Most Super Bowl responses came out on either Monday or Tuesday of this week, but I needed a few days to catch my breath. I've spent most of the week wearing Steelers clothes, getting excited greetings from a guy at the Tin Can who looked like hw was out of an Adam Sandler movie and the occasional joking heckle from the other side of my weekly poker game. All the negative comments directed towards me stopped once the game ended and the Steelers brought home the Six Pack to Pittsburgh. After a game that exciting and nearly devastating, I'd even high five this girl (you know the one I mean).

Now I'd like to give you the view of what it was like to be a Steelers fan in St. Louis on Sunday. I know that the vast majority of the people reading this were cheering for the Cardinals on Sunday, so this should be a new perspective for most of you. As I said in my previous entry, I like Kurt Warner, but I couldn't cheer against my own team for him. This earned me an aura of negativity as soon as I arrived at my Aunt Sherry's house for her annual Super Bowl party (Yes, this is the aunt who curses games by looking at them, but we'll get to that later).

Continue reading "Super Bowl XLIII Champs"

I haven't mentioned much about the Cardinals lately and now that the players have reported to spring training, I think it's time that I examined them a bit.

1. Chris Carpenter has looked good so far this spring, but due to his history (surgery before he actually played for us, the nerve thing at the end of 2004, Tommy John surgery in 2007, and now the shoulder injury in 2008 relating to the Tommy John surgery) I don't think I'm going to be convinced that he can go a full season without getting hurt. Even if he's fine in 2009, makes 33 starts while pitching 200+ innings, I think I'll still be skeptical heading into 2010. He's one of the best pitchers in the majors when he's on the field, but he's extremely unreliable.

2. Is anyone else irritated with Joel Pineiro for being angry that he was left off of the Puerto Rico roster for the World Baseball Classic? The guy is going to make $7.5 million for the Cardinals this year and he's worried about pitching in an exhibition tournament which derailed the careers of Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia in 2006, among others. Sure, the fact that the Cards' third base coach Jose Oquendo is managing the PR team might have hurt his feelings, but he was still offered a chance to pitch in long relief. That role is just as important if not more important in the WBC because of mandatory pitch counts that force starters out after I believe 60 pitches. That means that he could come on in a tie game in the fifth inning and be counted on for two or three innings. Even if that isn't the role he's used to since he's primarily been a starter in his MLB career, the three man rotation that Oquendo chose is comprised of much better talent than Pineiro. Javier Vazquez (now of the Braves, formerly of the White Sox) has been a decent three or four starter for years, Ian Snell of the Pirates would have a much better record if he played for any decent club, and Jonathan Sanchez could be looked at as the Giants' ace of the future if they didn't already have Tim Lincecum on their roster. If the Cards could deal Pineiro for any of those three guys, I'd be ecstatic. So the fact that he was passed over for them makes total sense. Did you hear about Brian Barton being angry that he didn't get to start at first base and bat third for the Cards last year? No, because Albert Pujols is significantly better. Pineiro needs to shut his mouth and focus on not blowing countless leads in 2009 like he did in 2008.

Continue reading "Cards issues and Blues drop another game by not playing all 60 minutes"

The Blues

The Blues responded nicely last Thursday with a 2-1 overtime win to follow up an ugly performance in Columbus. They finished up the home-and-home with Nashville on Saturday by losing 1-0 in overtime. It was a great job by Chris Mason to reel in one point, but St. Louis can't afford to leave points out there at this stage, especially at home. Even though the Blues got a point in that game, they still fell a point further behind Nashville since the Predators picked up a pair of points with the win. Tuesday's game against Phoenix was crucial since the Blues' next eight games include four road games in addition to home meetings with the Sharks, Stars, and Red Wings(twice) who are three of the strongest/hottest teams in the league. Points will not be easy to come by over that stretch, so they needed two against the Coyotes. The fact that it came in regulation was a huge boost, as was the gift goal that David Perron collected on a center-ice chip-in. I'd feel bad about that, but the Blues have been killed by fluky goals all year. It's about time went our way.

Continue reading "A look at NCAA basketball and the Blues"