Vy Blog

World Champion St. Louis Cardinals

That's a picture of the parade that wound in front of the new Busch Stadium the other day to celebrate the tenth world championship for the St. Louis Cardinals, and the first since 1982.

It worked out perfectly -- game five at home on a Friday, and they won the series in front of the home crowd.  No one expected them to get beyond the Padres, much less win it all.

I'm really pleased for the Cardinal fans.  What a great baseball city -- the Redbirds draw 3 million a year, no matter what kind of team they're fielding.  No much fair weather in that fan base.  How many times has there been a player that lands with the Cards, endears himself to the fans, and then forswears a higher amount of money in favor of staying there?  It's the best baseball city there is.

That's a winner.

It was pine tar

Of course it was.  Give me a break.

Did it affect the outcome of the game?  Probably not.  That doesn't make it cool, though.  It makes Rogers a cheater, and it shouldn't be excused, even if he pitched a gem for the rest of the game.

Cardinals in 7

It nearly gave me an ulcer but the Cardinals -- my favorite sporting team of any kind, anywhere -- won it. 

In hindsight I can now of course admit that it was a hell of a game.  I'd rather, of course, had them up by five going to the top of the ninth rather than 1) rely on your catcher to carry your offense, and 2) rely on your rookie closer to get it done after he loads the bases in the rain in the bottom of the ninth in game seven.  But holy cats, he did it, and what a feeling it is to have the blue ring up a called third strike on the Mets to win the pennant.

I'm not that big into sports.  I don't live and die with a team.  But you can tell I'm foamed up here -- I love the Cardinals.  There are no better fans in baseball, and I'm not using that as a throwaway line.  I'm very serious.  There are no smarter, more involved and supportive, season in and season out, than Cardinal fans.

On to Detroit and then new Busch Stadium.  Swing and a long one, guys.

Hernandez is a neanderthal? In other news, pope is still Catholic.

I didn't like him when he was with the Cardinals.  Didn't like him when he scoffed at Whitey Herzog when Whitey traded his cocaine-fueled ego to the Mets.  Now he says women don't belong in the dugout.  Why am I not surprised?

Back to the lame Just For Men ads, Keith.  And how perfectly appropriate.

Flea-flicker Halfback Statue of Liberty Hail Mary 82 to the Post, on two

My son is a Tiger Cub, the prelude to Cub Scouting.  Last night, the den meeting activity was sports, and we learned a little about football before adjouring to the back yard for a scrimmage.

It was three on three, with one Dad on each team as QB.  When we were on offense, we huddled with the kids, designing simple plays to run.  It was a riot.  It reminded me of when I was a kid -- a little older than these -- playing pickup games with friends or grade-school intramurals.

Inevitably, we designed the most convoluted trick plays you can think of.  It wasn't enough to run a simple buttonhook for a first down, or a flag route for a long gain.  Nope.  You had to run a flea-flicker, or have the center try to block everyone while five receivers went downfield.  And the QB, after designing this chaos, would always say, "On two."  Like a snap count mattered in a game like this.  I guess we all thought we were Ken Stabler.

Anyone remember any of these plays?

Dick Vitale dictionary, baybee

Almost March Madness time.  I'm not all in a lather, but my friend Jake Bertalotto pointed me to this dictionary of helpful Dick Vitale terms.  Useful.

Buck O'Neil

This is such a shame.  O'Neil has done more for baseball, and human goodwill in general, than most anyone I've heard of.  He was not elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame today -- and this might be the last opportunity for that to happen.  I am terribly disappointed for him.

Oh well

Weird Olympics, weren't they?

Here's what's funny -- by FAR, this was the most successful medal performance by any US Olympic winter team.

That's hard to believe because it seems -- to me, anyway -- that while there were gems of performances, there were more unfulfilled expectations than anything else.

I'm not an Olympic-level athlete.  Far from it.  I make no claim to the perspective you're afforded by that level of skill.  I can only try to relate my own experiences with competition to what it must be like to compete at world class levels.

The part I can't get is an athlete having that kind of ability, getting to the premier competitive event of the world, and not having the most pure feeling of desire for achievement imaginable.  Yes, it's a hell of an achievement to get there in the first place -- but now you're there.  What are you going to do with the opportunity?

Bode Miller?  Huge disappointment.  Waste of talent.  Cop-out "I don't define success by medal count," and "Man, I rocked here.  I got to party at an Olympic level."

Lindsey Jacobellis?  Lost her head.  Lost her focus.  Made a decision to showboat.  She's only 20, you say.  So?  That's what snowboarding is about, you say.  Not an excuse.  Athletes younger than that keep their heads.  She crosses the line with silver, and says, "Oh well."  Like she just dropped a french fry instead of the most elite level of achievement in sports.

American speedskaters who can't get along?  Give me a break.  Figure out a way to get along.  Act like men, not a couple of whining kids.

I read where the USOC plans to meet with the coaches and athletes now that the Games are over and try to figure out what's in their heads.  Avoid the stupid behavior and field a team with equal parts talent and actual desire to win.  I hope they make progress.

Thursday roundup

Here and there:

• If you know golf, you're flat-out impressed with what Tiger Woods did yesterday.  In a match play event, where you keep score by number of holes won, Tiger beat Stephen Ames like a rented mule -- he won nine straight holes and closed him out as early as is mathematically possible.
• Clever headline:  Bond.  Jamth Bond.  New 007 Daniel Craig had a couple of teeth knocked out while filming a fight scene for Casino Royale.
• Only half of worried Americans try to manage stress.  That's easy to believe.  Stress has to be overlooked as one of the most harmful factors in everyday health.  That said, I don't do as well as I should trying to manage it.
• The Dodgers re-signed Vin Scully to a new deal that will keep him behind the microphone through 2008.  That's great -- he's one of the last of the old-guard guys I've always liked.
• Speaking of baseball, hard to believe it's as close as it is.  Why can't I find a Cardinals cap that I like?  I could find one if I wanted to look like a gang member in Brooklyn, but not a casual Redbirds fan.

Tuesday wrap

Notes for Tuesday:

• I see that Curt Gowdy has died.  I always hate to see these sportscasters go -- there are some real talents around today, but few have the class and versatility displayed by guys like Gowdy.  I remember listening to him do the Game of the Week and hosting American Sportsman.
• Finally, I got XM Radio hooked up over the weekend.  I'm still playing around with it, but already I love the variety and the ability also to listen online.  Nice to have on long commute days.
• Don't ask me how, but I ended up watching donkeys play basketball on Saturday.  Some fundraiser.  Believe me, after one ten-minute quarter of this, you've had enough.
• Mike Davidson learned some things from the TechCrunch party, and he didn't even go.  I agree -- you're probably performing more in the valley than you are in the NW.  I can schmooze, but that doesn't mean I always enjoy it.
• Eleanor Clift has a column about Sen. Jim Talent (of my home state of Missouri) who took a deep breath and removed his name from proposed legislation that would outlaw some forms of stem cell research.  He didn't quite stand tall, but he did stand, and I admire his willingness to buck the short-sighted.  The in-thy-face crowd feels betrayed.  However, I'd rather have have him doing the right thing rather than cave into those folks.  A man I used to work for, American Century founder Jim Stowers, pledged nearly his entire fortune to establish a world-class medical research facility in Kansas City, a place that badly needs innovators and forward-thinking leaders, and if the in-thy-face crowd gets its way, Stowers says fine, he'll move to another state.  That is something Missouri cannot afford under any scenario.  The Dems are gunning for Talent, and this may cost him the election.  However, politicians who are willing to lose elections are politicians I admire.