will deposit $41.9 million in bonuses. It’s not fair that Ken Whisenhunt coached his team to the Super Bowl in 2009, and is scheduled to earn less than new Chiefs head coach Todd Haley, a former Cardinals assistant.

But the market waits for no one. The market doesn’t care about justice. And neither does the game of football.

“Given where we are, in this economy, this is not the right time to be talking about money,” Whisenhunt said.

If only Boldin could find a moment to utter those words.

UA, ASU programs now almost joined at the hip

Will the much-beloved rivalry between Arizona State and Arizona turn into a new version of "Family Feud"? With ties as close as those between basketball coaches Herb Sendek (left) and Sean Miller, it could be worth watching.

Look at what’s become of our little blood feud. The well of hate is drying up. A vicious rivalry has become an episode of “Friends.”

Arizona State is coached by Herb Sendek, who once recruited and twice hired Sean Miller, the new Arizona coach who was once best friends with Doug Tammaro, the sports information director for the men’s basketball team at ASU.

They all grew up in Pittsburgh. They share history. They have stories. You want proof?

Miller wore a G.I. Joe costume to Tammaro’s 6th birthday party, and quality video is still available. He also spilled water over Tammaro’s suit when they double-dated to a teen dance in Pittsburgh.

“He ain’t perfect,” Tammaro cracked.

Once, this intrastate basketball competition was all hiss and vinegar. Arizona was big brother, and ASU bore the welts.

In worst of times, it was Lute Olson pointing at the scoreboard, mocking the sparse crowd at Wells Fargo Arena. In times of peace, it was Olson poking fun at Bill Frieder in a friendly, condescending kind of way.

This shifting landscape was strange enough last year when Russ Pennell took over as Wildcats interim coach one year after serving as radio commentator for the Sun Devils. Now, these two programs are more connected than they’ve ever been.

“Back in the day, you would’ve thought that Herb and Sean might end up coaching against one another,” said Archie Miller, who is Sean’s younger brother, once played for Sendek and is currently an assistant under Thad Matta at Ohio State. “But to have two guys from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who grew up in the same coaching tree battle head-to-head in the state of Arizona . . . now that’s ironic.”

The two became acquainted when Sendek was in his first year under Rick Pitino at Providence and Miller was the best high school player in Pittsburgh. Sendek recruited Miller, but Miller sensed Pitino was a short-timer and instead chose Pittsburgh.

Miller was right. Pitino soon left to coach the Knicks.

“When I got the job at Miami (Ohio), Sean was the first guy I called to join our staff,” Sendek said.

After working together at Miami (Ohio), Sendek again hired Miller when he took over at North Carolina State. Since then, Sendek’s coaching tree has continued to grow, spawning Matta, Miller, Drake’s Mark Phelps and many others. It underscores just how special and underrated Sendek is as a head coach.

“It also illustrates what a small world the college basketball scene is,” Phelps said.

Yet there’s a strange new dynamic happening here.

While Sendek is only six years older than Miller, he has coached 509 games compared to Miller’s 167. That should give Sendek some kind of psychological edge, except Miller is considered one of the hot young coaches in the industry, and not the type to get tripped up by reverence for a mentor.

“Herb’s an amazing guy, and I know my brother respects him at a great level. My whole family does,” Archie said. “But are you going to see them going to watch the Steelers together when they play the Cardinals? Probably not.”

Said Sean Miller, at his debut news conference in Tucson: “I respect (Sendek) a great deal and I consider him a fantastic coach. At the same time, I know where I’m at.”

Finally, there’s this: Miller will reportedly earn $2 million a year over his five-year contract, including a $1 million signing bonus. Sendek makes about half of that and lost a chunk of his salary in 2009 due to furloughs at ASU.

Sendek brushed off the discrepancy on Wednesday, but you wonder if that inequity will make him uncomfortable in the future.

“Herb’s not overly concerned with what people want him to be or expect him to be,” Phelps said. “He’s very confident in who he is and has his own philosophy on how to live life. If other people perceive him to not have the polish of X, Y or Z, I don’t think that’s a great concern to Herb.”

So welcome to a new day in a changing rivalry. Sendek has a brilliant mind, meticulous attention to detail and a brand new practice facility opening in a few months. Miller is dynamic and polished, a great communicator with a great fan base and a national brand to sell.

This will get interesting.

One other thing: As a boy, the new coach at Arizona was something of an instigator. Tammaro said Miller had a great arm when it came to throwing tomatoes at moving objects and showed great leadership skills when choosing what houses to cover in toilet paper.

We’ll see how much trouble he causes for ASU basketball.

RENEE BRACAMONTE/Tucson Citizen

———

TALE OF THE TAPE

Miller Sendek

School UA ASU

Age 40 46

Career W-L 120-47 308-201

Percentage .718 .605

Last season 27-8 25-10

Years as head coach 5 16

NCAA tournaments 4 7

<h4>Getting in his grille </h4>

New Zealand's Tim McIntosh takes a ball on the grille of his helmet during the Third International Cricket Test on Saturday at Basin Reserve in Wellington, New Zealand.

TEMPE – With a hard hat and a notepad, I’ve wandered into basketball heaven.

I’m inside the $22 million Weatherup Center in Tempe, a dedicated practice facility designed to wow recruits and retain top-flight coaches like Herb Sendek and Charli Turner Thorne. It does the job, and then some.

For Arizona State basketball, this place is the final frontier and the missing link.

The facility is tucked away just east of Rural Road, hidden in a section of campus that will soon serve as the athletes village. Teams of workers buzz around in a constant state of activity, feverishly trying to meet deadline. Everyone in the vicinity must wear pants for safety regulations, although rumor has it that Turner Thorne once gained admission in her trademark skirt and high heels.

Inside, the building is split in half, with one side mirroring the other.

On the ground floor, each program will have its own locker room and its own players’ lounge, one that features a giant television, six flat-panel screens and a walkout view to an adjacent outdoor pool.

The coaching staffs will be housed on the second level, and each has an enormous balcony overlooking the practice court.

But it’s the playing surface that really matters, and both Sendek and Turner Thorne will soon have state-of-the-art practice gymnasiums. The school even designed additional space behind the baskets to properly simulate depth perception inside a real arena.

It gets better. Each gym will feature video cameras and a flat-screen monitor, allowing coaches to stop practice and instantly review video. Down the hall, there is a special room for former ASU stars, with lockers for Eddie House, Ike Diogu and, soon, James Harden.

It’s comforting to know that ASU basketball is no longer an afterthought.

The grand opening is slated for May 18, and both programs hope to move in by June 1. At that time, ASU is also scheduled to take over the building on the other side of the pool, which now houses the Athletes’ Performance Institute.

That complex features a giant kitchen and a weight room with rollup glass doors, allowing athletes to lift weights in fresh air while facing a sparkling pool. It will be hard for blue-chip recruits to forget this place.

In a shaky economy, in a year where ASU employees were all subjected to furloughs, this project almost seems too extravagant. On the contrary, it’s completely necessary, and probably the main reason that Sendek seems content to remain in Tempe.

In the past, basketball recruits rarely found any wow factor at ASU. They’d tour Wells Fargo Arena. They’d come off the elevator in the athletic building and find posters of Todd Heap and Jake Plummer. They were instantly aware that ASU basketball wasn’t a big deal in Tempe.

That will change dramatically. And this place will serve as a nice counterpunch to the next head coach at the University of Arizona, whoever that may be.

Some inside the program think the building will be worth two recruits a year, and the claim seems modest. It could give Turner Thorne’s program the final push, turning her Sun Devils into national champions. It could make Sendek’s program a perennial tournament team.

In the short term, I offer some advice to ASU: Keep Dennis Erickson away from this project at all costs, lest he turn green with envy.

Iverson done for year

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Allen Iverson’s season is over.

The Detroit Pistons said Friday the All-Star guard will miss the rest of the season because of a sore back. Iverson missed 16 games from Feb. 27 to March 28.

He returned for the past three games and averaged 7.7 points and 2.7 assists in nearly 19 minutes.

He complained about his role as a reserve.

The Pistons began Friday as the seventh-seeded team in the Eastern Conference.

The Associated Press

Oregon State wins title

EL PASO, Texas – Rickey Claitt was 5 of 6 on 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 28 points for Oregon State, carrying the Beavers to an 81-73 victory over UTEP in Game 3 of the College Basketball Invitational championship series Friday night.

Oregon State made 12 of 19 three-point shots for a 2-1 series win, which clinched its first postseason title in school history. Lathen Wallace added 13 and Roeland Schaftenaar scored 12 for the Beavers.

“I was shooting and everything was going in,” Claitt said. “I kept shooting until I missed. This is phenomenal for us. This rockets us into next year.”

The Associated Press

QUOTABLE

'We don't have to play perfect, we just have to play together.'

JAY WRIGHT,

Villanova basketball coach, on what he told his team it needs to do to beat North Carolina in the Final Four on Saturday.

———

SPORTS SOUND-OFF

Offering Floyd job was just plain stupid

Re: UA hoops coaching search

• Throwing Floyd the job was like a “panic” move on his part since every damn college was hiring this week! Come on Livengood.

JUSTAFAN

I don’t get it . . . 25 years ago Arizona was in the dumps, a horrible b-ball school and we got a Final Four coach in Lute Olson . . . so now that we are a storied program, why are we not at least going for the same caliber?

UABEACHBUM

You hire a coach who will be with you for 25-30 years. This means a Miller, a Drew or a Pastner, and Josh is the best choice. All the top coaches out there want Josh to work for them. That should tell UA all it needs to know.

OLDBOB

———

ON THIS DATE

1983: Lorenzo Charles scores on a dunk after Derek Whittenburg’s 35-foot desperation shot falls short to give North Carolina State a 54-52 triumph over Houston in the NCAA championship.

1986: Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky breaks his own NHL single-season points record with three assists to increase his total to 214. He scored 212 points in 1981-82.

1987: New York’s Denis Potvin, the highest-scoring defenseman in NHL history, scores his 1,000th point.

1988: Danny Manning scores 31 points and grabs 18 rebounds as Kansas wins its second NCAA championship with an 83-79 victory over Oklahoma.

1993: Sheryl Swoopes shatters the women’s championship game record by scoring 47 points to lead Texas Tech to an 84-82 victory over Ohio State.

The Associated Press

Arizona Diamondbacks' Conor Jackson (right) celebrates with teammate Justin Upton after Jackson scored against the San Francisco Giants in a September game in Phoenix. The two and fellow outfielder Chris Young seem to be the team's best hopes for star status.

For all the economic woes and budget restraints, the Arizona Diamondbacks are a well-constructed team. They have what it takes to win a division.

Yawn.

What they need is a star. What they need is someone on the field to be more popular than the team’s color commentator Mark Grace.

They need someone to bust out, bash the baseball and make people gasp in awe. They need someone to galvanize their fan base, like Manny Ramirez has done with the Dodgers.

Is that you, Justin Upton?

“That guy is a five-tool player,” catcher Chris Snyder. “His talent is incredible.”

Is that you, Conor Jackson?

“I’m not going to lie to you,” Jackson said. “Last year, I was trying to hit home runs. I was trying to do it, and nothing good comes from that. I think the move to left field has settled me down quite a bit.”

Is that you, Chris Young?

“I think our outfield is amazing,” Young said.

In the worst-case scenario, the 2009 season will be more of the same. Pitching will keep them close, in games and in the standings, but an erratic, strikeout-prone lineup will take the oomph out of the Diamondbacks, and their fans on a maddening roller-coast ride to mediocrity.

During the haze of spring training, manager Bob Melvin has done everything he can to make his hitters put the bat on the ball. That’s important.

In a best-case scenario, the 2009 season will unveil one of the most athletic, potent outfields in the game. Jackson is the team’s best hitter. Young is a great athlete with great power, a smart kid who admits he had too many weaknesses by the end of last season.

And then there’s Upton, a physical specimen referred to by friends as “J-Up,” the kid who could become Phoenix’s next Larry Fitzgerald, if he’d only reach his potential.

“We drive each other,” Young said. “We live together in spring training. We hang out together during the season. We know how to make each other click. And I’ll say this: He knows the game isn’t easy, but he’s ready to go. His approach has been perfect. I think he’s going to have a huge year.”

The growing connection between these three young outfielders has created an interesting dynamic in camp. Eric Byrnes is returning from a lost season, and the former fan favorite is desperate to please his manager. He wants his position back in the worst way. But Jackson, Young and Upton seem to represent the future, the heart of the lineup. Who is going to sit?

Jackson is clearly liberated from the gut-churning pressure he felt while playing first base. The Diamondbacks don’t want to mess with his comfort level. Meanwhile, Young and Upton are almost inseparable now, and probably cover more ground than any two outfielders in baseball. “Watching those two (Young and Upton) hang around together, you see how iron sharpens iron,” Snyder said. “Both of them are primed to have incredible seasons.”

Good, because the Diamondbacks sorely need a good start. The ticket-buying market has crashed in almost all sports, and baseball teams that struggle from the gate are going to get hammered by the economy.

The Diamondbacks have a chance. They have enough quality pitching to remain competitive. They have nifty opposing attractions for sale, like Ramirez in Dodger Blue and Randy Johnson’s return with the Giants. But they need something to turn on their fans, and we’re not talking about air conditioning.

The Diamondbacks need someone to command our attention. Namely, a star.

Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash talks to head coach Terry Porter during a game against the Denver Nuggets at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, Calif., in November.

PHOENIX – Somewhere, the exiled and castaway Phoenix Suns are all having a good laugh.

They are guys like Joe Johnson, Kurt Thomas, Mike D’Antoni, Bryan Colangelo, Shawn Marion, Raja Bell and Boris Diaw, just to name a few.

They represent what could have been. For Suns fans, the upcoming All-Star Game is also a time of great shame.

We’re staging a party inside a crumbling basketball empire. Welcome, folks, and please watch out for the cracked concrete and falling stones.

“We’re in the midst of assessing the current team and future,” general manager and ex-Arizona Wildcat Steve Kerr said.

“And this is a logical time to do that with the trade deadline looming. We have to gather as much information as we can and decide on our course going forward.”

With his stomach barely settled after trading for Shaquille O’Neal last season, Kerr has two more huge issues on the table.

The general manager must trade Amaré Stoudemire, who has flat-lined as a player and is now throwing team captains under the bus, before the start of next season. And he has to solve his coaching conundrum quickly.

It has been clear for some time that new guy Terry Porter is struggling, and he seems to be the only one in town who doesn’t notice.

He came here to hold players accountable and hold the opponent to under 100 points a game. Some 50 games into the season philosophies are changing overnight, there’s no consistent vision and the team is back to running and gunning their way to victory.

The locker room is not anarchy, but the Suns are not exactly captivated by Porter’s presence or leadership.

It’s bad enough that the owner and the general manager had to fly cross country to deliver a pick-me-up speech.

Meanwhile, everyone’s longing for the good old days of Mike D., and it’s amazing how D’Antoni has gone from villain to sainthood in Phoenix while compiling a losing record in New York.

But the real story is Porter, who walked into a tough job, inheriting an aging team set in its ways, corrupted by the country club approach.

This much is indisputable: The talent on the Suns roster well exceeds their level of play. That means the players are not responding to the head coach.

It’s just not working. Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised, given the B-list of inexpensive candidates drummed up after D’Antoni’s departure.

But what to do? Firing Porter now would be a heavy admission of error, and there is no money for a quality replacement. Alvin Gentry has been a head coach in the NBA, but he’s been a buffer to these players and an assistant in Phoenix too long to become the central figure of authority.

Kerr doesn’t want to coach at the moment, and even if he did, he couldn’t dare take over the big chair now. That would validate everything D’Antoni intimated about the motives of meddling management.

The solution: Kerr will help Porter coach this team. He will see what trade offers come across his desk.

He will hope for his luck to change, and for his soggy draft picks to blossom. Maybe this team can make the playoffs. Maybe it can make a run at the second round.

Maybe it can clear cap space for 2010, when a stellar crop of free agents hits the market.

Right. Like anyone wants to play here anymore.

Sorry, folks. It’s not pretty when pillars fall.

But don’t be mad at Kerr. Feel bad for Kerr. All he wanted was for D’Antoni to play a little defense.

And just imagine working for Sabino High School grad Robert Sarver in this economy, and handing him a luxury tax bill for a team that doesn’t make the playoffs.

Besides, we’re all to blame here. We all got greedy. Steve Nash even said so himself. We all should have shut up and let D’Antoni do his thing, defense be damned.

After all, there was power in his conviction, no matter how wacky or fatal the outcome. And as we find out now, it’s good to believe in something.

———

More on Suns

UP NEXT: Phoenix at Cleveland, 5 p.m. Wednesday. TV: none. Radio: 1490 AM

NOTABLE: The Suns (28-22) are eighth in the Western Conference, tied with the Utah Jazz.

Arizona has second chance to make good

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison hauls in an interception in front of Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin and runs it back for a 100-yard touchdown during Sunday's Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla.

TAMPA – The game is over. The game lives on. The game will be played on continuous loop between our ears for some time to come.

Now comes the real Super Bowl for the Arizona Cardinals’ front office.

Somehow, they must make sure this wasn’t a fluke, a one-hit wonder, the pig that learned to fly.

They must steer this franchise back to the playoffs next season. They cannot lose their grip as NFC West champions.

“We thought we were going to be world champs,” Cardinals linebacker Karlos Dansby said. “We had the opportunity to be great.”

In the dark minutes after Super Bowl XLIII, the contrast in emotions was striking. The Steelers strolled toward the team bus wearing white championship bath robes and smoking cigars.

They were in a state of collective ecstasy. Their lives had all changed forever, for the better, and they knew it.

“I feel like Hugh Hefner,” one of them said. “And I feel like celebrating.”

The Cardinals were appropriately numb. The difference between winning and losing a Super Bowl is immense, emotionally, historically and financially. Scar tissue must form over these deep wounds of regret, from all the little things that led to a 27-23 loss.

If only . . .

What if someone had just pushed the Steelers’ James Harrison out of bounds on that interception to end the first half? What if the Cardinals had gone to that explosive, no-huddle offense earlier in the game? What if the defense would’ve just stood up at the end? What if Santonio Holmes doesn’t make one of the best catches in Super Bowl history, rivaling grabs from the Giants’ David Tyree and the Steelers’ Lynn Swann?

“(That game) probably took a couple years off my life,” Steelers safety Troy Polamalu said.

History shows this game can inflict much collateral damage. Teams involved in a championship run often come down with a Super Bowl hangover. They find it hard to turn the page, to crank it up again the following season. Fame and ego poison the mix. Many go from the Super Bowl to missing the playoffs entirely the following season.

To get out of the funk that comes with losing a Super Bowl, the Cardinals need to act quickly and decisively. They need to re-sign Kurt Warner, and they will as long as Warner wants to play. They should make a serious run at Ravens’ linebacker Terrell Suggs, who wants to come home.

They need to find a running back. They need to quit talking about Anquan Boldin and send his agent a sparkling new contract. He’ll appreciate the bluntness.

Precise decisions

They need to figure out whether Antonio Smith is a rising star or if he’s expendable. They have plenty of money, no excuses, and they still reside in a weak division.

They have a core group of players who just experienced a magical postseason run together. In the NFL, that’s worth a lot. To alter too greatly the vibe, the mood and the feel of this team would be damaging.

“They’d better keep this team together,” said three different players after Sunday’s game, off the record, before trudging out to the team bus.

The Cardinals owe us that much. In one bizarre, magical year, they have turned Arizona on its ear. Larry Fitzgerald has become a national superstar. Warner is a tale of inspiration, a man who can make us all better. And while people still wear their No. 40 jerseys out of respect for Pat Tillman, this team has spawned a lot of young players worth cheering.

By going unbeaten in the month of January, the Cardinals have scrubbed clean 61 years of clumsy, pathetic football. They have a championship window of opportunity, just as the Suns once did. And just like 1998, the Big Red is red hot, with fans flocking to the team and their brand.

After 10 long years, the Cardinals have a second chance to make good. This time, they had better get it right.

Finish leaves Arizona filled with pride

Pittsburgh's Santonio Holmes scores the winning touchdown, keeping his feet inbounds, as Arizona's Aaron Francisco defends late in the fourth quarter.

TAMPA, Fla. – In the NFL, they say that nobody remembers who loses the Super Bowl.

That might be the case in 49 other states. It’s not true in Arizona, where our mood has changed from red to blue. The depression will linger like a heavy fog.

The Cardinals lost their first Super Bowl on Sunday, falling 27-23 to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Raymond James Stadium. It was nauseating. It was exhilarating. It was stupefying. It featured one of the best fourth quarters anyone has ever seen.

It ended with the biggest sucker punch the state has ever felt.

“It was like getting a chair pulled out from under you,” Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald said.

When Fitzgerald galloped through the Steelers defense like a thoroughbred, scoring a touchdown that capped the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history, the Cardinals were 157 seconds from immortality. They were 157 seconds from ending the second-longest drought in professional sports.

Then the magic disappeared. Destiny, like most everyone else in the building, was wearing black and gold.

“Some say we could not top last year’s Super Bowl,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. “But the Steelers and Cardinals did that tonight.”

In time, you will feel proud of the Cardinals for what they accomplished, for not giving up.

Their stout performance in the final 15 minutes will earn them much-needed respect and credibility around the league. But deep down, you also know they played a sloppy, mistake-prone game and still almost left with the trophy.

What a shame. After a rocky first half, their furious rally against the vaunted Steelers defense would’ve been sweeter than the Diamondbacks’ comeback against the New York Yankees and star pitcher Mariano Rivera in the 2001 World Series. It would’ve been the stuff of legends.

Instead, the Steelers responded with their own game-winning touchdown. It was eerily similar to last year’s Super Bowl in Glendale when the Patriots received a late touchdown from their star receiver (Randy Moss), only to watch the Giants counter with something even better.

To Arizona’s horror, Fitzgerald’s heroics were trumped by a sensational touchdown catch by the Steelers’ Santonio Holmes. And for the second time in the past 12 years, a football championship was simply stolen from our grasp. Or maybe you’ve blotted out the memory of Ohio State rallying to snuff out Arizona State in the Rose Bowl.

“We’ve got a team that doesn’t blink in the face of adversity,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.

As a result, Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner will not get his storybook ending, and his family will not be getting a victory puppy. As part of a mayors’ wager, a tree from Pennsylvania now must be planted outside University of Phoenix Stadium. Given our climate, the tree likely will be dead by summer. That’s about the time the sting of this defeat will vanish.

“I don’t think you ever get over this,” Cardinals defensive end Antonio Smith said. “We won’t get over this until we get back here and win it.”

Look hard, and there are silver linings, reasons to smile. By kickoff, the Cardinals were more than a football team. They were a parable. They were proof that even the darkest situations can brighten overnight. Incredibly, this team has become a symbol of hope, not futility.

The season also represented a huge victory for the Bidwill family which owns the team. When campaigning for Proposition 302, team president Michael Bidwill said a state-of-the-art facility was the missing bridge between his team and a championship.

Three years after the doors to a new stadium opened, the Cardinals made it all the way to the Super Bowl. The Bidwill family kept a promise, and that has done wonders for its image and legacy in Arizona.

And in the scope of history, this journey is much longer and more profound than one remarkable Super Bowl. It should mark the end of the Dark Ages of Cardinals football. There is no tangible reason to go another 33 years without a division title, or another 61 years without playing for a championship.

But that doesn’t help much now, does it?

Two weeks ago, the Cardinals made you weep with pride and happiness. But sometimes in the NFL, the hits are vicious. And sometimes, the tears aren’t always sweet.

Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hoists the Vince Lombardi championship trophy after his team beat the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII.

Rocky Bleier, who was wounded while serving in the military during the Vietnam War, won four Super Bowls with the Steelers.

TAMPA, Fla. – The sky is heavy and dark. I’m in a car trailing Mike Ditka, the pope of football. I’m hoping to meet up with Rocky Bleier, the former Steelers running back who once defined American toughness.

I want to hear Bleier talk about former Arizona Cardinal Pat Tillman, veteran on veteran.

“I got drafted,” Bleier would say later. “Pat chose. There’s a big difference.”

The road ends at the local VA hospital. Ditka struggles out of his vehicle and limps to the front door. A doctor in a white coat shakes his hand. As soon as we step inside, a Gulf Coast rainstorm begins pounding the pavement.

“Rocky! Rocky! Rocky!” come the chants from inside. The two NFL legends walk into a living room where broken young soldiers are assembled in a circle, surrounded by their families, each living their own private horror show.

Ditka is an emotional man. He wears his heart on his sleeve. One look at this bill of war, and Ditka is already staggered.

“Hey, gang,” he says.

Kevin Kammerdiener, who spent his 20th birthday in a coma, gets the first autographed football. Kevin is from East Brady, Pa. He spent 10 months in Afghanistan working as a gunner on a Humvee, and one day, a suicide bomber crashed into his truck.

Kevin flew 35 feet in the air and landed on his head. His helmet would have come in handy, but it had already been blown off.

Kevin lost half his brain that day, and 25 percent of his body was burned.

His mother, Leslie, has her own scorecard. She has been at his side for at least 12 hours a day for the past 243 days. She quit her cable company job to care for her son, and now she’s unemployed and homeless. But her family is resolute, and today she is hopeful.

“We’d never thought we’d ever have this,” she said, pointing to her injured child. “We thought if he lived, he’d be a vegetable. And if he woke up, he’d be like a 3-year old.”

With the help of his doctors, Kevin now says 25 words. The first one was “Hi.” The second word was “Steelers.”

“My son has a great sense of humor, and it’s still there,” Leslie said.

War veterans share an eternal bond.

In some ways, Bleier was the original Tillman, a football player lauded for his military service in Vietnam. In 1969, his platoon was ambushed in a rice paddy. He was shot in his left leg, and as he lay writhing on the ground, a grenade exploded nearby, tearing up his right leg and foot. He spent eight months in a hospital recovering.

Bleier moves about the room with grace and understanding. He sits down next to Lukas Shook, a 21-year-old Army private blown up in Baghdad. Shook remembers a rocket exploding 15 feet away. He remembers being dragged into a bunker, and blood pouring down his face. That’s when the lights went out.

Now, he’s in a wheelchair. He suffered severe injuries to his head and his spine. He wears a breastplate over his torso. But he is full of fight, and he is beginning to walk again, something doctors said would never happen.

But he doesn’t know a thing about Bleier.

“Do you remember Terry Bradshaw?” Bleier asked.

Yes.

“Do you remember Franco Harris?” Bleier asked.

Yes.

“I was the other guy,” Bleier said. “Someone had to block for them.”

After recovering from his war wounds, Bleier rejoined the Steelers and went on to win four Super Bowls. He did what Tillman, who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004, might have done had he come home and played more football. But the comparison makes him uneasy.

“Two things,” Bleier said. “When we went to war, it was not popular to be in the service, to be identified with that war. We were looked down upon as baby killers, spat upon . . . it was a big adjustment coming home.

“The Gulf War changed all of that. We were in, we were out, we watched it on television, and we were proud. Guys had flags coming out of trucks, and everyone was beeping their horns. Now, if you were a veteran, you were appreciated again.

“Now, I get people who come up and say, ‘Thank you. Thank you for serving.’

“Well, it wasn’t my choice. Not like Pat. But you’re welcome.”

As Bleier signs a football for Shook, he writes the words Never Give Up.

They share a knowing look.

Ditka has a heavy schedule, and must be going. But this stop is special.

His pet cause, the Gridiron Greats, has now aligned itself with the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, and this is part of the grand plan. Ditka has literally touched every person in the room, and they have touched him right back.

“These people are what made this country great,” Ditka said. “People who believed in it enough to stand up for it and defend it, and not all of them got out in good shape. To not honor them and not remember them is a disgrace.”

Ditka pauses, and looks out the window.

“There are a lot of things wrong with war, but it happens,” he said. “It happens all throughout history, and it’ll continue to happen long after we’re gone.”

As those awful words hang in the air, the pope of football hits the road.

The rain has stopped. The game is coming. In the shadows of Super Bowl XLIII, pray that the real heroes in Tampa can still hear the cheers.

Tillman

Arizona's Edgerrin James

TAMPA, Fla. – A white Lamborghini sits outside the Arizona Cardinals’ hotel.

It’s a symbol of freedom, wealth and power. It is a statement from Edgerrin James, who is not coming back to Arizona for the final year on his contract.

But he’s sure going out in style.

“My first time seeing it was the day we got here,” James said. “I kind of learned how to drive it and everything on the fly.”

The arrival of this vehicle says something. It was purchased in Miami last week, reportedly paid for in cash, and shipped to Tampa for this grand occasion. It was a present from James to himself on finally reaching the NFL’s biggest stage.

The timing is obnoxious and spectacular.

This vehicle is his Super Bowl trophy. It is on display for the world to see, and the message is simple: Now that James has arrived back home, with that car and these Cardinals, no one can say his time in Arizona was a failure. No one can throw dirt on him now.

“I’m back in south Florida,” said James, when asked what was most special about this week. “That’s the highlight.”

James is a hardscrabble snapshot of south Florida football. He grew up in the rural community of Immokalee, about 130 miles from the site of Super Bowl XLIII.

As a youngster, he worked alongside crack addicts, filling watermelon trucks for $20 a load. He lived the hard life, watching people swallowed whole by poverty and drugs and crime, until football became his golden ticket.

“That car is unbelievable,” teammate Terrelle Smith said. “It’s like sitting inside a rocket. And he deserves it. He’s not a guy that spends a lot of money, and he plays possum with a lot of people. You may look at him one way, but the guy is extremely intelligent. He knows what he’s doing, and he does everything for a reason.”

This season, James was benched for the first time in his life. While his agent unsuccessfully lobbied for his release, James kept his mouth shut. Intuitively, he knew that acting out would lead only to more trouble. He had plenty of experience in that arena.

“I have three brothers in prison right now,” James said. “It’s because of the way they reacted to bad situations.”

He has an uncle in prison, too.

“I have a bunch of people (in prison),” he said. “I’m on the list to go into all the prisons. I make my rounds.”

When James showed up at a high school game in Florida earlier this season, a reporter asked him about his diminished role in Arizona. James said he was just biding his time, waiting to get out of prison. Given where he’s from, the choice of words was profound.

Imagine being a football icon from Florida, climbing the charts of all-time rushing leaders, and then getting benched in Arizona.

“In life, not everything is going to work out in your favor,” James said. “But I’m going to do everything the right way. Everybody knows that I wouldn’t do anything illegal. Only thing I do illegal is drive fast. If you do everything the right way, eventually you’ll get the results you want.”

When James was finally put back on the field, the Cardinals became whole once again. He gave them the balance that comes with a gritty running back. He gave them experience. People said he had fresh legs, and that drove James crazy. His legs are fresh because he works at it, and in December, he was still squatting more than 400 pounds.

“My legs aren’t fresh,” he said. “My legs are strong. This is something I work at.”

Ah, but we always get it wrong with this guy, don’t we?

James is one of only three running backs to gain more than 100 yards against the Steelers’ defense since 2005, and quarterback Kurt Warner called him the X factor in Sunday’s game.

No matter what happens, the Cardinals are convinced his role in the offense isn’t worth the $5 million he’s scheduled to make next season, and Edge is just as eager to leave.

Many of the Cardinals are expecting James to say goodbye to his teammates after Sunday’s game, and drive off into the night, into the rest of his career.

“I wouldn’t be surprised at all,” Smith said.

“I don’t think we’ll be seeing Edge in exit interviews,” another teammate said.

As James walked off to practice on Friday, I cornered him and asked if his seat on the charter plane to Arizona might go unoccupied, if that pricey Lamborghini was the world’s most expensive getaway car.

“You can’t drive that car to Miami,” said James, smiling wide. “You’ve got to put that thing on a truck.”

Farewell, Edge. It’s been fun.

James

———

SUPER BOWL XLIII

Arizona (12-7) vs. Pittsburgh (14-4)

When: 4 p.m. Sunday

TV: NBC

Line: Steelers by 6.5

Cardinals' Bertrand Berry has his biceps measured by Ines Sainz of TV Azteca during Super Bowl XLIII media day Tuesday in Tampa, Fla.

TAMPA, Fla. – Hello, world. Meet the Cardinals.

They’re fresh. They’re friendly. They don’t mind dumb questions.

They’re perfect fodder for the absurdity and excess of media day.

“Man, it’s a long way from Arizona,” Cardinals offensive lineman Deuce Lutui said. “I haven’t seen this much media ever.”

It’s official now. The Cardinals are no longer Super Bowl exiles. For the first time in history, they were on the inside looking out at some 4,589 credentialed journalists from 28 countries. And on a beautiful Tuesday morning inside Raymond James Stadium, they aced their first big test.

They handled the crush of global media with flair. They smiled for the cameras and showed off their personalities. They answered questions from cross-dressers, kids, the Christian Broadcasting Network and the Pentagon Channel.

Afterward, former NFL star Marshall Faulk raved about the Cardinals’ collective performance, saying they “spoke with clarity.” For a team that’s never been here before, the Cardinals acted like they’ve been here before. That’s impressive.

Here’s how they did it:

• Anquan Boldin was cheerful and inviting. The Pro Bowl wide receiver sat at a podium next to a small air horn. Anytime a reporter asked him about his NFC Championship Game sideline spat with offensive coordinator Todd Haley, Boldin blew the horn.

“Antonio (Pierce) came over and gave it to me,” Boldin said. “He said it really came in handy for him last year.”

Pierce, a former University of Arizona star now playing for the Giants, unveiled the air horn last season in New York after his team got off to a 0-2 start.

“I told (reporters), ‘You’re going to get tired of hearing that horn, and you’re going to quit asking those questions,’ ” Pierce said. “It worked.”

By his estimation, Boldin used the horn three times, and the questions stopped.

• Kurt Warner answered every question with eloquence and insight, and still had to be pulled from the podium when the 60-minute gabfest had ended. The Cardinals are clearly listening to their veteran quarterback, who advised everyone to embrace the suffocating amounts of media attention.

Warner set the example for everyone, earnestly answering questions about his shaving habits and whether he was trying to “bring sexy back.”

“I gave that up a long time ago,” Warner said.

• Special teams ace Sean Morey sang the Brown University fight song with fellow alumnus and ESPN anchor Chris Berman. Enough said.

• Antonio Smith calls himself “The Strongest Right Arm,” and now there’s evidence to support that claim. The defensive end won the biggest biceps competition held by Ines Sainz, a glamorous reporter from TV Azteca who walked around with measuring tape and asked players to flex their muscles.

The Cardinals happily obliged. Many suffered whiplash when Sainz moved on to the next player.

• Keith Olbermann spent part of his 50th birthday on the field, admiring Larry Fitzgerald.

“We go through this whole routine,” said Olbermann, a political and sports commentator for NBC and MSNBC. “You come here, there is no news, and now (teams) are sending in ringers. This kid’s father is a sportswriter. He’s the guy everybody wants to hear from, and he’s been practicing these answers since he was in the womb.”

While Olbermann mocked the nature of Media Day, he marveled at the Cardinals’ presence in Tampa.

“The last time they played this late in a season, Truman was president, they were in Chicago and there was no television, really,” Olbermann said. “It’s kind of startling. It’s kind of bizarre.”

• Adrian Wilson showed up wearing tough-guy sunglasses. He looked like he came off the set of “Pulp Fiction.” Along with his deep voice and sculpted face, he brought an element of quiet toughness to the proceedings.

The longest-tenured Cardinals player brought some philosophy, too.

“Patience is a virtue,” the Pro Bowl safety said, when asked about all the years of suffering.

• Darnell Dockett wore his heart on his sleeveless arms, showing off his ink-stained flesh.

“I think tattoos are beautiful things,” the defensive tackle said. “I’m a self-made guy, and I design my body the way I want it.”

• Easy-going Edgerrin James was in chill mode, as usual. One “reporter” told James he’d never forget what the former Miami running back did to UCLA in the Orange Bowl in 1998. Another asked James what it’s like to be an underdog all the time.

“I’m an African-American,” he said smiling. “We’re always underdogs.”

• Cardinals president Michael Bidwill pinch-hit for his reclusive father, Bill, who took a few questions before retiring out of the hot sun. He wore a suit, eschewing that hideous red blazer. He even fielded tough questions from a national columnist who wanted to know why so many key players don’t have new contracts.

• Defensive linemen Gabe Watson and Alan Branch hammed it up for “Entertainment Tonight,” battling each other in a segment called “Dancing with the Super Bowl Stars.”

“They took the two biggest, widest guys they could find in the stands,” Watson said. “And that was us.”

They attempted to learn the rumba. They faced each other in a dance-off. Watson was so nervous that his legs were shaking before the competition started.

Branch eventually won, saying he “had to show them how a real man dances.”

One problem, though. Someone at “Entertainment Tonight” broke the winner’s trophy, and it had to be taped together.

“Can you believe they broke the trophy? Can you believe that happened?” Watson said. “See how they do the Cardinals?”

One can hope it won’t be the only hardware coming home with your new favorite football team.

Cardinals defensive tackle Alan Branch dances with Renee Sapp during Super Bowl XLIII media day.

———

SUPER BOWL XLIII

Arizona (12-7) vs. Pittsburgh (14-4)

When: 4 p.m. Sunday

Where: Tampa, Fla.

TV: NBC

Line: Steelers by 6.5

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger leaves the plane after his team arrived Monday in Tampa, Fla., the site of the Super Bowl.

TAMPA – The truth isn’t always told at the Super Bowl.

Anquan Boldin won’t tell you how much he despises upper management. Russ Grimm won’t admit he was jerked around by the Steelers, or that he’d like to squash his former employers like a bug on the windshield of his motorcycle.

And if you didn’t know any better, you’d think Ken Whisenhunt and Ben Roethlisberger actually like each other.

They do not. Welcome to the Grudge Bowl.

“I certainly respect the player he’s grown into,” Whisenhunt said.

The dynamics of this chilly relationship are intriguing. Whisenhunt was the Steelers’ offensive coordinator for three years, and by definition, worked closely with Roethlisberger. He helped Roethlisberger develop quickly, notching a 13-0 record as a rookie starter. The two won a Super Bowl the following year. Then the relationship unraveled.

One month after Whisenhunt was hired in Arizona, the new Cardinals coach was attending the NFL combine in Indianapolis. He was asked about Roethlisberger’s trauma-filled season in 2006, which included a motorcycle crash, an appendectomy and a concussion.

“I just saw physically in the pocket . . . you could just sense he wasn’t as confident as he was the year before,” Whisenhunt said. “A lot of that I think was because of recovering from the injuries and having some doubts of whether he was 100 percent or not.”

That’s all Whisenhunt said. That’s all it took.

Since then, Roethlisberger has made it clear that he doesn’t care for Whisenhunt’s methods or his play calling.

The quarterback said he disagreed with his former offensive coordinator on a lot of points during their time in Pittsburgh. He called Whisenhunt’s offense “predictable.”

He even sympathized with Matt Leinart when the Cardinals’ former starting quarterback was enduring tough love from the coaching staff.

Neither man acknowledged the other when the Steelers came to Glendale in 2007. No handshakes, no hugs, nothing. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that new Steelers coach Mike Tomlin met with Roethlisberger before that game, just to make sure his quarterback didn’t say anything outrageous.

The feud seems a bit one-sided and rather silly. Whisenhunt is a demanding coach unafraid to challenge his quarterbacks. It’s why a fumble-prone Kurt Warner was sleeping with a football during the offseason, and why Leinart has had his feelings bruised. He’s a demanding coach with high standards.

He doesn’t cuddle. He doesn’t coddle.

Besides, the details are irrelevant. All that matters is whether the Cardinals can benefit from this strained relationship, and the idea has precedent.

In 2003, former Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden jumped into his team’s last Super Bowl practice and served as the scout team quarterback. Gruden was so familiar with former quarterback Rich Gannon that he could imitate all his tendencies.

Gannon was intercepted five times the following day, and after the game, Tampa defenders gushed about how well prepared they were for Gannon’s cadence, his preferences and where he liked to go with the football.

We all know Whisenhunt is beyond smart. He’s an intellectual with a civil engineering degree. He must know every bad habit Roethlisberger brings to the football field.

Alas, it won’t matter much in this case. Roethlisberger is a different player now. Pittsburgh is a smash-mouth team that doesn’t rely solely on the arm of its quarterback. Besides, all of Whisenhunt’s acumen on the subject won’t bring Big Ben down when he’s scrambling.

The good news is, Whisenhunt also has a lot of experience with Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, the architect of the Steelers’ punishing 3-4 defense, a man Whisenhunt says he loves. That information is going to come in handy.

———

SUPER BOWL XLIII

Arizona (12-7)

vs. Pittsburgh (14-4)

When: 4 p.m. Sunday

Where: Tampa, Fla.

TV: NBC

Line: Steelers by 6.5

Arizona receiver Larry Fitzgerald reaches the ball over the goal line for a touchdown as Carolina's Chris Harris defends during Saturday's game in Charlotte, N.C.

Words should have no meaning in football, a sport where players are paid to commit violent acts.

They mean everything to the Arizona Cardinals.

It’s goofy, really. While this team has become lovable and formidable in this magical postseason, it was also a 9-7 team that lucked into two home playoff games.

Arizona was obliterated in most of its marquee moments. It gave up 426 points in the regular season, in a league where you win nothing without a stout defense. National experts had no basis for faith.

Ah, but these crazy Cardinals are not in the mood for logic. They just want to be angry at somebody.

“Deion Sanders, saying he’s going to sell his Super Bowl tickets if we make it to the Super Bowl?” Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson said. “That’s disrespectful.”

It isn’t so much the offense. It’s mostly the defensive players who have used written words, point spreads and over-the-air opinions to work themselves into a lather, to get extremely agitated.

It makes sense. By all stereotypes, offensive players are forced to be more cerebral. Most live in a state of information overload, and wisely chose to ignore taunts, predictions and other verbal nonsense.

Defensive players are taught to eat meat off the bone and hit whatever’s moving. They can get a little touchy. You talkin’ to me?

“This team right now, the Arizona Cardinals, right now we’re going to use that stuff,” Wilson said.

A seasoned team leader, Wilson understands the effect this word play is having on some of his defensive colleagues. He doesn’t want to change what’s working, and neither do I. So I offer:

Brandon Jacobs, running back for the New York Giants. He didn’t even play against the Cardinals when the Giants came to Glendale in November. Yet he had the gall to say this after his team was eliminated by the Eagles on Sunday:

“Philly’s a hot team right now,” Jacobs said. “They just beat the only team that has a chance to beat them. I’m on their bandwagon.”

Perfect. Someone place that over Darnell Dockett’s locker.

A Philadelphia columnist said, “the hardest part of the job is done.” An ESPN.com columnist belittled the Cardinals chances under a headline that read, “Let’s Book Eagles for Tampa.”

That should be plenty of material for this group. If not, there’s one last item to chew on. It happened during a press conference with quarterback Donovan McNabb before the divisional playoffs, after the Eagles made the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Q: “SI called you guys a very dangerous team right now. How dangerous do you think you guys are?”

A: “Well, they called the Cardinals dangerous, too. It’s a regional copy.”

Deep laughter filled the room.

Philadelphia is a city built on toughness, and few things are worse than a soft sports team. For them, the verdict on the Cardinals came during the Eagles’ 48-20 win on Thanksgiving.

The Cardinals have been living on this stuff for a few weeks now, and as long as the oddsmakers in Las Vegas keep installing road opponents as the favorite, the Cardinals will continue to act hurt, defiant, vengeful.

Truth is, it’s not the words that matter. This team began to change after that embarrassment in New England. After playing in inclement weather, the team was stuck at the Rhode Island airport for many hours. Then the plane had to stop in Minnesota to get more fuel. That’s a lot of time to marinate over a horrible loss.

Head coach Ken Whisenhunt then threatened anyone who didn’t respond in practice with a loss of playing time.

The next full practice happened on a cold, rainy day that spawned a new toughness. For the first time in six weeks, the Cardinals began focusing on the things that matter.

“We’ve been through it all,” Cardinals fullback Terrelle Smith said. “We’ve been beaten down on the East Coast; we’ve been beaten down in the snow; we’ve been here and there; we’ve been talked about; we’ve been in the rain; we’ve been shoved; we’ve been pushed; but one thing: We never broke.”

Until that happens, they might as well keep the bulletin board full.

———

SUNDAY’S NFL GAMES

NFC

Philadelphia (11-6-1) at Arizona (11-7), 1 p.m., Fox

AFC

Baltimore (13-5) at Pittsburgh (13-4), 4:30 p.m., CBS

———

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