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.

Black Monday, NFL Final Regular Season Thoughts

First off, Happy New Year 2012! If you were like me, you probably spent most of New Year's Day enjoying the last regular season games of the NFL. While we still have the playoffs to look forward to, I always get sad at the end of the NFL season. At least now I can close the door on the horrible seasons of my Rams and Colts and hope that next season will be better for both. Both teams had some major "Black Monday" firings today.

The Rams announced that HC Steve Spagnuolo and GM Billy Devaney have been let go. This was not a surprise, most of us expected this to happen. I really like Spagnuolo as a person, but I think he is much better off in a coordinator position than head coach. Rams are reportedly looking to hire former Titans HC Jeff Fisher, but so is Miami. Plus Tampa fired HC Raheem Morris so who knows if they'll throw their hat in the ring. The thing that I like about Fisher is that he has a history of being successful as a head coach. It seems to me that the Rams could use a coach that has some sort of history and is proven. Sam Bradford can be the quarterback the Rams hope he will be, but there needs to be some strong coaching and better draft and trade moves to build this team to the success it can be. Will be interesting to see what the Rams choose to do with their #2 pick.

In other "Black Monday" news Jim Irsay fired the Polians today, which came as somewhat of a shock though many sports analysts in Indy have been behind this for some time such as Bob Kravitz. No word on the status of HC Caldwell yet, but I can't imagine that Irsay would can the Polians and keep Caldwell. It sounds like Irsay's looking to clean house.

Irsay also said that he can't say for certain that Peyton will be back. "I've always said that, first and foremost, it's a medical situation, a health situation," Irsay said during a news conference Monday. "Is it safe for him to go on the field? Is it something that he's healthy enough to resume his career? "That to me has always been the most important decision. That's something we're continuing to see where we're at." I would love to see Peyton play again, but his health has to be first and foremost. I hope he's healthy and we're able to see another 3-4 years out of him, win another Super Bowl, etc. But he has to decide whether it's worth the risk. 3 neck surgeries in one year is a huge deal. One bad hit and Peyton could permanently injure himself seriously, including potential paralysis. He's going to have to take it slow and The Colts organization will have some big decisions to make come draft time this spring. Do they take Luck? Unless they have absolute certainty that Peyton is a go, I don't see how they don't draft him. Not sure if the Colts can keep both Luck and Manning. If Manning can play, he'll want to play. That may not be for the Colts if they choose Luck.

The last week of the regular season finally gave us the pieces to finalize the playoff puzzle. The Broncos lost to KC, but still won their division title at 8-8 due to San Diego beating Oakland. I thought the NFC Worst I mean West was bad but wow, the AFC West was crazy! 3 teams finished 8-8 and one at 7-9. The Broncos will face the Steelers this weekend in the Wild Card matchup, which should be interesting. The 49'ers secured a first round bye with their win against the Rams, though the Saints tried with their trouncing of Carolina. Though they tied with San Fran at 13-3, San Fran had the better conference record. Aaron Rodgers didn't start for Green Bay, but it didn't matter in the track meet against the Detroit Lions. Get used to hearing the name Matt Flynn folks, because he is a free agent at the end of the season. I don't know if both offenses were just THAT good in this game or if the defeneses were THAT bad. Green Bay won 45-41, Stafford threw for 520 yards and 5 TD's, Flynn threw for 480 yards and 6 TD's. That's 1,000 passing yards between the 2 QB's. Wow. So is Rodgers really that good or is Green Bay's offensive line that good? I guess we'll find out how great Matt Flynn is without it as there's no way he's still in Green Bay next year after that. He'll be a starter somewhere.

Sunday Night Football featured the Cowboys and the Giants, fighting for the NFC East title. If Brees and Rodgers weren't already so high on the MVP list I'd say Manning should be in contention. Or maybe Victor Cruz. Manning-Cruz have pretty much lifted the Giants to the postseason, and Manning now had the most 4th quarter touchdown passes in history. When I think about the talent on the Packers, the Saints and the Giants...I'd say Manning is pulling his team with far less talent than the other 2. Matt Flynn certainly showed that the Packers can win without Rodgers. Not sure the Saints win without Brees but the Giants definitely don't without Manning.

I just don't understand the Cowboys. They have talent, they just can't seem to get to the playoffs as of late. I know many want to blame Romo, but I don't know that Romo alone is the problem. Romo has the 4th highest quarterback rating this season. The 3 ahead of him? Rodgers, Brees and Brady. Not bad company to be in. So what is it about the Cowboys? I don't know the answer but Jerry Jones will have to figure out something because Dallas fans are most certainly not happy.

This weekend's wild card matchups are: Cincinnati vs Houston, Pittsburgh vs Denver, Atlanta vs New York, and Detroit vs New Orleans. All should be good games, though Houston will be playing Yates at QB but they still have Foster. The Steelers still have a banged up Big Ben and Mendenhall is out for the season due to injury. Denver could have a shot at beating the Steelers if Ben can't get the offense rolling.

However, my picks for this weekend are: Cincinnati over Houston (Foster will be big, but I like Dalton and Green more), Denver over Pittsburgh (I think it will be close, but I think the lack of offense on both sides will hurt and Tebow will pull off his last amazing win of the season), Giants over the Falcons (I wouldn't bet against that Giants team right now, they are on fire), and the Saints over Detroit. It will be a track meet, but the Saints are explosive at home and I think they will be able to pull off this win.

Oh, and while I'm at it. I'll go ahead and make my prediction for the Super Bowl: Baltimore vs Giants. You heard me. I'm not discounting the Saints/Green Bay but never underestimate the power of a team that basically played a playoff game just to get there. They will be a tough team to beat.

I've rambled on enough. More updates in the world of sports soon!

NBA Season Begins, NFL Season Winding Down

Sports fans, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I personally enjoyed myself over the weekend. After all, what could be better than Christmas Eve NFL and Christmas Day NBA and SNF? It was a good sports weekend.

I'm the first to admit that I've never really followed the NBA much. There isn't a team in my hometown of St. Louis so I tended to follow college basketball more than the NBA.

The big talk around here is of course, the Lakers and the Clippers. The Clippers are now suddenly a real threat with the addition of Chris Paul. There's a lot of bandwagoning going on in LA. Suddenly all of these people are Clippers fans even though they probably couldn't tell you the last time they a) watched a Clippers game or b) went to a Clippers game.

The Lakers are having a shaky start to the season. Not sure if it's time to start panicking if you're a Lakers fan, but they are definitely not the same Lakers team that won the championship 2 years ago. They tried to trade for Paul first, but the NBA rejected the trade, which of course has a LOT of people upset because the NBA approved the deal for the Clippers. I guess I see where the NBA is coming from they are trying to prevent teams from being able to hoard all of the top players on one team. They need to do this, to keep the league competitive. If every NBA player wanted to play for the Lakers and all of the good ones went there and the Lakers won the championship by a landslide every year it would be boring, and fans would stop following the league. Except for Lakers fans of course.

So I get it. Paul definitely seems to be helping the Clippers quite a bit. They've started the season 2-0 and beat the Lakers in their preseason opener. Will be interesting to see how this shortened season unfolds.

As the NBA season starts to heat up, the NFL season is coming to an end, which makes me sad. I know I still have a month of playoffs still but I hate when the NFL season ends.

Tim Tebow's storybook season has had a major reality check the past 2 weeks. If anyone really thought the Broncos would beat the Pats, well, they were proven wrong. Because as bad as the Pats defense is, the Pats offense is just too explosive for Tebow and co to try and overcome all of those points. And then this past weekend Buffalo just crushed the Broncos 40-14. Guess the Disney story is over. However, the Broncos can still make the playoffs. They play Kansas City this weekend and they are beatable (though Green Bay may beg to differ). It looks like it'll either be the Broncos or Oakland.

In the "suck for Luck" race, the Colts won another game this past weekend under Dan Orlovsky. The Rams, Vikings and Colts are all tied for that worst in the league title with only 2 wins, however, the Colts are in the lead due to schedule (the Rams and Vikes had much harder schedules, whereas the Colts had many more winnable games).

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. The Rams play the 49'ers this weekend. Sam Bradford won't play. The Rams aren't going to win this game. The 49'ers are fighting for that playoff bye week and I don't think they will have too much trouble winning this game (but I could be wrong, the Rams did beat the Saints).

The Colts play the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are just awful. A very winnable game for the Colts. So if you're Bill Pollian and Jim Isray, do you tell the team to basically kind of throw the game to ensure you keep the #1 pick? If the Colts win, they will lose out on that opportunity and it will go to the Rams (unless the Rams win). The Rams won't draft Luck, they already have a franchise quarterback in Bradford. But they can get a lot for that pick, and the Rams need all of the help they can get.

If the Colts win this weekend they may well indeed pass up an opportunity of a lifetime. We all hope that Peyton is able to play again but there are no guarantees. And even if he does play he probably has 3-4 good years left? I think you have to take the opportunity to get Luck. If Peyton turns out to be healthy and good to go then you deal from there, but the Colts have to look to the future. And that's tough for me to say because I really love Peyton and hope he plays and retires with the Colts but we just don't know if that's going to happen or not.

Pro Bowl players were announced today. Tebow didn't make the list, so sad. Honestly? The Pro Bowl is the biggest joke of a game. MLB, NBA, NHL all seem to make their all star games have some sort of meaning or are at least entertaining. The Pro Bowl is a complete joke. Truly. It means nothing, the players just want the honor because it can be added to their resume, and the game just seems to lack any sort of heart. I've tried to watch it but I usually end up tuning it out and it just becomes background noise.

The playoff picture will be complete after this weekend. Looking forward to the final games of the season and the chance to put the Rams and the Colts horrendous seasons behind them and look forward to next year. How about a Colts-Rams Super Bowl in 2013? Hey, it could happen!

Is This Thing On?

Remember when I thought it was an awesome idea to have a blog? Right. Last time I posted something in this blog the St. Louis Cardinals were thought to be completely done for the season. This week they just beat the Philadelphia Phillies in a nail biting game 5 of the NLDS to advance to the NLCS against division rival, the Milwaukee Brewers.

Just goes to show you, never give up. I am truly amazed and proud of my hometown team. This team really pulled it together in the last month and half of the season and every day, there seems to be a new hero on the team. Sure, Pujols, Carpenter and Molina are still leaders. But did you see that amazing play bu Furcal in the game on Friday? And how about Theriot's hitting?

Or maybe it's the rally squirrel. Have you all heard about this? A squirrel ran across home plate right as the pitch was being delivered. See the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsQYS5zS5u4. Brave squirrel, indeed.

It's very exciting, and I'm so happy to see my team have the chance to make the World Series. And strangely, enough, the last time the Cardinals were there they played the Detroit Tigers. Who are currently competing in the ALCS against the Rangers. Potential for a Cards-Tigers rematch? Perhaps.

The Brewers are good. This is going to be a very tough series, for both teams. The Cardinals have this amazing momentum though. Anyway, game 1 is tomorrow and I am looking forward to watching the series.

In football...my teams are both 0-4. The Rams had such promise going into the regular season. Sure, they've had to play the Eagles, the Giants and the Baltimore Ravens and haven't played a single division rival in the NFC Worst yet but wow, has it been ugly. They actually had a chance to beat the Redskins, but the offense is lacking. Not sure what's going on there but changes are needed.

In Colts land, they lost Peyton Manning for the season due to him having to have a 3rd neck surgery. Isray hasn't said he's out for the season, but he is. It's a 2-3 month recovery time, and since he had the surgery right before the start of the season, out for the season.

The Colts pulled Kerry Collins out of retirement to try and lead the team but it's been pretty disastrous. Collins got injured, and Curtis Painter, who looks more like the poster child for a surfing championship than a QB, had to step in. The Colts actually had some life last week against Tampa Bay. Painter threw 2 long TD passes to Pierre Garcon. But, LaGarette Blount was able to run through Indy's D and ultimately TB won. Was nice to see some life in the Colts offense, but it seems to be the "suck for Luck" sweepstakes.

Which isn't a bad idea for the Colts. Peyton is one of my all-time favorite players. But he's had 3 neck surgeries in the last year. That's very troubling, not just for fans, but for him as well. He needs to rest and take care of himself and hope that he's able to play next year.

But the fact remains that Painter is not the future of the Colts team, so taking advantage of this wash of a season to draft Luck? Smart investment. Peyton could come back and give another 3-4 years of greatness. Or, he could be completely done and have to retire. If it's between playing and risking paralysis or not, would you do it? Not saying it will happen but it's possible. 3 neck surgeries is serious.

I hope Peyton is back. I want to see more. Either way, he won't go away. Peyton will be a coach one day, I'm sure.

In other sports news, hockey is back, and the NBA may not happen. No NBA? But what will Ron Artest, excuse me, Metta World Peace do? Dancing with the Stars of course! Oh but wait, he was so terrible he was the first one voted off this season. Stick to basketball Metta.

That's all I have folks. Hope to update this a little more frequently. GO CARDINALS!

Football is Officially Back!

Hello sports fans!

Football pre-season has begun! I cannot tell you how exciting it is to actually watch an NFL game, even if it is just the pre-season.

My two NFL fan bases, the Rams and the Colts met up on Saturday night. Not surprising to me, the Rams won and did so by a really nice margin. I had predicted this, because the Rams played more of their potential starters, and the Colts? Well Manning and Freeney didn't play for one, and the rest of their main starters (Wayne, Garcon, Clark, Addai) didn't really get much play either. Also, the Colts are known to lose in the pre-season yet win in the regular season.

I'm glad it was a pre-season game because it is SO hard for me to choose between these 2 teams. Growing up, I had no allegiance to any team because the Cardinals moved to Arizona when I was 4, and the Rams moved to St. Louis when I was just starting high school. So I've always been a football fan first. We have a good family friend, Pat Leahy, who was the kicker for the NY Jets and we followed the Jets in the years he played. Also followed the 49'ers a bit since I have some family who live in the area and Green Bay, because my mom loves the cheesehat. And we had friends in Wisconsin.

In other words, it's hard for me to figure out who my long term favorite team is. The Rams are the first team I really followed regularly because they came to St. Louis at a time where my sports fanaticism peaked. Sure, they were terrible in the beginning. We had to endure Chris "the concussion king" Miller and Tony Banks as QB's. They were rough years but I got to go to live NFL games finally!

I always had been a fan of college football. My family just always had their favorites (Notre Dame, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Mizzou to name a few) and I used to get such a kick out of watching all of the bowl games back when they all were on or around the same day and you could watch several games at the same time (if you had multiple TV's, like my uncle, or went out to a bar/restaurant).

That's where the Peyton Manning love begins. He was so fun to watch at Tennessee (even if I wasn't rooting for the team, he was fun to watch). Then he chose to sign with the Colts, and I was going to college in Indiana at the time. I didn't want to become a Colts fan, because the Rams were my home team.

But as time went on, and I ended up living in Indianapolis for several years, my respect for Manning just kept increasing. And I found myself rooting for the Colts more and more. I then decided that the Rams would be my NFC team, the Colts my AFC team and should they ever meet in a Super Bowl I'd be totally screwed and would have no idea who to root for.

Anyway, that's just a bit of background of me. So the Colts and Rams pre-season game was obviously of strong interest to me.

I'm not worried about the Colts yet because this is what they do in pre-season. The Rams, however, impressed me a lot. Bradford looked sharp, Dahl, Mikell and Hines all got interceptions (okay, it was Painter and Orvlovsky, but still nice to see good defensive plays). Cadillac Williams ran for a TD and Bradford threw a TD pass. And how about Josh Brown kicking a 60 yard field goal? Did Brown's stock just go up in fantasy football after that? I think so.

Okay, it wasn't just the Rams and the Colts this weekend. Cam Newton made his debut in Carolina and looked good, and so did the Brown's Colt McCoy (one of the best football names, BTW) . The Patriots has a field day with the Jags, Mizzou alum Blaine Gabbert didn't have the best outing but there's time still.

Am looking forward to watching how the pre-season unfolds.

There is this thing called baseball going on. The Cardinals are currently 5.5 games behind Milwaukee, and at this point if they want any hope of making the postseason, they have to win the division. That's going to be really tough. Have to hand it to the Brewers, they've been playing spectacular lately. The Cardinals trade of Colby Rasmus for Edwin Jackson isn't panning out so well so far. If Colby were here would the Cards be in a better position? Doubtful. The pitching is a big problem, so I don't think Rasmus is a factor. However, am sort of feeling like the Cards jumped the gun on that trade and we should have gotten more for him.

We're almost to mid-August, so about a month and half of regular season left. Still a lot of games to play and anything can happen. It'll be interesting to see how it all ends.

I think Philly takes the east, the west? Arizona is in the lead at the moment but I think the Giants will pull off another division win. The Yankees and BoSox? One of them will win the division and the other will be the wild card. The Rangers and the Angels race has been fun to watch. I'd like to see the Angels pull it off. The central? Still could go to Detroit, the White Sox or Cleveland. Nice to see a close race to keep the competition going.

And...that was a long sports rant for me, so I'm going to leave it there. Happy NFL is back, disappointed in the Cardinals but still hoping! More in the world of sports soon!

Free Agency Madness

It was certainly interesting to see all of the moves that were quickly made once a deal was made and the NFL was up and running again. On top of that, the trade deadline for MLB was on July 31st and with the NFL back and running free agency signings seemed to happen every hour. I'll admit, it does make me VERY excited about the NFL season this year.

Quick baseball update...so the Cardinals traded Rasmus, which only time will tell if it's a good deal or not. On top of that, Cards signed former Dodger Rafael Furcal. Furcal is certainly an upgrade at shortstop. I was trying to think of the last time the Cardinals really had a strong shortstop. David Eckstein was really more of a 2B guy than a shortstop (though he does get an A+ for effort. There is a reason why he won MVP in the 2006 World Series), and Edgar Renteria was decent. It was probably back to Royce Clayton, who took over after Ozzie Smith retired in the mid 90's. Wow.

We'll see how he does, if he stays healthy, he can be a big benefit to the team through the end of this season. Would be surprised to see him re-signed next year though. Think he is a short term fix.

Cardinals are currently 3 games behind Milwaukee. They are hanging in there, but I'd really like to see the Cards take the division. It's August, so the time to buckle down and really play like you're playoff potential is now. The Cards have a shot at a wild card spot but I'd rather see them win the division. I'll be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out.

So much craziness in the NFL. Where even to start?

The Colts signed Peyton. I have to admit, I've always had a lot of respect and admiration for Peyton, but he really upped the ante with how he handled his signing. He made it clear he wanted to stay with the Colts but also wanted the team to have the money to keep the team competitive. After signing Manning the team was quick to sign Joseph Addai (who, IMO isn't the best running back out there but he is a great blocker on the field) and get some other players set. The Colts haven't made a ton of moves in free agency, so I'm not sure how they are going to fare this season. The biggest problem is their run defense. They'll have to figure out some way to get the defense together to stay competitive. I still think the Colts are the best in their division, but Houston may end up giving them a good run for the division title.

As for the NFC Worst, I mean West...like a lot of the changes the Rams have made, and think they are definitely positioned to be a better team, though they are going to have a tough time this season. They do not have the easiest schedule. Their home opener is against the Eagles and boy are the Eagles looking scary.

The Rams have signed Walker as a receiver, who I like and just recently signed Cadillac Williams as a potential back-up running back to Steven Jackson, which is a move I also like. Seattle managed to grab Rice, but who is going to throw to him? The Cardinals got Kolb, which means Fitzgerald will have someone to throw to him but the Cards also lost some key players. And the 49er's? Well, they didn't do much. So who do I think has the best chance of winning the NFC West? The Rams. The Rams have amped up their defense and offensive line, they have Bradford coming off of a pretty amazing rookie season, and quite frankly, the competition in the NFC West, as it has been, is still not that high.

There were a lot of interesting moves, of course. Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson is a Patriot. I suppose of all people to possible keep Chad in line, Bill Belichick is the one. They also picked up Albert Haynesworth, 'nuff said. Randy Moss decided to retire (or at least, that's the last I heard). Plaxico signed with the Jets. Personally, I'm just glad he's not in St. Louis. Plax can see if he can find a rhythm with the Jets but he was too much of a gamble. I like that the Rams signed Sims-Walker, he's young and I think he could be great with Bradford.

Other important news? My second favorite NFL player of all time, Marshall Faulk, was entered into the NFL Hall of Fame this weekend. What an amazing and humble athlete he is. He's had an amazing career, and I'll admit, until Marshall came around, I couldn't name a Rams running back. Quarterback? Wide Receiver? Of course. RB? Nope. Faulk made me appreciate the skill and importance of a RB and boy, was he fun to watch. He deserves this honor, so happy for him. He's the first St. Louis Ram to enter the hall (I said St. Louis, not Ram) and I know he's going to be followed by other greats like Bruce, Warner and Holt. I have so much respect for him. Thank you Marshall, for what you brought to the game, and for being an awesome person inside and out.

I'd talk about Tiger Woods golf news but I honestly don't care. Is that bad? Perhaps. I'm anxious for NFL to start and for the Cardinals to gain some games on the Brewers so they can get back into first place.

And that's it for now sports fans. More of my thoughts on the sports world to come soon!

Boyes Traded to Buffalo

My favorite Blues player, forward Brady Boyes has been traded to Buffalo. Granted Boyes production in the past 2 years hasn't been nearly as good as his first two seasons but he was still my favorite. In return, the Blues will receive a 2nd round draft pick in 2011. Not a bad deal at all from the Blues organization standpoint, but it's still going to be sad to not say "yeah Boyes!" at Blues games.

In Manning news, talk are ongoing about signing him to a new contract but no deal seems imminent. I'm sure the Colts will be able to find an agreement with Peyton, but it's not going to be a quick progress.

As a follow up to my last post, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright is out for the season. He needs Tommy John surgery. Major blow to the Cardinals. Now they are going to have to struggle to try and make up for one of their ace pitchers. Don't write them out though. As Bernie Miklaz, pointed out so perfectly in his recent article for the Post, the Cardinals still have a great chance at winning the NL Central.

Let's hope so, because if the Cards hope to keep Pujols come the end of the season, being a winning team will certainly tip the odds in their favor. Pujols wants money, but he also wants to play for a team with a chance to win.

So the Cardinals still have to try and find a way to win. Without Wainwright.

NBA All Star Game and More

I'm a bit late on posting about the NBA All Star Game. I did watch the game, at least, most of it. I have to say that it was a fun game to watch. It's nice to see the players out there having fun and showing off their talent.

Kobe Bryant had a big day. Just mere hours after Kobe became the first non-actor to land a spot in cement at Graumann's Chinese Theatre, Kobe became the MVP of the All Star Game. In the end, the game ended up being somewhat close by Kobe and the West ended up with the win. Congrats to Kobe on both his permanence at Mann's and for his MVP performance in the game. Was very fun to watch.

Have been a bit distracted today as a major issue arose in Cardinal Nation today. Adam Wainwright, one of the team's ace starting pitchers, left spring training with an elbow injury. The team is waiting on a second opinion before making any announcements but it looks like Wainwright may need Tommy John surgery, and if that's the case, bye Waino. Maybe we'll see you next year. Obviously I want what's best for Adam and wish him well but if he's out for the season, wow, what a blow to the Cardinals. First they don't sign Albert, then they lose Waino? Not a good start to the season. And it the regular season hasn't even started yet!

In NFL news, mediated talks continued today between the NFL and the NFLPA. The news? Well, nothing yet. They're still talking. At least there is movement forward to get a resolution. Plan is to reconvene on Friday, so we'll see how that goes.

The Colts organizations says they are making progress towards signing Peyton Manning to a long term deal. Signing Manning has been stated at the team's top offseason priority. Manning will likely end up as the top paid quarterback in the league, and I can't really argue with that. Though I am a bit biased, anyone who knows me knows that Peyton is my favorite NFL player, and has been for a long time.

That's all for today. More updates soon!

Edmonds Retires, Colts Drop Sanders

I have a special place in my heart for Jim "Jimmy Baseball" Edmonds. During his tenure as a Cardinal, he was one of my favorite players on the team. He is perhaps, one of the greatest centerfielders the Cardinals have ever had, and I can still remember going to games and watching his amazing ability on the field.

He also was an excellent power hitter in his prime, and I will always think fondly of the days when the Cardinals had the Power 3: Edmonds, Rolen and Pujols. They were on the team that made it to the World Series in 2004 and should have won. Yes, I'm still bitter about that one.

So, I was very excited to hear that the Cardinals organization had signed Edmonds back to the team in January, even if it was to the minors with odds of him actually playing being slim. Why? Edmonds wanted to stay in St. Louis and be a Cardinal. But the Cards released him and he still wanted to play, so he played for other teams. But I will always think of him as a Cardinal and am happy to hear that he has opted to retire and therefore will retire as a Cardinal. Thanks for the memories Jimmy. Wish you all of the best in retirement. Maybe you can come back to the Cards as a coach someday?

In other big news, Jim Isray, owner of the Indianapolis Colts announced that they have dropped safety Bob Sanders. Sanders is known for his hard hitting on defense (I saw him many times dive head first to get a tackle), but that hard hitting has left him to be injury-prone in recent years. So while some may be surprised by this move, I am not. The Colts have had a lot of new defensive players step up in Sanders absences due to injury, and if you look at the Colts season this year defense wasn't really their biggest problem. Injuries on offense and lack of a solid running game played more of a factor. Freeney and Bullitt were on fire many games this season. Sanders who?

I'm sure Sanders will find another team to sign with. The Colts have a lot to think about right now, and some of that is opening their payroll so that they can sign Peyton Manning into contract. No doubt this will happen. Unlike the Cardinals situation with Albert, Isray will do whatever it takes to keep Manning, and is prepared to pay top dollar.

The NFL Draft will be coming up shortly, and it will be interesting to see how it turns out. The Colts need a running game, that's for sure. The Rams need a wide receiver. I can see them drafting Julio Jones from Alabama, and most of the mock drafts seem to agree. Sam Bradford is the real deal, and the Rams need to focus on building a team around him by giving him strong receivers to throw to. If Donnie Avery is back and healthy, that will help a lot. But I think they will still draft a WR.

Will post more NFL draft thoughts as it gets closer.