(Get) A Sporting Life

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.