(Get) A Sporting Life

Watch out Collinsville...uh, I mean St. Louis *wink*... here comes Albert : National League MVP Albert Pujols is trying to bring Major League Soccer to St. Louis. St. Louis Soccer United announced Tuesday that the Cardinals first baseman has joined the proposed ownership group, which is committed to bringing an MLS expansion franchise to the area in 2011. The announcement came one day after Pujols was named the MVP for second time in four years. “I am very proud and excited to join the effort to bring Major League Soccer to the St. Louis area,” Pujols said. “This means a lot to me and my family, as we all love soccer and we believe in MLS. “This is something that will be great for our community, especially our youth. I strongly encourage St. Louis business leaders and sports fans to join me in this effort. St. Louis is an unbelievable sports town and we’ll be a great city for Major League Soccer.” Ha! Take that Miami and Portland! What you got, eh? Nothing I tell you...NOTHING. Because...

Ignoring the time-honored cliche, MLS wannabe Jeff Cooper has quit his day job : "It means that we are so close that I've gone full time on this project," Cooper said, "to push it across the finish line. I'm confident we'll get there. The whole time this has been a matter of passion on my part. Now, I've really put everything else aside, including the business I've built for the last seven or eight years." Essentially, Cooper has gotten out of the law business and into the soccer business. Cooper seems convinced that the deal is imminent. And if the soccer franchise doesn't work out, he can always try to lure the Rams across the river, right? (Everybody's talking about the new sport; funny but it's still foo-ootball to me.)

Pujols Pounds Pitch Past Preening Pierre in Purina Park From today's Beckhamania gossip in The Guardian: Capello will send his general manager, Franco Baldini, to assess the 32-year-old in a friendly against FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park in Texas on March 15. Pizza Hut Park. I can't read that in a sentence without cracking up. It reminds me of the days when the new Cardinal ballpark naming rights were being hashed out. To torment my father, a 26-year Cardinal season ticket holder who saw his first games at Sportsmans Park, my brother put on a straight face and told him that a decision had been made to name the new stadium Purina Park. My poor dad just dropped his head and began muttering to himself before my brother let him off the hook. But the dream isn't dead. Maybe in a couple of years we'll be able to see Becks play against Real Collinsville at a shiny new Puppy Chow Park.

Jeff Cooper, potential MLS owner, apparently subscribes to the Crash Davis school of media relations. Here he is talking about the news that St. Louis should be the next MLS expansion site : "This puts us in line to be at the head of the class," he said. "This is our moment in the sun, and we're ready to make our case. I think we have a three-, four-, five-month window in which to do that, without a credible bid from another city. The finish line is in sight, and I feel good about it." We're awaiting confirmation that the potential owner went on to add that he was just taking things one day at a time, but by giving it 110% he’d be able to take the bid to the next level and hit the ground running.

That is the phrase du jour at the Southlandish household after I mocked his preseason predictions. I must now bow to the genius that is Kiper in his Illini football prediction of seven or eight wins. I'm in the same boat as IM, only with the words "Illini" and "bowl bid". Now I'm getting greedy and starting to hope for a bowl game here in Florida so I can go see them play. I have no illusions about Saturday. Even though we have traditionally played well against the Buckeyes, we'll be mauled. But if we could bounce back and beat Northwestern to close out an 8-4 season, I'll be nothing short of dumbfounded. And to think we had a very real chance to win in all three of our losses to date. That's just crazy. In other random thoughtlessness: - No great opinion on the Mo GM position or LaRussa's re-upping for the Cardinals. There is so much work to be done that I don't know where to start to make this club competitive next year. Every time I be...

Does the IM have any additional thoughts/insights into the latest on the MLS giving St. Louis a team for the 2009 season? As someone who plans to eventually move back to the Midwest, it's exciting. I can't bring myself to care too much for the MLS from my exile here in Florida. There is no team within 1200 miles and my strict policy of never rooting for a Florida-based sports team, doesn't make even the remote chance of a franchise here appealing. As for closer to home, Chicago and KC are right out. UPDATE (by IM): I think Southlandish should hold out for the establishment of "Farmersville 1821", nickname "The Irish Daze", kit green & white horizontal stripes. After all Farmersville has much going for it : Farmersville is located off of Interstate 55 at Exit 72. There are currently two gas stations located at this exit as well as three eateries, which are Subway, Champ's Bar & Grill, and Arts Restaurant. Farmersville currently has festival da...