Rome Take 11-30-10

Another Memorable Cardinal Presser

No, it wasn’t Denny Green good as some of you seem to think, but Cardinals Q.B. Derek Anderson snapping after last night’s loss during questioning from the media was pretty epic. Look, I know plenty of you are insulted that this guy would display any emotion other than rage at the end of another humiliating blowout. And that laughing at the end of a game like that speaks to his utter lack of desire and competitiveness….blah blah blah. You know what, probably not. I don’t know what Deuce Lutui hit him with on the sideline. Maybe it was something like, “Hey D,; how funny is it that we’re the Monday nighter? How bent do you think ESPN and the rest of America are? That’s funny. Maybe he was just picking his guy up with some gallows humor. Unfortunately that’s the issue: we don’t know, because Anderson wouldn’t tell us. Although Philip Rivers and Tom Brady wouldn’t do it, I don’t have a huge problem with Derek Anderson cracking a smile on the bench. He’s Derek Anderson. My problem is with how he reacted to being questioned about it. He put on a clinic on how not to handle that situation.

It was like a step by step guide on exactly what not to do at the podium. Step one, laughing at the end of a blowout loss during a disastrous year, does look pretty bad; when asked about it, throw the ‘It’s none of your business card. Then, if that doesn’t deter the questioner, start lying. Say you weren’t even laughing. Then, when caught in your lie, aggressively starting pounding away with, “That’s fine. That’s fine”. And be sure to say it no less than a dozen times. Then when it’s clear you’re wrong, and backed into a corner, try to fight your way off the ropes. Come out swinging. Switch from defense to offense. Attempt to intimidate and back down the questioner; mix in some profanity. Whine about how hard you work. And then if all that doesn’t work, take a knee and just bust out of there. What a perfect fail by Anderson. Every read he made at the presser was the wrong one and every pass he threw was picked and housed. Only after falling behind by 9 T.D.’s did he finally throw one into the stands, pull the rip chord and just eject from the whole proceeding. Just remember, D.A. the cover-up is always worse than the crime.