For James and Cardinals, A Disappointment

Sometimes the rich just get richer, huh?

Not that Pittsburgh didn't have a great team this year with a defense that even Naples High (joking) couldn't beat -- but the sentimental part of you wanted Arizona, didn't you?

And what an ending. As a sportswriter thinking of deadline, it about makes you throw up that cold gameday hot dog you made the mistake of eating ...

Anyway on from that lovely thought ...

It has been a whirlwind here in Tampa. So much to say and so little time to say it here in the big white media tent outside Raymond James Stadium -- no it doesn't feel like a wedding reception this time. So I'll try to focus on the hometown boy, Edgerrin James.

Clearly a disappointment not only on the team level but also on the personal contribution level for James. He finished his first Super Bowl with just 33 rushing yards on nine carries. Yes, nine.

He wouldn't talk about it tonight, understandably, but James is going to find a more run-friendly option next year. He has been around this league a long time and done a lot of things, but he's clearly still hungry and feels he has more left to do in this league.

"I don't know ... we'll sit down and figure it all out. You need to give yourself a few days to digest this," he said after the game.

But he's not giving up on a return trip to the Super Bowl.

"Oh yeah, I'll be playing football," James said.

Was touching after the game to see James and Kurt Warner sit next to each other in the locker room, heads bent in discussion, immediately after the game. Both have done a lot in the NFL. Given their backgrounds -- some could consider James and Warner pretty opposite -- but I think that would be misleading. Maybe James isn't quite as media-friendly as Warner, and maybe it took him some time in the league to mature from the reputation he carried with him from the University of Miami, but I keep thinking about what James did for his family and for the city of Immokalee with this Super Bowl.

"A ton of people came up here, but as far as actual tickets I got about 50," he said during the post-game interviews. "I'm happy we got a lot of people in the game ... I'm glad they were able to enjoy it."

James didn't do what he wanted to do on the field tonight. Maybe he even disappointed himself or some people watching him.
But 50 tickets. Regardless of anything else, that's an accomplishment and it says something about the man who went to the work to get them.

(marconews.com)