Wake up call is bright and early for the reporters covering the Cardinals. (I call us "B team.") On Wednesday and Thursday, we scurry over to their team hotel before 8AM to hear Ken Whisenhunt and a star player (Kurt Warner today) talk alone for 15 minutes each. They get off easy: the rest of the players are stuck with us for 45 minutes after that, seated at folding tables spread out underneath an outdoor tent. Six players get a podium during that time. I'll be using some of the material later for a longer story, but here are some general impressions from the morning.
The politics of who gets a podium is fascinating. They try to spread out the podium love during the week, but superstars like Warner and Larry Fitzgerald need the protection. Anquan Boldin hasn't had a podium in two days, including yesterday when over ten players did! It's not a big deal, but it's weird for a two-time Pro Bowler. If the Cardinals were at all worried about Boldin's story turning negative this week, they know now that it won't. He has been the picture of team-first talk and genuinely doesn't seem annoyed with his contract situation or the team. His tolerance for repeating inane questions is rather high.
Antrel Rolle is not a morning person, yawning repeatedly before I sidled up to talk to him. He had an interesting comment about the change in leadership by Adrian Wilson's this year, saying Wilson was unapproachable in the past. "He wasn't too player-friendly before," Rolle said.
That may be the first time in history a player was called out for not being 'player friendly."
I talked to Wilson again today and can see how he would give off that vibe. He has a laser-like intensity that could rub people the wrong way, but his love for football shines through if you listen. When the other guys showed up in suits Monday, Wilson had on a hoodie. He doesn't care much for appearances and said he turned off his phone the night Arizona won the NFC Championship so he could focus on the Super Bowl. That's how we want our athletes to be.
One local TV guy, completely disregarding everyone at the table this morning, shoved a "boom mike" in Wilson's face and asked him to speak up. Wilson said "this is how I talk. And I was talking to this dude," gesturing to me.
I loved it; the other writers loved it. (The local TV species that assumes they can just cut off any reporter if they have a camera so they can ask 'How crazy is all this attention?' is the most vile I've met down here.)
Wilson says he "idolizes" Troy Polamalu and is his ability to cover ground in the secondary. Both Wilson and Polamalu say they watch tape of each other during the off-season to improve.
I'm doing a piece on Larry Fitzgerald and everyone seems to agree his practice habits have improved quite a bit over the last two years. Fitzgerald and Ken Whisenhunt think he's better after the catch because his routes are more precise, giving him more separation and room to run when he makes a catch. Fitz also keeps mentioning how much faster he is after losing 15 pounds.
Comments
Gregg's blog post on February 2:
"Mourning with the Cardinals"
GO STILLERS!
Posted by: Gregg's Doppleganger | January 28, 2009 04:36 PM