The AP Has Stempniak Fever

For the second game day news story in a row Blues forward Lee Stempniak gets the first mention at the hockey Worlds.

Lee Stempniak scored twice to lead the United States to a 5-1 victory over Belarus on Sunday that put it in the second round of the hockey world championships along with the Czech Republic, Finland and Russia.

...

The Americans were 3-0 up by the end of the first period, with scores from defenseman Jack Johnson and forwards Stempniak and Chad Larose.

Chris Clark added a fourth U.S. goal 4:30 into the second period, and Stempniak added the fifth -- on a two-man advantage-- for his third goal in two games.

Belarus captain Oleg Antonenko ruined John Grahame's shutout bid, deking defenseman Brian Pothier to flick the puck in over Grahame's shoulder.

"We wanted to give John the shutout so it's a pity," Clark said. "That will be tougher against the Czechs."

The Americans and the Czechs play Tuesday.

Josh Hancock Killed In Car Accident

I'd say the Cardinals were cursed if we hadn't just won a World Series.

Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock was killed early Sunday in an accident on Highway 40 (Interstate 64), just west of Compton Avenue, authorities said.

Hancock's Ford Explorer slammed into the rear of a tow truck that was parked in the far left westbound lane shortly after 12:30 a.m. The tow truck driver, who was seated in the vehicle at the time, was unhurt.

He told police that his emergency lights were on, and that he honked his horn when he saw the Explorer approaching in his rear view mirror, but that the Explorer didn't slow down or swerve to avoid the collision.

At the time of the accident, the tow truck driver was assisting a motorist from an earlier accident.

Hancock, 29, was pronounced dead at the scene.

I've driven past that spot hundreds of times in my life, as have a lot of people coming back from a game at Busch Stadium. It is just too sad to even think about it.

Rest In Peace.

Lots of other baseball fans are feeling this loss as well.

The Yankees had a moment of silence before the national anthem to honor the memory of former Red Sox pitcher Josh Hancock. A collective gasp of disbelief could be heard from the crowd when Bob Sheppard, the Yankees incomparable P.A. announcer, delivered the news. It was a positively chilling moment when Sheppard ended the observance by simply saying “Josh Hancock.'’

Hancock, 29, died early this morning in an automobile accident outside of St. Louis. [ed. This is incorrect. It was in the city proper.] He was traded by the Red Sox to the Phillies before the 2003 season for Jeremy Giambi.

Majerus At SLU

Hmmm...what to think, what to think. Maybe it is better to be lucky than good. I don't think Biodi and company knew they could get someone of Rick Majerus' stature, but that's what has happened. From the PD:

In what amounts to a major change in the way St. Louis University is approaching basketball, SLU has hired former Utah coach Rick Majerus to replace Brad Soderberg, who was fired on April 17.

Majerus, one of the most successful coaches in college basketball in recent years, will be introduced at a news conference on Monday at 10 a.m.

Majerus, 59, has been out of coaching since stepping down from Utah in the middle of the 2004 season due to health concerns. Since then, he has been working for ESPN as an analyst, though his name has surfaced with several other job openings.

Majerus first met with Biondi last Saturday, and SLU and Majerus' agent spent the next five days negotiating. On Friday, Biondi and Majerus met face to face to hammer out the final details. An agreement was reached late afternoon on Friday. Details of Majerus’ contract were not specifically available, but it’s believed he will make around $1 million a year for five years. Soderberg’s salary was around $400,000. The highest-paid coach in the Atlantic 10 had been Sean Miller at Xavier, who makes between $700,000 and $900,000.

"I’m excited about this opportunity,’’ Majerus told the Post-Dispatch on Friday. "Fr. Biondi has put together a terrific package with the arena. I went to a Jesuit school and it’s an honor and a privilege and I hope to be able to share that with other youngsters. I look forward to working with this team. I feel very excited. I think it’s a world class university and I think we can bring the team up to the standards of the university, not that they haven’t been good in the past."

Like a lot of St. Louisians I'm a little skeptical about "big name" coaches. While Tony LaRussa has fit into the community reasonably well, many still have (bad) memories of the days Mike Keenan prowled the city streets. Maybe Majerus will prove to be one of those "folksy" types that St. Louis loves to love, ala Whitey Herzog or Charlie Spoonhauer. I know Majerus has a sometimes prickly reputation with his players, but Midwesterners don't have problems with that as long as you seem genuine and down to earth otherwise.

Majerus also doesn't have the squeaky clean reputation that you generally associate with SLU.

This will certainly be different.

Hre is the take of Michael C Lewis at the Salt Lake Trib:

Hearing that Rick Majerus has accepted the job at St. Louis University today reminded me immediately of Ron McBride joining the University of Kentucky after the Utes fired him as football coach nearly five years ago:

Man, he's gonna look weird in blue.

Not that Majerus ever wore a ton of red, what with that cream-colored sweater he typically wore on the sideline. But still. It somehow just doesn't seem right that he should be coaching somewhere other than at Utah.

One thing is for sure, though - next season is going to be fascinating.

Not only do the Utes have an inexperienced head coach trying to rebuild their own program after it bottomed out following Majerus' departure, but now fans can keep an eye on the Atlantic 10 Conference, to see how well Majerus is doing with four returning starters from a team that went 20-13 last season.

Probably, it will be even more engaging to monitor the sentiment about his tenure.

One source close to the program in St. Louis already has told me that he suspects the university president might have been starstruck at the opportunity to land Majerus and neglected to research his top candidate enough to know his dark side - the part of the brilliant coach that sometimes berated players and willfully violated the rules enough to get the Utes put on probation.

That seems hard to imagine, given the breadth of Majerus' reputation.

But who knows?

And if Majerus does fall back on some of his unseemly old habits yet wins at the same astonishing rate he did with the Utes, it will be interesting to see how willing the community will be to forgive the indiscretions. For the moment, the Billikens are banking on universal fanfare for a coach who, despite anything you might say about him, certainly qualifies as a home run hire with his 442 victories.

After all, just about the first thing they did after announcing the hiring was install a new intro on their Web site, telling fans how to buy season tickets.

Other views:

From some St. Louis bashing fool on an AOL sports blog:

Majerus lives in Milwaukee to be closer to his mother, and that probably ended his dealing with Long Beach State, but why would he chose St. Louis over Iowa? That makes little sense. Not that it matters. Odds are that this marriage won't last. Having Majerus for two seasons would be quite an accomplishment. Hell, it wouldn't be a surprise if Majerus gets cold feet before Midnight Madness. This guy has flirted with many, many schools in the past and the comfy television gig (and free buffets) seem to be more to his liking anyway. This just can't end well, and St. Louis will likely fall way short of its goal of being a Top 50 program. At least proprietors of the city's BBQ segment should get a big boost.

Actually, Majerus' health is a real concern. When Majerus' name surfaced a couple of days ago a buddy of mine (and SLU grad) said, "Is there any way to buy common stock in the Cusamano family?" For the non-St. Louis connected out there, the Cusamano family is the premier culinary brood in the city. Their pasta places are legendary, the portions are generous, and the resultant heart attacks are plentiful. (Hell, it's 10:30 in the morning but I could now go for some cannelloni.)

From some Fox Sports Net blog:

Rick Majerus is back. Not by popular demand.

The former Utah coach and current television analyst agreed to a deal to replace Brad Soderberg as the head coach at St. Louis.

Soderberg was one of the most likable guys in the industry. Majerus is one of the most despised.

There's no disputing the fact that Majerus can coach. He is 422-147 in his career and led the Utes to the national title game in 1998.

However, there are plenty of reasons why Majerus wasn't the right guy for the job.

His health is certainly an issue. In fact, he reneged less than a week after taking the USC job 2 1/2 years ago, citing health reasons. Well, he's approaching 60 years old and his health isn't going to get any better.

His methods are also in question.

Utah was placed on three years probation for rules violations after he left.

St. Louis wanted a personality when it fired Brad Soderberg. They also wanted someone to spice things up on the court with the opening of a new building a little more than a year away.

Well, they got a guy with a personality. Just not a personality that most people want to be around.

As for the exciting style of play that the Billikens program was hoping to employ, it's doubtful that'll happen with Majerus. His teams may score a few more points than Soderberg's, but he's far from a run-and-gun coach.

From Eleven Warriors (an Ohio State football blog), Rick Majerus Returns To Competitive Eating:

Oh, wait…my biscuit. I meant to say Rick Majerus has taken the hoops job at St. Louis, derailing a stellar career as the hooptiest expert analyst to ever appear on the Worldwide Leader. The svelte Majerus took a three year sabbatical to focus on carb intake and ESPN growth and development classes such as Communication of the Obvious and Stroke the Coach 101. Contract terms were not disclosed but speculation is that Thick Rick’s compensation package includes a gingerbread house and a pool filled with sausage gravy. In all seriousness, Majerus is a popular guy amongst his coaching peers and college basketball is much better off with him on the sidelines versus TV.

I suppose SLU fans should be heartened by the resources that the university is (finally) putting into the program. Evidently Soderberg and his staff were nickled and dimed to death during their years at the helm. It makes no sense to hire Majerus and then not give him the financial resources to do the job, particularly as the program is moving into new on campus facilities soon.

A Star In The Making?

Saw this from the Hockey World Championships going on in Russia:

St. Louis Blues forward Lee Stempniak had a goal and an assist Friday to lead the United States past Austria 6-2 in the preliminary round Group B match at the world hockey championships.

I thought it was a nice little perk for Stempniak to get selected to team USA. However, if Lee starts to emerge as an offensive leader on that team this might just be more significant. We shall see how things progress and the competition gets a little tougher, which won't happen in the next game (Belarus) but will come soon enough.

The NL Central Of Machismo

If you look past the erectile dysfunction, male pattern baldness and severe halitosis, I'm a sexual dynamo.


Today's post by lboros over at Viva El Birdos paints a pretty dismal picture of the AAA Central:

filter out the two sweeps at the hands of non-nl central foes, and the cardinals don't look half-bad...all along, the case for the cardinals as 2007 contenders has rested on the premise that they were no more flawed than the competition; they might be a mediocre club, but what nl central team stood poised to exploit them?...the early returns suggest that the cardinals, for all their very evident vulnerabilities, will still be able to compete within this group of 6 lousy teams.

I can't disagree. The Cardinal's 2006 campaign was the sausage of World Championships. The result tasted great, but the manufacturing process was almost unbearable to watch. If we don't make the post-season this year, it will be more akin to a Busch Gardens brewery tour I recall from years ago -- a long, hot slog that ended with a taste of cat piss.

Pujols

It might be easy to look at Albert's numbers (and Sunday's glorious finale) and say he's getting back on track. Despite his struggles, his HR and RBI numbers are good, doubly so if you consider his successful protection of Duncan in the lineup as part of his production. However, it worries me that he only seems to be hitting huge mistakes.

What has always blown me away about him is his ability to beat the piss out of pitches that the hurler was trying to make. So many times over the past few years I almost felt sorry for the guy on the mound after Pujols has sent one over the boards or driven a base clearing double into the gap because you know he's sitting out there thinking, "Goddamn it! I just made exactly the pitch I wanted and he STILL sent my ERA trough the roof."

That isn't happening this year. His Ks bear this out too, I think. Hopefully, Rolen's resurrection behind him will let him contract his strike zone and get him back to previous form soon.

Good Judgment 1 Angry Wife 0

Butch: Maybe there's a way to make a profit in this? Bet on Logan.
Sundance: I would, but who'd bet on you?

Regarding my last post, in one of the most shocking upsets in recent memory, willpower prevailed in San Antonio. I arrived early and sober for dinner with my wife’s colleagues. Who says no good deed goes unpunished? I was rewarded with a happy hour and dinner with several lovely young women. While my luck is running this good, maybe I should put $100 on Looper to pick up his 4th win tonight.

Tomorrow’s post preview: “Good Judgment fell to the .500 mark with a humiliating defeat Wednesday night….”

San Antonio: Texas’ Answer to Tottenham.

These internets and satellite TV are great things indeed. A man can do worse than spending an afternoon sitting in an Irish pub along San Antonio’ Riverwalk District drinking Guinness, smoking cigars, e-mailing clients, blogging, chatting up a lovely Irish bartender and watching West Brom/Burnley live.

And the closest I’ve gotten to the Spurs and the loathsome NBA during my three days here was watching the Tottenham Hotspurs/Arsenal match in this same pub on Saturday.

I have to give San Antonio two thumbs up (at least the city center). The Riverwalk is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in the States. Google it for a sense of what it’s like. Of course my opinion could be clouded by the high I am still on from watching Albert go deep in extra innings for Sunday’s win over the Cubs.

Alas, all good things must come to an end. My lovely bride just called. Her conference meetings are breaking up and in 90 minutes I'm supposed to be ready to go out to dinner with a group of her colleagues (did I mention she is in town for a conference in her professional field of substance abuse treatment?). All appropriate instructions have been given to shut me off of the black stuff in the next hour but no promises were forthcoming from my fair bartender. Looks like I'm reliant on my own willpower and good judgment. I just checked and Vegas won't even give odds on a happy ending to this story......

Some People Shouldn't Write About Hockey

I hate fucking moronic drivel, espoused as some sort of "idea" because there is always some asshole who will take it seriously. Case in point is this silly little exercise by The Sporting News's Kara Yorio:

And here they come for the fifth overtime. Aren't they warriors? Aren't they courageous? Isn't this the best part about the NHL playoffs?

No, no and no.

Hockey players are not warriors, and they are not courageous. They are incredibly skilled, strong-willed, athletic professionals who can make their bodies do outrageous things, such as play 140 minutes of hockey or more in a night. But they shouldn't have to show us that mental and physical strength. It shouldn't be allowed.

End it now. OK, next playoffs, to be fair. But end it, already.

Give the teams two 20-minute overtime periods, then go to the shootout. Even two extra periods might be too much, but this is called a compromise.

The shootout isn't real hockey, you say? The bastardization of the game that's allowed in the regular season shouldn't even be considered when it matters most? Fine, but it also isn't real hockey -- particularly not NHL hockey -- out there on slush in the third, fourth and fifth overtimes with guys who barely can lift their legs and goalies fresh off of IV fluids at the last intermission.

If the shootout is a good enough way to decide how teams get into the playoffs, then it should be a good enough way to decide who wins the games once they're there -- after teams have been given a long enough chance to finish things off with that "real hockey."

Asking these players to play beyond two overtimes is unfair, unhealthy, mentally and physically exhausting and detrimental to the quality of hockey that comes in later games. During the regular season, teams cannot play three nights in a row. Why is it OK to ask them to play more than nine periods in three nights during the playoffs?

Who is she? Someone's mother? Should we end a baseball after 14 innings to spare the poor dears? (We could decide the game with a bunting contest.) We could also do away with multiple OT's in basketball as well, by playing a game of HORSE after the first overtime.

Jesus Christ. It is people like this that have made the NHL the third tier sport it is today. They have systematically removed each and every thing that gave the game its unique identity. Enough is enough.

Kara Yorio please stop writing about hockey. You don't know what you are talking about.

The Hatchet Man

There are plenty of names that pop to mind when you hear the words "hatchet man" and "NHL" in close proximity. Until last night former Blue and current Calgary Flame Jamie McLennan wasn't one of them. Last night McLennan had quite a performance.

McLennan was on the ice for only 18 seconds because he was penalized for slashing and removed from the game with a match penalty and game misconduct.

The Flames were upset (and rightly so) by the near constant running of Flames starting goalie Miikka Kiprusoff. Of course this is par for the course for the Red Wings who get some sort of special dispensation from the league every year to run goalies and interfere off the puck with impunity while they make their yearly play-off run.

That being said, McLennan was a menace to society out there, and I would have to think a several game ban is forthcoming. The only good thing you can say about his outburst was that he didn't swing for anyone's head. (Talk about damning with faint praise.)

I'm putting the over/under on penalty minutes for game 6 at 80.

Johnson A Blue

The PD is reporting that Erik Johnson will sign and be introduced tomorrow. This is good news as he will definitely help this team.

Of course, it is also helpful to rein in those expectations. Remember what happened to Pronger in Hartford. Blues fans have to think four and five seasons down the line. The missteps he takes during his first year or two are necessary. And if he finds himself in Peoria for part of the year that is not the end of the world.

A Disaster Area

No, I'm not talking about the Cards everyday lineup (although at this point even National's fans are looking at it and sending condolences). No, I'm talking about the public relations disaster that is the Brad Soderberg firing. In a crowded sports town like St. Louis where the Billikens can be a distant afterthought behind the Cards, Rams and Blues, destroying what goodwill feelings folks have about the program is nearly suicidal. It wasn't all that long ago when SLU was a top 10 program in terms of the crowds they could draw to the Kiel/Savvis/Scottrade center. Back then they were the squeaky clean program that had high aspirations but were intent on doing things the right way.

Today SLU looks like a tawdry three-ring circus.

Three takes on this from the PD:

On Tuesday morning, Soderberg met with athletics director Cheryl Levick and was told he was fired.

There was no official comment on the change, other than a five-paragraph statement, which, perhaps tellingly, did not include a comment from Levick, which is the norm in this situation. Levick was unavailable, according to a school spokesman.

That is out of character for Levick, who has been willing to address almost every issue, and would be unusual for any AD making a change at a high-profile position such as basketball coach. That has led to speculation that the decision to fire Soderberg came from higher up on the university chain. Levick reports to the school's provost, Joe Weixlmann, who reports to school president Fr. Lawrence Biondi. They are the only other people with any direct control over the department.

...

The timing is awkward. Changes in the coaching ranks have largely sorted themselves out by early April. There have been changes made at 50 other Division I schools recently, many in response to their coaches being lured away by other schools. In the past five years only one Division I men's coach has been fired after April 15 — Larry Eustachy at Iowa State in 2003, when he made national news by partying after a game with University of Missouri students.

SLU still has three scholarships to offer for next season, but the timing makes it likely that the recruits they were still in the running for will choose to go elsewhere. No decision has been made on the fate of SLU's three assistants, although Angres Thorpe, Soderberg's senior assistant, was named interim head coach.

Colin Relphorde, the father of one of SLU's recruits, Marcus Relphorde, said he hadn't heard of Soderberg's firing when reached by phone. He said the family had talked about Soderberg's status with Levick during their visit, and that she said that while she couldn't say with certainty, "she planned on retaining him for some time and they were pleased with what he's done. That was significant in our decision-making."

This was the take of Vahe Gregorian: Soderberg Move Prompts Questions

St. Louis University's firing Tuesday of men's basketball coach Brad Soderberg nearly six weeks after SLU's season ended was an oddity and an absurdity to many in the coaching community.

Only one other coach in the last five years was fired after April 15, according to Post-Dispatch research, and that was Iowa State coach Larry Eustachy after he became embroiled in a scandal.

As news trickled out to the college basketball world, many assumed SLU would only have made such a move if it had a blockbuster replacement in line. "That's the only thing that would make sense," said one of nearly a dozen Division I coaches and administrators interviewed Tuesday.

But SLU apparently had no such strategy or arrangement in place unless a grand surprise awaits. Details about Soderberg's dismissal are murky, since SLU has said it won't address the matter — another rare, if not unprecedented, stance that one coach called "little kid stuff."

And the school's curious treatment of a man respected and considered honorable could affect its ability to attract a new coach. If a change was necessary, the prudent approach would have been to do it immediately after the season. By now, the coaching carousel has whirled to a virtual halt.

And, most pointedly, here is Bernie Miklasz's take: Biondi's gutless hit-and-run job embarrasses SLU

SLU can do better than Soderberg, but it isn't that simple. Had this move been made several weeks ago, a new coach could have gotten a head start on the first official day of this recruiting period. But now the next coach will be off to a late start and forced to pick through leftover recruits.

At least the new coach can get a jump on the next recruiting period and possibly find talented players to take into the new arena.

But whether you are pro-Brad or anti-Brad, I think most of us can agree on a couple of things: (1) the timing of his firing was bizarre and nonsensical; (2) we would like an explanation. Instead, the SLU president, the Rev. Lawrence Biondi, went into hiding Tuesday.

Multiple sources told me Biondi's muscle was behind this ouster. Multiple sources told me Biondi cut athletics director Cheryl Levick out of the loop, and humiliated her in the process by firing a coach she had backed.

Multiple sources told me Levick had assured the parents of potential recruits that Soderberg's job was safe — and now SLU's word is dirt. Multiple sources told me that at least one prominent booster had Biondi's attention and talked him into dumping Soderberg, even at this late date, which went against the wishes of virtually all key figures inside the SLU administration.

And after Biondi did all of this, he wrapped himself in the thin paper of a flimsy news release and scurried into retreat. What a profile in courage this Biondi is. I wanted to give him a chance to explain all this, but he'd already disappeared into his hiding place and couldn't be reached for comment.

In major-college athletics, you won't find a more embarrassing and unprofessional operation than the dictatorship that Biondi runs at SLU. He fires a coach, then ducks out, unwilling to face the heat or even polite questions. And no one on the campus is brave enough to stand up to the bully boss. No one at SLU has the will to put a name, a reputation, behind this Soderberg termination.

After another disgraceful chapter in its basketball history, SLU will begin another coaching search. And after shameful episode, how can Levick stay in this job? How can Levick possibly hire the next coach? By taking away Levick's power as the direct supervisor of the men's basketball program, Biondi destroyed any credibility Levick can bring to the hiring process. Potential candidates will laugh at the notion that Levick has any authority, or that she can protect them from her meddling boss. She's done.

Biondi is unequivocally in charge of basketball. And this tells us a lot. Because Biondi is the boss, SLU basketball continues to wallow in mediocrity, many years after his blustery, laughably hollow pledge to have a top 50 men's basketball team.

And because Biondi is the boss, the SLU coaching job is among the worst in NCAA Division I. Tuesday's gutless hit-and-run job confirmed that all over again.

A Roundup Of The Accomplishments Of The Brad Soderberg Era

Hmmm...wait a sec...I'll come up with something...

Pete Falcone: The Poor Man's Carlton. OK, Very Poor. Alright, Alright, Poverty-Ridden...

"...the old man looked ruefully at his grandson, shook his head and in a trembling voice said, 'I wanted to give them to you, my boy, but it was a long, cold winter and in the end desperation demanded we burn all of my Pete Falcone Fleer collection just to stay warm.' The boy turned away, unable to bear the sight of his grandfather's tears and devasted by the loss of his 32¢ legacy...."

- from John Feinstein's inevitable baseball book, The Most Over-Wrought Story Of Our National Pastime Ever Told


Continuing with the theme of lefties in my last two posts, I couldn't resist taking a look at Carlton's vaunted splits against the Cards. I idolized him as a kid (when he wasn't throwing against StL) and I still think his slider at the knees is the most consistently devastating pitch I've ever seen out of a starter, though Pedro's change in the late 90s probably matched it.*

After the infamous trade to the Phillies for Rick Wise ahead of the 1972 season, Carlton made 59 career starts against the Redbirds, throwing 453.2 innings with a 38-14 record and a 2.98 ERA. For those of you doing math at home that's 7.2 IP a start, or as I prefer to put it, the 1974 and 1981 Division Crowns for the Cards. It's only fair to note, however, that his 1973 performance wouldn't have helped the Cards in their 2nd place finish when Rick Wise put up a 16-12 mark with a 3.37 ERA while Lefty was 13-20 with a 3.90 ERA.

And even the mercy of a benevolent god couldn't have redeemed those horrid teams of the mid-late 70s, when Jerry Mumphrey spent most of his time with his back to home plate retrieving the end results of Pete Falcone's best pitch -- the two-seam double.

*I'm too young to have seen Koufax pitch, though last year I saw some special video that had been shot of his curve from ground level and with high speed film, I believe. It was ungodly. Can't find the damned clip online, though.

What Are YOU Laughing At? I Had Groupies, I Tell You.

For shits and giggles I looked up Steve Trout's numbers against the Cards. Sure enough. His career numbers were 88-92 with a 4.18 ERA. Facing Whitey's 1983-87 Cards, he was 5-4 with a 3.72 ERA. Not quite Carltonesque, but still.

I'm A Hot Knife And The Cards Lineup Is Butter*

After watching yet another gruesome performance against a no-name lefty (or lot of name-lefty in the case of Gorzelanny) one has to wonder when the rest of the NL Central skippers are going to wise up and promote their three crappiest southpaw farmhands to pitch every Cards series. I wouldn't even waste my good lefties on us. We always seems to pound guys like The Big Unit. It's their performances against the Steve Trouts of the world that make me tear my hair out.


"My last linescore against the Cards was 8 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 11 K.

The Pertinent Question

Greg Lalas at Sports Illustrated obviously knows what's to ask when it comes to Guillermo Barros Schelotto's move to the Crew.

Has anyone warned him that Columbus isn't quite Buenos Aires?

Relax. Somebody get Schelotto a chili 5-way from Skyline and he will be fine.

A Typical SLU Move

Even when they do something right they do it wrong.

Soderberg fired at St. Louis U.

St. Louis University basketball coach Brad Soderberg was fired Tuesday after five seasons with the school.

The school announced the move in a statement that said the success of its new campus arena, scheduled to open for the 2008-09 season, was contingent on a men's basketball program that could contend for conference championships.

SLU was 20-13 last season, the school's first 20-win season since 1997-98, and finished in the middle of the pack in the Atlantic-10 Conference. But the Billikens haven't made it to the NCAA tournament since 2000.

Soderberg produced NIT bids in his first two seasons at SLU, but the school did not make it to the postseason his final three seasons. He's 80-74 overall with a career record of 211-147.

The school said it will begin the search for a replacement immediately. It said Soderberg was fired after an "extensive review of the state of the men's basketball program" since the end of the season. In the statement, the school said it did not "anticipate" making further comments regarding the change.

I don't mind getting rid of Soderberg, he had a legitimate shot and the Bills simply couldn't produce the kind of ball Soderberg promised. His recruiting was never good enough.

However, why wasn't this done a month ago?

Jeff Gordon wonders the same thing:

The timing of the move was curious, though, since athletic director Cheryl Levick had publicly supported Soderberg during the Billikens’ up-and-down 20-13 season.

If SLU was going to fire Soderberg, why wasn’t this decision made shortly after the Billikens failed to garner an NCAA or NIT berth?

Why did Levick, Father Lawrence Biondi and Co. wait until so many other schools did their hiring and firing?

If administrators were concerned about Soderberg’s recruiting skills -– a legitimate issue after his ’06 fiasco -– why did they make this move after the signing date?

And didn’t the school commit to Soderberg for one more year, giving him an opportunity to coach a veteran team and sell the new Chaifetz Arena to recruits?

I'm hoping this means that they have an established name in mind for the new coach that will represent an obvious "step up." If so, they'd better introduce him no latter than tomorrow.

I'm tending to think Levick and Biondi do NOT have anyone lined up and that this will be an ill considered fiasco, even though Brad deserved the sack.

M.I.A.

As in Missing Interesting Action. I can live with the fact that I will not be able to see Notts County (losers 2-1 to Walsall on Saturday) as they are languishing in the lower leagues, but I really want to see my Aussie rules. I especially want to see games like the flogging of Freemantle.

WEST Coast broke their run of defeats by Fremantle and extended the Dockers' miserable start to the season with a 14.17 (101) to 11.4 (70) victory at Subiaco.

Leading at every change, West Coast was always the better team without having a huge advantage on the scoreboard, leading by just 13 points at the final change.

But with the game on the line, West Coast delivered with Steven Armstrong capping an impressive game with his third goal and Michael Braun's industry earning him the Ross Glendinning medal for best-on-ground.

I'm gonna have to see if I can make nice at a sports bar in town, but I'm not sure if I can get the college kids here to go along with my peculiar sporting habits.

Of course if I could find a consistent way to get Irish Football I'd watch that everyday.

Aw well.....leaves me more time to brood about the Cardinals.

MLS Goes Nuts (In A Good Way)

The international signings are coming fast and furious...but why couldn't these be dome on the January signing window? hmmm...

Aston Villa's club-record signing Juan Pablo Angel is on the verge of completing a move to the New York Red Bulls.

Former Queens Park Rangers striker Danny Dichio has joined Toronto FC of MLS.

Guillermo Barros Schelotto is on his way to Major League Soccer. The Argentine superstar will join the Columbus Crew on a one-year deal that will be announced on Tuesday, according to his representative.

Of course a lot will have to be seen before we can say how good these moves are, but from a notoriety perspective it sure makes DC United's signing seem a little pedestrian (to say the least.) Toronto and New York pluck players from England, Columbus gets a player from the Argentine league, and United raids the Honduran and Australian leagues. Just doesn't have the same sort of impact does it?

OK, Maybe I Was Dead Wrong

Based on what we have all seen so far this season, is there any reason Chris Duncan shouldn't be in the everyday lineup?

I don't think so.

Oshie Not A Blue (Yet)

From the PD:

Blues prospect T.J. Oshie informed the club on Wednesday that he will stay at the University of North Dakota for another season.

Oshie, 20, had the option of signing with the Blues just a week after his sophomore season ended in St. Louis at the NCAA Frozen Four. But the club's first-round pick from 2005 chose another year of college hockey.

"It's pretty hard to turn down the money and my dream to play in the NHL," Oshie said. "But I felt it was best for me to stay in school.''

Oshie becomes the third player from UND this week to announce he's staying in school. Hobey Baker Award winner Ryan Duncan and Taylor Chorney said they would return to the Fighting Sioux, who lost in the NCAA semifinals to Boston College.

"That loss definitely kind of left a bad feeling,'' Oshie said. "I think with the loss, it made me realize I want a national championship. It's not guaranteed, but we'd have a shot."

This is a little disappointing since this will basically push back his full time NHL career by a year. No matter when he signs for the Blues he will most likely face a transition season in Peoria.

On the other hand, it isn't as if he was going to be making an impact in St. Louis in 07-08, so his staying put isn't an immediate downer.

No word yet on Johnson.

The NHL Is Fucking Retarded

So, I'm just trying to enjoy a little playoff hockey tonight. My team doesn't make the playoffs so I don't have a rooting interest as such, I just want to see a good game.

Well, the NHL, as usual, just tells the fans to go fuck themselves.

I'm watching the Senators-Penguin game and 14 seconds after Ottawa scores to go up 4-1 Sidney Crosby scores to cut it to 4-2. It wasn't the prettiest goal in the world, but it was very clearly a goal. There is no controversy about that. If you think otherwise you are a god damned idiot. Well, the dipshits in the NHL say it isn't a goal after review. Now, these are the same assholes that got goal calls wrong TWICE in a single Blues game, so I'm not sure why I'm surprised. But it just pisses me off. I like HOCKEY. I don't really want to be on my blog bitching about the officiating. I don't give a shit about either of these teams. I just like hockey.

THE NHL IS RUINING HOCKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had to turn the damn thing off. Whether through incompetence or something else (hmmm...the Canadian teams benefits and the American team is screwed...where have a seen THAT before??), the NHL is bound and determined to destroy this game.

Complete and utter bullshit.

A Grand Day Of Sport Missed (Thank God)

The wife and I took a little drive yesterday about 2 1/2 hours south of here to Decorah, Iowa (nickname "The Decorah, Iowa of Iowa") so I missed the humongous pile of crapola that constituted my rooting interests on Saturday. I had my choice of 5-1 drubbings suffered by the Blues and Cardinals. As an alternative I could have watched the pathetic display offered by DC United. (I actually taped this and watched the first 15 minutes. I could tell how it was going to end so I turned it off. They looked dreadful)

I could have turned my teams off and watched the NCAA Hockey final, but there was Michigan State playing the least fan friendly style of hockey imaginable. Sure its effective, but it is horrible and boring television.

So I spent the day watching my wife buy vegetable and flower seeds, and we took a little hike and visited some cows.

It's too bad when that makes for a far more pleasant day than following my teams.

Clueless

Saw this headline in the PD: Edmonds is surprised he's not in the lineup

When the Cardinals' center fielder arrived at Minute Maid Park, Edmonds was so certain he was in the starting lineup against Houston Astros lefthander Wandy Rodriguez that he didn't check the card manager Tony La Russa posted on the clubhouse wall. So Taguchi, not Edmonds, received the assignment, prompting Edmonds to offer, "You're kidding."

Obviously Jimmy doesn't Tivo the games. Sitting him against left-handers the way he is swinging is the least surprising thing on earth.

An Impressively Bad Night

I watched every painful minute of the drubbing the Cards took last night, and there is very little good to say about this team. Looper did a pretty good job, although I really wonder if trying to "jam" Beltran with an 88mph fastball up in the zone is ever a good idea.

Offensively this club looks awful. And there doesn't seem to be much room for optimism that it can improve all that much. Edmonds simply does not look ready to play the game. He hasn't had a single decent swing at the ball. That he was walked twice is a miracle of productivity given how bad he looks at the plate. The only player who has been getting consistently good swings has been Molina. Not good enough.

Screwed

I'd write a longer post on Carpenter's elbow trouble, but I don't know how much insight I add by repeating FUCK! a couple of hundred times.

Now That's A Life Style

You learn something new every other day. No such thing as Zamboni DWI

NEWARK, N.J. - It's not drunken driving in New Jersey if it involves a Zamboni.

A judge ruled the four-ton ice rink-grooming machines aren't motor vehicles because they aren't useable on highways and can't carry passengers.

Zamboni operator John Peragallo had been charged with drunken driving in 2005 after a fellow employee at the Mennen Sports Arena in Morristown told police the machine was speeding and nearly crashed into the boards.

Police said Peragallo's blood alcohol level was 0.12 percent. A level of 0.08 is considered legally drunk in New Jersey.

Peragallo appealed, and Superior Court Judge Joseph Falcone on Monday overturned his license revocation and penalties.

"It's a vindication for my client," Peragallo attorney James Porfido said after the hearing. "It's the right decision."

Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Joseph D'Onofrio said no decision had been made on whether to appeal.

Peragallo, 64, testified at his trial that he did drink beer and vodka, but not until after he had groomed the ice. However, he told police he had a shot of Sambuca with his breakfast coffee and two Valium-pills before work.

It is hard (and evidently thirsty) work preparing that ice.

In unrelated news, the Cardinals' Tony La Russa has just purchased a zamboni.

(Cross posted at The Iconic Midwest.)

Blues 4 Stars 2

This is the sort of game the Blues have been playing the second half of the season that have Blues' fans wildly optimistic. Last night the blues were simply the better team. Every aspect of the game was solid. OK, they gave up another power play goal but it was of the fluky variety. Sometimes that is just the way the puck bounces.

Goaltending: Sanford had a solid game. He was picking up pucks easily even when they were coming through traffic. He gave up a couple of juicy rebounds but his defense cleaned up for him.

Defense: A number of Blues had strong games. I thought Backman and Brewer in particular had fine games. Both had been a little hit and miss over the last few so it was good to see them get back on form. Jackman is right on that agression line, which is right where he needs to be to be most effective. He is fun to watch. The kids played well and you can see Woywitka get more and more comfortable with every game he plays. Walker had his best game as a Blues.

Offense: The Blues played a very smart road game. Stempniak netted a very pretty goal in the first period where Dallas D just gave him all kinds of room to skate around and pick out a corner. Boyes and Backes each had an assist and both looked good. Metropolit got in on the act with a nifty tally after a nice pass from DJ King (!) sent him in alone. The one knock I'd have is that they passed the puck a little too often at times. They needed to get a little more rubber at the net.

And I must add that King beat the crap out of Barch in a fight.

Ahh...old time hockey.

Cards Outfield

Anybody else worried about the future of this outfield? Bernie Millasz had the following to say after last night's display:

And So Taguchi's play in left field was inept. The pride of Hyogo Prefecture couldn't get to a catchable ball that went for a two-run double by Carlos Delgado, and later dropped a routine fly hit straight at him by Jose Reyes.

The fielding was So poor, you wanted to demand that manager Tony La Russa insert Chris Duncan as a defensive replacement.

Certainly, there is no shame in losing to Glavine, a 291-game winner who is headed to Cooperstown. When he's on, Glavine still has the goods, the touch, to make any lineup look foolish. And any lineup that has Yadier Molina batting fifth — which was on La Russa's card Sunday — is even more vulnerable.

But let's be candid here: In the recent history of baseball, has any defending champion ever started an outfield as bad as the one sent into the first game by the Cardinals on Sunday? I wrote last month that my biggest concern for the team was the outfield.

An alignment of Taguchi in left, a recuperating Jim Edmonds in center and Preston Wilson in right is downright feeble. Taguchi hit .266 with 31 RBIs last season, Wilson struck out 121 times in 2006, and Edmonds still is playing himself into baseball shape after surgeries in the offseason to his shoulder and toe.

I've never been a big fan of Taguchi but he looked especially bad last night. His play on the Delgado "double" was a keystone cop routine. La Russa is showing a lot of faith in Wilson as well. Maybe it will pay off, but his swing has more holes in it than Blackburn, Lancashire.

I also wonder if Edmonds is ready to play baseball yet. He got almost no competitive swings down in Florida and it shows. I gotta think Schumacher should have gotten the start. Isn't it time to find out if he is really a big leaguer?