Spring Time

As the air gets warmer, the leaves return to the trees, and people start to feel that itch again, it can only mean one thing. Hockey Playoffs. That's right! After the arduous thirteen month pre-season has wound down to a thunderous halt, the real hockey season starts. Somehow almost every team seems to make the playoffs, which manages to put somewhat of a damper on the Blues consecutive playoff streak. Sure 25 straight is nice, but does it really mean anything? Shouldn't we have won at least one Stanley Cup during that streak? It is all a great mystery. Now we get three more months of playoff hockey, and somehow the next season has already started. This is getting out of hand.

Two important issues:

1. Hockey should not be played during the summer. They are pushing it in March, and one of the top teams in the country should not be from Tampa Bay.

2. No one cares about the current labor agreement. If there is no hockey next season, then the four guys from South Boston that still care about the NHL will probably shoot themselves, leaving the NHL with exactly zero fans.

Sure I like the Blues, and the Blues-Blackhawks rivalry is one of the best in sports period. Every game, no matter how each team is doing in the standings, is a good one, but I can't go to a game because the tickets cost too much. The only two hockey games I have been to in my life, someone paid for me.

God I hope I won my office pool because otherwise I will have nothing to be happy about right now. I have no basketball team in Saint Louis to root for. Barring some kind of deranged miracle, the Blues will get thrown out of the playoffs even before they start. The Cardinals rotation is already giving me nightmares. Matt Morris has been battling injuries and lost confidence. The fact that Woody Williams has played much better than his ability the last two and a half years has got to catch up with him soon. Plus he's getting old. Chris Carpenter hasn't pitched in two years. Jason Marquis has been nothing better than inconsistent in the majors thus far. And Jeff Suppan is just a slightly better Brett Tomko. Their both given contracts because they can pitch a lot of innings, but without a huge amount of run support, they would never finish a season with a winning record.

Of course the Cardinals' lineup can produce the necessary run support, but with a brand new bench with little big league experience, we cannot expect the same kind of attack we had last year. Yes I love anyone in a Cardinal uniform (unless we managed to get Barry Bonds or Kenny Lofton, God I hate those two guys), but sometimes we have to be realistic. I really hate saying bad things about Woody Williams, but I can't help but to be pessimistic. Gravity happens.

The Cubs have Prior, Wood, Maddux. The Astros have Oswalt, Clemens, Pettitte. They have three aces apiece. We have an ace, an overachiever, an overrated innings eater, a rehab experiment, and an unproven and inconsistent prospect. Things will not end well. But I always like rooting for the underdog (except for G. Tech in the final because they ruined my bracket by beating Kansas and Oklahoma St.), and it will be fun to root for the underdog Cardinals as they kick both of those teams out of the playoff picture. It's a beautiful world that way.