Bleacher Report - Articles by Michael Bair

Arizona Cardinals Are Headed to Super Bowl XLIII: A Cold Day in Hell?

Michael Bair — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 20:20:27 -0500

Satan is wondering how to get the ice off his windshield today.

The Arizona Cardinals—yes those Arizona Cardinals—are heading to the Super Bowl.

It must be a frigid day in hell. Either that or God himself came down and decided to play football in the form of a guy named Larry Fitzgerald.

The Cardinals looked like the best team in the league during the first half against Philadelphia, with Larry Fitzgerald—who I am pretty sure the Eagles knew was a pretty decent player—catching three touchdowns.

When the Eagles stormed back to take a one-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals showed their true colors.

Rookie running back Tim Hightower came up huge for the Cardinals on their game-winning drive, converting on a huge fourth and one and eventually taking a screen pass eight yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 2:53 left in game.

The Cardinals defense then finally regained some of its success of the first half, stopping the Eagles on fourth down to seal the victory, and NFC championship for Arizona.

As a resident of Arizona, the idea of the Cardinals playing in the Super Bowl still really hasn’t sunk in.

I grew up attending games at Sun Devil Stadium, where, unless the Cowboys were in town, was about a quarter full, if that.

Suffering through years of incompetence had conditioned me to never really get my hopes up about the Cardinals.

I always rooted for the Cards, but come playoff time I always had to pick a team to root for to at least make football somewhat interesting.

This year was different.

The Cardinals have looked like a force throughout the playoffs, and Larry Fitzgerald has clearly established himself as the godfather of wide receivers in the league.

The defense, which had previously been lit up by the Jets, Vikings, Patriots, and Eagles, shut down Michael Turner, DeAngelo Williams, and Brian Westbrook, and forced 12 turnovers in their three playoff wins.

The Cardinals have truly changed the psyche of the franchise and put the losing ways of the past behind them.

The Cardinals finished off the season looking like a bunch of playoff impostors, which rightfully turned nearly all of the media’s so-called experts against them.

This disrespect turned into a positive for the Cardinals who used it as a motivator, and rode that momentum all the way to Tampa.

Whichever team wins the AFC will again be favored to beat the Cardinals.

Just the way the Cards want it.

I look for the Cardinals to finish off the deep freeze of hell and shock the world by becoming the champions of Super Bowl XLIII.

UFC 96: Quinton Jackson-Keith Jardine...Why?

Michael Bair — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 02:05:03 -0500

While watching UFC 93 tonight, the UFC had their upcoming events schedule segment on as they do on every pay-per-view.

When the previously unannounced UFC 96 came on, I was a bit confused. I saw Jackson-Jardine as the headliner.

Now, while the last name Jardine could not be mistaken for anyone other than Keith Jardine, I was a bit confused about whom Jackson could be.

Surely not my favorite fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who according to Dana White himself was likely to be the first in line to challenge for Rashad Evans’ title after Rampage’s vicious knockout of Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92 (an event that I was lucky enough to see live.)

I spent the five to 10 seconds before the preview came on pondering who could be this Jackson fellow. All I could think of was Rampage, but that didn’t make any sense.

Then I saw footage of Rampage’s knockouts of Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei hit the screen and found myself asking one question.

Why?

Why exactly did Joe Silva and Dana White think this was a logical fight?

Rampage Jackson is still considered by many to be the most dangerous fighter at 205 in the world, and after shutting Wanderlei off, with and exclamation point might I add, it seemed like he was the most logical choice to be Evans’ first challenger for the Light Heavyweight belt.

Dana White seemed to think so, and last I checked he had a pretty significant influence on the UFC’s matchmaking.

So I still can’t figure out what the idea behind this matchup is.

I am pretty confident that Rampage will stop Jardine within the first two rounds in a very Rampage–like fashion.

It seems to be that Keith Jardine goes through cycles of fairly impressive wins and brutal knockout losses.

A win over the Iceman, followed by getting blown out of the water by Wanderlei. A win over Vera, and now he faces Rampage, a man who it seems has finally made a solid commitment to training and gotten past his arrest this summer.

I cannot in any situation see any possible way Jardine can win this fight. Rampage is too powerful and Jardine is too streaky.

If Rampage is going to fight again before a title shot, why Jardine? Why not Forrest Griffin, who took Jackson’s belt in a contested decision last July and Rampage himself has said is the fighter he wants to face most?

Perhaps Dana White wants the unbeaten winner of UFC 94’s Thiago Silva- Lyoto Machida matchup to get the next shot, which would make some sense.

But why Jardine?

Maybe Rashad Evans bribed Dana into giving his training partner Jardine a shot at Jackson so he can give Evans some pointers on the former champ.

What will Jardine’s advice be? Rampage punches hard? He has knockout power?

I think I have thought of all possible reasons and still can’t justify UFC 96’s headliner of Jackson-Jardine.

I welcome feedback and hope maybe one of you can enlighten me on this upcoming matchup.

Suns at 8-4, Facing Lakers Showdown, Where Does Phoenix Go From Here?

Michael Bair — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:19:14 -0500

The Phoenix Suns, considered by most sportswriters to have past their championship window, have started off the season 8-4, second in the western conference and 1.5 games behind the Lakers going into Thursday’s showdown with Kobe and the Lake Show.

While the departure of Mike D’Antoni and aged stars Steve Nash, Shaquille O’Neal and Grant Hill a year older not many imagined the Suns being where they are even so early in the season.

The Suns led the league in scoring early on in the season, since dropping to fifth at 100.5 games, silencing any critics who said that the Suns offensive output would drop without D’Antoni’s "hell on wheels" philosophy.

While Coach Terry Porter has stressed defense and a more balanced approach, the Suns still move the ball well and have established an intimidating post presence pairing Amare Stoudemire with the rejuvenated Shaquille O’Neal.

O’Neal’s strong play has been a big reason for the Suns’ success.

Shaq is averaging 15.1 points and 7.8 rebounds and has had two dominant games scoring 29 points twice, his most points in over a year.

Shooting 59.4 percent from the field and an above average 59.7 percent from the line, Shaq is fifth in the league in field goal percentage at 36 years young.

Shaq’s presence has allowed Amare Stoudemire to dominate. Stoudemire ranks ninth in the league in scoring at 23.3 points per game to go along with his 8.4 boards.

At 58.2 percent from the field, Stoudemire sits directly behind O’Neal in field goal percentage at sixth in the league.

Stoudemire has already turned in his best game as a pro this year putting up 49 points, 11 boards, six assists, five steals and two blocks in a fantasy dream game two weeks ago at Indiana.

How can the Suns sustain and possibly improve on their early season success?

A lot of it is riding on health. Nash, O’Neal and Hill all have a long history of injuries and all are elder statesman. The cooperation of father time would greatly benefit the Suns.

Not to mention microfracture patient Amare Stoudemire, who has missed an entire year in his career already at 26, but appears to have fully recovered and hasn’t missed a game due to injury in recent history.

An injury to any of these players, especially Stoudemire or Nash would most likely doom any championship aspirations the Suns have.

Assuming they stay healthy, the development of a solid bench throughout the season is the biggest X-factor for the Suns.

Goran Dragic has been streaky at best in his early season grooming as Steve Nash’s backup and first round pick Robin Lopez has shown potential in his limited time.

Rookie Sean Singletary has been getting more time as of late, as has free agent pickup Louis Admunson, both performing fairly well.

Porter has stressed developing the bench, and followed through, playing the entire roster on some nights, a 180-degree shift from Mike D’Antoni’s seven and eight man rotations.

The bench looks solid boasting Grant Hill, Leandro Barbosa, Boris Diaw, Goran Dragic, Robin Lopez, Louis Admunson and Sean Singletary.

The Suns look to be the deepest they have been in the Steve Nash years and if the trio of rookies can improve throughout the season and Diaw and Barbosa live up to the potential that got them big money after the 2006 playoffs, Phoenix can brag of a formidable bench for the first time in recent memory.

The Suns defense has also been brought back from the dead under Porter. Phoenix is giving up 97 points a game this year, down from 105 a year ago.

Continued defensive improvement is another key for the Suns, who hardly discussed defense under Mike D’Antoni.

The Suns still have many flaws ranking second to last in both turnovers and offensive rebounds. Both must improve as the season goes on.

The Suns fast start has sparked optimism for me as a Suns fan, as this team has many new pieces and a new coach to assimilate, and should only continue to improve as the team gets more experience together.

If the Suns can continue to improve and mesh as a unit, they could enter the playoffs the best equipped to win since Nash revived the franchise.

Staying healthy, continued improvement of defense and development of the bench, along with less sloppy play and better offensive rebounding is the key to the Suns reaching the playoffs with a high seed and having success in the postseason.

However, I think that everything needs to start with a win over the Lakers. Expect Shaq to be in top form against Andrew Bynum, leading to a great game between the West’s top two teams.