(Get) A Sporting Life

The Blues are back on home ice tonight hoping to get the taste of their last poor effort out of their mouths. While I'm not necessarily expecting an improvement in the scoring department, the defense has suddenly gotten healthy. Pietro and Polak are back in the lineup tonight and that is good news. To make room on the roster for Polak Ian Cole was sent back to Peoria. I was impressed with Cole in his short time with the Blues. He certainly looked the part on the ice and, if the Blues didn't exactly play well while he was here, it wasn't because the defense was poor. Hopefully, having our pre-season top six defensemen on the ice will allow us to make things tough for the Canucks. LGB

And I don't mean the usual winter weather we experience here in Wisconsin (state motto "We do nothing but drink beer and eat cheese and brats because its winter six months of the year you jackwagon"). No, its the weather in England that is annoying the hell out of me, especially since the UK can be absolutely crippled by 4 inches of snow. Well, they have had much more than 4 inches lately, the result of which is a slew of cancelled fixtures. My Notts County has played only once in nearly three weeks. Even the EPL, with its fancier turf managing systems, was decimated this weekend with only two matches being played one of which will not be the Chelsea v. Man U. game today. It has gotten so bad I may be forced to desperate measures. Yes, that is right. Watching the NFL. Luckily I have beer, cheese and brats.

Remember the old joke about the loser who couldn't get laid in a whore house? If so, then welcome to the 2010-11 version of the St. Louis Blues. Once again injuries have ripped out the heart of the team leaving it, frankly, flaccid. Tonight's 4-1 home drubbing at the hands of the Sharks can be chalked up to one thing; lack of scoring. This team knows if it falls behind 1 or 2 goals you can pretty much predict the outcome. To hear the management talk, as I heard on the radio tonight between periods, it is next to impossible to trade for needs anymore. I don't buy it. The same sorts of deficiencies and needs that have always arisen in the NHL are still there. To the perennial needs you can add a new one, i.e. making room for the salary cap, into the mix. Now, it is true, the types of deals can be a little restricted for those teams unable to take salary, but that should be when an organization loaded with prospects should be able to make a move. The Blues, unfortunately, seem...

DC United keeps making the moves: Timbers and DC United trade goalies The Portland Timbers have acquired goaltender Troy Perkins from D.C. United for goaltender Steve Cronin. The Timbers, who join Major League Soccer as an expansion team next year, will also send D.C. United allocation money as part of the trade announced Friday. United will retain a portion of Perkins’ salary budget for next season.... Cronin has appeared in 56 regular-season matches over two seasons for Portland’s second-division side with a 26-11-19 record. He has played previously for the San Jose Earthquakes and the Los Angeles Galaxy. Cronin has "backup" written all over him, but at least he is an experienced backup. This means, however, that DC is convinced that 20 year old Bill Hamid has what it takes to be a number one in MLS. Hamid looked pretty good in his action last year, but it was a perfect situation for a young player. The team was terrible and there was not a ton of pressure to be found. The...

Yesterday I looked at the potential pickings at forward positions offered by the Minnesota Wild roster as they fall out of contention. Today the distressed animal we are circling over is the Calgary Flames. The situation Calgary finds themselves in certainly make something of a fire sale a necessity. Given the depth of competition in the West it seems unlikely the Flames could make serious noise this season. As constituted the Flames are a pretty old team (avg. age 29.7 years), and they don't have much room under the cap, only $1.7m. They may take awhile to accept that they are not going anywhere this year, but I've got to think they will eventually begin to look to the future. Alex Tanguay: Age 30 LW 32GP 9G 16A +4 Given that Tanguay is the type of player Canadian hockey fans love to hate, and given he is playing well enough to score a much more lucrative contract on the free agent market after the season, Tanguay should be available. If the price was right I wouldn't have...

I thought it might be worthwhile to take a quick look at where the Cards' 40-Man roster sits as well move into the last two weeks of 2010. Pitchers: Major League Roster Locks/Probables/Possibles Mitchell Boggs Chris Carpenter Ryan Franklin Jaime Garcia Kyle Lohse Kyle McClellan Trever Miller Jason Motte Fernando Salas Francisco Samuel Brian Tallet Adam Wainwright P.J. Walters Jake Westbrook Starting Rotation: 1. Wainwright 2. Carpenter 3. Westbrook 4. Garcia 5. Lohse It's amazing what the Phillies signing of Lee does to one's perceptions. Not all that long ago I would have looked pretty favorably at this group of starters, particularly since we now know Westbrook had been banged up last year and, so, might improve when healthy. Today, I look at this fivesome and I feel nothing but dread. "What if Carp or Waino goes down? What if Garcia becomes afflicted with a severs case of the sophomores? And, Lohse?? Might we better served by putting a dead cat in the fifth spot?...

We may be rapidly nearing that time of the season when the Blues will have to start feeding on the rotting corpses of the NHL. The Blues have spent the better part of five years holding onto draft picks and stocking the organization with prospects. Not all of them can find the ice at the Drink Scotch. The whole point was to move some of them when needs arise. Given the open-ended nature of some of the injuries forwards have taken this year I'd say needs have indeed arisen. One of those rotting corpses is the Minnesota Wild. In today's Pioneer-Press Tom Powers runs through some names the Wild would probably listen to offers for as the Wild is near the salary cap and going nowhere fast. Here are the options: Andrew Burnette: Age 37 LW 30GP 6G 8A -6 This would definitely be a rental situation. Burnette is a solid experienced pro who wouldn't cost much in return, but I'm not sure there is enough upside here to merit the Blues moving on him. Pass. John Madden: Age 37 C 28GP ...

As if losing to the Red Wings wasn't bad enough, the Blues are now looking at another possible injury to a main cog in their lineup : A knee injury suffered by Erik Johnson is expected to keep the Blues defenseman out of tonight's game against Los Angeles, but club officials were reluctant Wednesday night to look past the next 24 hours. Johnson left the team's game Wednesday seven minutes into the first period, after he was tangled up with Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk in the neutral zone. Johnson got up slowly, headed to the dressing room and didn't return. It appeared that he was favoring his right knee, which is the one he had surgery on two years ago to repair a torn ligament and caused him to miss the entire 2008-09 season. But there were hints of relief that it might not be a re-aggravation of Johnson's prior injury. "Well, at least he's not dead!" I'm sorry, but it has gotten to the point where it is impossible to see the "glass half full...

This simply isn't good enough: D.C. United selects veteran forward Josh Wolff with first pick in MLS re-entry draft D.C. United claimed former U.S. national team forward Josh Wolff with the first overall pick in the second stage of the MLS re-entry draft Wednesday. He signed a one-year contract with a club-held option in 2012, United General Manager Dave Kasper said. Although terms were not disclosed, Wolff, who will be 34 in February, had to accept a salary cut after earning $220,000 with Kansas City this year. He was with the Chicago Fire from 1998 to 2002, spent four years with Kansas City and played for 1860 Munich in Germany for 1 1/2 seasons before returning to the Wizards in 2008. This year, he had two goals and three assists in 25 league appearances (16 starts). In 2009, he scored a career-high 11 goals. "He fits our style, he's intelligent and he has the leadership qualities that will benefit our younger players," Kasper said. "It's a solid fit....

Well, come Wednesday , if DC wants Juan Pablo Angel they can have him. If they don't select Angel I will riot.

...doing the Missouri/Kansas game ought to all be raped in prison. They are so obviously pro-Kansas it isn't even funny. Somebody is trying to make sure Mizzou doesn't cover the spread.

Well, at least a DC United player won something this season: D.C. rookie Najar wins MLS award D.C. United's 17-year-old star midfielder Andy Najar has been named the 2010 Major League Soccer Rookie of the Year. Najar is the second player in D.C. United history to capture Rookie of the Year honors. The young Honduran joins 1998 winner Ben Olsen in the United honors list. Olsen became United's interim coach midseason and guided the young Najar who scored five goals and an assist in 26 League matches (22 starts). In all competitions, Najar netted seven goals and registered two assists. Najar is the first rookie to win the MLS award after coming directly from a club's youth academy. The play of Najar was far and away the brightest part of a United season which had to be the most frustrating in their history. This is not a situation where Najar just stood out because the rest of the team struggled so badly - well, OK, that is a part of it, but anyone who saw Najar's game de...

Let the madness begin already! This is the year the Blues accomplish some things. I predict: 1) Better than 6th place finish, and 2) At least get past the first round of the playoffs. I've got a feeling.

...that turns MLB umpires into complete morons? I don't get it. During the regular season MLB umpires are, by far, the best officials in American professional sports. Sure, you can complain about wandering strike zones, and howlers like the excrementally bad call which cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game, but, in general, you don't see officials changing the entire complexion of a game like they routinely do in the NBA, MLS, NHL and NFL. Until they get into the post-season that is. Umpires the last few years have turned into complete choke artists. Last night's debacle in Minnesota is merely the latest example. (Plus the Rays were screwed out of a run as well by a phantom foul ball call.) It used to be bad calls in the post-season was defined by one play only, Denkinger in 1985. Today its take your pick. I really think MLB is gonna have to increase instant replay if only to save the asses of umpires. Its quickly becoming obvious that they cannot save themselves by doing a...

I have to say the first round of the baseball playoffs is quickly becoming my favorite sports time of the year. For one week there seems to always be a game on. I love being able to plop in front of the tube and know some high stakes action will be taking place somewhere. Yes, the first two rounds of March Madness has the same vibe, but it is only four days. Plus there is the stop/start quality to the tournament which breaks up the continuity. The only thing that could make it better would be MLB making the first round series best of seven. I can dream.

So...Ken Burns' "documentary" about "baseball" in the 2000's doesn't mention Albert Pujols. I think this proves that Burns is the most ignorant MFer on the planet.

This is simply awesome: In Bing Crosby’s Wine Cellar, Vintage Baseball How a near pristine black-and-white reel of the entire television broadcast of the deciding game of the 1960 World Series — long believed to be lost forever — came to rest in the dry and cool wine cellar of Bing Crosby’s home near San Francisco is not a mystery to those who knew him. Crosby loved baseball, but as a part owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates he was too nervous to watch the Series against the Yankees, so he and his wife went to Paris, where they listened by radio. “He said, ‘I can’t stay in the country,’ ” his widow, Kathryn Crosby, said. “ ‘I’ll jinx everybody.’ ” He knew he would want to watch the game later — if his Pirates won — so he hired a company to record Game 7 by kinescope, an early relative of the DVR, filming off a television monitor. The five-reel set, found in December in Crosby’s home, is the only known complete copy of the game, in which Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski hit a game-endi...

Albert has just hit his league leading 40th and 41st home runs of the year. Just imagine what he could do if he didn't have a bum ankle. Scary.

From Steve Goff : Club president Kevin Payne says that the process of identifying a location for a new stadium continues in Washington, Northern Virginia and Baltimore. The Maryland Stadium Authority's feasibility study, the first of many steps if a Charm City project goes forward, is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks. The day DC United moves to Baltimore is the day I cease to be a fan. Good luck to them, but Baltimore doesn't mean shit to me. I didn't live in Baltimore for eight years, I lived in DC. I didn't have season tickets to a team playing in Baltimore, I had tickets to a team playing in DC. I'm not rooting for the fucking uniforms, I'm (mostly) rooting for a team tied to a specific place. This sucks.

I just had a weird little few minutes. So, I'm watching the Ghana v. Uruguay match, and I'm generally rooting for Ghana. It was a nail biting match with Ghana taking the lead, Uruguay fighting back, and a see-saw battle taking up the rest of regulation and much of extra time. However, in the dying seconds of extra time a Ghanaian player took a dive. It was a terrible play. If they were allowed to give a straight red for a dive this would have merited it. It was dishonest, it was cynical, it was the very worst thing one can see in soccer, and (of course) the refs gave the foul against Uruguay. I went immediately from rooting for Ghana and wanting them to win, to hoping they didn't benefit from their bout of cheating. And, damn it all, they nearly did. A ball was sent in which took a couple of bounces, was cleared off the line once, and then was sent back on goal again only to be punched out by an Uruguayan not wearing a goalie shirt. Red card. Penalty kick. The red card and ...

I'm guessing he is betting on the games he refs in. He looked right at the Schelotto handball and said it was a good goal. (Vaughn was maybe 15 feet away and had a clear unobstructed view.) THAT is not a "mistake." THAT is a crime. Fucking cheating moron.

Jim Joyce ought to just fucking "retire" right now. His call taking away a deserved perfect game from Armando Galarraga simply beggars description. And let's get this clear up front: This was not a "controversial" call. This was to a normal baseball call what Charles Manson is to proper etiquette. This was an abortion of a call; an "I wonder was arsenic tastes like" call; a "kerosene works, why not gasoline?" call. To name this as "controversial" is to give way too much credit to the umpire. This wasn't close. This wasn't a "bang-bang" play or a 50/50 situation. So when Paul White in USA Today writes: Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers came within one out -- and maybe one inch -or less -- of the third perfect game in the major leagues this season. ...this is pretty much the definition of journalistic fraud. This gives the false impression the play was close. It wasn't. Jason Donald was out by a good step ...

A busy week means I'm a little late with this, but Notts County won the League Two Championship on Tuesday with a 5-0 thumping of lowly Darlington. Today they thumped almost as lowly Cheltenham 5-0. That is the way to say adieu to League Two.

So I'm watching the Fulham v. Everton game today and it is a fairly entertaining match. It's 1-1 in the last 30 seconds or so, and although Everton has dominated large stretches of the match it is a pretty fair result. After all, Everton's only goal had come on an own goal. However, then the refs decide they want to give the game to Everton, literally. First Everton's Louis Saha kicks the ball out of bound. It was very clear. Everyone in the park could see it...everyone, we are supposed to believe, except the assistant ref who gives it to Everton. Off the throw the ball comes bounding into the box off of the shoulder and arm of an Everton player. Because of the poor touch of the Everton player the ball was way, and I mean WAY, out of his reach. But the ref calls a bullshit penalty because after the ball had bounded away the Everton player clattered into a Fulham player. There is no way that is a penalty. If you think it IS, well, that just proves you are an idiot who kn...

Notts going up : Notts County secured promotion to League One after a six-year absence with a comfortable win over Morecambe. The League Two leaders underlined their title credentials with three goals in the opening 20 minutes. Lee Hughes guided home Craig Westcarr's cross, Ricky Ravenhill netted with a superb 20-yard effort and Hughes then converted Ben Davies' free-kick. Graham Parker once sang the definition of the "lunatic fringe" was to be relegated to the third division. What does it mean when you are promoted to the third division? On the table Notts is top by one point with five to play, plus they have a game in hand. Got to keep winning to take the league championship. We might as well as we are here already.

Holy jumpin ! County goes up by one point with 6 fixtures to go. They also have a game in hand. Promotion to League One is all but assured.

I was out of town last week and didn't get to see the destruction of DC United last week in KC, so tonight's game was my first look at the club. All I can say is...fuck me. This was not a case of a team that just looked bad on a given evening. This. Team. Sucks. Where to start? OK, it is time to face facts. Jamie Moreno's days a an MLS caliber player are over. He's been slow as molasses for a few years now but he had made up for that by being damn near impossible to push off the ball. Tonight Kate Moss could have muscled him off the ball. Its time for us to enter the second decade of the 21st century already, and Jaime needs to ride off into the sunset. I'll miss him, but somebody buy the man a gold watch. I know its early days, but Christian Castillo looks like a bust. He lacks the pace to play wide, he lacks the touch to play inside, and he lacks the vision to play as a withdrawn striker. He's a triple threat. Based on what I saw tonight I have serious reserva...

Sheesh....it is hard to get up and write anything about the Blues when they go and fucking choke away another two points at home AGAIN. Really, the Blues home record is a disgrace and, to my mind at least, speaks to the weakness of our group of core veterans especially on the blueline. I hate to say it, but I'm finding it difficult to imagine a Blues team going deep in the playoffs with Eric Brewer or Barret Jackman in their lineup, let alone Darrel Sydor or Mike Weaver. Please note, I'm not busting on these guys in the sense of saying they can't play, but I think results do speak for themselves. Obviously, what we have isn't good enough, and I think it is unrealistic to expect Eric Johnson and Alex Pietrangelo will be able to anchor the defense without a couple of vets to provide a steady influences. Those are vets we simply do not have, so we have to spend the offseason(s) acquiring them.

Unfortunately, I'm probably not going to get it: MLS players prepared to strike MLS players have voted overwhelmingly in favor of a strike if a collective bargaining agreement with the league is not reached in time for the season openers in two weeks, the Insider has learned. In a written vote, more than 350 players supported a strike and only two opposed it, a source close to the situation said. "We will not start the season without a new agreement," said a veteran player, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations. "To be quite blunt, it doesn't look good at all." When I look at the situation I have to, by and large, come down on the side of the players in this one. I simply think it is time to alter the structure put in place during the league's infancy. I certainly didn't support the players when after 3 or 4 season they began to make strike threats, it now is a different landscape. The owners cannot forever live ...

Notts County have won four in a row under new manager Steve Cotterill. This puts the Magpies in a fantastic position to win automatic promotion to League One next season. League Two Standings: Team P GD PTS 1 Rochdale 34 39 69 2 Bournemouth 35 8 63 3 Bury 35 5 61 4 Notts County 32 41 60 5 Chesterfield 35 8 60 6 Rotherham 33 8 56 7 Shrewsbury 35 7 55 8 Northampton 35 7 52 9 Aldershot 34 7 51 10 Dag & Red 34 4 51 11 Port Vale 35 6 49 12 Burton Albion 34 2 49 13 Morecambe 34 5 48 14 Accrington 32 -2 47 15 Crewe 35 0 46 16 Bradford 34 -6 43 17 Barnet 34 -9 38 18 Hereford 34 -15 38 19 Torquay 35 -3 36 20 Macclesfield 34 -9 36 21 Lincoln City 34 -20 35 22 Cheltenham 34 -16 31 23 Grimsby 35 -23 27 24 Darlington 32 -44 16 So, at this moment they are sitting one point out with three games in hand. It's an enviable position, to be sure, but it is hard to get too excited when it seems likely Notts will not be allowed to keep its core players for next season . So, the jump up will, in all ...

Don't think I'm not paying attention to the St. Louis Blues. Oh, I am : The St. Louis Blues are working on another late-season surge. Paul Kariya scored twice, combining with Brad Boyes for a pair of goals during a 17-second span of the first period, and the Blues extended their winning streak to a season-best five games with a 6-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night. Alexander Steen, Patrik Berglund and T.J. Oshie added goals for the Blues, who've scored 23 goals during the five-game stretch. Last season, the Blues closed with a 9-4-1 surge to earn a playoff spot. "I'm new to the situation, but I'm aware of what happened last year," said coach Davis Payne, who took over for the fired Andy Murray on Jan. 2. "This is a new (season). We know exactly what we have to do and it's good for us to have that type of experience to know it's possible." Chris Mason made 29 saves for the Blues, who boosted their road record to 18-9-4 in t...

I just spent a few minutes looking back over the posts from the very first month of this blog's existence, and all I can say is..... Holy shit! This used to be a fucking entertaining read! It isn't anymore.... but it used to be great . Crap changes.

O.K., so Rick Majerus is unhappy in the Atlantic 10 conference, or at least he is unhappy being in the Atlantic 10 conference while not having access to charter jet services. In either case, it has been suggested by Majerus himself, and by the likes of ESPN commentator Dick Vitale, that SLU wold be better off in the Missouri Valley conference. To my mind, that notion is madness, unless SLU decides to give up entirely on any notion of being at least a semi-regular Top 50 team. They could do that, just give up and become the Fordham of the Midwest, though I doubt the alumni would take too kindly to the idea. The Missouri Valley is a nice little league, and that is all it will ever be, a little league. The idea that it is anything like a "mid-major" is simply stupid. There simply are too few teams in the MVC that could consistently be considered Top 50 caliber. So, where does this leave the Billikens? Well, if they want to attempt to grow into something of a basketball power (...

USA!!!! USA!!!!!!!!!!!! USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Magpies are having a tough go of it today. I have to imagine the spirit in the club is low, given all of the off-the-field trials. Fulham up 2 at the half. UPDATED: Fulham 4 - 0 Notts County Valiant run ending in naught. Maybe like the entire existence of the club?

Notts County plays Fulham tomorrow in the 5th round of the FA Cup tomorrow, and I expect them to get absolutely drilled. Notts had been having their finest season in a decade, but the wheels have fallen off the club. Old investors turned out to be con-artists who have, basically, bankrupted the club; ol' Sven hung around as long as he could, but that only turned out to be six months; new owner seems committed to keeping the club out of administration (which is good), but seems to envision them as a permanent 3 or 4 division side (which is totally fucking unacceptable.) It's one thing to support a side that is down of their luck, but which had a history of some success and the prospect of getting back to successful ways one day. It's another thing to be supporting the equivalent of Dag & Red. I mean, if I was living in Nottingham supporting the local side even though they always offer an inferior product would be fine. But, I don't live in Nottingham. I live in the ...

News concerning the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame: *The financially stricken National Soccer Hall of Fame is departing its Oneonta, N.Y., facility and moving permanent displays to various locations around the country. Those sites are to be determined in the coming months. The Hall has existed since 1979 and been based at the current site for 11 years. Given the historical importance of soccer to the St. Louis community, I believe the soccer powers that be ought to push to move the Soccer Hall of Fame permanently to the Gateway to the West. No offense to Oneonta, which I'm sure is fabulous, but it's only claim to fame that I can see is that it is vaguely near Cooperstown. St. Louis, on the other hand, has World Cup history behind it, the Hermann Trophy , the (sadly long gone) NCAA soccer dynasty that was St. Louis University, and scores of U.S. soccer luminaries past and present. Also, the St. Louis community can be counted upon to support the Hall in a way few other communities cou...

I'm just gonna say this: If experience is any guide , had the Blues "scored" the Red Wings "goals" last night, and the Red Wings had scored the Blues goals, the game would have ended 3-0 in regulation in favor of the Detroit. There is no way the first two goals would not have been called "kicked", or that the last goal would have either A) been blown dead as being "unsighted", or been ruled knocked in by a hand (which it was.) Only when it will benefit their so-called "standard bearers" will the NHL call a back heel NOT a form of kicking. I guarantee you if the Blues (or Panthers or Hurricanes or any regular team) is playing Detroit or Pittsburgh, any back heeled goal will be called back as having been kicked.

Another for the "What the fuck are they thinking" file: Brewers to erect 7-foot high statue of Bud Selig outside Miller Park The Brewers are erecting a statue of baseball commissioner Bud Selig outside Miller Park and will unveil it on Aug. 24. Selig headed a group that bought the Seattle Pilots in bankruptcy court in 1970, moved the franchise to Milwaukee and renamed it the Brewers. Oh, wow. Someone call a sculptor, stat! Really, this is the sort of stupid idea that usually only results in the aftermath of a head of state departing to the hereafter. And, yes, I'm thinking here of the McKinley monument in the Antietam National Battlefield Park, dedicated to the memory of the day the future President served coffee to troops while under fire. I'm not joking. That really is what it commemorates. Compared to what they are planning to do in Milwaukee the McKinley monument seems downright sane.

days. Not that I'm counting or anything.

And I'm not talking about the stupid Super Bowl.

If you ever read stories about the Billikens on Stltoday.com you are often bombarded by fools who keep saying how SLU would be better off in the Missouri Valley Conference as opposed to the Atlantic Ten. This is utter nonsense on a stick, and the basketball RPI makes this abundantly clear. As of today the top six teams in the A-10 have an average RPI of 31.33. The top six teams in the MVC have an average RPI of 85.17. To give you some idea of context here, the Colonial Athletic Conferece, home of such basketball powers as VCU, Northeastern, and William & Mary, scores a 80.17 for its top six teams; the WAC, containing such stalwarts as Utah State, Louisiana Tech, and New Mexico State, come in at 95.33 in the rankings. The top six teams in the Big 10, on the other hand, score a 29; the SEC scores a 33. So, you really want to be in a league sitting somewhere between the CAA and the WAC, instead of a league sitting somewhere between the Big 10 and the SEC? Good luck with that.

Yikes. I mean yikes : Breaking more than a decade of silence, former U.S. soccer coach Steve Sampson said Tuesday he dropped John Harkes from the national team roster two months before the 1998 World Cup because the American captain was having an affair with the wife of teammate Eric Wynalda. Harkes has long denied having an affair with Amy Wynalda. Wynalda brought up the situation Monday night during a discussion on "Fox Football Fone-In" about a scandal in England over an alleged relationship between current English captain John Terry and the former partner of Wayne Bridge, his teammate on the national squad. Sampson told The Associated Press on Tuesday he was glad the story was coming out now because "maybe people will have a little better of an understanding of what happened in the final months leading up to the World Cup." --- Wynalda said he spoke out during the program he co-hosts on Fox Soccer Channel because he was asked about Terry, who has been front-page...

Go you Pies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wigan 0 - 2 Notts County Notts County stunned Wigan with two late goals in their fourth-round replay to set up a clash with Fulham in the fifth round of the FA Cup. League Two County, the lowest-ranked side remaining in the competition this season, eventually took the lead via a powerful header from Stephen Hunt. Gary Caldwell then turned a Ben Davies cross into his own net only three minutes later to silence the crowd. Wigan will rue a host of saves from County goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. The hosts, who came back to draw the first game 2-2, were on top for long periods but failed to find a way past the inspired keeper who turned in a performance reminiscent of his father Peter. I really thought Notts had blown it when they gave up a late lead at home to force the replay. To go in an beat a Premiere League team on their home ground is simply fantastic. Good going lads!!

This is a nice feel-good story of local boy made good: It took AC St. Louis exactly one signing to establish its St. Louis coaching and player connection. That connection is midfielder Steve Ralston, who was announced Monday as the first player signed by the new professional men’s soccer team. Ralston, a native of Oakville, also will serve as the team’s assistant coach. Ralston has played 14 seasons in Major League Soccer, the last eight in Boston with the New England Revolution. He’s been part of the MLS since it began, was the league’s rookie of the year, and holds several MLS records. “My contract was up in New England, and negotiations were going OK,” Ralston said. “When I heard about this team in St. Louis, I asked my agent a couple weeks ago to give them a call and see what was up with that. It all snowballed pretty quickly.” Ralston said he could have played another year in the MLS, but saw AC St. Louis as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help build a new team from the groun...

Well, today is the day NASL side AC St. Louis announces its first signing. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is speculating that out of contract Steve Ralston, late of the New England Revolution in MLS, may be the guy. If so that would be quite a nice way for AC St. Louis to start. It should be interesting whichever way they go. More later on today....

This is a red letter days for the Pies in more ways than one. Firstly, on the pitch they sent off Dar & Red, who had been above them in the table when the day began, by a 3-0 scoreline. That Notts did so on the road made it even sweeter. Secondly, and maybe more importantly, Notts were able to secure new investment for the club. From the BBC : Notts County have secured a deal with an investor that will clear their debts and provide them with extra funds. The terms of the investment, and the identity of the investor, will remain confidential until final due diligence is completed within the next 28 days. The League Two outfit faced the prospect of finding £2m by Wednesday after HM Revenue & Customs served them with a second winding-up petition. But HMRC have informed the club they are satisfied with the current deal. After Munto Finance backed out late last year things were looking kinda dicey for the club. However, I have to believe having a name like Sven-Goran Eriksson associ...

So close....: Notts County 2 - 2 Wigan A late Ben Watson goal allowed Wigan to claw back a two-goal deficit and force League Two's Notts County to an FA Cup replay just when a shock looked likely. Watson struck from six yards after County failed to deal with a corner. County had gone into the break 2-0 ahead thanks to a close-range strike from the impressive Lee Hughes and Ben Davies' dipping free-kick. But Jason Scotland combined with Hugo Rodallega to beat Kasper Schmeichel and make it 2-1 before Watson's equaliser. Wigan manager Roberto Martinez had warned his side that their opponents possessed players who were more than capable of playing higher up than League Two. On this display, Notts County certainly proved that to be case, with midfielders Davies and Neil Bishop shining under the FA Cup spotlight. But the Magpies did not have quite enough quality to put Wigan to the sword as the Latics, 62 league places above their hosts, dominated the second half and take the ma...

Really, no one on earth should listen to me discuss the Billikens. I was convinced, when the season began, that the youngest team in Division One basketball was in for a horrendous season. Back on Armistice Day , I fearlessly predicted a seven win season for the Bills proving, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I'm a class A moron. To wit: Saint Louis beats Fordham 75-48 ST. LOUIS (AP)—Freshman Cody Ellis had 14 points and nine rebounds in his first career start, helping Saint Louis put away Fordham 75-48 on Wednesday night. Kwamain Mitchell added 13 points and five assists with no turnovers for Saint Louis (12-6, 3-1 Atlantic-10), which held Fordham (2-15, 0-5) to 33 percent shooting and forced 20 turnovers Alright, fine, so the competition was hardly stellar, but you can only play to win the games on your schedule. Besides, I was convinced the Billikens would struggle to win even these games. Obviously, I didn't count on two factors; 1) Majerus can coach a little bit, and 2) Ma...

Notts finally got to play its 3rd round FA Cup game after winter weather postponed the game twice : After a drab first 45 minutes the second half burst into life when Stephen Hunt toe-poked the opening goal for the home side from five yards. Forest Green refused to yield and hit back through striker Isaiah Rankin's venomous effort into the bottom corner. However, one minute later Magpies top scorer Lee Hughes curled in the winner. Notts County will meet Wigan at Meadow Lane on Saturday for the League Two side's first FA Cup fourth round tie in 15 years. Hughes has been on fire all season, as his 17 goals leads all League Two scorers. Well, at least we won't have long to wait for the match-up against Wigan, as long as a blizzard doesn't hit Nottingham between now and then. GO PIES!!!

Good news for a change : USA midfielder Clint Dempsey suffered "moderate damage" to a ligament in his right knee and will not require surgery, Fulham officials announced Tuesday evening. Dempsey, a key element in the American effort and Fulham's most impressive player this season, was hurt over the weekend, raising fears that he would miss the World Cup. However, in a release posted on its Web site, the club said that "early indications are positive in that no operation is required. At this stage, it is thought that the injury will not prevent him from featuring for Fulham, prior to the end of the season." Lyle Yorks, Dempsey's agent, told the Insider: "The results [of the scans] show that he will be back playing for Fulham this season ahead of the World Cup. The nature of the injury is not as serious as it was reported after the Blackburn game." Added USA Coach Bob Bradley: "We are confident that Clint will be ready to be an important part of...

Shit....not again: Dempsey Crisis Watch Dempsey had played very well in the first half of Sunday’s match against Blackburn and nearly gave the Cottagers a lead. But, in the 62nd minute, the Texas native limped off the pitch. Blackburn went on to defeat Fulham 2-0 but, more importantly, Dempsey could have a serious knee injury to contend with just five months before the World Cup. Fulham Manager Roy Hodgson said the injury did not look good, mentioning that the winger could have cruciate ligament damage in the knee. An injury to the knee ligaments could sideline Dempsey for months but there won’t be a definitive answer until Monday. USA fans have to be holding their breath for the next 24 hours because, judging by early reports, the prognosis does not look positive. What the hell did we do to be so snake bit? First Charlie Davies damn near dies, then Onyewu's knee gets shredded, and now Dempsy's knee explodes. The trouble with the US side is we have no depth to speak of at any p...

I'm talking about motherfuckers like Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports : Well, of course he did. And now that he wants something – a job, a reasonably nonbelligerent working environment, peace of mind, forgiveness, I suppose – Mark McGwire has come a little closer to the truth. He and his handlers typed out a statement, sent it along to the Associated Press and, presumably, put their hands over their ears. He later sat for an interview with Bob Costas and was inarguably contrite. Turns out, he had a damned good reason not to talk about the past, but we knew that, and he knew we knew, so what exactly do we have today, the day McGwire simply confirmed that so many of those home runs were manufactured not in a batting cage, but in a lab (and not in a bathroom stall)? For one, we have a man so used to hiding and lying that, years after cheating a nation of baseball fans, he feels sorry for … himself. “Looking back,” he wrote, “I wish I had never played during the steroid era.” Really. This com...

Tomorrow, in the third round of the FA cup Notts County is playing Forest Green. Forest who? you say. Well, from the BBC : The tie in context • Forest Green Rovers, at fourth bottom in the Blue Square Premier, are the lowest ranked club still surviving in the FA Cup. • They are also one of four clubs from the fifth level to have fought their way through to the third round. • This is the only tie pitting a non-league side with one from League Two. Gulf in class • At fourth in League Two, Notts County are 41 places higher than Forest Green Rovers in the pecking order. If Notts really have pretensions of the Premier League in the next decade (and not the freaking Blue Square Premier league) they need to start beating the minnows. The last two years Notts got themselves knocked out in Cup competition by the likes of Havant and Waterlooville (?????) and Kettering Town. It hurts.

Why is it, even though I've been expecting this story to pop up on StlToday everytime I've brought up the site for the last week, it still shocked me to see it? The Blues have fired head coach Andy Murray this morning. Davis Payne, who was the head coach of the Peoria Rivermen, has been named the interim head coach. Here’s the press release from the Blues . . . ST. LOUIS - St. Louis Blues President John Davidson announced Saturday that the club has named Davis Payne as Interim Head Coach. Payne becomes the 23rd coach in the history of the St. Louis Blues replacing Andy Murray, who was relieved of his duties. “Davis is very knowledgeable of the players in our organization and we feel he is the best candidate to coach our team,” said Davidson. “He has nine winning seasons at the minor league level which includes an ECHL Championship in 2006. “I would like to thank Andy Murray for the job he has done here the past four seasons,” continued Davidson. “He was an intergral part in tu...