Matt Leinart was supposed to be the new face of the Arizona Cardinals. Bill Bidwill spent a fortune on the former USC star, expecting him to provide a turning point for his franchise.

Kurt Warner was supposed to be washed up. Way back when the Rams jettisoned him, experts insisted he was finished.

Funny how things work out, eh? Warner will open this season as the starting Gridbirds quarterback – according to a report on ESPN.com -- and Leinart will be wondering if he’s one of the greatest NFL draft busts ever.

In his most recent preseason appearance, Leinart completed just 4 of 12 passes for 24 yards and three interceptions. That computes to a passer rating of 2.8 . . . and a spot on the bench.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt had little choice but to roll out Warner again.

“Finances won’t play a part in the Cardinals’ decision at quarterback,” Arizona Republic beat writer Kent Somers wrote. “Leinart is making $735,000 this year and is due to make $1.1 million in 2009. They can afford to let him try and play his way through tough times. Warner is making $4 million this season in the last year of a three-year deal.”

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while wondering if the Cardinals will actually exploit their home-field advantage against the Brewers:

• And can this team handle some good pitching after slapping around some overmatched Braves hurlers?
• Now that Marc Bulger is on track and Steven Jackson is back to work, should Rams fans spend all their time worrying about Orlando Pace?
• Are we all walking a little taller today now that LeBron James and the guys are bringing home Olympic gold?
• How did Miami coach Randy Shannon summon the courage to suspend seven misbehaving players for his season opener . . . against Charleston Southern?

TRENDING UP

Albert Pujols, Donnie Avery, Keenan Burton, Steven Jackson’s lifetime security, the Redeem Team, Usain Bolt, Vijay Singh, Francisco Rodriguez, Carl Pavano, instant replay in baseball, Hawaii’s Little League baseball team.

TRENDING DOWN

Kyle Lohse, Drew Bennett, Dante Hall, Carson Palmer’s nose, Osi Umenviora, Shawne Merriman, Jason Taylor, U.S. Olympic boxers, Mets bullpen, the Carl Edwards-Kyle Busch relationship, Olympic baseball and softball.

SPORTSMANSHIP LAPSE OF WEEK

If you fish around the Net, you can find the real video. Vince McMahon would be proud of this guy.

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel: “The International Olympic Committee says there is still no proof that some members of China’s gold medal women’s gymnastics team were too young to compete in the Games. Too young? These girls were so young, they danced their floor routine to ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider.’ They were so young, they played ‘patty-cake, patty-cake’ between events. They were SO-O-O-O young, they used their gold medals for teething rings.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “In China, 4-9, 73-pound female gymnast He Kexin is so popular with fans they have come out with her likeness in a Bobblehead doll. Wait. Sorry. That actually is her.”

Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “I won’t say the Chinese gymnasts were young, but after each routine, their coach wasn’t hugging them, he was burping them.”

Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times: “I applaud the Chinese’s effort and ingenuity. I admire their devotion and strength. I am in awe of their gentleness and politeness. To show my appreciation, I hereby offer to take their gold-medal-winning gymnasts to a victory party at Chuck E. Cheese.

Pete McEntegart, SI.com, on Usain Bolt: “He’s so fast, he’s literally invisible to American viewers until 13 hours after he finishes.”

Jim Caple, ESPN.com: “We’ll quickly forget much of what we saw in Beijing the past 17 days, but some moments will linger: (Michael) Phelps‘ collecting so much gold that he could rival that James Bond villain who covered his secretary in gold from head to toe. Bolt’s celebrating his laughably huge victories in a way that Terrell Owens may ask for pointers. Hope Solo’s shutting out the Brazilians to win the gold medal. The most famous wall outside of Fenway Park’s serving as a grand backdrop to a suffocating bike race.”

Mike Vaccaro, New York Post, on the modern pentathlon: “What is so modern about sword-fighting and target practice? Granted, if Vince McMahon get his hands on the sport, and has the participants turn the swords and guns on each other, it would be a pay-per-view bonanza.”

Dwight Perry, Seattle Times: “A sure sign that a rhythmic gymnast might be on steroids: She’s the only one in the competition using a bowling ball.”

Bob Molinaro, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot: “Katie Hoff, with her three swimming medals, and Michael Phelps, with his eight golds, call the same Baltimore suburb home. If Towson, Md., were a country, it would rank among the top 20 medal winners.”

Mike Lupica, New York Daily News: “I keep hearing that it’s the country’s duty to spend more money on the Olympics, so the U.S. can hold its place in the medal count. If somebody has to fund Olympic athletes, let the people at NBC do it, they’ve got more riding on the Olympics than anybody.”

Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun-Times: “I am awed because China is a hulking superpower that can construct magnificent, futuristic buildings and toss around megabillions to pull off the most progressive, organized Olympics ever. And I’m disgusted because its Communist government has developed such muscle in the global marketplace — 1.3 billion people can have such an effect — that it reduces influential executives in sports and business to cowering, submissive, soul-selling fools.”

MEGAPHONE

“We’re playing good baseball, Again, we’ve just got to keep going; can’t sit.”

Cubs manager Lou Piniella, on his streaking team.