The Beautiful Tournament, the World Cup

The World Cup reminds us every four years why it's one of the greatest sporting events to grace this planet. Even with the numerous reffing gaffes, players rolling around like they'd been shot when they hadn't been touched, and  egomaniac coaches, the tournament was fantastic. To counteract those things, we had fantastic goals, many upsets, and even Paul the soccer predicting Octopus (he went a perfect eight-for-eight in choosing matches, including picking Spain in the final).

The United States got off to a great start by managing a tie against England. I didn't see the game, but I did see the goals. They looked a little something like this:

Then, in our second match, it looked like we were going to suffer another disappointing group stage elimination when we fell behind Slovenia 2-0. We rallied in the second half to tie that game and should have won, had there not been a bizarre disallowing of our third goal. It's a week after the even has ended and I still never heard an explanation for the referee's ruling. I doubt we ever will. That brings us to our third match, which with England taking an early 1-0 lead in their coinciding game against Slovenia, became a must-win for the United States. I then got to experience my favorite soccer memory of my lifetime. As we went to stoppage time in the second half, looking like we were doomed to a tie with Algeria which would not be enough to move on, we got a brilliant goal from Landon Donovan. It started with a great save by Tim Howard, who started it up the field with a fantastic throw. Donovan crashed the net to get to the rebound, caused by the rush, and banged it home. I was streaming it in my company's break room and jumped up and yelled. Two other people asked me if I had money on the game and I simply responded,"No, it's my country." It's very disappointing that they didn't understand this. It made me feel like I, along with my friend Ben who passionately streamed the World Cup with me, were the only soccer fans in the country. But to me, it didn't matter. I smiled for the rest of the work day and watched the replay 10 times on youtube before going to bed that night. Here it is again, if you'd like to relive it as well:

I still get chills watching it. It was amazing. Donovan can join Ryan Miller at the bar, as he too, should never pay for another beer in this country. And also, clearly, Ben and I weren't the only ones watching. The second location is where I watched the Ghana game the following Saturday. And although it ended in disappointment, the atmosphere was amazing and it was incredible when Donovan tied the game. Here's a picture of the scene at halftime that I took.

The upsets in this tournament made it very interesting as well. Even though Spain, one of the favorites, ended up winning, it was still their first time winning which makes it alright with me. I'd much rather see them win than Brazil or Germany, who always seem to win. I'm envious of my friends Dan and Julie, who were over there for most of the tournament including the final. I would imagine the party is still going. But back to the actual upsets. Who saw Japan making it to the round of 16? If not for penalties deciding their match, they might have gone even further. The Netherlands taking out Brazil, especially in a come from behind fashion, was also very shocking. The Netherlands is a very good team, don't get me wrong, but for a bit, the tournament seemed destined to have a final between Brazil and Argentina. But then Europe took down South America via Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands. I would look for Brazil to end their dry spell when they host the next tournament in 2014, assuming we make it past 2012 of course.

The tournament's final wasn't pretty, as Holland picked up nine yellow cards and a red, while the Spanish weren't exactly gentlemen either. My favorite play in the game aside from the goal (which was obviously onside if you understand soccer, by the way) was a Spanish player taking the rules into his own hands. He got sandwiched by two dutch players, which probably should have been a foul by the way they took him out. However, when he got up and looked around, he saw that there was no call. He then said, "Eff that noise" and threw one of the two offenders to the ground with a quick swing of his arm. I assumed that would be a yellow card, as it was deliberate, but it was just a foul. Perhaps the refs knew they had missed something, but either way, the game could have been officiated better, which could be said for most of the tournament. Luckily, it didn't completely ruin the World Cup. In my opinion, the best team still ended up winning, even if the USA, England, Mexico, and several others got screwed along the way. Ghana got screwed within the rules and then screwed themselves, and after their cowardly display against us, I didn't feel all that bad about it. I already can't wait for the qualifying games to begin in a couple of years as we begin the road to Brazil. If we can play better defense, we could be very dangerous. Here's to 2014.

Thoughts on Griffey Retirement, Strasfest, and NCAA Conference Expansion

The two biggest baseball stories of the past week both peaked on the same day. We had the retirement of a legend and a first ballot Hall of Famer in Ken Griffey Jr., which was overshadowed by the debut of a possible legend, Stephen Strasburg. Griffey's demise was as sad as Strasburg's debut was happy and exciting.

Strasburg was the first overall pick in the draft just last year and he rocketed up through the minors, debuting before Flag Day. Griffey, who hit 19 home runs as recently as last season, retired after managing just 18 hits in 98 at-bats this season and finished with more clubhouse naps than home runs (one compared to none). Strasberg threw seven innings in his debut, fanning 14 and allowing just two runs on just four hits while walking no one. In one start, he did more for baseball in the city of Washington since the Texas Rangers were there under the name the Washington Senators. He electrified the crowd with every fastball (four and two-seamers), curve ball, slider, sinker, and God-knows what else he threw at the helpless Pirates hitters. He electrified them in the same way that Griffey used to in his first stint with the Mariners and even in his first year with the Reds. Griffey never reached his true potential due to injury problems and still managed to hit 630 home runs in his career. To me, he's the Mario Lemieux of baseball. One of the best to ever play the game, especially in his prime, but he'll never get the recognition that guys I hate do like Barry Bonds and Wayne Gretzky (I'm sure hockey's golden boy was clean of PEDs, I just hate him as a Blues fan).

Griffey's biggest legacy for me, though, will be nothing that he did on the field. It's one of my favorite video games of all time, Major League Baseball featuring Ken Griffey Jr. for N64. And no, I don't mean that Slugfest BS that was a travesty compared to the original for the platform. Sure, you could create players, but the game play wasn't anywhere near as good. To show you what an incredible game it is, I took the system, controllers, and the game out to New Mexico just so I could play it with my friend Jon(athan) during my visit. N64 stuff took up more luggage space than clothes. That's what washing machines are for. I've met four masters of this game, including myself and Jon, as well as my friends from middle school Mike and Justin. The latter two and I spent an entire summer doing almost nothing but playing this game. Jon joked during my trip that we're probably better at this game than the programmers ever meant anyone to be. He's probably right. Just for the record, I took two World Series out of three (Yes, much to Jon's wife Sarah's chagrin, we found time for three World Series, all of which went at least six games if I recall correctly). And if it weren't for my damned cleanup hitter Dante Bichette batting under .200 with no home runs or RBI in the third series, I may have taken that one too. I'll get you for this Dante!

While I'm on the subject of Dante Bichette and bottoming out, I should talk about conference expansion in the NCAA and how the University of Missouri got completely owned by the Big Ten, Nebraska, the Big 12 South, and hell, even Colorado, who sucks at everything but ultimate frisbee. Mizzou got all hot and bothered when they heard the Big Ten was expanding. They want off into a fantasy world where they have a football program that competes with Texas and Oklahoma, when in reality, they still haven't beaten either under Gary Pinkel. And while their basketball program is on the rise, as much as I love the sport, it doesn't affect anything when compared to football. Otherwise, the Big Ten would've extended an invite to Kansas, who stomps Nebraska every year in basketball. Twice. But alas, the Cornhuskers have joined the likes of Michigan and Ohio State, while the Jayhawks were on the verge of having to beg the MAC or Mountain West for a home. Football makes the money in college sports and sadly, money is all that matters to schools. It's certainly not the student-athletes. You know, those little people that can have their scholarships taken away when their school's head coach has recruited someone better to replaces them. Those people that have to sit out for an entire season if they want to switch schools, while coaches can leave them high and dry while rarely encountering consequences of their own. Let's face it, if the students and the spirit of competition mattered, we'd have a playoff system by now in Division I-A college football. But no, we're still stuck with the BSC (not a typo), because it makes more money than the school presidents believe a playoff system would.

Mizzou, or as a Huskers fan called them today(and quite appropriately I might add), the University of Texas at Columbia, is officially Texas' bitch. They're going to continue to make less money than the Longhorns or Sooners and there will be nothing that they can do about it. Mizzou might as well be to Texas what UMSL is to Mizzou, an affiliated school with a lesser athletic program that only play each other in exhibitions. Sure, Mizzou's won two straight against the Longhorns in men's basketball, but their football games really do appear to be exhibitions, with the Tigers playing the role of the Washington Generals. And no Krusty, the Generals are never due. That tiger on the left doesn't look nearly sad enough. It looks like it lost its cubs. Mizzou lost its cubs and then found them again, just to realize that they had been burned and that Shooter McGavin had pissed on the ashes. McGavin is pictured  below and to the right.

The Cardinals are starting to get right on offense again. Nothing will fix an offense like a visit from the Seattle Mariners, especially when a team gets to avoid Felix Hernandez AND Cliff Lee.  The Reds won't be so lucky, as they get to travel to Seattle and face both of them in the series that follows this one. If the Reds aren't out of first place before that series, they will be soon. Colby Rasmus has caught fire, David Freese has gotten healthy, and Albert Pujols appears be back on Mount Olympus again. The starting pitching has been a constant all season outside of rookie starts from P.J. Walters and Adam Ottavino, and it even remained on Tuesday night when Jeff Suppan made his return to Busch Stadium. He only lasted four innings due to little work before his departure in Milwaukee, but he pitched around a big two-out jam in the first inning to leave the bases loaded and only allowed one run, giving the club a chance to win. He even doubled and scored in the bottom of the fourth before being removed in the next inning. Kyle Lohse might be a $10 million bullpen arm when/if he gets off of the DL. It'll be nice to have consistency out of the fifth rotation spot again if Suppan can keep it up.

Also trending up as of late is the NHL. The Stanley Cup Finals was one of the most viewed in a long time. After almost every game, especially the ones on NBC instead of Versus, the media would talk about what great ratings the game got. It had two large market teams in Philadelphia and Chicago going for it. Another positive was that neither team had won the cup in forever. The Blackhawks last title was in 1961 and the Flyers' last parade was in 1975. The best part about the series was that just like Strasburg, it lived up to all of the hype. The only way the series could've had more drama was if it had gone seven games. Four of the six games were decided by one goal, including two in overtime. And one of the two games that wasn't decided by a goal had an empty-netter tacked on at the end. We also had our first clinching goal in overtime since Jason Arnott locked up the cup for the Devils a decade ago. It seemed that only Patrick Kane, who scored the goal, actually knew it was in. But I had a sinking feeling when I lost sight of the puck and saw Michael Leighton crouching in one corner of the goal. If the puck wasn't in the net, it should have gone into the corner of the boards in the opposite corner. My only hope was that it was in Leighton's pads and I didn't know it. But instead, the puck went straight through and stuck in the netting, sending the cup to Chicago. I can be happy for friends that are Blackhawks fans, as no Chicago fan under 50 had seen their team win before, and I feel the pain that they now have sweet relief from. But now, for me, it's just another bitter reminder that I'm yet to see my team do this. I've seen some of my favorite teams, Duke, the Cardinals, and the Steelers bring home an NCAA title, a World Series, and two Super Bowls in the last five years respectively, but with hockey being my favorite sport, I'd probably trade them all for one cup. I felt we were getting close as we made the playoffs last year, but after missing them this season and now having ownership uncertainty, it feels as far away as ever. When I'm asked why I still believe it will happen someday, my answer is simple. Because I have to...


Photos from the Googly, Nintendo, and The University of Texas

Game 7, NHL at its Finest, NBA at its Non-Existance.

There are several reasons why I prefer the NHL to the NBA. It's faster. Ticket prices are cheaper. Interference, while not called consistently, is still put to better use by officials in hockey than traveling is in the NBA. But most importantly, it's just more exciting.

The NBA's second round series have consisted of three sweeps and the lone series going to six, possibly seven games, the Cavs and Celtics, has been full of lopsided contests. On the other side, the NHL's second round will have a five-game series, a six-game series, and two seven-game series. One of the seven game series even started out as a 3-0 for Boston, but it's still a series and for the sixth time in league history, a game seven will come about after a team led 3-0. The Flyers will try and become just the third of those six teams to pull off the unthinkable and rally from a 3-0 deficit for a series victory. It hasn't been

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pulled off since the Islanders did it against the Penguins in 1975. The other time was in 1942 when Toronto did it to the Red Wings. Where's that history will be made commercial Versus? Where?

Tonight, the Canadiens pulled off the unthinkable yet again by taking out the defending Stanley Cup champions in Game 7 to advance to their first conference finals since they won the Cup in 1993. This was their encore to a seven-game series in which they ousted the top-seeded Capitals. If I had given a friend of mine 2-1 odds on the Habs winning the Cup (which clearly I didn't because that's illegal in this country), I still wouldn't be worried. Why? Because I don't believe any team other than Pittsburgh or Washington from the Eastern Conference could defeat the West's representative in the finals. I hate both San Jose and Chicago, but I feel it's just unrealistic for the Habs to beat them after two grueling series plus whatever goes down against Boston or Philly. That being said, it could happen, because it's hockey. The NHL hasn't been accused of being rigged seriously before, aside from one little incident this season. The NBA, on the other hand, has a former referee that has done jail tile for fixing games. So when people come out and say that NBA commissioner David Stern want the Lakers and Cavs in the finals, it's a little harder to ignore, which is why if the Habs do become the first eight-seed to win the cup, I'll gladly pay an unspecified hypothetical amount to be a NHL fan instead of an NBA fan.

The Cards really need to quit beating themselves. They've allowed as many unearned runs (9) in the first two games against the Astros as they've scored as a team total. Brendan Ryan has more errors (4) in the last two games than he's had hits in his last eight games. The team could really use getting Felipe Lopez back from the DL as Ryan's offensive shortcomings may have began to affect his defense as well. There were a couple of bright spots in the first two games, however. David Freese continued to hit well on Tuesday, collecting another double, RBI, and walk in three at-bats. Albert Pujols had his second consecutive multi-hit game to begin the home stand and Matt Holliday collected an RBI for the second straight game. If the club can get back to basics like good defense, patient hitting, and good pitching (they've gotten better than that from their starters), they'll be just fine. They've seen a large lead dwindle in the last week, but they still are on top of the Reds by a game. And while I think the Reds are greatly improved, I still think they're a year away from being a true playoff contender. The redbirds have plenty of time to get their stuff together, but they'll certainly be better off if they do it sooner rather than later.

A lot has been made of the Univeristy of Missouri's possible jump from the Big 12 to the Big Ten. Offers were said to have been made by the Big Ten to Mizzou, Notre Dame, Rutgers, and Nebraska, but the conference has denied those rumors. I could see positives and negatives to this for Missouri. It would completely change their rivalries. If Nebraska didn't come, they might not play them every year in football, and now that both teams have been winning in that game, it is a true rivalry once again. The same can be said about the KU game, which has certainly been built up with the neutral-site of Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. If Mizzou and the other schools wanted to schedule those games every year, they could, but let's face it, most big schools prefer at least three non-conference patsies to start the year. Scheduling KU and Nebraska would require the Tigers to have two tough non-conference opponents in addition to the Big Ten schedule. That's quite a gauntlet. It would also change things a bit in basketball. Could the Bragging Rights Game really stay in St. Louis if the two school were supposed to play twice per year? I highly doubt it. There are several non-conference basketball rivalries that have schools play each year, like Duke and St. John's, for instance, but these games usually are played at alternating campus sites. The dynamic for the Mizzou and Illinois game(s) would certainly be changed and I'm not sure that this would be a positive thing either.

That said, Mizzou has gotten screwed out of better bowl games in nearly every season since becoming part of the national picture. They should've gotten a BCS bowl when they only had one regular season loss, but Kansas, who the Tigers beat, got it instead. The last two seasons, Mizzou has been passed over for a team below it in the conference standings for the better bowl games while the Big 12 has stood idly by without changing their rules to anything that makes sense or is fair. And let's face it. When it comes to college athletics, football is what pays the bills. So if it makes sense academically (and the Big Ten does), Mizzou should do what's best for it's football program, which would mean adios Big 12, Hola Big Ten. We'll see how much truth these rumors hold in the upcoming weeks.

Quick Hits

• San Diego Padres pitcher Tim Stauffer proved once again this week, that there is an app for everything. He pulled up a medical website while not feeling well in which he inserted his symptoms and eventually diagnosed himself as having appendicitis. He called his team's trainer and eventually had his appendix removed the following morning.
• The AP decided to re-vote this week on its annual Defensive Rookie of the Year award, after last season's winner, Brian Cushing,  tested positive for steroids and was suspended for the first four games of the upcoming season. It's their award and I suppose they can do what they like with it. However, if you're going to bother re-voting because the winner cheated, wouldn't you take him of the ballot? Isn't that what makes sense? Well, apparently not, as Cushing not only stayed on the ballot but won the re-vote, albeit by a smaller margin. That away AP, I'm sure you taught this young man a valuable lesson. Steroid use in the NFL can win you awards, so why not use them? Well done AP, well done.

Photo taken my Matt Slocum of the AP. Padres story originally reported by ESPN Los Angeles.

Don't Tase Me Bro!

For anyone that has been under a rock for the past day or so, the Cardinals jumped into the national spotlight during last night's game. This wasn't because they have the best record in the National League or because they were facing the two-time defending National League Champions. No, it's for a far more comical reason.

Last night, some 17-year old kid named Steve Consalvi decided to hop the fence and run a muck. Since FSN didn't want to give this kid the attention, they showed many of the players while security tried to round him up. They were all bursting at the seams. As you can see here, it was quite a comical scene. But then a cop had to end the fun by whipping out a taser and dropped the youngster like an anvil over Wile E Coyote. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Consalvi should've been on the field. He was trespassing and delaying a game which already was strung out by the Phillies manager Charlie Manuel getting tossed over a runner's interference call (Manuel was wrong, by the way, the correct call was made). However, tasing this kid was way out of line. Whatever happened to the normal protocol of just surrounding the fool and eventually tackling him? Sure, this might have taken a bit longer, but Consalvi wasn't endangering anyone, so there shouldn't have been that much urgency. It's rare, but tasers have occasionally killed people. If this guy had a heart defect or some other issue and had died from the charge, I doubt the Phillies would still be laughing or the police department would be defending the officer that used the excessive force as publicly as they have. There's certainly good reason for the internal investigation that's going on regarding the incident.

Perhaps the oddest part of this story is that Consalvi actually called his father to ask permission to run on the field or at least get his father's opinion on his stupid idea. His father told him it wasn't a good idea, but we've all been kids, and we know we don't always listen to reason. Consalvi will learn from his actions and hopefully will grow up at Penn State University next fall. I doubt we'll see him on the field again anytime soon, Happy Valley might soon be equipping their security guards with tasers as well, just in case.

As for the game itself, this wasn't necessarily one I expected to win. The Cardinals had a rookie going against the Phillies who were coming off a good series against the Mets. But this isn't just any rookie. This is Jaime Garcia, who out dueled the Mets' ace, Johan Santana, the Brewers' ace, Yovanni Gallardo, and stayed with two-time defending NL Cy Young winner, Tim Lincecum. Garcia doesn't appear to be intimidated by anything to this point and if those pitchers and the fans in Philly don't do it, I'm pretty sure nothing will. He kept the team in it long enough for the club's other star rookie, David Freese, to break the game open. Outfielder Nick Stavinoha hit a pinch-hit home run in the top of the seventh to give the Cards a 2-1 lead, his second pinch-hit dinger of the year. Freese then followed this by stepping in with the bases loaded and proceeded to clear them with a double, blowing the game open with a score of 5-1. Freese would come around to score on a single by the next hitter, Colby Rasmus to make it 6-1. The Phillies would get two runs back, but it wasn't enough as the St. Louis closer, Ryan Franklin was brought in and he shut the door with consecutive shutouts to end the game with a score of 6-3. Freese came through again on Tuesday with a 2-for-5 night including a double that led off the ninth. Yadier Molina would then follow that hit with a double of his own to drive in Freese and tie the game at one. This got Adam Wainwright off the hook for a loss that he didn't deserve, having given up just one run on four hits over eight innings. In the end, one run wasn't enough on the road, which really isn't surprising, as it rarely is.

The Cardinals offense, having scored six runs in each of the three games that preceded Tuesday's contest (yes, 25 cent drinks for all!), isn't even going on all cylinders yet. Pujols has been up and down this year (yeah, and he's still hitting .327), and Matt Holliday and his new $120 million contract has been a ghost for most of this season. If the Cards can get those two going in the near future, they could be 20 games ahead by the all-star break. They're already five games up without consistency from them. It's unlikely that Freese is going to hit .360 all year, but even if he keeps a similar pace, Pujols and Holliday will be needed in the long run. Pujols will be there. But will Holliday? We shall see.

The second round of the NHL playoffs is in full swing and the series are mostly going as expected. Vancouver and Chicago are headed to Canada tied at a game each, Boston held serve at home for a 2-0 lead, and the Pens are up 2-1 on the Habs after three. I expected Pittsburgh to win in 5 or 6, Chicago and Vancouver to go seven, and home ice to play a big role in the Boston and Philly series. One thing I did not expect was for the Sharks to take both games in San Jose from Detroit and then steal Game 3 in Detroit as well. The Sharks rallied from two goals behind in Game 3 to force overtime on Tuesday night before former captain Patrick Marleau finished off a 2-on-1 in overtime to send the Wings to the brink of elimination. I still think the

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Red Wings can win a game or two before they get out their golf clubs, but I don't think even the group of chokers known as the Sharks can blow a 3-0 lead with two home games left. Detroit will not be making their third straight trip to the finals. However, the Penguins might be doing just that. They stole back home ice on Tuesday by beating Montreal 2-0. With the top three seeds in the east losing, the road to the finals will go through Pittsburgh.They have the best remaining goalie in the conference with Marc-Andre Fleury. They probably have the best two players remaining in the playoffs with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. All signs point to Pittsburgh to win their third straight Eastern Conference title. I also believe that they're the only club in the east that has a chance against a much stronger Western Conference. Here are my picks for the remainder of the playoffs:

• The Sharks finish of Detroit back at the tank in Game 5.
• Chicago loses in seven to Vancouver as Roberto Luongo stands on his head.
• A much more talented Sharks team pushes past Vancouver in six games to make their first finals.
• Pittsburgh takes out a Canadian team in Canada for the second straight round, finishing the Habs in six.
• The Flyers come back and force a Game 7 before the Bruins take care of business. 
• The Penguins show the Bruins that they really don't belong in the Eastern Conference finals, knocking Boston out in just five games.
• The Penguins repeat as the Sharks kill their fans by waiting all the way until Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals before finally choking. Crosby is now up on Alexander Ovechkin 2-0 in cups and this time he takes home the Conn Smythe as well.

 First photo belongs to Warner Brothers. Second was taken by Dave Reginek.

Singler Returns, Updates on NHL, MLB, and Steeler Issues

The defending National Champions got a huge boost on Monday when the reigning Final Four Most Outstanding Player, Kyle Singler, announced that he'd be returning to Duke University for his senior season. The Blue Devils will be losing Jon Scheyer, Brian Zoubek, and Lance Thomas to graduation. The possibility of losing Singler and Nolan Smith as well would've put Duke in a similar position to the one of North Carolina during the past season. The majority of UNC's key players either graduated or left early for the NBA following their NCAA title and the Tar Heels failed to even make the tournament this season. They did manage to make the NIT finals before falling to Dayton, but when Roy Williams hadn't missed the dance since moving back to Chapel Hill, this season certainly will be viewed as a disappointment.

Singler's return along with the potential of Smith coming back would allow Duke to remain with the elite NCAA schools for next season, not just in TV ratings, but in the polls as well. And when Kentucky can lose five key players early to the NBA including stars John Wall and Demarcus Cousins, and coach John Calipari still manages to reload, keeping key players through their senior year is the best way to compete with him. Marcus Camby was a part of Calipari's bogus recruiting, and from that look, he can't believe he's still getting away with it either.

I know I'm a little late with hockey predictions for this space, but I did make them elsewhere. Here's what my choices looked like in the ESPN sports nation voting:
Eastern Conference
Caps over Habs in 5
Devils over Flyers in 7
Sabres over Bruins in 6
Penguins over Senators in 6

Western Conference
Avalanche over Sharks in 6
Blackhawks over Predators in 6
Canucks over Kings in 6
Red Wings over Coyotes in 5

All of my predictions are still possible other than the Wings over Phoenix in five, but I'm willing to let that one slide. The Coyotes have surprised everyone with their grit and determination to this point. They lost their captain, Shane Doan, in the second period of game 3 but they kept coming at Detroit and the Wings failed to counter and bring the pressure until it was too late. By stealing a win in Detroit, the Coyotes have managed to get home ice back after they were unable to secure game 2 at home. I'm sure the Wings aren't done, but Phoenix has them right where they want them.

The biggest goat of the playoffs so far has to be the Sharks' Dan Boyle. He ended a scoreless game in overtime by shooting the puck into his own net. You can see it below.



Blues fans will feel empathy for the Sharks but no pity as we all remember the Marc Bergevin goal against the Sharks when the Blues were the top seed, having won the President's Trophy. Just awful.

My finals hockey note relates to both hockey and baseball. According to my friend Matt Lucas, a White Sox fan,  the Cubs showed up to Game 1 of the Blackhawks series and the Hawks lost. The Sox showed up to Game 2 and they shut out Nashville 2-0. If losing is contagious, then the Cubs must have the bubonic plague of losing. It seems to just radiate off of them, kind of like Pig Pen from Peanuts.

The Cubs struggles are going right from the start this season. They've dropped three of their last four, including two of three at home to the last place Astros. That was the only series so far this season that Houston has actually won. The Cubs' overall record of 5-8 has them four games back of the Cardinals already and with no signs of slowing by St. Louis, the Cubs could find themselves in a big hole before they can even get going.

St. Louis has now won four series out of four to begin the season, taking two of three in each. After winning the opener in Arizona, they look primed to make it five for five. The redbirds have gotten great starting pitching so far this season. Their starters now have a record of 8-1 this season and the Brad Penny signing is already starting to look like a genius move by general manager John Mozeliak. Penny is 2-0 in three starts, having gone seven innings in each and he has only yielded a total of three runs. When you add him to Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter, St. Louis has a dominant top three in the rotation. With that trio, they only need Kyle Lohse and rookie Jaime Garcia to be decent, and Garcia's been far better than that, only allowing one run in his first two starts. Lohse will get his third shot tomorrow and even though he's the only St. Louis starter without a win, he hasn't pitched poorly either. He receives a tough match-up in former Cardinal Dan Haren, but if Lohse can keep the club in it early, he should have a chance to notch a "W" as the Arizona bullpen has struggled over their last five games with an ERA over 15.00.

In this country, everyone gets the benefit of a doubt. Especially athletes. We look at them as role models and heroes, even though this is usually unfair. Most of them are just normal people like you and me, who just happen to be talented at playing games. However, most of them won't be looked down on as long as they're just decent people. That being said, I've been just as guilty when it comes to turning a blind eye towards my own teams and players. When Ben Roethlisberger followed his first Super Bowl victory with his disastrous motorcycle accident, I called him an idiot, but other than that, I just hoped that he had learned from it and would make better decisions in the future. After his second Super Bowl win, a civil rape suit was brought against him by a woman from Nevada. Her story was very weak with no charges being filed and the fact that is was a civil suit made it look like she just wanted some money. So I stuck by him and it looked even worse for this woman when he decided to counter sue for defamation.  The big story now is that he's been accused of raping another girl and even though no charges were filed, details keep coming out that make Roethlisberger look worse and worse. He met with commissioner Roger Goodell last week and it seems like a suspension is imminent. The only question is for how long. My guess is somewhere between two and four games, but Goodell could decide to do something drastic to make and example of him. And while that would dramatically impact my team's chances to make the playoffs next season, let alone win the Super Bowl, I can't say that I'd be that opposed to it. After all, who knows what Ben will do if he wins another Super Bowl? Rob a bank? Hold a hospital for terminal children hostage? Genocide? At this stage, it sounds less and less like hyperbole.

The Steelers seem to have sent Roethlisberger a pretty clear message by trading Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes to the Jets for next to nothing (5th round pick). Holmes has had a few run-ins with the law since being drafted and with Pittsburgh being a classy organization over the years, they had clearly tired of their image being sullied by Holmes' antics. Trading the team's top wide receiver should show Roethlisberger that no one is untouchable. He should know now that it's shape up or ship out. I just hope he chooses the former.

Back to baseball to end on a lighter note, here's Chan Ho Park showing the language/culture barrier while defending his poor outing to begin the season. Classic.

Final Four and the Blues' Last Stand

The most recent time that I had a team in the Final Four that  I really cared about,  I was a freshman in college. UCLA made it for the past three seasons before this year's collapse, and while I've cheered for the Bruins, I've never considered them one of my teams. The Duke Blue Devils are, however, one of my teams. I've cheered for them since they came to prominence in the early 90's alongside my father who enjoyed coach Krzyzewski's coaching style as well as his passion.

I would still cheer for my local teams like Mizzou and my personal favorite, SLU, over Duke, but that's about it. I've also found links between my local teams and Duke. My hatred of the Kansas Jayhawks transferred quite nicely to being a Duke fan when KU's coach, Roy Williams, left Kansas for North Carolina. My hatred for the Kentucky Wildcats for knocking out SLU in their last NCAA tournament appearance is also eased by a particular March Madness moment for which I will always have Duke to thank (see below).



And while I am very optimistic about both SLU and Mizzou's chances to become great in the next few years under Rick Majerus and Mike Anderson respectively, Duke is still and might always be, my best chance to see one of my teams win a national championship in college basketball. I'm ecstatic to have a real rooting interest in the Final Four again. I've also despised Bobby Huggins on the behalf of SLU when he was with Cincinnati and Mizzou during his one year with Kansas State, so now I can have a truly universal dislike for him between my top three teams. I'm hoping he gets a "T" just like he always did when he came in to play the Billikens. I took my little sister Natalie to see Cincy one year and told her prior to the game that their coach was going to get called for a technical foul. She was impressed when fewer than five minutes into the contest, coach Huggins gave a ref an earful causing him to turn and tap his hands together. Huggins has calmed down a bit since those years, but if a bad call goes against him, I still wouldn't put it past him. And as all you Duke haters know, we always get the calls (Rolls eyes).

As for the Butler and Michigan State game, I doubt anyone had two five-seeds meeting up in the Final Four. Both have great stories. MSU is really shorthanded after losing their best player, Kalin Lucas, in the second round of the NCAA tourney. But with great coaching from Tom Izzo, the Spartans persevered and managed to knock out a Cinderella in Northern Iowa and squeak by Tennessee. Izzo's coaching is what gives Sparty the best chance tonight. His six Final Fours since 1999 are the most among all NCAA coaches and it is difficult to argue that this can be a coincidence. Izzo is a great motivator for his players and can adjust game plans with the best of them as well.

As for Butler, a lot of people are calling this Hoosiers, the College Years. There's no way it can be as bad as another piece of Americana gone to college.  Butler's coach, Brad Stevens, doesn't have Izzo's experience going for him, but he's still no slouch with the clipboard. He's gone 86-14 in his first three years with the Bulldogs, which is one of the greatest starts in college history. He's also gone to the dance every year since being hired. The Bulldogs might be looked at as an underdog overall, but they're actually favored in this game by a point, and with good reason. Butler shouldn't have been a five-seed. They were ranked 8th in the coaches poll and 11th in the AP poll coming into the tournament. This means that they were deserving of at least a three-seed if you do the simple math. Four teams for each seed, so the top four teams should all get a one, the next four should get a two, and the next four should get a three. Butler wasn't even the bottom team of the 3-seed tier, but because of their conference, they got passed up for a team like Georgetown, who comes from the power conference known as the Big East. How'd that work out again? Butler's still playing and the Hoyas were knocked out before you could say Ohio Bobcats. Oh, and Georgetown was ranked 14th and 15th in the polls. Should the pollsters should get more of a look from the NCAA committee next year, perhaps?

The Bulldogs are playing six miles from their campus, which I'm sure you'll hear at least 11 times during tonight's broadcast on CBS and an extra seven times during the second game if Butler wins. This will get overplayed, but it really is a home game for them. Even if there are Indiana and Purdue fans there, who do you think they'll cheer for? Big Ten rival MSU or hometown Butler? Yeah, that's an easy choice.

My picks are going to be from the heart as well:
Duke 73 - Virgina 68
Butler 82 - MSU 74

The Blues are all but done now when it comes to the playoffs. They are six points behind Colorado for the last spot with five games remaining. Had they not blown yet another lead on Thursday in Nashville, they could be a much more realistic four points out. Even with missing the postseason again, it would still be nice to see a strong finish.

The team has a lot of potential for next year and a lot of money to spend this offseason, even though a fair amount should go towards locking up restricted free agents like Erik Johnson, David Perron, and Alex Steen. EJ's really come on since the Olympics and has more goals than any Blues defenseman since Chris Pronger scored 16 in the 2003-04 season. Perron still needs to be more consistent, but has shown off his magic hands this year and that he can be physical and all over the ice like Detroit's Pavol Datsyuk. As for Steen, I would crown him the Blues' MVP for the second half of the season. He's always playing hard and always scoring. He's finally starting to live up to that first-round potential that Toronto thought he had when they drafted him. Anyone still complaining about giving up Lee Stempniak for him, even with Stempniak's 27 goals? Steen will play in 68 games at most this year due to an injury back in the fall and still has one more point this year than Stempniak. I'll certainly take that. I'd also love to see us bring back Paul Kariya for a cheaper price with the way he's come on, but I'm not sure if he would sign for around the $2 million that I have in mind. Making a run at Ilya Kovalchuk would be nice to see as well since owner Dave Checketts has told the media that the Blues will have a very active offseason.

I still plan to be as obnoxious as ever at the game tonight, even with our playoff chances being bleak. There's a lot to cheer for as a Blues fan in the coming years, even if it's not this year. LET'S GO BLUES!

On another hockey related note, if you've noticed how inconsistent suspensions have been in the NHL over the past few years, believe it or not, they really do have a system to decide it. My buddy Mike sent me this from a blog called Down Goes Brown. It's certainly worth your time if you're a hockey fan.

U.S.A upsets Canada and SLU's Stock Keeps Rising.

WOW. I'm still reacting to last night's riveting game between the United States and Canada. You know the line from Mighty Ducks 2, "Hey Goldberg, I bet if that puck was a cheeseburger you'd stop it?" Well, apparently Ron Wilson hypnotized Ryan Miller before the game under this pretense. And with NBC, err....MSNBC, broadcasting the game, hiring Keenan Thompson, currently of SNL,  to sit in the stands and heckle Miller with the famous line was rather easy to pull off. Even easier than beating Norway. Miller stopped an incredible 42 shots en route to preserving a 5-3 victory over Olympic host Canada. Ryan Kesler's empty netter to seal the deal was also magnificent. You can watch that goal, along with the rest of the game's goals right here.

I'm really enjoying cheering for guys like Kesler and Brian Rafalski who I can't stand during the NHL season during to their current rosters (Vancouver and Detroit respectively), have been money guys for the USA so far in this tournament. Rafalski, a defenseman, leads the team in goals with four. That's an example of your veterans getting it done. An example of the Canadians' veterans getting it done would be Patrick Marleau taking huge dive to draw a penalty against the Erik Johnson. Canada would score on the ensuing power play to cut the USA lead to one goal. I'm sorry, but when you have to take a dive in an Olympic game to get some momentum, your team does not deserve to win. Even Charlie Conway of the peewee Mighty Ducks has more integrity than that. That's right, Marleau has less integrity than a Hollywood scripted 12-year old. For shame Mr. Marleau, for shame. That said, the USA didn't entirely deserve to win this game either. When your club is out-shot nearly two to one, your goaltender has to be something quite magical just to be in the game, let alone win it. Luckily for the States, Miller was David Blaine and more (The sequel to the video is just as good, FYI).



The USA will need Miller's play to remain at a high level to win the gold, but thanks to winning the top seed in the single-elimination, they will get to avoid the tournament's three biggest threats, Canada, Russian, and Sweden until the gold-medal game. Another huge ramification of Canada losing to the US is that Russia and Canada will meet in the quarterfinals (assuming the Germans don't pull a huge upset of Canada). This means that either Russia or Canada is already assured to leave Vancouver without a medal. Many experts were picking these two teams along with the Swedes to medal in this event. I picked the USA, Canada, and Sweden (just not in this space), but I'm no expert. I would be rather surprised if Canada medals at this point. To win the gold, they would possibly have to beat Russia, Sweden, and the United States in a span of four days. They have the home crowd, but it might take that plus a bit of a miracle to get that done.  One thing is for sure though. If the rest of the tournament plays out like the USA-Canada game, hockey fans are in for a real treat.

The St. Louis University Billikens are continuing their charge towards the bubble. They have now won six consecutive games and own soul possession of fourth place in the Atlantic-10 conference, which is slated to get more NCAA bids than the SEC this year. They are becoming more and more difficult to ignore. If they can pull off the upset on Wednesday when they host Xavier, they will be impossible to ignore. I'm not saying that win will get them in, but it'll certainly keep the Bubble Watch interested. Three of SLU's last four games are at home, including the next three against Xavier, Duquesne, and Temple before finishing at Dayton. Winning three of those four plus a good showing in the A-10 tourney would make them a shoe-in for the NIT and keep their NCAA hopes alive until Selection Sunday as well.

Idiot of the week award: Ryan Franklin.

The Cardinals closer of last season may have deserved this last year when he was constantly blowing games down the stretch, but he truly earned it this week. He apparently has a big problem with Major League Baseball banning guns in the clubhouse. Franklin is from Arkansas and was brought up hunting and fishing, so it's understandable that he's attached to these hobbies. But he'd have to be living under a rock to not have heard about the Gilbert Arenas "guns in the locker-room" story. Wait, I did just say he's from Arkansas, so I guess that is possible. However, MLB is worried about it's image enough already due to the PEDs scandals, it doesn't need a gun headache as well. MLB didn't say it's players aren't allowed to hunt, it just said keep it out of the locker-room. Most places of employment ban firearms: schools, banks, the post office, etc. Most places of employment don't pay you millions of dollars to play a game. Count your blessings Mr. Franklin and please, quit whining over such a stupid issue. If he keeps this up, we're going to have to start frisking that beard of his to make sure he's not hiding a Noisy Cricket.