(Get) A Sporting Life

As of right now the magic number of points needed by Notts County to avoid relegation is: 35 The teams most in danger of making the drop are: Plymouth Walsall Swindon Bristol Rovers The Magpies could still have something to say about the promotion races if they can win their games in hand.

Just heard on NHL Radio, Brad Winchester to Anaheim for a third round pick. I'm pleased we got back a third rounder for Brad. Actually, I'm shocked by the third rounder. Hmmm...do we have enough bodies left for four lines?

Well, you cannot say the Blues are standing pat: Blues deal Boyes to Buffalo The Buffalo Sabres came calling about Brad Boyes, and with an abundance of right wingers, the Blues were ready to listen. Late Sunday night, they sent Boyes to the Sabres for a second-round pick in the 2011 NHL draft. The Blues' recent acquisition of Chris Stewart from Colorado created a logjam on the right side, and with Boyes' drop in goal-scoring the past two seasons, general manager Doug Armstrong pulled off the swap less than 24 hours before today's 2 p.m. trading deadline. "When we got a call on Brad, I looked at our roster today and also looked at it moving forward," Armstrong said. "With the addition of Stewart and knowing (David) Perron is coming back at some point (from a concussion), it was necessary to make the move now while it was available. "You just have to manage your assets. With Stewart, Perron and T.J. Oshie (on the right side), we had to create space. We had...

Encouraging words from Cardinals camp : Saturday's most significant moment for the Cardinals front office may have taken place on a rear field while the intrasquad was going on inside the main stadium. Righthanded pitcher Carlos Martinez, the most promising arm the club has signed since renewing its commitment to scouting and player development in the Caribbean, threw for the first time before general manager John Mozeliak and farm director John Vuch... ...Martinez's fastball 'sits" in the mid-90s, with the ability to touch 98-99 miles per hour. The teenager exhibited a loose but hurried arm action Saturday in a somewhat pressurized setting. At one point Cardinals bullpen coach Derek Lilliquist told Martinez to slow down. At another point Martinez interrupted his session to gulp water. "You could tell he was amped up," Vuch said. "But he was good." Until Saturday, Mozeliak's exposure to Martinez had been limited to video. But even before Martine...

Tremble mere mortals! Tonight the Blues are playing the Edmonton Oilers, a minor league hockey team from someplace in Canada. The Blues are featuring these are their top two lines: First Line: Steen - McDonald - Backes Second Line: Stewart - Berglund - Oshie OK, it isn't exactly the lines I put forward, but Stewart and Backes were indeed broken up. Just as I suggested. The result? With 4 minutes left the Blues are up 4-0.

I've watched the pairing up of David Backes and Chris Stewart (centered by Andy McDonalad) on our top line for four games now and, while it works just fine, it is a luxury we cannot afford. Our second line, Oshie and Steen centered by Berglund, lacks a little muscle. My suggestion is for Steen and Backes to swap spots. This would give us: First Line: Steen - McDonald - Stewart Second Line: Backes - Berglund - Oshie Third Line: D'Agostini - Sobotka - Boyes (This line has been excellent.) Fourth Line: Three of the various other guys. Now, this won't help us win games this year as our defense is simply too young to keep pucks out of the net consistently, but we should be better offensively. And maybe, just maybe, we could be fun to watch. I don't think that is too much to ask considering we will not be watching the Blues in the playoffs. Again.

The Cards are screwed: Wainwright set for Tommy John surgery St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright will require Tommy John surgery to repair his elbow and he will miss the entire 2011 season, the club confirmed this morning. General manager John Mozeliak made the announcement at about 10 a.m. St. Louis time after a discussion with the pitcher and the team physician. All parties had been waiting on the results of a second opinion requested Wednesday evening from Dr. Lewis Yocum in the Los Angeles area. "We have confirmed that Adam Wainwright will require Tommy John surgery. So obviously, he'll be out for the year," Mozeliak said. "Not a real surprise to us, but certainly a disappointment and a finality to this process. As we look to the future now we certainly beleive that we have a strong starting rotation on this club. And now we're going to have to try and fill it in terms of a fifth spot." The surgery date has not been set, but Wainwright will have the ...

Steve Goff has been going over the roster possibilities for DC United: Goalkeepers In camp: Steve Cronin, Bill Hamid, Chase Harrison, Pat Onstad, Joe Willis.... If the season began today, the starter would be: Onstad. He's fit and carries decades of experience. He didn't have a great 2010 in Houston, but until Hamid is cleared and regains match rhythm, Onstad is the most realistic option. My take: This is worrying. Onstad should be a steadying influence, but you cannot like to see DC's Plan A discarded so early. Cronin's injury could be a killer in the early season, particularly if Hamid isn't 100%. Defenders In camp: Rodrigo Brasesco, Marc Burch, Dejan Jakovic, Perry Kitchen, Chris Korb, Devon McTavish, Ethan White, Daniel Woolard, Jed Zayner.... If the season began today, the starters would be: Zayner on the right, Jakovic and the Kitchen -- whom the club has fallen head over heels in love with -- and Burch on the left. My take: It's good to hear they like Ki...

And, no, this is not a post about the truly woeful (and damn near unwatchable) Blues. (I'm so pissed I cannot speak rationally about them.) Nope. This time it's the Cardinals whose chance for a successful season has just vanished. Read and weep : St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright has flown back to St. Louis this morning to have his right elbow examined this afternoon after he experienced discomfort in the joint. General manager John Mozeliak said he believes it is a "significant injury" and the early word is "not encouraging." Tommy John surgery is one alternative to repair the damage for which Wainwright is being checked. "After his bullpen on Monday, he did feel something in his right elbow," Mozeliak said. "I can say just based on the initial evaluation from our training staff, things do not look encouraging. But before we jump to any conclusions, we'll just wait until the re-evaluation this afternoon." Mozeliak said there wo...

I suppose I should just be thankful this is a game I get to see. It isn't too often any League One side finds itself on American television. That it is a match the Pies have almost no chance of winning should probably be beside the point. Not that that will be a comfort if City thumps them well and good. Still, the game is 43 minutes old and Notts is playing great. They are down 1 nil, but it could easily be 1-1 (Notts hit the post early on, and they just had a glorious chance in the 44th minute as I type this.) Gow, in particular, looks great. Keep it up you Pies! UPDATE: After 62 minutes: Man City 2 - 0 Notts County Notts is still playing pretty well, but set pieces have killed them. I'm just hoping they can find the back of the net at least once. UPDATE: The bottom has fallen out. Man City 5 - 0 Notts County Its too bad, the score line in no way reflects the actual game. It really flatters Man City.

In a reverse Airplane! moment, I think I picked the right time to buy the Center Ice package, about 5 minutes before last night's Blues game. Goals galore as Stewart has 2 in debut : There was an obvious purpose behind the personnel moves management made before the Blues played host to Anaheim on Saturday at the Scot - What's the Latest - trade Center. You might wrap it up in one word: offense. And the early results can be trusted, the desired effect was accomplished. Put it this way: if the Blues had generated any more offense, "Towel Man" would have needed shoulder surgery. With three players enjoying two-goal games, including newly acquired forward Chris Stewart, the Blues overwhelmed the Ducks 9-3 in front of a sellout crowd. "The last nine-goal game I was in, we lost 9-1 in Colorado," said a smiling Stewart. "It's definitely good to be on the other side." Considering the Avs went out last night, with Johnson and McClement on the ice for ...

The brain trust in D.C. is keeping busy. Julius James has been waived. Pat Onstad has un-retired to take a place in the United net. Fred has been reacquired for a draft pick. Of these moves only the James release makes me slightly uneasy. I'll be the first to admit James is not the first name that leaps to mind when you think of stalwart central defenders. That being said, he did play the best in that position of the players we had around last season. It's good that D.C. is confident in their new signings, but we have all seen players new to MLS struggle. Fingers crossed.

Sheesh. This is getting to be a habit with the Blues : Jay McClement and Erik Johnson are going to Colorado. Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk are coming to St. Louis. Fans of both teams think they got screwed. Well, I don't know about screwed , but it certainly seems it the Blues who have taken the far bigger risk here. Of the four players involved only Johnson has the potential to be a dominant player in this league. If he develops into what the Blues originally saw in him we may be kicking ourselves for years. In Stewart the Blues finally have added some offensive help. He's a big strong kid who has feasted on the Blues in the past. I will be interested in getting more of a look at him. Shattenkirk is a rookie who is having the customary ups and downs rookies have in this league. Still, after moving EJ and Brewer in consecutive days the Blues were smart in adding a D-man. Losing McClement hurts me. Silent Jay was my favorite Blue in this group, a role he took over when Ste...

Eric Brewer has been traded to Tampa : The Boston Bruins weren't the only contender in the Eastern Conference to beef up on the blue line Friday. Tampa Bay acquired defenseman Eric Brewer from the St. Louis Blues for prospect Brock Beukeboom and a third-round pick in the 2011 Entry Draft. Brewer, who has been captain in St. Louis since the 2007-08 season, had 8 goals and 14 points in 54 games for the Blues. The 31-year-old Brewer is averaging more than 22 minutes of ice time per game this season, a total he has achieved in seven of the previous eight seasons. Brewer was going to be a free agent after this season, and the Blues have more than enough defense in the organization already, so it makes some sense to get something for him if you can. Beukeboom is only 18 and a long way from suiting up for any NHL team, but he does extend our prospect depth at the position. Now, if this signals the Blues are giving up the ghost this year I'm not sure. All the talk had been moving some ...

Thoughts after 30 minutes, Barca up 1 nil: Barcelona looks to be in a different class from Arsenal. Nasri needs to be subbed off sooner rather than later. Arsenal looks to be not only outclassed but frightened. Messi missed an easy chance. He won't miss a second. We shall see what the next half hour will bring.

Things continue to look up on my soccer front : After several days of negotiations, the MLS club announced Wednesday that it has acquired the former U.S. national team starter from French club Sochaux on a one-year loan. United will also have the option to purchase his contract at the end of the season. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but sources close to the situation said United agreed to pay Davies about $300,000 [UPDATE: I'm now told it's around $180,000] and include several incentives. To claim him, United exercised its position at the top of the MLS allocation order, which is utilized when prominent U.S. players decide to play in the league. United will formally introduce the 24-year-old forward at a 2 p.m. news conference at RFK Stadium (live video on the team's Web site). Davies, who has been practicing with the club for the past two weeks, will then fly to Oxnard, Calif., for the third stage of training camp. He will wear uniform No. 9, his national team desi...

Well, not everything is lost : Notts County eased any relegation fears with a comfortable win over Colchester. The U's David Mooney went close early on as his 25-yard chip beat Magpies goalkeeper Stuart Nelson, only to clip the post and bounce wide. Notts then wrested control of the game and went ahead when Alan Gow set free Craig Westcarr, who poked the ball past Mark Cousins and tapped home. It was 2-0 soon afterwards when Nathan Clarke deflected Connor Clifford's corner into his own net. It wasn't that there was a credible relegation fear really, but there were a couple poor performances of late. The Pies may be only 4 points above the drop zone, but because of all the crappy weather this winter they have four games in hand on both Swindon and Walsall. Notts have only one game in hand on Dag & Red, but they are 7 points back. As for Bristol Rovers, the less said the better. Next up is the FA Cup replay at Manchester City. That could get ugly, but the payday should b...

There will be no Pujols deal. Sounds like Albert got the ten years, but wanted more cash. We haven't played a single game, but the season is lost already. AND, Albert will most likely walk at season's end.

At least potentially : The countdown to Albertageddon has reached its final hours. The build-up yielded some excitement Tuesday night, when SI.com reported that Cardinals management had upped its contract offer to Albert Pujols – to eight years and more than $200 million. Other reporters, including Joe Strauss of the Post-Dispatch, reported that the Cards had extended no such offer – yet. I hate trying to read tea leaves, but that is all the fan has with the negotiations having been placed into super secret agent mode. Not hearing any real news makes it easy for the excitable fan (like me) to fear the worst: Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports: “Baseball is about to get its version of The Decision. Barring a dramatic change, Albert Pujols’ noon deadline Wednesday to work out a contract extension with the St. Louis Cardinals will pass without an agreement. Which turns the next nine months into a frenzy without the histrionics of LeBron James’ free agency but with every bit the far-reaching impli...

Blues to honor those who have worn No. 7 The Blues finally have figured a way to recognize the most significant sweater number in their history, No. 7, and some of the players who wore it. Because the number has been shared by more than one such prominent player, No. 7 has never been retired. But the franchise will honor four of its most prominent players, and the No. 7 they shared, on March 7, appropriately enough, at Scottrade Center. In a ceremony before a game with Columbus, the Blues will recognize Red Berenson, Garry Unger, Joe Mullen and Keith Tkachuk for their accomplishments. That is all well and good, but why must we discriminate? If we are gonna celebrate some number 7 wearers, let's celebrate them all! Such as: Ricard Persson and his one career playoff goal scored while he was a Blue, or Cliff Ronning who successfully lied about his height for almost four full seasons with the Blues, or Nelson Emerson who was memorably outscored by Denny Felsner in the 92-93 playoffs. G...

Tottenham beats AC Milan 1-0 at San Siro Peter Crouch's late goal gave Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 win at Serie A leader AC Milan in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie on Tuesday. Crouch scored with 10 minutes remaining after Aaron Lennon had broken clear from his own half. Zlatan Ibrahimovic thought he scored an injury time equalizer, but his overhead kick was ruled out for a push on Spurs captain Michael Dawson. The Milan players' frustration boiled over at the final whistle and Genaro Gattuso appeared to headbutt Tottenham assistant coach Joe Jordan - a former Milan player - before both sets of players began scuffling. Milan captain Gattuso, who had earlier shoved Jordan during the match, was also booked in the 75th minute and will miss the return leg at White Hart Lane. It was an unseemly end to a match in which Tottenham again impressed at the San Siro, having recovered from 4-0 down to 4-3 against Inter Milan in the group stage earlier in the season. This wr...

Our once and future King: Musial receives Medal of Freedom in White House ceremony The greatest St. Louis Cardinal of all time today accepted the Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama, who called Stan Musial "an icon, untarnished, a beloved pillar of the communty, a gentleman you would want your kids to emulate." Obama cited Musial's great career statistics and added, "Stan matched his hustle with humility." "He was the first player to make, get this, $100,000, even more shocking was that he asked for a pay cut when he didn't perform to his own expectations," the president said. "You can imagine that happening today." Obama also said that Musial was "worthy of one of the great nicknames in sports -- Stan the Man." Well done Mr. Musial.

Great post over at Thrashing The Blues : Saturday night's loss to the Minnesota Wild(s) was mortifying in so much that the team didn't even appear to put forth an effort until the end of the game. That's been the case often this season; or, possibly worse, the Blues forget that they have to play three periods of hockey and blow good games in the third period. You know, like they did on Friday night, again to the Wild(s). The Blues are 3-4-3 over their last ten games, a record only surpassed in badness by the slumping Dallas Stars (3-6-1) and the free-falling Colorado Avalanche (1-9-0). Their away record is 8-13-5; teams aren't intimidated by the Blues, despite the fact that they're third in the league in fighting majors. Of course, why should teams be intimidated - most of these fighting majors seem to come in the final seconds of games that the Blues have already lost. No one's intimidated by frustration. No one cares if, after you've lost a game, you want ...

This could be interpreted in a good way for Cards's fans: Cardinals, Pujols extend contract deadline The St. Louis Cardinals and representatives for Albert Pujols(notes) have agreed to a 24-hour extension to reach a new contract out of respect for Stan Musial. The Cardinals Hall of Famer will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in Washington on Tuesday and general manager John Mozeliak said Monday the club did not want to distract from Musial's special day. Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and Mozeliak will accompany the 90-year-old Musial to Washington. Pujols' agent, Dan Lozano, originally set a Tuesday deadline, the first workout day for pitchers and catchers in Jupiter, Fla. Mozeliak said the new deadline is noon ET Wednesday. It sounds like they didn't want the news of a new deal for Pujols to compete with, and more than likely overwhelm, Stan the Man's big day in Washington. Or is that just wishful thinking?

I know it is a scary proposition, but I believe the Cards should give Albert a 10 year deal. However, the deal has to make financial sense for the team in 2018-2022. Here is how I would break it down: Year: Salary: Running Total: 2012 - $35m - $35m 2013 - $35m - $70m 2014- $25m - $95m 2015- $25m - $120m 2016- $20m - $140m 2017- $18m - $158m 2018- $16m - $174m 2019- $14m - $188m 2020- $12m - $200m 2021- $10m - $210m If something like that isn't good enough... well, it makes being a fan of any team not named New York or Boston an exercise in futility to the point of being retarded.