Sad Times

As readers of this blog know, I am an Indianapolis Colts fan and a huge Scott Rolen fan. That's why the past weekend was so sad: first to see the Colts throw and fumble away a chance to play their eternal nemeses, the Pats and Captain Hoody; then to receive the final news that the Cardinals have traded away Rolen to the Toronto Blue Jays for Troy Glaus.

The Colts' loss was inexplicable to me on so many levels--they dominated the game on the offensive side of the ball, but repeatedly failed to punch it into the end zone; they came in with the 3rd best pass defense in the NFL and let Billy Volek beat them on the final drive; they wasted an excellent game from Peyton when their receivers couldn't manage to catch key passes (looking at you, Dallas Clark).

The Rolen trade was more excplicable, but only on the level of the Rolen-LaRussa feud. This is the second time Rolen has been traded because he couldn't get along with the manager (in Philly, it was Larry Bowa). While these managers seem to bear a similar personality type (i.e. hard-charging, no-nonesense, pain in the, um, necks), still Rolen's job is to go out and play. To lose a defensive player of Rolen's ability is going to be larger than my favorite Cards website thinks. Glaus has not exactly been the man of steel throughout his career either (although he has a little help from Mr. Ste' Roid at times); how will the Cards feel about playing Brendan Ryan at 3rd for a good chunk of the season if/when Glaus goes down? Granting the same concerns about Rolen, still the devil you know...