Is It Baseball Season Yet?

Seriously. Opening day cannot come soon enough for me. Good thing I only have to wait until Wednesday! While I'm disappointed in the news about Carpenter for my Cardinals, I still am very excited about their season. And baseball in general.

Speaking of which, congratulations to Guggenheim Partners, or as everyone in LA keeps referring to it, Magic Johnson's group, on winning the bid on buying the LA Dodgers. Now that the sale is done, they can focus on the team and making it the franchise that it should be.

No, I'm not becoming a Dodgers fan. But this whole debacle with Frank McCourt - the divorce, the bankruptcy...it hasn't allowed for good development and growth for the Dodgers franchise. I may be a Cardinals fan, but at the core I love good baseball. It's good to have competition in the league. If there's no competition and the same team keeps winning and winning over and over again, people lose interest.

So hope the Dodgers are able to overcome this and I look forward to seeing the Dodgers-Cardinals matchup live at Dodger Stadium this season.

NCAA Final Four was this weekend and the only real surprise? Kansas upset Ohio State by coming back from behind at the half to win by 2 points. I guess I understand now why Mizzou had problems beating KU this season. They are one tough team.

Kentucky beat Louisville, so that means tomorrow night's championship game is Kentucky vs Kansas. As a Mizzou fan, I just find it so difficult to root for KU, even if they are in the Big 12. Kentucky's been the #1 since the beginning of the tourney, so KU's the underdog. I think I may just have to say this: I look forward to watching a good game.

The Tebow-Sanchez drama has really gotten...well for lack of better words, quite ridiculous. Every sports pundit is reporting on their thoughts about whether this was a good move for the Jets, whether Sanchez should feel like his job is on the line, and so forth.

Okay, yes. The move brings up a lot of questions. But it's April. NFL season doesn't start until September. The draft hasn't even happened yet. A lot of things will change between now and then. I don't have any clue what the reasoning is for the Jets picking up Tebow but Tebow doesn't seem to sound like he's going to be a back-up. He clearly wants to fight for the starting QB job. Well, I guess one thing's for certain. Hard Knocks shouldn't even question what team to choose for their show this season.

In NBA news...honestly, other than Jeremy Lin being out for the season with injury, I haven't kept up with it much. I told you, the NBA is not my forte. Kobe had a rough week this week, but he's Kobe. He's picked it up and in today's game was the leading scorer.

In NHL news my St. Louis Blues clinched the Central Division Title, albeit not exactly in the fashion that they had hoped as they lost to the Blue Jackets 5-2 last night. As the NHL season starts to wind down, it'll be interesting to see how the playoff picture turns out. None of the national sports peeps (at least in LA) seem to care about hockey, but I imagine once the playoffs come around it'll be "oh, did you hear about this?"

Growing up in St. Louis, had no clue how little respect the NHL gets on a national scale. Now that I'm in LA, who has 2 NHL hockey teams? Wow, yeah I get it. The NHL gets such little coverage on a national scale. In LA, when it comes to sports talk on the radio in the morning, I have Dan Patrick, Colin Cowherd, or the San Diego sports station. It is uncanny how often Dan and Colin are talking about the same thing...at the same time!

If I had to guess, I think that most national sports coverage focuses on the following primarily: NFL, MLB and NBA. Everything beyond that is included because it's topical. We aren't hearing much news about NCAA football, are we? Nope. We're hearing about NCAA basketball because the tourney is still going on. But what about after? No.

The NHL should get more coverage, but they don't. It's a shame. I'm not just saying that because The Blues are doing well. The LA Kings are doing well too, and no one out here seems to care. It's sad.

And...that's all I've got for tonight folks. More updates soon on my thoughts on the world of sports.

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!

NCAA & Peyton Madness, MLB Spring Training

Hello sports fans!

I have not posted recently and I apologize. I will admit that the time period after the Super Bowl until the beginning of March Madness is what I consider the worst period in sports for me. I enjoy a good NBA game but it's not a big passion for me, there's no football, no baseball and hockey...I probably follow it more than the NBA because of the St. Louis Blues but it's not a big passion for me.

Lots of things have happened since my last post and there's no way that I'm going to address them all here.

First off, the Colts opted to release Peyton Manning and not pay him the $28 million bonus he was due last week. This should not have been a surprise to anyone, but it still...well for lack of better words, sucks. I understand the position Jim Irsay is in. How can he pass up the chance to draft Andrew Luck? And could he really afford to draft Luck, pay Manning and build a team that had a chance at competing? Probably not.

Both Irsay and Manning were tearful during the joint press conference held last week officially announcing the news. As much as I hate the thought of Peyton in a non-Colts uniform, it's probably the best thing that could happen to him.

The Colts are rebuilding. They have a brand new coaching and management staff. They have cleaned house with releasing players such as Dallas Clark, Joseph Addai and Melvin Bullitt, to name a few. The Colts are starting over.

Peyton doesn't have time to lead a starting over team. If Peyton is healthy and able to play at the level we all know and love he's got about 3-4 years best. The Colts may not reach elite status again for 3-4 years, based on the restructuring process. By then Peyton would be looking at retirement.

So Peyton has the chance to shop around and attempt to find another team that he can lead to greatness. The lead contenders seem to be the Broncos, the Cardinals and the Dolphins. Seattle and KC wanted to talk to Manning and he said, "not interested." Ouch. But I don't blame him on that. Seattle has been a total train wreck in recent years and KC has some stars like Dwayne Bowe, but KC is in the same division as Denver and the Broncos are better built to be a winning team at this moment with Manning at QB than KC. So I get it.

So where will he end up? I have some thoughts but who really knows? We all thought Albert Pujols was going to re-sign with the Cardinals until at the final hour the Angels came in and blew us all away with their offer. There could be several dark horse teams that throw out an offer last minute and when Peyton finally makes that announcement we'll all go "huh? Didn't see that one coming!"

I originally thought Miami, because Peyton already has a home there, they have decent offensive weapons and a relatively good defense, and adding him to the mix could help them win. However, if you think about it if you're in Miami, you're in the same division as the Patriots. Which means you have to play better than them to win your division and if you don't, you better hope you're good enough for the wild card. If you're Peyton, that's risky.

That's why at this point, I think it's between Denver and Arizona. Denver has a strong defense, and they do have some decent offensive weapons that Peyton could throw to. They are in a weak division that Tebow lead to victory last season and would certainly have a shot at the playoffs.

Arizona is about on the same level, except I don't think their defense is as strong as Denver. But they have Larry Fitzgerald, and as a fan of both Peyton and Larry, it would be fun to watch them play together. And the NFC Worst, I mean West is a weak division. Except for that whole 49'er effect.

As a Rams fan though, I'm praying Peyton ends up in Denver or Miami, not Arizona. I don't want the Rams to face Peyton twice a season and ruin the Rams' chances at a playoff run (laugh all you want, but the Rams could find themselves there soon).

All shall be revealed soon.

In other madness, it's March Madness, and the NCAA tourney is set. Both the Missouri Tigers and the St. Louis Bilikens made the tourney, which is nice representation for my home state. However, although Mizzou was 30-4 on the season, they did not receive a #1 seed. This after winning their conference tournament and teams like North Carolina lost theirs.

Strength of schedule seems to be the big factor here. Okay sure, I get it. Michigan State lost 7 games but their schedule was tougher. The NCAA is hard to figure out some times, but I'm not incredibly unhappy with the results. Mizzou ended up as the #2 seed in the West, and they have a VERY good shot at making the Final Four. I believe they are a better team than Michigan State and can beat them.

But the NCAA tourney is always interesting. You never know what's going to happen. People seem to think that Kentucky, the #1 overall seed, is a lock. I don't think so. It's a tournament. Everyone is vulnerable. Is a 15-16 seed going to win overall? Probably not. But if Butler could make it to the Final Four 2 years in a row? Anything is possible.

Finally, Spring Training is upon us for MLB. Hard to believe, but we are less than a month from opening day. That's...kind of scary actually.

Albert Pujols did well in his Spring Training debut with the Angels, despite his disgust with the billboards the Angels put up around LA featuring his #5 Angel uniform and the words "El Hombre." Albert has vehemently stated that he is not "The Man," as that is Stan Musial and doesn't want to be associated as "El Hombre." Guess the Angels didn't do their research as anyone in Cardinal Nation would know that going that route for promos was not a good one.

But enough about Albert. He's not a Cardinal anymore so I don't care.

The Cardinals biggest concern right now is Chris Carpenter. He was having some discomfort so they had him checked out and he has a bulging disk in his neck. Sounds pleasant, doesn't it? Good news is that it isn't a nerve problem, which he has had in the past. But a bulging disk is not good by any means. There's no easy cure for a bulging disk. You learn how to live through the pain.

He won't be ready for opening day, so Adam Wainwright will likely take over the starting role. Not sure how long it will take Carpenter to get back to starting position but it could take awhile. This is not good news to Cardinals fans, who were hoping for the ace duo of Carpenter and Wainwright to lead the Cards to their 12th championship title.

It remains to be seen. The Cards could try to sign Oswalt. Things will start to unfold shortly as opening day creeps closer.

And...that's it for now. Guess I better go fill out my bracket!

A Sports Update

Hello all!

So, I feel awful that I haven't posted a blog about the Super Bowl yet. My parents were in town visiting and I just didn't get a chance to post an update and now here we are almost 2 weeks past the Super Bowl.

I won't dwell on the big game much since well, it's way over. I did predict the winner though, the Giants, and I predicted them to win before the playoffs started. Do I expect a reward? Ahhh no. It was complete luck.

And the game wasn't a landslide by any means, it was a close game. That safety in the first quarter of the game really made a big difference. Some speculated that it was a bad call, I don't think so. Brady was in the endzone, he waited, he avoided getting potentially sacked by Justin Tuck and threw the ball down the middle to no one. Yes, you could argue that someone didn't run the right route but how much time did Brady have before throwing the ball? It was the right call, just a weird one. Congrats to the dude who made the bet on the Giants to score first via safety in Vegas. He made some mega money.

The NFL season is over, which makes me sad. Football is probably my favorite sport though baseball is a close second. Fortunately baseball will be back soon. Spring training will start shortly and then the "how will the Cardinals do without Albert?" chat will begin.

The Cardinals will be fine. I said it before, he alone did not carry that team, especially last season. When you look at who the main play makers were in that playoff run, they were Carpenter, Garcia, Freese, Berkman, Craig...Albert had one big game in the NLCS, and that game was pretty much won regardless.

I'm not saying he won't be missed He will. He had a leadership role that will be hard to replace. But if there's one thing the 2011 Cardinals team showed me, it was a desire to never give up. And most of that same team remains. And they get ace Wainwright back. So do I think the Cardinals are a shoe in for the World Series? No. Do they still have a shot at getting there? Absolutely.

Jeremy Lin. Harvard grad. No name. Steps in for the Knicks after a player goes down with injuryand all of a sudden Linsanity begins.

I'm the first to admit I don't follow the NBA as closely as the MLB and NFL. But you gotta love this story. Some have called him the Tebow of the NBA but I disagree. Tebow was expected to be great. He was a great college QB. He won the Heisman Trophy.

A month ago, who knew about Jeremy Lin? This kid reminds me more of Kurt Warner. Before the 1999 season, who knew who Kurt Warner was? He was an arena football guy from Iowa who was working at a grocery store. Signed by the Rams as a backup. Trent Green goes down with an injury, Kurt Warner starts and leads the greatest show on turf to a Super Bowl win.

Does that mean I think the Knicks are going to win the NBA championship? No. But Lin is one of those great stories, like Warner that you just can't help but root the guy on. I hope Lin continues to succeed because it's nice to hear these stories.

Because let's face it. If you want to be a star in the NBA, you don't go to Harvard. Just like if you want to be an NFL football player you don't go to say, my alma mater, DePauw University (though DPU alum Butler basketball coach Brad Stevens is doing pretty well for himself). They go to a division 1 school where they have a chance at winning.

So seeing someone make it big who chose to go to a school like Harvard? It's just great to see them make it in the big leagues.

We'll see where it goes. So far, the Knicks keep winning with Lin. But there are a lot of games left to play.

There is news, rumors, etc. about Peyton Manning. I could address them here, but frankly, until a decision is made I just don't know what to say. I want Peyton to be a Colt for life. I don't think that happens if he doesn't retire. And if he isn't a Colt, I really don't want him in the NFC West, because I'm a Rams fan.

And the other options? The Jets, Dolphins, Redskins? Ugh. I just don't like it.

I hope Manning heals and is able to play but I have my doubts. If he has to retire, it's not like he hasn't had an amazing career. He will make the HOF for sure.

No one really knows what's going on, but in a couple of weeks we will know since Peyton is due his $28 million dollar bonus. So we wait, and see.

A final quick note, go Mizzou! Currently ranked #3. Can't wait for the NCAA tournament. It's going to be fun.

More in the world of sports soon, I promise.

You Can't Spell Elite Without "Eli"

Hey there sports fans!

I meant to post something sooner but I ended up taking my cat to the ER Sunday evening and then to the vet on Monday and it was a whole ordeal. Needless to say, I was a bit preoccupied.

And I was supposed to post about NCAA basketball and the NBA, but didn't get around to that. I just have to admit, I'm a football and baseball girl. I like all different kinds of sports, but when it comes to having a true passion? It's football and baseball. So I guess I just haven't been all that interested in basketball yet since football is still going on. But not for much longer.

Before I get into the championship weekend results, I have to mention a bit of NCAA excitement the Missouri Tigers, beat Baylor and is now ranked #2 in the AP/USA Today Coaches Poll. It was a very close game that came down to the wire but wow, how great it is to see Mizzou ranked #2? It will definitely be interesting to see how the tournament plays out. There's still a lot of time between now and then, so things could change.

As for the NFL championship weekend, I was 1-1 on my picks. Baltimore certainly had a shot. If Lee Evans had caught that TD pass it would have been over. If Billy Cundiff had made that field goal who knows what the outcome would have been in OT. But Baltimore did prove that a good defense can stop Brady and the Pats defense is vulnerable. If Baltimore's offense had just been a little more solid they would have won that game. But, these things happen. I was not impressed by the Patriots win by any means. When you win because the other team's kicker misses a field goal I always think you sort of won by default. You won because the other team screwed up. It's still a win, but not impressive.

The 49ers-Giants game had a very similar feel to the Baltimore-Pats game in that it wasn't a high scoring game and it came down to the wire. For awhile there I thought that the 49ers were going to pull it off and actually win, but the Giants came back and the game went into OT. And the Niners WR/punt returner Kyle Williams fumbled the punt, the Giants recover and score the game winning field goal. Another not so impressive win. Although the Giants kicker did make his field goal attempt (sorry Billy). That was Williams second fumble of the game and the poor guy has been reamed by fans in San Francisco. I get it, if it had been me and it was the Colts or the Rams playing for their chance for the Super Bowl and their punt returner cost the game with a fumble, I'd be upset.

But I've heard that Williams has gotten death threats. Come on people, it's a game. Anything can happen. Sometimes Adam Vinateri crushes your hopes in one fowl swoop (no, I'm not still bitter about SB XXXVI). There is no reason for death threats. He isn't the only reason they didn't win the game. The defense didn't stop Eli Manning. The Niner offense didn't put up enough points. The guy is already going through his own personal hell dealing with his mistakes, no need to make it worse.

So, the Super Bowl will be a rematch of the Giants and Patriots. Little brother Eli will attempt to win his second Super Bowl in the house that Peyton built. And he will.

My Super Bowl pick is the Giants. I know some say that the Pats will be hungry for revenge from 2007 and the Giants stealing their perfect season hopes. Emotions will be high, no doubt. But when I look at the Giants team and the Patriots team, I think the Giants are the more well rounded team. They have a much better defense and can get to Brady. The Pats defense did okay against a not so great Broncos offense and Baltimore, which relies heavily on the run game.

Eli Manning can throw the ball. And they have a decent run game as well. They will be able to put up points. And the Giants in their run to win their division and throughout the playoffs have shown they can get it done in tight defensive matchups and they can get it done in a shoot out.

I don't think it'll be an easy win and it will probably be close. If I had to guess I'd say Giants win 28-24. Something along those lines.

I know Tom Brady is a good quarterback (even though the Colts fan in me doesn't want to admit that at times) but I think Eli wins this one. And I'd be happy for him if he does. I'm sure Peyton's rooting for him.

Speaking of Peyton, an article was published in the Indy Star in which Manning speaks out about the rumors of his retirement and about his future. He jokes about Rob Lowe's twitter post that started a frenzy wondering if Peyton was indeed retiring.

Bogus, of course. Peyton may well indeed have to make that decision if he is unable to get healthy but it's way too early for him to be making that decision. Peyton also addresses that any talks about his future with the Colts will be with owner Jim Irsay, not the new GM Grigson. Peyton also states he is saddened by all of the recent firings.

Which makes sense, he's worked with most of those coaches his whole career. It's hard to see people you've worked with for so long go.

Peyton also reiterated that he hopes to stay in Indy and finish his career there. But it's not his call and he's just trying to do what he can to get healthy.

I really hope Peyton does get healthy enough to play and leads the Colts to another Super Bowl or two, I really do. It's so hard to say right now. I just don't see Irsay being willing to pay the $28 million bonus to Peyton due on March 8th if there are still concerns about his health. Which means he will become an unrestricted agent and could end up in Miami, Cleveland, San Francisco...

If he's healthy, I want him to continue to play because he's so fun to watch and you just know how passionate he is about the game. But I have to admit, it would be super hard to see him in any uniform other than the Colts.

Nothing is certain, but I guess we'll know in a couple of months. For now, Peyton can enjoy watching his little brother play in his second Super Bowl, right at home.

Sports Madness

The NCAA Championship Game was on Monday, and unfortunately, my Butler Bulldogs did not pull off the win. They had a very tough opponent in UConn, and in the end, UConn was able to break through Butler's defense and once they had a 10 point lead, Butler had no chance.

Both teams played hard, and in the beginning the defense on both teams was very strong. But Butler kept missing shots that they shouldn't. Matt Howard had an awful day, and when he has a bad day that is not good for Butler.

Congratulations to UConn, they played a great game. And congrats to Butler and coach Brad Stevens. They made it to the championship game 2 years in a row. They didn't win, but that's still impressive to get to the final game both years. I think Butler will be a contender for a long time as long as Stevens is still around.

Baseball season has begun and the Cardinals look...well, scary. They had a chance to win the home opener and our closer, Ryan Franklin, gives up a home run with 2 outs in the 9th. *Head desk* It's going to be a long season, I'm afraid.

A lot can happen, there's many more months to go. I'm going to a Cardinals-Dodgers game next week, it may be the only chance I get to see the Cards live this season. Hope they look stronger next week than they have so far. Of course, it would help to get Matt Holliday back in the lineup. Word is, he is not going to be placed on the DL. Hope he heals fast and is back on the field soon.

In Lakers news, they have been on fire since the All Star game. They have already clinched their division, so playoffs are inevitable. Can they three-peat? I think they have a solid chance. Not sure what exactly changed after the All Star game but the Lakers need to keep at it. I'm happy to see them doing well and would love to see them three-peat.

What else...I've sort of lost interest in hockey since the Blues aren't going anywhere. The NFL is still on lockdown and we have the draft coming up. That should be interesting. Not sure what's going to happen here. Teams will make their picks but won't be able to sign them until a deal is done. With this in mind, it'll be interesting to see how teams approach their picks. As it looks right now, a ruling may not happen before the draft.

One thing's for sure, the world of sports is never dull!

NCAA Madness

I have been very lax in updating this. Been quite the busy month, much to catch up on!

So the best thing about March is...the NCAA tournament of course. And this year it definitely delivered when it comes to crazy upsets, underdogs making it and screwing up everyone's brackets.

I had picked Kansas to win in my bracket. I'm not a fan of Kansas, as I'm a Mizzou fan and well, Mizzou fans are anti-Kansas. However, I felt that watching the team the season they seemed like the team to beat.

Well, they got knocked out of the tournament by VCU. Um, yeah. Who predicted that one? I'm okay with it messing up my bracket though because I am so happy to see the teams that made it to the final 4 duke it out.

My favorite? Butler. Coach Brad Stevens went to my alma mater, DePauw University. So I am thrilled to see his team doing so well. I hope they win the whole thing. I think they have a real shot. If there's one thing this team had proven, it's that they do not give up. At DePauw we have a saying. It goes like this: DePauw never quits. Perhaps that bit of wisdom has been passed from Coach Stevens to his team.

Also in basketball news, Matt Painter turned down the Mizzou job offer and is staying at Purdue. I hope I'm not the only one surprised by this. I just couldn't see him leaving Purdue. So, the search continues for a new coach for Mizzou. Did see some mumblings on stltoday.com's message boards about Brad Stevens. Ha. He's not leaving Butler any time soon, I can guarantee you that!

In other big news, tomorrow is THE day. Opening day, that is. Baseball is finally here and ready to go. I'm nervous about the Cardinals season but am optimistic. The great thing right now is that everyone starts at 0. And there's a long season of baseball. You never know who will step up as a hero or what casualties you might endure. Playing this season without Adam Wainwright is going to be super tough for the redbirds. But, the Cardinals have one of the best pitching coaches with Duncan and Kyle McClellan has looked sharp in spring training as a starter so we'll see how that goes.

Either way, I'm excited for baseball season to begin. It's just one of the best sports there is, and there's nothing like going to a baseball game. I will be watching my Cards take on the Dodgers in a couple weeks as the Cards head to LA early this season. Might be the last time I see Pujols in a Cards uniform (I hope not).

Speaking of Albert, check out this awesome site if you want to keep Albert as a Cardinals: http://www.stlwantspujols.com/. May not make a difference in Albert's ultimate decision, but it can't hurt!