(Get) A Sporting Life

"I told you this place would go to hell without the Chief around." In today's Post-Dispatch, Stu Durando writes : If getting to six victories and qualifying for a bowl game is the goal, the Missouri game could be critical. If the goal is to achieve more modest improvement, the pressure isn't as great. Either way, the Illini will have to change the program's road woes of the last five years to have a shot. Illinois has won only three of its last 26 games away from Memorial Stadium, and that includes two losses to Missouri in St. Louis. A cynic might add the Illini need to change the program's home woes of the last five years too. A quick back-of-the-cocktail-napkin calculation indicates that the Illini are indeed dramatically better at home. They have 2.3 times as many wins in their last 26 home games. That's seven wins going back to late 2002 when our current star freshman WR, Arrelious Benn, had just turned 14. Exactly one of those wins was against a Big...

In case you didn't catch this great goal, here is a minute and a half love fest to the work of St. Louisian Chris Klein.

"Wha? Oh, Mel Kiper here dudes. The Illini will win seven. No, eight. No, seven. Hey, man, no fair. Stop bogarting the Doritos." The Goat checked in with an assessment of the 2007 Illini: I think the people who are picking Illinois to win 7 games are completely stoned. Not that our non-conference schedule is anything tough but for the first time I can remember, we play Michigan, Ohio St., Penn St, Wisconsin and Iowa in the same season. The two conference teams not on our schedule this season are Michigan St. and Purdue. We've had two fantastic recruiting classes but that also means we're young in a couple of areas so I think it's much more fair to expect 7 wins out of the team next season. We do return 9 starters from a defense that was much improved last season and watch out for incoming Freshmen (Martez Wilson - linebacker and D'Angelo McCray - defensive line). Our offense should be better. Keys are obviously Juice Williams and Rashard Mendenhall. Mend...

Here is my take on the upcoming Mizzou football season: I don't see any huge breakthrough. Same ol', same ol'. 09/01/07 vs. Illinois St. Louis, Mo. Mizzou 31 Illinois 20 09/08/07 at Ole Miss Oxford, Miss. 5:00 p.m. CT Mizzou 38 Ole Miss 24 09/15/07 vs. Western Michigan Columbia, Mo. 1:00 p.m. CT Mizzou 44 Western Michigan 21 09/22/07 vs. Illinois State Columbia, Mo. 1:00 p.m. CT Mizzou 27 Illinois State 0 10/06/07 vs. Nebraska * Columbia, Mo. TBA Mizzou 13 Nebraska 14 10/13/07 at Oklahoma * Norman, Okla. TBA Mizzou 10 Oklahoma 27 10/20/07 vs. Texas Tech * Columbia, Mo. TBA Mizzou 28 Texas Tech 24 10/27/07 vs. Iowa State * Columbia, Mo. TBA Mizzou 18 Iowa State 20 11/03/07 at Colorado * Boulder, Colo. TBA Mizzou 7 Colorado 23 11/10/07 vs. Texas A&M Columbia, Mo. TBA Mizzou 12 Texas A&M 30 11/17/07 at Kansas State * Manhattan, Kan. TBA Mizzou 21 Kansas State 20 11/24/07 vs. Kansas * Kansas City, Mo. Mizzou 41 Kansas 17 That comes to 7-5 I'm afraid. I'm p...

Evidently, with the signing of Denilson FC Dallas is in the position where they will soon have to drop one of their four Senior International players. It seems likely that Adrian Serioux will be the player jettisoned as he has only made it into three games this year, and Dallas' other SI's ( Ricchetti , Ruiz , and Saragosa ) play much larger roles on the team. Serioux is a Canadian defender who had some experience playing for Millwall in England. If we can play one of the back positions, DC might think about it. Right now DC only has used three SI slots (Fred, Emilio and Gomez), so if they are not going to bring in a big name soon...why not? Of course DC may not be the only team with an open SI slot right now. I believe the LA Galaxy have an open slot and they need all the defensive help they can get.

While hope springs eternal in St. Louis over the Cardinals, another match-up of great import to GASL occurs there Saturday - Mizzou v. Illinois. In this near mythical clash of titans, IM and I are at odds. Being sensible, he will be rooting for the team with a chance to win. Being an Illini fan, I will soon be placed on suicide watch. It’s again being played at the Shithole Dome, home of the second worst sporting event I’ve ever attended – The Illini-Mizzou game of 2003. The only more depraved venue of my experience is that domed armpit on the shores of Tampa Bay. I still have nightmares of the spectacle I witnessed there. The early line gives the Illini five points. Very ungenerous I’d say. They’ll need more help than that. Nonetheless, I’m allowing myself to enjoy a ray of optimism for the upcoming season, as I always do before it is brutally crushed shortly after the opening kickoff. In Saturday’s game I am going to go out on a limb and predict that at halftime I will still retain t...

Either that or a cliff’s edge called September. It’s hard to get too excited about the Cardinals, even while it is fun to watch a title battle involving the Cubs. The Sisyphean task of getting back within striking distance of .500 has been gutting. The club is Swiss cheese everywhere but in the bullpen. There are holes in the lineup. Holes in the defense and holes in the starting staff. It could be written that the past two seasons have been the fun ones to watch with all the warts on full display and weekly setbacks that appeared to doom the season. Some silly wag will undoubtedly write it. But not me. I loved the 2004 and 2005 campaigns. Watching brilliantly executed baseball day in and day out was a joy. Decimating all of the sub-.500 clubs who dare set foot in Busch Stadium. Quaint concerns about Larry Walker's back. Having Ned Yost tell his young Brewer club to watch the Cardinals closely and learn from how they went about their business. Last year’s championship and this year...

I wasn't paying any attention to the Blues as things are generally quiet the couple of weeks before training camp opens. But the Blues continued their strong off-season with a nice free agent signing . Blues president John Davidson and general manager Larry Pleau put another puzzle piece into place this week, signing free agent winger Chris Porter to add size and depth to their front lines. At 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, Porter has power forward potential. He is tough and he is an ironman, having never missed a game in college. Earlier this year, he offered this take on that feat: “In bantams when I was 13 or 14, I broke my arm, and that was the last time I’ve actually missed a game. There have been times throughout my college career when I’ve been bumped up pretty good, but our training staff has done a great job of getting me ready to go. I’ve had the privilege of coming in as a freshman and getting to play every game. I’ve had coaches who have trusted in me and put me out there. I...

It's early yet, but Notts coming back twice to tie Darlington maybe shows promise. That is an awful big maybe . A last-gasp goal from Richard Butcher saw Darlington drop their first points of the season as Notts County twice came from behind to snatch a draw. The hosts had two early goals disallowed but Tommy Wright did give them the lead on 40 minutes. Butcher levelled from close range on 72 minutes before Ian Miller gave the hosts the lead again with a header. But Butcher seized on some poor defending at the death and slotted past David Stockdale in the Darlington goal. Hmm...maybe promotion is not in the offing.

...must be the Cardinals are getting the shit kicked out of them again. It is so bad I atually thought "Good thing Wellmeyer is back." And I haven't even been drinking!

Several line outs in a 5-4 GO to FO ratio so the jury is always out on those, but it looks like he may have had a decent outing. The wind was blowing out to left at 14 mph so nothing over the boards has to be seen as potentially good news. Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Mulder 4.0 2 1 0 0 3 0 1.69

WOW. We all knew Mardona wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but what an idiotic suck-up. From today’s Guardian : In Maradona's chatshow in Buenos Aires last year, he admitted that the goal had been a piece of "mischief", but yesterday's admission was delivered with more glee and tinged with political rhetoric…the 46-year-old was a surprise guest of "Hello President", a Sunday talkshow hosted by Mr Chávez which lasts much of the day... Maradona earned thunderous applause when he said he loathed everything that came from the US. "I hate it with all my strength." He pledged allegiance to his host and to Cuba's Fidel Castro, who has arranged treatment in Havana for his addictions. "I believe in Chávez, I am Chávista. Everything Fidel does, everything Chávez does, for me is the best." Where to start with a vein this rich? First, I’ve never felt so much sympathy with the Venezuelans. Your Sunday radio is dominated by a day long chat show...

...but after watching Pujols get called out on a pitch a foot inside (and I'm being charitable) I decided my blood pressure could be lowered by doing something else, like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute or doing meth. My God, like Zambrano needs the help.

No, I am not talking about batting the pitcher in the eight spot. There is no way to argue that we haven't been winning while we've been doing that. What I want to see an end to is the all right-hand hitting lineups La Russa throws out against left handed pitching. Our right handed hitting does not take enough advantage of LHP to make it worthwhile. Look at the numbers so far this season: RHB v. RHP AB: 1706 Hits: 471 HR: 48 Slg: .413 RHB v. LHP AB: 1002 Hits: 281 HR: 19 Slg: .395 These number are pretty dreadful. While batting average goes up slightly (.276 v. .280), the power numbers drop right into the toilet. While a full 10% of the hits off of RHP go for home runs, RHB only manage to hit homers at a 6.7% clip against lefties. This is only marginally better the our LHB does against LHP (2 HR's out of 40 hits, or 5%.) Sure Duncan is only hitting .225 against LHP, but he has only had 71 AB's against them, and it is still better than Ludwick or Rolen's average agai...

From yesterday's issue of The Fiver from The Guardian: "I wasn't surprised when I saw Sven was saying no one had rung him. They ring me. I'm hoping David Beckham texts me soon" - A-level student Christina Tambaros, who was reassigned Sven-Goran Eriksson's phone number when he was ditched as England manager, on getting congratulatory messages from Les Reed and Gordon Taylor, and an offer to take an Inter midfielder on a free transfer. She's mulling it over. How much fun would that be. If I ever get Walt Jocketty's old number, the hardest thing would be deciding who to fuck with first. Just to stir the pot, I think I'd initiate a text conversation with someone at the Tribune and in the course of it let slip that Jim Hendry had turned down talks in the off-season about a Pujols for Prior trade and then quickly backtrack and plead that it not be made public....

Those were the sweet, loving (and wise) words of the lovely Mrs. Southlandish last night. We were floating the pool, enjoying a happy hour cocktail. I had just finished waxing poetic about the Cards sweep of the Brewers, the fact we were only one out in the loss column and how I now had a meaningful Cards/Cubs series to watch this weekend. I had assumed, as usual, she was only pretending to listen when she decided to break out the buzz kill. Is it any wonder I love her? Alas, echoing IM's prior post, I am still going to make myself miserable and follow every goddamned inning. Moths to the flame, you know....

...and it is still 2007. This is something I didn't expect. It sort of reminds me of 1996 when the Cards somehow cobbled together a team that got to within a game of the World Series even though we all knew they were not very good. Of course, this mostly says what a terrible division the NL Central is this year, but you have got to play the schedule they give you and we have as much right as anyone to stumble into the playoffs. Last night's game was a throwback, with Home Runs from Pujols, Rolen AND Edmonds. That we are getting quality starts from a rotation featuring Wells, Piniero, and Reyes is nothing short of a miracle. I've been fighting getting interested in this team. They were simply dreadful for such long stretches. But I think they can now put a lineup out there that can score some runs, and I think they will get good enough starting pitching to keep them in games. The bullpen has been a plus all season....and we are only 3 1/2 games out of first. Crap. I'm in...

Alright, maybe Damon didn't say that exactly, but he might as well have : Hollywood star Matt Damon has dismissed James Bond as being stuck in the past. The actor, who appears in the Bourne thrillers, said: "The Bond character will always be anchored in the 1960s and in the values of the 1960s." The suave spy was "so anachronistic when you put it in the world we live in today", he said, but added that Bourne was no better or worse than Bond. Damon was speaking in London, where The Bourne Ultimatum, the third film in the franchise, is having its UK premiere. "Bond is an imperialist and a misogynist who kills people and laughs about it, and drinks Martinis and cracks jokes," he told reporters. "Bourne is a serial monogamist whose girlfriend is dead and he does nothing but think about her." Bourne mooning over his dead girlfriend is something we should be excited to see? Give me a break. At least Bond lives in a world where it is killed or be ki...

Been a crazy few weeks of moving, sporadic internet access, house guests and a small housing disaster. Hopefully, it will soon be time to get back to watching a little sport and blogging. Of course, the moment I turn on a Cards game, they collapse. So that is no fun. Fortunately, I just added FOX Soccer and GOLTV so there will be plenty of good soccer to watch and I can always count on September's arrival to bring a whole raft of Illini football laments while I hold my breath in anticipation of the chance to root for Real Collinsville...

I know it is nothing to get too excited about, after all it is only Juan Encarnacion, but the Tony & Juan show seems to be drawing to a close. Tony La Russa is right to be upset with Juan Encarnacion’s episodes of non-hustle, and I applaud the manager for doing something about it. This isn’t about Juan E’s style; I’ve defended him in the past, because he gives the impression that he’s coasting in the outfield, when in fact (last season) he had the best zone rating of any full-time right fielder in MLB. In other words, I don’t care how he looks, as long as he’s getting to the balls he’s supposed to catch. But this year Juan’s zone rating has declined. It isn’t bad; he’d rank about 7th in the NL in zone rating by RF. But his concentration isn’t what it should be. He’s had some glaring instances of lax hustle, in the field and on the bases. This is a team fighting to stay alive, and Encarnacion just doesn’t seem locked in. ... As for trading Encarnacion… I don’t know how all of this i...

It is only the 7h inning of Ankiel's third game as a full time major league outfielder and he has three home runs and is batting over .400 and has 6 RBI. Not that we could have used this back in June. Nah.

The effort to get an MLS team into St. Louis (or at least Collinsville) is getting into high gear. You can check out the AP story here . Or you could look at the Post-Dispatch's take here . Or you could look at Jeff Cooper's pitch at the new St. Louis Soccer United website . From the PD: Efforts to bring professional outdoor soccer back to St. Louis will enter a decisive phase on Monday when a prominent Metro East lawyer will propose a $100 million stadium complex in Collinsville that he intends to be home to a Major League Soccer franchise. The Collinsville City Council will hear a presentation from East Alton attorney Jeff Cooper about a 400-acre development project that would include an 18,900-seat stadium, a hotel, at least two restaurants, about 1,000 single-family homes, several youth soccer fields and nearly 500,000 square feet of office and retail space. While the complex would be a destination point in the Metro East area, it would not come without risk; Collinsville w...

Get Up, Baby! has Rick Ankiel's night in pictures. Pretty cool.

Here is what I know: I heard somebody on ESPN pick the Cardinals to win the Central division this year. This is the greatest slap in the face to the division imaginable. Back when I was screaming for the Cards to try and save this season I thought it made no sense to keep Ankiel in AAA so long. Here is to Rick's trying to prove me right. DC United was vastly superior to L.A. last night. DC is damn lucky they didn't lose last night. The first takedown of Donovan was clearly a penalty, the second was clearly a fantastic play by Perkins. Both would normally have led to Galaxy goals. What is with taking the foot off the accelerator after the red card was handed out? The lack of a killer instinct is troubling. Beckham looked pretty good out there. RFK looks so much better with the top bowl filled. NFL preseason. Yawn.

I listened to all three of the losses to the Nationals, but I miss this: Cardinals tie major league record for consecutive hits The St. Louis Cardinals tied a major league record for consecutive hits on Monday, rattling off 10 straight in the bottom of the fifth inning against the San Diego Padres. The Kansas City Royals set the record when they had 10 consecutive hits in the third inning against the Detroit Tigers on September 9, 2004. On Monday, St. Louis had six straight singles before Scott Rolen and Ryan Ludwick hit back-to-back home runs. After a walk to Yadier Molina, pitcher Braden Looper reached on a bunt single and Aaron Miles singled to center to tie the record. I simply can't win for the Cardinals losing. I'll say it right now, Ryan Ludwick is only 30 points of batting average off of being an everyday in this league. Can he be a .280 hitter? I don't know, but I think the Cards need to get him 300+ AB's to find out.

...I had a pretty good arm for my age, had a pretty good batting eye for my age, and couldn't hit for crap at that or any other age. As such I wasn't worried about my professional prospects. So, I cannot imagine what it must be like for a soccer playing kid that age to draw interest from Manchester United . Manchester United has recruited a 9-year-old soccer prodigy based on video footage featuring his skills. The club brought in Rhain Davis after his grandfather sent a DVD to United youth staff showing the boy playing for an under-10 team in Brisbane, Australia. "Manchester United is proud of its history of developing talented young players, and invests considerable time and resources into trying to find the best young players of the future," the club said in a statement. In Davis' case, however, United need only have invested four minutes. That is the length of a YouTube clip featuring Davis's dribbling, stepover and goal-scoring skills -- viewed more than...

"Fuck you, Ron Santo. And that goes double for you, Ronnie Woo-Woo." August 2, 2007. Southlandish opened the sports page to see the Cubs in first place by .001. The sprint to toilet seemed endless and Mrs. Southlandish was even less eager than usual for a goodbye kiss. In other news, it’s time to sharpen the skates as the temperature in hell is reportedly plummeting.