Baseball is Back!

What does Carlos Beltran, David Freese, Yadier Molina, Matt Holliday and Shane Robinson have in common?

They all have at least one homerun (Freese, Beltran, Holliday & Molina have 2), which is one more than Albert Pujols has. Albert's first at bat as an Angel? Hit into a double play, which I couldn't help it, I laughed.

Albert won't be like that all season, he'll get back into true Albert form. But, part of the reason why the Cardinals lead the league in double plays last season was due to Albert. So it was a bit of poetic justice to see him hit into a DP after bailing on the Cards to join the Angels.

I know, as a Cardinals fan, I shouldn't really care about Albert. And I don't, really. However, it is nice to see that the Cardinals are doing just fine without him so far, and proving to the critics that this team is good and will do just fine without Albert.

The Cardinals have looked fantastic so far, sitting at the top of the NL Central at 4-1. Hitting, starting pitching and defense have all been solid. And this is without Carpenter and Craig. This is good news. Granted, it is still very early in the season and things will change. You never know what will happen with injuries, players get into slumps, etc.

I'm going to make a bold prediction here. This team reminds me a lot of the 2004 Cardinals so far, only this team seems to almost have a better vibe overall as far as the players getting along, working together and having fun. So, with that said...I think this team will get 100 wins. I think they win the NL Central but it will be a close race with the Brewers.

Really excited about the season and can't wait to see how things turn out this fall.

This week starts the NHL playoffs, which lasts about a millenia. At least it feels like it. The NHL playoffs lasts at least 2 months. Round 1 starts Wednesday and doesn't end until April 25th. Then there's 2 more rounds before the Stanley Cup. Baseball and Football both manage to get the playoffs done in about a month. The NBA is just as bad as the NHL when it comes to playoffs.

Oh well. The Blues have a a solid chance at making it far into the playoffs. They are the #2 seed and will face The Sharks, which won't be easy but they have home field advantage and hopefully get their first playoff win since...I think I heard 101 ESPN say this morning since 2002. Wow. That's a 10 year drought. Time to break that trend boys.

The NBA season is winding down too, and soon we'll be knee deep in NBA playoffs as well. The big talk seems to be about the Bulls, the Heat and the Thunder, but odds are the Lakers will make it to the playoffs and could be a potential contender. Both the Lakers and the Clippers are neck and neck right now. Should be interesting to see how it all turns out.

At least they aren't Charlotte, who I saw has only won 7 games. OUCH. Sometimes it's easy to take for granted what you have. The Lakers may not win a title this season, but fans still saw a lot of good basketball. If you live in Charlotte, or New Orleans for that matter, you probably aren't buying tickets to basketball games unless LeBron or Kobe is in town and you want to watch them, because the hometown team isn't going to do squat.

And that's all I have for now. Very excited about baseball. It's so nice to be able to listen and watch games again.

Manning's a Bronco, Tebow's a Jet, NCAA Brackets Bust

I know I'm a little behind on all the juicy sports news from this week, but better late than ever!

Peyton Manning is officially the new quarterback for the Denver Broncos. Wasn't surprised by this choice, I had a feeling it would be the Broncos or Tennessee. While there was a bit of speculation that he could end up on the Niners I had a feeling Peyton would stick to an AFC team. Peyton doesn't want to have to go up against his brother Eli any more than he has to, and plus Peyton knows the AFC a lot better than the NFC.

Plus it seems that Elway and Peyton are a good match. Elway is a former quarterback, and he must have reassured Peyton that he would accommodate the team to play Peyton's way of football. That meant of course, that Tebow would not be sticking around Denver.

Pretty much knew that Tebow would be traded if Peyton went to the Bronocs. Tebow can't really be a back-up to the type of football Peyton plays. The offense would have to completely switch gears if Tebow were to take over should Peyton be out, and that's not good.

So, immediately after Manning mania ended, Tebow mania started. Fortunately for us watching at home, it didn't last long. And now we can look forward to Tebow's future as...a New York Jet?

This move had many scratching their heads. The Jets had just signed QB Mark Sanchez to a 3 year extension. Does this mean Sanchez is in the hot seat? Will Tebow just be used for certain plays, or is the quarterback job up for grabs? The drama that is the New York Jets continues, and it will certainly be interesting to see how it all plays out.

As for this Peyton fan, well...it was so awkward to see them roll out that bright orange #18 jersey, I admit. I will always prefer Peyton in Colts blue, but what's done is done and Peyton has a chance to start over and maybe win another championship. Good for him. I will continue to root for Peyton and I suppose be a temporary Bronco fan (as long as they aren't playing the Rams). As for the Colts...I was always a Peyton fan first. The Rams are my home team and I was a Rams fan LONG before I ever became a Colts fan. If Peyton hadn't been a Colt I might not have become a fan of the team, and it's the honest truth. The Colts have to win me over again with their rebuilding to remain my AFC team of choice.

The NCAA tourney did what it always does...feature surprising upsets and bracket busters. I had picked Missouri, Florida State, Georgetown and Kentucky in the final 4. Well, got 1 right. Even the president had Missouri in his final four. No one expected them to lose in the first round to Norfolk State. But that's the NCAA tourney. I will say I was impressed with the St. Louis Billikens. They played a very close and tough game against Michigan State but it ran away from them in the end. Hope this means good things in the future for them going forward and we'll see them in the tourney again next year.

This year's final four will be: Louisville, Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio State. It's a Midwest thang, y'all. This final four really shouldn't surprise anyone. These are schools that have consistently had excellent basketball programs and are no strangers to the NCAA tourney. As to who wins? I honestly have no idea. These are going to be 2 excellent games and an excellent championship game. I cannot find it in me to root for Kansas as a Mizzou fan, so maybe I'll root for Louisville. They're the underdog of the 4 so I guess I can go for that.

Congratulations to the St. Louis Blues to being the first team in the NHL to secure a playoff spot! Due to Manning-Tebow-NCAA madness I don't think this got much coverage outside of St. Louis sports. Other teams have since secured spots as well but it's quite an impressive year the Blues have had. I will look forward to following them in the playoffs, as long as baseball doesn't occupy most of my time.

Baseball. We are getting closer to opening day and I can't wait. I'm really looking forward to this season and getting the chance to go to some games. The Cardinals received a bit of bad news with pitching ace Chris Carpenter. He seems to be suffering from not only a bulging disk, but nerve issues. Not good. He is out indefinitely, no one can say for sure. Only good news is, he doesn't seem to need surgery. But he could be out for weeks or months, we just don't know.

Is it too much to ask to have Wainwright and Carpenter healthy together for a season? Please? Despite this set-up the Cardinals rotation seems to be doing pretty well in spring training. Wainwright has been stellar, and Lohse, Garcia, Lynn and Westbrook seem to be doing well also. I feel confident that it will be a good season for the Cardinals. They still have every bit of a chance to win the NL Central. Of course if Carp were in the mix that would make that chance just a little stronger but it's a long season. It's so hard to predict what teams will make it to the playoffs at the beginning of the season. Last August, no one thought the Cardinals would make it and they shocked everyone by gaining momentum at the end of the season to comeback and make the playoffs and eventually win the World Series. So, anything can happen.

I'm also kind of interested to see how Albert Pujols does with the Angels. I don't have any ill will towards him, I'm disappointed he couldn't stay a Cardinal but that doesn't mean that I wish bad things. It will be interesting to see how Angel fans embrace him and how he does this year. There are very high expectations for the Angels this season with all of the changes the organization made in the off season.

Well, that's it for this week's wrap up. More on my thoughts in the world of sports coming soon!

Pujols Drama/Manning Drama

Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr stated over the weekend that a lack of commitment did not have to do with Albert Pujols leaving, rather it was a fiscal limitation.

The Pujols PR camp has stated that DeWitt and Mozeliak were cold and did not show the commitment they thought was due. From Joe Strauss: According to a source, Pujols described BDJ's perceived lack of enthusiasm during a series of teleconferences thusly: "He sounded like a dead man."

Bernie Miklasz, a sports columnist for the St. Louis Post Dispatch and radio host on 101.1fm ESPN radio stated "that anyone that has ever heard BD Jr. in a radio interview knows that he sounds like a 'dead man.'"

I don't know what Pujols was expecting. Did he really think that DeWitt and Mo would be excited about pouring millions of dollars to keep him and not knowing how they would be able to build a team around him? Come on. And Albert was the one who kept saying time and again "it's business." If it's truly business, then emotion should not be involved, right?

Albert, you set the tone when your agent Lozano said you wouldn't settle for anything less than the A-Rod deal in 2009. Then, before the 2010 season the Cards offered you 9 years for $198 and you said no. Did you really think they would offer THAT much more once you hit free agency?

If the Angels had not secured their TV deal you would not be an Angel. It was just luck that they had the money. The Cardinals didn't, and you knew that. Any smart person would know that the Cardinals couldn't afford what Pujols wanted.

But the Pujols PR camp seems to want to make the Cardinals management the bad guys. I get it, perhaps it's because the Pujols Foundation is still based in St. Louis and they don't want to alienate people.

Let me break this down for you Albert. You chose to leave the Cardinals. St. Louis Cardinals fans will respect you for what you've done, but that doesn't mean we have to be happy with or like you right now. We're not going to side with you on this one. If you have buyer's remorse, that's your fault for going with the team that offered you the most money, and not the team that would revere you as a legend. Stan Musial will remain the greatest baseball player in Cardinals history. You said you wanted that, but money won out. I'm tired of hearing about hurt feelings. You should work on making your new fans happy.

In other news, Archie Manning (father of Peyton, Eli and Cooper...wait, you never heard of Cooper?) recently stated that his son Peyton would perfer to stay in Indianapolis.

Tell us something we don't know, Archie? Peyton has time and again said that he wanted to finish his career in Indy (and unlike a certain 1st baseman, he means it). Peyton will get a chance to play in Indy again...if he's healthy. That is the big unknown right now.

If Peyton is healthy, no way does Irsay trade him, even if they do draft Andrew Luck. We will know a lot more once the March 8th deadline hits, which is when Manning is due his $28 million dollar bonus.

I've heard so many sports analysts insist that there's no way that Manning and Luck exist on the same team. I want to ask them if they've followed the Indianapolis organization that well, and if they really understand the relationship between Irsay and Manning. I can see both Manning and Luck on the Colts roster in 2012. After that? We'll see.

If the Colts get clearance that Manning is good to go, they keep him. However, I'm not sure they pass up the opportunity to draft Luck either. If the Colts organization can find a way to keep both, they will.

I get that there are other issues with the Colts. They need to strengthen the offensive line. The defense needs help also. They have many veteran players that are getting older. The Colts have a lot of things to fix before they can be considered as a playoff contender. Just getting Manning back or drafting Luck won't be enough.

Lots of things to think about in the off season, no doubt. If Eli Manning wins another ring will that energize Peyton enough to make a comeback and beat out his little brother? The best thing that ever happened to the Colts in recent years could be Eli winning another ring. Because if anything is going to force Peyton Manning to get as healthy as possible? It's gotta be another ring for baby brother.