Warner: Leading by Example

For all of ESPN’s warts, one of the good things it does it have Wayne Drehs write for its Web site.

I just saw this piece that showed up on ESPN.com on Dec. 26, and I hope you’ll take a look at it. It’s worth your time. It’s a feature on Kurt Warner. Whether you like Warner or not — and I do — I can’t imagine you won’t respect him after reading this piece.

Here’s an excerpt:

No matter how much people argue, Warner is not your usual guy. Not in the era of me-first, fan-last athletes. Not with guys like Adam “Pacman” Jones, Terrell Owens and Plaxico Burress roaming around.

So why do some people shake their heads when they hear about the good things Warner does for others? Why does the hair on their necks stand up?

“People relate to athletes who make bad choices because it brings the athlete down to their level,” (former teammate Josh) McCown said. “It helps them feel good about who they are and what they’re doing.

“On the other side, when you hear the stories about Kurt, here is someone squeezing the most they can out of their life. And at the end of the day, that causes all of us to look in the mirror. And I think sometimes we don’t like what that mirror looks like. So it’s easier to rip on the things Kurt does than change yourself.”

The full story is at http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?page=hotread17/kurtwarner

Warner and his Arizona Cardinals team took care of business Saturday in the opening round of the NFC playoffs, beating the Atlanta Falcons, 30-24. Warner threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns.

Nice.

Thanks to Utes, 2009 is Off to a Great Start

A day that had a rather severe start for yours truly is having a wonderful finish.

You get up at 3 a.m. (Iowa time) to get to the Tampa airport for the first of three flights that get you back to Cedar Rapids, two of them on American Eagle planes that would make sardines claustrophobic.

That was after eight days on the road, and eight nights of not getting one decent night of sleep. Maybe that came from staying in a hotel that was too close to an airport. Or too close to a freeway. Or too close to a Waffle House.

But the first blast of Midwest winter air felt great as I stepped outside The Eastern Iowa Airport. Tomorrow, it will probably feel like winter. Which is less than great.

So I got home, settled in, turned on the tail end of the Cotton Bowl, and fell asleep. I completely missed the Liberty Bowl, which was intentional. I slowly came to with the Sugar Bowl on in the background. I’d see Utah was ahead, and assume I was dreaming. Especially when it was 21-0.

Then I woke up, and naturally Alabama clawed back to 21-17. Yecch.

But the Utes got even tougher, and held on to vanquish the Crimson Tide.

I love this for two reasons. One, Alabama Coach Nick Saban is a joyless mercenary. Every game his teams lose is good for sports and the planet.

Two, I had Utah No. 5 in my latest AP Top 25 ballot. No one in the AP panel had the Utes any higher. I had them above USC and Penn State, and caught grief from fans of both because of it

But look at me (and Utah) now, my babies! That’s a Top Three team at the worst, the end. At 13-0 with wins over bowl-winners Oregon State and TCU, and now this disposal of the vaunted Crimson Tide in New Orleans, which is in SEC country.

Utah took its BCS bowl invitation and rubbed the power conferences’ faces in it. Just like Boise State did two years ago.

I’m under no obligation to put the winner of the Florida-Oklahoma BCS title game No. 1 on the final AP ballot next Thursday night. I probably will, anyhow, unless it’s a lousy game.

But let’s see what Texas does against Ohio State first. I may vote Texas No. 1. Or USC. Or, dare I say it, Utah.

Utah 31, Alabama 17. Such dire predictions for 2009 have been issued in many circles, but the year is fabulous so far.