Attorney Mike Caspino, who represents former Cardinals executive Terry McDonough, recently teed off on team owner Michael Bidwill. Caspino’s criticism focused on one specific piece of sworn testimony regarding Bidwill’s stated role in football operations.
“[W]e got into, in Michael Bidwell’s deposition, him telling me that he’s an outstanding judge of football talent,” Caspino said in his appearance on Doug Franz Unplugged. “And I said, ‘What?’ I said, ‘Did you ever play the game?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I played it.’ I said, ‘Where’d you play?’ He said, ‘High school, in Washington, D.C.’ I said, ‘So, you’re the one making, you know, the talent decisions around the building?’ ‘Yeah, I am.’ And it struck me that — and in speaking to other people there — that he is such a hands-on owner that he goes into offensive coordinators and tells them who to get the ball to. And he’s making all of the decisions regarding the talent, regarding who to draft. And he’s making it off because he played for a year or two at some fancy boarding school in Washington, D.C. And it just struck me right there why the Cardinals are so bad. They have an owner who doesn’t listen to the people around him and thinks he’s smarter than everybody else, even with the game of football.”
On Thursday, Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon and Cardinals G.M. Monti Ossenfort conducted their pre-draft press conference. It would have been a perfect opportunity for one of the reporters to ask Gannon and/or Ossenfort about Bidwill’s involvement in football operations.
Not a single question was asked regarding Caspino’s characterization of Bidwill’s testimony.
On one hand, it’s one of the realities of press conferences. The various reporters assume that one of the others will ask the potentially delicate question. And then no one ever does. On the other hand, in a job that relies on cooperation and access, it’s dangerous to be the one who asks a question that will piss off the coach, the G.M., the owner, and/or anyone else in the organization who can help, or hurt, the media’s effort to do their job.
Regardless of why or how the question wasn’t asked, the question wasn’t asked. It would have been interesting to see what they said and how they said it.
It should have been asked. It’s an obvious topic, based on Caspino’s remark. How hard would it have been to ask whether and to what extent Bidwill is involved in picking players?
Most owners are far more involved in such matters than they pretend to be. It’s their team; they have the right to be.
As to Bidwill, Caspino gave the local media low-hanging fruit on the question of whether Bidwill is, or will be, actively involved in picking players. It’s highly relevant with the draft a week away.
The question wasn’t asked. Caspino’s comment about Bidwill’s football involvement otherwise has gotten no attention in Arizona, or elsewhere. (Other than here.) Hardly any attention has been given to other aspects of Caspino’s comments.
We’ll leave it to others to figure out why. For now, the simple truth is that, for most in the local and national media, it’s as if Caspino said nothing of interest this week.
In reality, he said plenty of compelling things. Things that suggest the new lawsuit filed earlier this month against the Cardinals and others will be very compelling. Especially since it will play out in an open and transparent court system.