6-10-12: Arizona Cardinals Bird Droppings - Offseason Stuff

Time for todays links, including something from Sando's blog about the Outside Linebackers.

Wrestling over the Cardinals' OLB talent - NFC West Blog - ESPN
Pull up a chair. Now, hand it over to Chase from Arizona and watch him pummel me with it. A good rant can be so cathartic. This one, delivered to the NFC West mailbag, stemmed from my contention that teams tend to sign 35-year-old veterans as backups when they haven't acquired or developed younger alternatives. I think it's a fair point, except I didn't word it the same way when offering thoughts regarding Clark Haggans' recent re-signing with the Arizona Cardinals.

Arizona Sports News:

Arizona Diamondbacks stay hot against Oakland Athletics, win 4th-straight game
The Diamondbacks can't tell for sure yet if they've truly turned the tide, but they'll gladly keep riding the wave they've caught lately. Saturday night, they rolled to their season high-tying fourth consecutive win with an 8-3 victory over the Oakland A's in front of 28,061 at Chase Field. The victory also assured the Diamondbacks of winning their third straight series, a first by the team this season. Offense has been the key during this particular hot stretch, which has seen Arizona win six of its last seven games overall. The Diamondbacks have scored 33 runs during their four-game winning streak, a total they couldn't produce in their previous 10 games combined.

Shorthanded Arizona Rattlers defeat Iowa Barnstormers
The Rattlers' top catching threat was on crutches and best rusher sidelined for a third consecutive game. But it didn't slow down the Rattlers, who plugged in the necessary parts and beat the Iowa Barnstormers 55-48 Saturday night before 7,607 fans at US Airways Center.

Arizona Wildcats baseball advances to College World Series with sweep of St. Johns
Arizona's baseball team moved to a new ballpark this season, moving off campus to Hi Corbett Field, a former spring training site and home of the minor league Tucson Toros. These new digs have suited the Wildcats just fine. Shaking off years of postseason disappointment on the road, Arizona earned its first trip to the College World Series since 2004 by beating St. John's 7-4 on Saturday to complete a two-game super regionals sweep in front of a rowdy crowd at Hi Corbett Field.

Phoenix Mercury fall in lopsided game against the Los Angeles Sparks
Nneka Ogwumike had season highs of 25 points and 12 rebounds and Candace Parker added 23 points and 10 rebounds to help the Los Angeles Sparks defeat the Phoenix Mercury 90-74 on Friday night.

Arizona Diamondbacks sign first-round pick Stryker Trahan, 30 other draft selections
The Arizona Diamondbacks announced they have signed first-round draft pick Stryker Trahan and 30 additional draft picks from the 2012 First-Year Player Draft. The D-Backs have signed their first 6 picks, 8 of the first 10, 17 of the first 20 and 31 players total.

Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Trevor Bauer stays patient amid fanfare
If you happen upon Diamondbacks pitching prospect Trevor Bauer in some minor-league locale, or if, more likely, you follow him on Twitter, he asks that you do him this one favor. It's all he wants from you, really. Just don't ask him about getting called up to the majors.

NFL News:

Chad Ochocinco Wants To Sign With Dolphins, According To Report - SBNation.com
Less than 48 hours after being released by the New England Patriots, Chad Ochocinco has made it known he'd like to stay in the AFC East and sign with his hometown Miami Dolphins, according to reports. Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reported Saturday that Ochocinco will likely have a deal signed by next week, and he's hoping it's with the Dolphins:

Option anxiety was Chad Ochocinco’s real problem in New England | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo! Sports
It's no secret that the New England Patriots have one of the most complex and intricate passing games in the NFL. Even when they're running things that look pretty standard, like three-vertical schemes and 2-TE sets (which they obviously do better than anybody else). Tom Brady is master and commander of an offense that has a dizzying array of option routes. Brady has to be in perfect sync with his receivers as a result, and those receivers must be aware of every permutation in the "if this/then that" aspects of the passing game. If you don't get it, you won't get the ball -- Brady will shut you out after a few mistakes. It's not always about specific talent, per se -- although talent is nice, as well -- as much as it's about buying in fully to the plan. One of the reasons Chad Ochocinco simply didn't become a factor in New England, according to several sources, is that he could never stick and stay with the complexities of the option route concept.

Come 2014, Niners fans will need plenty of gold | ProFootballTalk
When it comes to the economics of the NFL, a supply of seats in a new stadium results in a demand for higher ticket prices. With the last three new venues resulting reportedly in an average increase of 26 percent, the 49ers will be driving that number a lot higher when they christen their new building in two-plus years.