The media’s theme of the week for the Cardinals game has clearly been The Return Of Denny Green. The NFL schedulers handed the lead to the reporters by making the rematch the first preseason game and it only made the story more irresistible when Green was hired; so sports reporters ran with it.
There have been stories all week about Green’s return, so why should we expect anything different when there might be other interesting stories to report? What’s clear from the reporting is that Green is not all about making a big deal over his return. While I’m definitely no fan of the guy, I gotta sympathize with him. It’s a preseason game, fer Chrissakes!
Pioneer Press reporter Brian Hamilton‘s "Repeat after Green: Just another game" is a wry piece on Green’s return with this wonderful opening line: "The high road apparently does not have an offramp, even after two years." That was from yesterday. Today Hamilton’s story on Tice wanting to win preseason games to establish a winning mentality fuels the rivalry/revenge angle
The Strib runs with Mark Craig‘s story "Camp Fear," about Green’s politically motivated personnel moves. Sound familiar? That story is a sidebar to Craig’s main piece about the Cards skeptical "fan base" (why not just fans?). Kevin Seifert goes with the story about Tice’s emphasis on preseason wins.
Sports sycophant/columnist Sid Hartman balances things out by pointing to some of Green’s better qualities: Four division titles, two NFC championship games. Sure, Sid, but he did not win any of those championship games and he got 10 years to try.
Me, I can’t wait to see just how good this Minneapolis kid Larry Fitzgerald, Jr. really is.