St. Louis sports had a fantastic weekend (Columbia is not a suburb of St. Louis, so this excludes the Mizzou-Texas debacle from Saturday night). All three of the city's teams were improving in one way or another, even the Cardinals who are finished for year on the field.
Even though the Cardinals have missed the playoffs the last two years, they were competitive for the majority of the two seasons. The Redbirds are now rumored to be involved in trade talks with the San Diego Padres for ace pitcher and last year's NL Cy Young award winner Jake Peavy, as well as shortstop Khalil Greene. If Chris Carpenter can't go in the spring (or ever, Peavy would help to stabilize the front of the rotation. That could give the Cardinals a rotation of Peavy, Adam Wainwright, Kyle Lohse, and Todd Wellemeyer, with the last spot to be filled in by Joel Piniero or a minor leaguer.
Greene, would provide a significant offensive upgrade at shortstop. He only played in 105 games this season, but still managed to hit 10 home runs while driving in 35. In 2007, he hit 27 home runs and drove in 97 runs while batting .245 for the Padres. While that average means he shouldn't lead off, he can provide some extra pop near the bottom of the order where Adam Kennedy, Cesar Itzuris, and Aaron Miles could not. The fact that the Cardinals are even in discussions for these two players shows that general manager John Mozeliak is committed to improving the team, and taking the Cardinals back to the playoffs in 2009.
The Blues got off to a good start last year, but faded down the stretch, especially during the team's record-long nine game road trip, of which the Blues just won two. The Blues are going through a much friendlier stretch right now, of seven straight home games, their longest home stand since the 98-99 season, of which they've already won two (out of two).
They began the home stand with a 6-1 blowout win of the Dallas Stars. Free blizzards anyone? Saturday night, the Blues took what would've been an otherwise very demoralizing night of sports (Mizzou losing being completely pummelled and the Rays getting forced to a game seven) into an inspiring one. The Blues got down early 2-0, came back to 2-1, just to get down by 2 again in the third. They then gained a four minute power play from a spearing double minor, and failed to score. It was at this point, I was ready to leave Laura's grandma's 75th birthday party and concede and all around defeat.
I'm just glad my hockey team didn't do the same. I got into the car, and no matter how much I feel like giving up, I never can let any game go until there is ZERO time left. So I flipped on 1120 am (KMOX) to listen to the remainder of the Blues game. I heard the fact that the Blues had pulled goaltender Manny Legace with over a minute to go, and assumed that we were still trailing 3-1. What I didn't know was that Keith Tkachuk had scored his sixth goal in five games (at least one in every game this season, not bad for a guy who was suspended for being overweight after the lockout) to make the score 3-2.
With 14 seconds remaining, I heard the Blues' radio play-by-play announcer Chris Kerber scream, "The Blues score! The game is tied!" Andy McDonald had scored, and I was so psyched to hear that the Blues had made a huge comeback for the second time in three games that I was pretty much yelling with every big play (I think my girlfriend Laura puts up with more than I realize) the rest of the way home.
We got a power play in overtime, just like against Toronto a week ago, but also like against Toronto, we couldn't convert it and had to go to a shootout. The first two shooters both got stopped, which brought us to Brad Boyes. As bad as the Blues were in shootouts last year, Boyes was still fantastic. He scored against the Chicago goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin to give us a 1-0 lead in the shootout, and is now 2-2 on the year in shootout attempts. Neither team scored in round three, which meant that Blues' rookie T.J. Oshie would make his first career attempt in the shootout. Oshie scored, Legace made a save on Blackhawks' winger Martin Havlat, and the Blues continued their winning streak to three.
The win setup a huge matchup on Wednesday, when the hated rivals and defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings come to town, to momentarily decide first place in the Central Division. Although I would prefer not to get down by too much to a team as good as Detroit (I despise them, but I also respect them), I won't give up until the final horn sounds.
That brings me to the Rams. The biggest joke in the NFL. A team that was more embarrassing to St. Louis than the eyesore that they play their home games in. In my first entry, when I predicted that Haslett would turn the Rams around, I said that I didn't think it would be immediate. I was looking at the glass like it was half full, but apparently it was at least three-quarters full as Haslett has turned a joke into a playoff contender in two weeks. Yes, I said playoff contender.
While I don't think that Haslett's Rams are one of the top NFC teams, I also don't think they need to be. They likely play in the worst division in the NFL. The Rams are now 2-4, but also in second place, just two back of the 4-2 Arizona Cardinals. The Rams first seven games of the schedule was brutal when it was released this summer. When New England Patriots starting quarterback Tom Brady was knocked out for the year in week 1, it made it so that just the first six games looked to be the biggest test. The Rams had to play the entire NFC east, possibly the deepest division in the league, the Seahawks on the road where haven't played well since the Mike Martz era, and the Buffalo Bills, who have only lost once so far this season.
The Rams, with back to back wins over teams with winning records in the Redskins and the Cowboys, the Rams have set themselves up for a run at the NFC West title. If the Patriots lose on Monday Night Football to the Broncos later tonight, that would drop them to 3-3. If this were the case (and the Patriots are underdogs at home in that game), the Rams would only face four games in their last ten against teams with winning records. Half of those are against the division leading Cardinals. To win the division, the Rams probably need at least a split with Arizona. The Cardinals still have one game left with the 49ers, and are yet to play a bad Seattle team the keeps getting worse.
However, the Cardinals next game at 5-2 Carolina won't be easy, and if they lose that one and the next one here in St. Louis, the Rams could be looking at first place if they go into New England and win. In a division this bad, the Rams are far from out of it. The Rams win in Washington was a bit fluky, with their only touchdown coming on a 75-yard fumble return, and still needing a long last second field goal from stud kicker Josh Brown to seal it.
Yesterday's win against Dallas was anything but fluky. Yes, the Cowboys did the smart thing and didn't play injured starting quarterback Tony Romo. But it wasn't just the Cowboys quarterback play that made them vulnerable yesterday. The Rams still made plays on defense that they just weren't before the bye. A Brad Johnson pass got batted in the air at the 3:57 mark of the first quarter. Before the bye, in either falls harmlessly to the ground, or is caught by a cowboys lineman and ran in for a touchdown. After the bye, Rams linebacker Will Witherspoon makes a diving catch for an interception and is tackled at the Dallas 17, leading to the Rams' third touchdown. The Rams' defense isn't there quite yet, but it's a lot closer than it would've been with Scott Linehan still at the helm.
The Rams offense is starting to click as well, and it hasn't made an opposing defense look that badly in a really long time. Steven Jackson had his way with the Cowboys, rushing for 160 yards and three touchdowns, including a 56-yard rumble to the house along the right sideline, right in front of where I was standing with my friends Dave and Tyler. Tyler had been yelling at them to run outside all game. They finally listened, and it worked masterfully, putting us up 31-7. At that point, Dave, Tyler and I looked at each other, and Tyler said, "We're actually blowing out the Cowboys." It was true.
I must give the Cowboys' fans some credit though. They stayed after that point, even after another Brown field goal made it 34-7. They didn't leave until yet another turnover was committed. Johnson threw it deep to Terrell Owens, in tight double coverage, and Oshiomogho Atogwe picked it off, on a play that was probably fairly difficult (he jumped in stride and turned), but he made it look quite easy. Everything looked like it came easy for the Rams yesterday. Hopefully the trend continues for them, because if it does, the ticket sales will come easier as well.
Hockey and football are both back in St. Louis. With wins like the ones over the Cowboys and Blackhawks, it seems like it was worth the wait.
