Rise Up, Red Sea! It's PLAYOFF TIME!

For some 20 years, I was a Cardinals season ticket holder that looked to January as a way to catch up on some of the 'good' NFL teams after spending half of my Sundays over the previous 4 months watching lousy football at ASU's Sun Devil Stadium.

Yes, there was that fateful season in 1998 when the Big Red, known at the time as the 'Wild Cards', were bringing the faithful a glimpse, a taste of what others had been living that time of year. Yes, that season produced at the time, and for the next 10 years, my favorite live football event (the dismantling and destruction of 'The Dynasty' as the Wild Cards flushed Troy, Emmitt, the Pleamaker, and the rest Dallas down "Gods Toilet").

But beyond that, January was a time that Cardinals fans, having accepted and wallowed in their non-playoff fate for a month or two, were trying to engage others into talk of the April draft.

But now we're seasoned vets! Now we're a part of the NFL conversation. And being the Cardinals, we're there with a question mark. Not as in "The Cardinals are in the playoffs?" No, this time around, it’s a question of how far they can go.

It's no news that the Cardinals (limped, backed, stumbled, pick an adjective) into the playoffs following that quasi-magical, NFC West-winning 2008 season. It's also no secret that they turned it on in January, which propelled them to Tampa and Super Bowl XLIII in February.

But this year’s questions aren't being asked with disbelief or derision. They are being asked with genuine wonder. Many are following the 'how deep can the Cardinals go?' question with adjectives like 'dangerous team' and even the more complimentary 'team no one wants to face'.

Either way you respond, the questions are out there. And here, my fellow faithful (faithful's?) are some answers. Or at least some good, available, Cardinals-laced reading out there for you to indulge as the 'Second Season' kicks off this weekend!

Lets kickoff our little Clip 'n Link with Marshall Faulk and Warren Sapp discussing the Cardinals-Packers matchup Sunday at UoP Stadium in Glendale.

Then there's scribe Dan Bickley on the local Arizona newspaper's website encouraging Cardinals fans and season ticket holders to avoid selling your seats to scalpers and Cheeseheads.

Injuries on the Cardinals are of special concern to AzCentral.com as well as Yahoo Sports.

---SCOTT Z BRADY
GBR