PHX

Game Over. Game On.

April 2009

JeAns, JumPers, DevIls AnD DenIm ASU hoops star Derek Glasser has success in his jeans An AGenTs secreT? Scott Leventhal treats all his baseball clients like brothers

Boom Boom In Bloom Fred Couples is almost 50 and still having a great year on the PGA Tour DAron Is rArIn To Go Daron Sutton begins his third season calling D-Back games JJ AT Home In PHoenIx NASCAR star Jimmie Johnson has his own race at PIR

KEN YOU BELIEVE IT?Plus: // The Man Who Replaced Barry Bonds // Garth Brooks and the Coyotes // POST Takes Over HoHoKam Park

>Two years ago the Cardinals were a punch line. >Two months ago they punched their ticket to the super Bowl. >Head coach Ken Whisenhunt is the main reason for the spectacular transformation

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Ken Whisenhunt did something that nobody really thought was truly possible lead the Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl, and within mere seconds of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, at that. But if you think hes even remotely satisfied, you dont know the best coach the organization has ever had very well.

By Zack Simon

Photos by Tracy Rasinski82MAY 2009

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of 28 nonstop weeks of your life chasing down a dream that, for over 20 years, seemed about as likely here as getting frostbite in august; in the process completely flipping the national perception of a team that for a long time was considered a joke and putting a city on the edge of delirium, giving it an incredible dose of civic pride; it shouldnt come as too much of a surprise when we tell you Cardinals coach ken Whisenhunt hasnt gotten over the pain of coming oh-so-close in the super Bowl. not even close. i havent watched the game, he told us. seriously, he hasnt popped in one minute of game film from the epic classic with the steelers or been tempted to watch any of the tv telecast. its still just too darn painful. he certainly didnt enjoy inadvertently being exposed recently to a couple peeks at what happened. We were at nFL league meetings and the very first meeting of the week, the commissioner showed a tape to the group that summed up the past season. it had a lot of clips from the super Bowl in it and from our season and it was very difficult to watch even that, so im not ready to watch the tape yet. Plus, you couple the fact that nobody thought we could get there. That was a weekly message that we preached to the team, too, throughout the playoff run. That nobody though we could do it. Which then made it even more of an emotional journey because we did do it. its very difficult right now, but i know in time well be able to look back and be very proud of it. spend any amount of time around the Cards coach and youll quickly feel the focused and intense vibe that emanates from him. its like a force field of calmness wrapped in a combustible layer of determination and laser like strategy that lets you experience an impression about him that is 100% accurate. hes a man thats always in

When you invest every Waking minute

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control, in charge and in a constant state of getting done whatever is needed to accomplish a mission. Cardinals fans have something right now theyve never, ever had, especially in the 20 plus years theyve been in the valley: hope and pride. They also have a coach that carries with him a combination of authority, credibility and accountability and when you add into the mix the fact that hes also media savvy and truly knows how to sell the product of Cardinal football, youve got a front-office face of the organization that has no interest in being a one-hit-wonder.

I want to be here for the long haul, because I want to look back 10 or 15 years and say this is where the Arizona Cardinals became a very good football team, one that competed year in and year out. Ken Whisenhuntnow there is another level of sustaining success, and thats the next big step for our team and organization, Whisenhunt told POST in the living room of his south Chandler home. Thats what the good teams do. The passion that drives us now is to prove we can have continued success. We want to create that atmosphere we had at the end of the season every game. We have to

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have a consistent product to do that. take a trip down memory lane, just a few months back, to the super Bowl party you hosted or went to. you may have thrown a bowl of guacamole dip at the tv when the steelers marched down the field and ripped the game from the Cards. you may have shed a tear of disappointment or two and felt absolutely sick for the rest of the night but, most likely, your life returned to normal within a couple days and, heck, for what nFL fans in the valley have gone through for so long, most people were pretty okay with the fact that the Cardinals finally got a whiff of playing ball under the biggest microscope and brightest lights. moral victories arent what nFL coaches dedicate their lives to or sacrifice quality time with their families seven months out of the year for, though. it so hard to get there [to the super Bowl], Whisenhunt told POST. ive heard people say losing a super Bowl is the toughest thing you can ever experience in sports. ive won one, [as offensive coordinator with the steelers] so i know on the other end of the spectrum how emotional it is to win it and what that means. ive experienced both, and make no mistake, im happy we had a chance to go and im proud we had a chance to represent our city and our fans well in that game. But it is so devastating because its so hard to get there and when you consider how close we were to winning it... makes it even that much more difficult. Theres one thing that makes the difficult aspect of all this a little less for the Cards coach. he and his wife alice have a great relationship and are raising two fantastic kids, son kenny and daughter mary ashley. This is a very close-knit group that shares the ups and downs and fully understands the demands of this type of high-profile, nFL lifestyle. you have to have support from your family. Thats the most important thing. Being able to talk to your wife is so important, Whisenhunt said. you can see the connection that ken and alice have. its impressive, and you can tell teamwork is as much of an understood concept in their beautiful and cozy home as it is on the field.

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Im happy for my family. Having the success we had creates strong attachments to the city for our family. Thats whats important to us. Ken Whisenhunt

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im happy for my family. having the success we had creates strong attachments to the city for our family. Thats whats important to us. Whisenhunt also has close professional relationships hes developed over the years, as an nFL player and assistant coach, that he can lean on. heres another impressive thing about his personality: he does leans on those relationships. seeks them out, appreciates input and isnt interested in acting like he invented the game of football or is smarter than everybody else with a headset. one man in particular who ken leaned on over the past few months, in regards to some of the off-field issues he had to deal with, is his old boss Bill Cowher, the former head coach of the steelers. ill give you an example, Whisenhunt explained. We went through some things with hines Ward in Pittsburgh in regards to a contract deal with him, and there were times last year during training camp when a situation with anquan [Boldin] developed. i called Bill a number of times. another example is in Pittsburgh, we had a quarterback competition

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Win or lose, Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt has a great family he shares all of it with. From left is son Kenneth Jr., wife Alice, Ken and daughter Mary Ashley.

between kordell stewart and tommy maddox i was involved in. That experience and how we handled it as a staff, working with Coach Cowher gave me great reference when we were going through that on our team. at some point, the page has to be turned and the pain of the super disappointment has to be channeled and churned into something positive. Thats the stage the Cards coach is at now, and thats another area hes got a strategic advantage over a lot of his peers. hes had a lot of things on his plate lately that have required a tremendous amount of his time. his coaching staff got a face lift. There was a little thing to deal with called a new contract for his star quarterback. a draft to prepare for. more personnel issues that will pop up from now until training camp. They key is using every little experience or nugget of experience as a morsel of motivation. Just like ken masterfully used the implication that nobody gave the Cardinals a chance to rally his team and inspire and challenge them to make history and start building something special. ask anyone thats been to the top of the mountain handling success is sometimes tougher than achieving it.

There are going to be more distractions this season, Whisenhunt said. Well have more night games, more national tv games, more media scrutiny. The question is how will our team handle that? That is something we didnt do well at the end of regular season so hopefully we learned our lesson. The playoffs were a great lesson on what we have to do on a weekly basis and im excited because i believe our team has crossed a big bridge and taken a big step in handling the challenges that are going to come our way. The bottom line, Cardinal fans, is this: last year was no fluke. it was special and memorable, magical and ultimately gut-wrenching, but, its pretty clear just getting to the super Bowl wont be celebrated because anything but a super Bowl win wont be tolerated. Whisenhunt and his family enjoy living here, its become home, and all we can hope for is that the Cardinals treat him properly and do everything they can to make sure the best coach this organization has ever had doesnt leave until hes retiring. i think when you look over a career, we had success in Pittsburgh when we were there, and we had success on a short term basis here in arizona. i

think the way you measure greatness, not for myself but for a football team, is sustained success. so yes, i want to be here for the long haul, because i want to look back 10 or 15 years and say this is where the arizona Cardinals became a very good football team, one that competed year in and year out. The city has been great to us, its a great place to live, and this is a very good football town, Whisenhunt told POST. its also a good golf town, and its no secret ken is very good at the game, and simply loves to play for the therapeutic relief if provides, along with the fact it allows the ultra-competitive coach to find a release for that desire to always want to get better, and yes, win. hey, he took the Cardinals to the super Bowl! a feat that, literally nobody ever thought was possible. Just for that, he shouldnt have to ever pay for a round of golf in the valley again. take solace in the fact that coming close is of no interest to the man leading the Cardinals. he wants to win at the highest level, on a regular basis. When he does, you can bet on the flight back from wherever the super Bowl is that hell be watching the game tape then heading home to enjoy with his family a replay of the tv broadcast on their Dvr.

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