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Kurt Warner and wife, Brenda, have a family tradition of picking up the check for another table whenever they eat out. The Arizona quarterback didn’t let team allegiances get in the way.
From the Associated Press:
While dining Friday night at The Cheesecake Factory in Tampa, the Warners selected a group of 20 Pittsburgh Steelers fans and paid for their meal. Warner’s Arizona Cardinals play the Steelers for the Super Bowl title on Sunday.
“We started doing that when we were in St. Louis and the manager would always give us our meal for free whenever we ate out,” Brenda Warner said earlier Friday. “I had been a single mother living on food stamps at one time who couldn’t ever afford to eat out, and I never understood why people give free meals to people who can afford them.”
The Warners started a tradition of allowing their seven children to pick one family in the restaurant, and they try to quietly pay that table’s tab before slipping out the door.
“It’s gotten to be part of a game with the kids,” Brenda Warner said. “They’ll say ‘Oh, that family has a lot of kids, dinner must be expensive.’ Or ‘They look old, maybe it’s hard for them to afford eating out a lot.’ We try to be discreet about it, because we don’t want people trying to get picked.”
This according to a Madden ’09 simulation.
UPDATE: And in the real game as well!
I, for one, hope the simulation is wrong. One of my best friends, who passed away 3 years ago, was one of the biggest Arizona Cardinals fans ever! He wasn’t embarrassed by the team. He always said “Someday…they’ll be Super Bowl Champions”.
Now, I know he’s looking down and rooting for them once again this Sunday as they try to make history. Woodman, I hope they do it!!! I’m gonna go out on a limb and make my prediction: Cardinals 27-24.
Go Cardinals!!!
From SportingNews.com:
Not a great shocker here. Like the rest of the world, a Madden NFL 09 simulation put out by EA Sports is picking the Steelers to defeat the Cardinals, 28-24, in Super Bowl 43. Ben Roethlisberger, with three TD passes, picks up MVP honors in the game. Mike Tomlin, 36, becomes the youngest coach to win the Super Bowl in NFL history.
Full scoring summary from the game after the jump.
First Quarter
Santonio Holmes TD catch (7-0)
Second Quarter
Edgerrin James TD run (7-7)
Willie Parker TD run (14-7)
Hines Ward TD catch (21-7)
Third Quarter
Edgerrin James TD run (21-14)
Santonio Holmes TD catch (28-14)
Fourth Quarter
Larry Fitzgerald TD catch (28-21)
Neil Rackers FG (28-24)
FINAL SCORE: Steelers 28, Cardinals 24
Well, it’s going to be a Philadelphia Eagles/Arizona Cardinals NFC Championship game next weekend after the Eagles upset the #1 seeded Giants today by a score of 23-11.
Going into the final game of the day today, the road teams are 3-0 on the weekend and San Diego could make it a perfect sweep with a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field.
From the Associated Press:
Donovan McNabb and his Philadelphia Eagles get another week to keep chasing that elusive Super Bowl crown. Eli Manning and the New York Giants get a whole offseason to wonder what went wrong.
McNabb made all the big plays that Manning did not, and the Eagles eliminated the Super Bowl champions 23-11 Sunday to reach the NFC title game for the fifth time in eight seasons.
Throw in Philadelphia’s hard-hitting, ball-hawking defense, and these NFL playoffs are now for the Birds — the underdog Eagles, Cardinals and Ravens all won on the road this weekend.
McNabb lunged for one touchdown, threw for another and converted several key third downs to move the sixth-seeded Eagles (11-6-1) into next Sunday’s title game at Arizona (11-7). Philadelphia beat the Cardinals 48-20 on Thanksgiving night.
“It feels like it was years ago,” McNabb said.
Gusting, swirling winds played havoc with any ball in the air, and also helped produce an odd-looking score: This was the first game in NFL history to finish 23-11, the Elias Sports Bureau said.
A year after road success fueled the Giants’ route, the Eagles are taking the same path. They opened the postseason by winning at Minnesota and, after their sixth victory in seven tries, look nothing like a team that needed several breaks on the final day simply to make the playoffs.
David Akers added three field goals — extending his NFL record to 18 straight in the postseason — to fend off the top-seeded Giants (12-5).
LaDainian Tomlinson will stay on the 53-man roster in the hope his strained groin is healthy enough to allow him to play if the Chargers advance to the AFC Championship or Super Bowl, but he won’t be playing this Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Darn groin injuries! This could be a blow to the Chargers…or will it? Darren Sproles had a great game against Indianapolis and the “older” Manning brothers team. We’ll see what the little guy can do in six days!
From Sporting News:
The star running back is not expected to play Sunday at Pittsburgh, but he is also not considered any worse than he was going into Saturday’s victory over Indianapolis, in which he carried five times before being unable to go on.
Other than Tomlinson, the Chargers are remarkably healthy for a team about to play its 18th game. Tight end Antonio Gates’ ankle sprain is no worse for the wear after eight catches and 87 yards on Sunday.
According to sources close to the Associated Press, the New York Jets will talk to former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher about their vacant coaching job.
From the Associated Press:
While no formal discussions have been scheduled yet, the team plans to speak soon with the former Super Bowl-winning coach, according to the person who requested anonymity because the individual was not authorized to discuss the search.
Cowher has also expressed interest in the job that opened Monday, the person said, when the Jets fired Eric Mangini after three seasons.
The Jets also will meet with New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo on Saturday, according to another person familiar with the coaching search. New York is also expected to interview a pair of in-house candidates: offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and offensive line coach Bill Callahan, who also served as assistant head coach under Mangini.
Marty Schottenheimer, Mike Holmgren and Jim Fassel, names mentioned in various reports, aren’t believed to be on the Jets’ immediate radar.
Jets owner Woody Johnson made it clear that he prefers to keep football, business and coaching duties separate, so a candidate wanting complete control would be less likely to be hired. Any coach the Jets hire would have to fit into that structure.
The person told the AP that Cowher has not given the Jets the impression he must have total control of personnel.
From the New York Times:
One day after the Jets fired Coach Eric Mangini, the search for his replacement is centering on Bill Cowher, the former longtime coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. But there are conflicting reports about Cowher’s interest in the job.
ESPN reported Tuesday that Cowher was interested but had told the team he wanted to bring in his own personnel director.
A team official said that Cowher was indeed interested, that the Jets’ power structure could be reorganized and that plans were in the works to speak to Cowher. The official was not permitted to comment publicly on the personnel matter.
But on Monday, Woody Johnson, the team’s owner, stood behind his general manager, Mike Tannenbaum. Asked if one person could simultaneously play the roles of general manager and coach, Johnson responded strongly.
“It’s too much,” he said. “There’s no way that you can do it, and really do it, because you’re always relying on somebody else. You may think that you have the power, but you can’t make those discerning decisions. There’s just too much work to do and be a coach.”
Cowher works for CBS as a football analyst, and two of his daughters live in the New York-New Jersey area. He coached the Pittsburgh Steelers to a Super Bowl championship following the 2005 season.
He has declined interview requests and recently told the Cleveland Browns he was not interested in their coaching vacancy.
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