(Get) A Sporting Life

I wouldn't have thought the Ryan Braun debacle could have gotten any worse for baseball and for Braun himself. It just got a lot worse : National League MVP Ryan Braun's 50-game suspension was overturned Thursday by baseball arbitrator Shyam Das, the first time a baseball player successfully challenged a drug-related penalty in a grievance... During the hearing, Braun's side challenged the chain of custody from the time the urine sample was collected by Comprehensive Drug Testing Inc. to when it was sent, nearly 48 hours later, to a World Anti-Doping Agency-certified laboratory in Montreal, two people familiar with the case said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because what took place in the hearing is supposed to be confidential. The sample was collected on Oct. 1, a Saturday and the day the Brewers opened the NL playoffs. The collector did not send the sample to the laboratory until Monday, thinking it would be more secure at home than at a Federal Express office dur...

I haven't seen enough A-10 basketball this year to be sure, but based upon today's SLU/Dayton game it seems pretty dire. It is being officiated like an NHL game. Whenever the Bills get a lead the refs make calls (or don't make calls as the case may be) in order to "keep it close." As it is, if the Bills could hit their free throws they should win by 15. Based upon how the two teams have actually been playing, the Bills ought to win by 25-30. That they will win by under 10 is chalked up in equal parts poor free throw shooting and uneven officiating.

....Jaro Halak and the St. Louis Blues? Holy shit. This isn't the prettiest offensive team you will ever see, and that lack of goal scoring could bite us in the ass in the end... but in the meantime, the Blues play killer defense and the goalies stop most everything they see. Welcome back winning hockey in the STL! It's been awhile.

Time to sigh : Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany will miss his club's next four matches after the Premier League leaders failed Tuesday in its appeal against the defender's red card against Manchester United. Kompany was sent off for a two-footed challenge on Nani in the 12th minute of Sunday's FA Cup match. United beat 10-man City 3-2. City manager Roberto Mancini said United striker Wayne Rooney pressured referee Chris Foy into showing the red card but the Football Association rejected City's attempt to have the decision overturned. "The suspension consists of a statutory three-match suspension for serious foul play plus one additional game given this is Kompany's second dismissal of the season,'' the FA said. The FA ought to just do away with the fiction there is an actual "appeal" process that might be effectual. Its hard to take them seriously when Kompany's "serious foul play" doesn't involve actually touching an ...

Here is how my sporting life averaged out to in 2011: St. Louis Blues : Weight 30% 2010-11 season ended in complete frustration as the Blues failed to make the playoffs yet again. 2011-12 season begins with a bang. Grade: C+ (23.7 weighted points) St. Louis Cardinals : Weight 25% Didn't win the Central, but grabbed the wild card on last day. Won World Series. Lost Pujols forever. Grade: A-/A (The lowest possible grade after winning the WS. 23.25 weighted points) DC United : Weight 20% Didn't make the playoffs again. Played better after getting DeRo. Season undone by injuries. Team threatens to move to Baltimore. Grade: D (13 weighted points) St. Louis University Billikens : Weight 15% Limp to finish in disspiriting 2010-11 season. Roar off to 12-1 start in 2011-12, and even crack Top 25. Grade: B-/B (12.45 weighted points) Missouri Tigers : Weight 5% Uneven season finishes strong with four straight wins including a bowl victory. Moves to SEC against my wishes. Grade: C (3.75 we...

D.C. United and the rest of MLS have announced their unprotected players for Wednesday's expansion draft. DC left available: •Barklage, Brandon •Boskovic, Branko •Brettschneider, Blake •Burch, Marc •Cronin, Steve (GK) •Da Luz, Austin •King, Stephen •McTavish, Devon •Morsink, Kurt •Ngwenya, Joseph •Quaranta, Santino •Zayner, Jed Of these I would think Brettschneider and King would be the most attractive, though I wouldn't be surprised if Montreal selected Burch.

This crap keeps getting worse: DC United may have to consider move Winner of MLS titles in 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2004, D.C. United has explored building a venue in Baltimore near Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium. For now, Garber said the team must have a lower rent next season. “If that means that they can’t get a new improved lease in D.C., they’ve got to move to another facility in the region. I will be supportive of that, and in fact will help them do that,” he said. “And if it means they can’t find a solution in Baltimore, then we’ll have to go through a process as we did with San Jose to think about potentially moving the team. I believe that we’ll have to go through that process, as well.” Unless someone wants to move them to the Twin Cities this will just suck. I will not support "Baltimore" United. Ever. Not that I'll even have reason to care as Garber seems intent in NBA-ing the hell out of MLS. Garber also said MLS will go to an unbalanced 34-game schedule ...