I work at a summer camp with Ryan Fitzpatrick. Not the Harvard graduate who led the Rams to victory on Sunday, just a guy. He's a nice guy, and I can only assume that this new rookie quarterback is a nice guy too. Wouldn't it be nice if the world worked this way sometimes. I guess everything can't be perfect. That would be like saying that people who were born while the sun rose under a certain constellation were all alike. Crazy.
But the world is interesting and different and, at times, a little crazy and coincidental.
But this isn't about my friend Ryan Fitzpatrick, this is about football. The Ram's rookie looked good. That isn't easy to do in the Ram's offense. It's complicated. Just ask Scott Covington. Mr. Fitzpatrick just came in and did the job. Of course, we were playing the Texans, but somehow we were down 20 points to the Texans. Then Fitz saved the day. I love bandwagons just as much as the next guy, but Marc Bulger is still our quarterback until further notice. A dependable backup can be a commodity, though. Welcome to the Rams, Fitz. I hope you have fun.
What Happened?
It was not long ago that everything was right in St. Louis. We have seen so many flashes of brilliance and so much promise, yet it all seems to be going away.
Yes the Cardinals are winning, but as any Red Sox fan will tell you it can hurt just as much when you seem to get so close without going all the way. Although it would be wrong to compare the death of Busch Stadium to other more painful tragedies in recent memory (Darryl Kile and Jack Buck), it was supposed to be a farewell party with fireworks and rings and trophies. Instead we said goodbye wondering where the pop went and why Tony Larussa can't win in the playoffs.
Now the wrecking ball seems to be crushing more than steel and concrete of Busch Stadium. The Greatest Show on Turf left town, with the ring leader, Mike Martz, worn down and exiled. I guess it takes a lot out of you to save a dying franchise. When the Rams came to town they were worse than mediocre. At least Martz kept things exciting. Even if the circus was more exciting off the field, at least it was exciting and people were talking about it.
The Blues used to be good. 25 straight years. Sure we never won it all, but we played good hockey. Now no one wants to by a dying franchise that is not only losing money, but now losing games too.
Mizzou was supposed to be on the way up with Quin "Call me Coach" Snyder. Rickey Paulding and Arthur Johnson were supposed to carry us to the Final Four. Instead the Ricky Clemens drama and Quin Snyder's inability to find and develop a good point guard cost them their chances of making the tournament, and Paulding's chances of being a lottery pick.
And will SLU ever be able to recruit another Larry Hughes, or a Justin Love, or a Marquee Perry, or even another Donnie Dobbs? And who could possibly be interested in those great new conference rivalries with Fordham and La Salle?
At least Larry Hughes is having a good year in Cleveland, but that's only consolation for me. Everyone else in this town seems to hate the NBA. I say fine. Don't watch the most talented athletes in the world. All the more for me.
So here's what we need to do. No one wants to buy the Blues and Savvis center? Well, I do. St. Louis needs to buy back it's hockey team. We should be proud to bleed blue. St. Louis should want to care about their hockey team again. It should not be the league door stop.
No I don't have $100 million, but if we all pitched in, we could find it. There are over 2.5 million people in the St. Louis metropolitan area, and between all of us, I think we can come up with that kind of cash. I'm sure that there are probably enough die hard hockey fans in St. Louis, that we could all buy the team. With a few heavy investments from some rich folk, and enough people to get a start, we could buy the team. If Green Bay can do it, certainly we can. And if we own the team, we'll fill the seats, because we own it.
And what's $100 million to 2.5 million people. Obviously not everyone here is a hockey fan, but if even one fifth of the people here put up $200 each, we would have enough. Let's buy the Blues because once we have the Blues, we can might be able to figure out how to stop singing the blues.
Yes the Cardinals are winning, but as any Red Sox fan will tell you it can hurt just as much when you seem to get so close without going all the way. Although it would be wrong to compare the death of Busch Stadium to other more painful tragedies in recent memory (Darryl Kile and Jack Buck), it was supposed to be a farewell party with fireworks and rings and trophies. Instead we said goodbye wondering where the pop went and why Tony Larussa can't win in the playoffs.
Now the wrecking ball seems to be crushing more than steel and concrete of Busch Stadium. The Greatest Show on Turf left town, with the ring leader, Mike Martz, worn down and exiled. I guess it takes a lot out of you to save a dying franchise. When the Rams came to town they were worse than mediocre. At least Martz kept things exciting. Even if the circus was more exciting off the field, at least it was exciting and people were talking about it.
The Blues used to be good. 25 straight years. Sure we never won it all, but we played good hockey. Now no one wants to by a dying franchise that is not only losing money, but now losing games too.
Mizzou was supposed to be on the way up with Quin "Call me Coach" Snyder. Rickey Paulding and Arthur Johnson were supposed to carry us to the Final Four. Instead the Ricky Clemens drama and Quin Snyder's inability to find and develop a good point guard cost them their chances of making the tournament, and Paulding's chances of being a lottery pick.
And will SLU ever be able to recruit another Larry Hughes, or a Justin Love, or a Marquee Perry, or even another Donnie Dobbs? And who could possibly be interested in those great new conference rivalries with Fordham and La Salle?
At least Larry Hughes is having a good year in Cleveland, but that's only consolation for me. Everyone else in this town seems to hate the NBA. I say fine. Don't watch the most talented athletes in the world. All the more for me.
So here's what we need to do. No one wants to buy the Blues and Savvis center? Well, I do. St. Louis needs to buy back it's hockey team. We should be proud to bleed blue. St. Louis should want to care about their hockey team again. It should not be the league door stop.
No I don't have $100 million, but if we all pitched in, we could find it. There are over 2.5 million people in the St. Louis metropolitan area, and between all of us, I think we can come up with that kind of cash. I'm sure that there are probably enough die hard hockey fans in St. Louis, that we could all buy the team. With a few heavy investments from some rich folk, and enough people to get a start, we could buy the team. If Green Bay can do it, certainly we can. And if we own the team, we'll fill the seats, because we own it.
And what's $100 million to 2.5 million people. Obviously not everyone here is a hockey fan, but if even one fifth of the people here put up $200 each, we would have enough. Let's buy the Blues because once we have the Blues, we can might be able to figure out how to stop singing the blues.
Curtis Sanford, You're My Hero!
What more can I say? Mr. Sanford is giving spreading hope and joy to the St. Louis area. Maybe we can salvage this season.
"Drugs are bad, mmmkay."
I am trying to recover after reading ESPN the Magazine's article on steroids in baseball. It's all there. Steroids getting cast aside as a non-issue when other things were taking up media space. MLB turning a blind eye when anyone and everyone was hitting homeruns in bunches and then having their oversized muscles fall off of their bones or their overworked tendons snap like Mike Tyson at a press conference. Why did they turn a blind eye? Because fans were coming back to the game after they lost interest because of the strike. Or because they did not want to tarnish the image of McGwire and Sosa. Well both of them survived quite well didn't they?
Whether it's Andro or cork or stealing signs or gambling, baseball players cheat. Obviously there are still honest people in baseball, but we live in a culture that encourages people to get ahead at all costs. Kids today go to school seeing cheating and plagiarizing as the norm. I had a friend in college who could barely read because he had friends who would do his homework and write his papers for him all through high school. They all figure that as long as they don't get caught, it's a victimless crime.
Except everyone becomes a victim eventually. The people who don't cheat don't get the credit they deserve for their talents. The cheaters don't learn, or get hurt, or get caught, depending upon the arena or the situation. The world has to waste money in ways to train people to catch cheaters, test people for drugs, and hope that they don't except a bribe or something to look the other way because once again our culture is embedded with a cheater's mentality. It sucks.
Major League Baseball dug their own grave on this one. McGwire, Bonds, Giambi, Sosa, Palmeiro, all of them are going to get into the hall of fame. Why? Because they cheated. Everyone knows it, but it is too late to prove it. And baseball can't do anything about it. Roger Maris is still the record holder for most home runs in a season. Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth are still the only player who have hit 700 or more home runs in their careers.
Mark McGwire was my hero. I still remember where I was when I saw number 62. We were playing Tekken 3 in Chris and Jared's room across the hall, and either Justin and I would be checking the TV in our room for when McGwire was coming up to bat. Then it happened. It barely made it. It was his shortest homer of the year. And now it is just another symbol of all that is wrong with sports. I'm almost glad that the 62 in left field won't be there anymore with the new stadium being built. And Jim Edmonds did the right thing by getting it down and taking it to Big Mac. Now he can be reminded everyday of how he broke America's heart. I still love baseball, and I still love the Cardinals, but there is a black spot hanging over the past two decades that will never be clear.
Of course after reading what Victor Conte thinks about the new steroid policy in baseball, that dark spot may still be hovering over the sport today.
Whether it's Andro or cork or stealing signs or gambling, baseball players cheat. Obviously there are still honest people in baseball, but we live in a culture that encourages people to get ahead at all costs. Kids today go to school seeing cheating and plagiarizing as the norm. I had a friend in college who could barely read because he had friends who would do his homework and write his papers for him all through high school. They all figure that as long as they don't get caught, it's a victimless crime.
Except everyone becomes a victim eventually. The people who don't cheat don't get the credit they deserve for their talents. The cheaters don't learn, or get hurt, or get caught, depending upon the arena or the situation. The world has to waste money in ways to train people to catch cheaters, test people for drugs, and hope that they don't except a bribe or something to look the other way because once again our culture is embedded with a cheater's mentality. It sucks.
Major League Baseball dug their own grave on this one. McGwire, Bonds, Giambi, Sosa, Palmeiro, all of them are going to get into the hall of fame. Why? Because they cheated. Everyone knows it, but it is too late to prove it. And baseball can't do anything about it. Roger Maris is still the record holder for most home runs in a season. Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth are still the only player who have hit 700 or more home runs in their careers.
Mark McGwire was my hero. I still remember where I was when I saw number 62. We were playing Tekken 3 in Chris and Jared's room across the hall, and either Justin and I would be checking the TV in our room for when McGwire was coming up to bat. Then it happened. It barely made it. It was his shortest homer of the year. And now it is just another symbol of all that is wrong with sports. I'm almost glad that the 62 in left field won't be there anymore with the new stadium being built. And Jim Edmonds did the right thing by getting it down and taking it to Big Mac. Now he can be reminded everyday of how he broke America's heart. I still love baseball, and I still love the Cardinals, but there is a black spot hanging over the past two decades that will never be clear.
Of course after reading what Victor Conte thinks about the new steroid policy in baseball, that dark spot may still be hovering over the sport today.
At Least Pronger is Happy
I was hanging out with my friends from the Frozen Food Section backstage at the pageant last night. It was a good time. Great music. Great art. Crazy excitement. Only one dark spot hovered over an otherwise profitable and fun evening: the Blues. They lost at home 7-2 to Chris Pronger's new team the Edmonton Oilers. And although Pronger did not score any points last night, you know he was happy. The Blues should have never let him go.
Sure long term contracts can look like debt to a prospective buyer for a team for sale, but any fan of the game should be able to understand what Chris Pronger brings to the table. Wins should look great for a team for sale. They bring excitement and money. No one wants to see a losing team. Chris Pronger was a winner. He has proven his worth after the Brendan Shanahan trade. Coupled with removing the captaincy from Brett Hull, they accounted for the only two good decisions he made during his tumultuous tenure in St. Louis.
The Blues are not winners right now. After losing two of the top five defensemen in the NHL, they have fallen apart. Their new goalie stinks, but it does not help that he gets no help from our porous defense. Dallas Drake is a gritty captain, but he can't save this ship. The Blues right now are the worst team and the league, and there does not appear to be any hope insight. As Tucker Booth so eloquently stated, "The Blues are like the Cardinals would be if they had spent a year playing with themselves in Canada."
Sure long term contracts can look like debt to a prospective buyer for a team for sale, but any fan of the game should be able to understand what Chris Pronger brings to the table. Wins should look great for a team for sale. They bring excitement and money. No one wants to see a losing team. Chris Pronger was a winner. He has proven his worth after the Brendan Shanahan trade. Coupled with removing the captaincy from Brett Hull, they accounted for the only two good decisions he made during his tumultuous tenure in St. Louis.
The Blues are not winners right now. After losing two of the top five defensemen in the NHL, they have fallen apart. Their new goalie stinks, but it does not help that he gets no help from our porous defense. Dallas Drake is a gritty captain, but he can't save this ship. The Blues right now are the worst team and the league, and there does not appear to be any hope insight. As Tucker Booth so eloquently stated, "The Blues are like the Cardinals would be if they had spent a year playing with themselves in Canada."
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