(Get) A Sporting Life

When it comes to the Blues I've decided I have to look forward. Looking back is only a recipe for acid indigestion. The trouble is there is almost no way to accurately look forward with this team. However, I'll do my best by mixing my predictions with my preferences. Say Goodbye To St. Louis These are the unrestricted free agent players that should be moving on: Andy McDonald Scott Nichol Jamie Langenbrunner Jeff Woywitka Andrew Murray McDonald was the highest paid forward on the Blues this season, which pretty much tells you everything you need to know about this team's inability to score. Nichol never found his way back into the lineup once the chemistry of the CPR line asserted itself. The other three? Thanks for the memories. With Restrictions Here is where things get dicey. The Blues have some players who are restricted free agents that they will need to take care of but they can't be profligate. Alex Pietrangelo should get pretty big money. H...

If the Blues lose tonight, which seems only too likely, do not expect to see a post mortem from me for a few days. It's always too fucking painful to think about at first. I can get away with that shit because I ain't getting paid.

Here is a pitching line I can get behind. 9 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 13 K That is some serious shit brought down on the Rockies by rookie Shelby Miller. If nothing else goes right tonight, and I'm not very hopeful, at least St. Louis fans can take some solace from the good prospects for the boys of summer. The Cards have the chance to be very very good.

Long will fans, writers and historians of the game discuss the epic long awaited battle between the Padres and the Rays. I myself am all a twitter,

...and immediately I am consumed with this sense of impending doom (which I guess is some sort of metal band.) Then I remember; It's Stanley Cup Playoff time and I'm a Blues Fan. Oh, that's right.

The beautiful thing about the baseball season is the steady stream of games. Usually. For some unknown reason the Cardinals schedule called for a day off on Monday, two games in Chicago, and then another day off on Thursday. Crap. It's nearly as bad as the All-Star break. It especially sucks as I need something to get the taste of last night's Blues game out of my mouth. (In case you were wondering, it tastes like castor oil and failure.)

That is the only word that can be used to describe the Blues' performance this Stanley Cup Playoff season. The sad fact is the Blues are lucky to be still playing. The Blues didn't really win either of the first two games of this series against the Kings. In reality Quick brain cramped them away. The best the Blues have been able to muster this postseason is to put themselves in a position where they are only two fortuitous bounces away from winning or one bad bounce away from losing. At no point last night did I believe the Blues were going to win that game. You could see it coming. Even when Pietro scores with 41 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime, it only had the feel of postponing the inevitable. Our forwards do not play well enough for us to win tough games in the playoffs. Period. As a group they have combined for just four even strength goals in five games. I don't care how well you play defense, you cannot win consistently without better offensive pr...