The fact that the Los Angeles Dodgers' Russell Martin won the Gold Glove award over St. Louis' Yadier Molina isn't just ridiculous - it's laughable. A joke. The Gold Glove awards have been lacking credibility for some time - anybody remember Rafael Palmeiro's award at first base after playing less than 30 games there? - but it's almost at the point where they should be scrapped altogether. Because really, they mean nothing.

Martin is an outstanding player, and he's a much better hitter than Molina. But defensively, they're not in the same stratosphere. And with catchers, it's about more than just errors. It's holding runners on, throwing them out, calling a game, etc. In fact, I won't even have to make the argument for Molina. I'll just go ahead and let others do it for me, from both local and national viewpoints:

- Bernie Miklasz, columnist, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Martin had the most errors (14) of any NL catcher. According to STATS LLC, Martin threw out only 28.7 percent of those who attempted to steal bases on him ... Only three catchers in MLB allowed more stolen bases than Martin (82) ... Molina: he led all MLB catchers in nailing base stealers, throwing out 23 of the 46 who challenged him (50 percent). He also led NL catchers in assists per nine innings. That only 46 steals were attempted on Molina tells us everything we need to know.

How does a manager go from “Boys, don’t even dare try to steal a bag on Yaddy Molina” to writing Martin’s name on the Gold Glove ballot when these same people exploited Martin for a 71.3 percent success rate in stolen bases?

- Rob Neyer, ESPN.com: Russell Martin benefited from the same (hitting) bias. He's not real strong against the running game, but otherwise he's solid. Still, if the evidence exists for his superiority to Yadier Molina, I've not yet seen it.

- BillJamesOnline, Fielding Bible Awards (best fielders in MLB at their positions): Move over, Pudge. Last year, Ivan Rodriguez and Yadier Molina were neck-and-neck in the battle for the Fielding Bible Award at catcher as they were named first or second on nearly every ballot. Molina maintained his incredible performance controlling the running game in 2007 throwing out 49% of would-be base stealers. Rodriguez’ drop from 46% last year to 26% this year convinced our voters to bestow the award on Molina.

- Jeff Gordon, StlToday.com: NL managers and coaches know if they give their runners the green light to run on Molina, bad things will happen. Runners get thrown out at second, runners get picked off first, potential big innings die . . . yes, it’s best not to run on Yadier. And yet these same NL managers and coaches decided that Russell Martin is the best defensive catcher in the NL. Interesting.

In giving us a tip that the new Jay-Z album is getting good reviews, The Big Lead points to a review in Rolling Stone.

The album, American Gangster is inspired by the new film of the same name, and the magazine gives it rave reviews.

In breaking down the album, Rolling Stone gives us a few examples of how Jay-Z got back to the lyrical style that made Jay one of the all-time greats. One of them was this:

"I need a personal Jesus, I'm in depeche mode/They say it's celestial, it's all in the stars/It's like Tony La Russa on how you play your cards."

Obviously, Jay is a very intelligent man, and astute baseball fan. But don't fret, Cubs fans. I'm sure Will Smith will drop a Lou Piniella reference in his next album.

With playoff baseball comes the inevitable debates about who the greatest postseason performer was. This has been especially true in lieu of Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling's recent performances in the World Series.

Many people are familiar with some of the best postseason hurlers, but what about some other, less heralded pitchers? Are there guys out there who may have flown a bit under the radar? In fact, there are a number of them. While none of these guys had the extensive impact of a Bob Gibson or Mariano Rivera, they still delivered clutch performances throughout their postseason careers*.

Ken Dayley, St. Louis Cardinals
If I were to ask you who in postseason history had the best WHIP (0.58), allowed the least number of hits per 9 innings (2.61) and the fourth best ERA (0.44), your first answer might not be Ken Dayley, but that's the correct answer.

Dayley was a lefthanded reliever for the Cardinals who pitched in both the 1985 NLCS and World Series, and the 1987 NLCS and World Series. He never pitched more than 2 2/3 innings, but he was an important part of the bullpen, picking up 5 saves even though Todd Worrell was the main closer. In 20 2/3 postseason innings, Dayley gave up just 1 run.

Dave Dravecky, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants
Just who is Dave Dravecky? Well, he was a hurler who pitched in the 1984 NLCS and World Series for the Padres and the 1987 NLCS for the Giants. Dravecky had entirely different roles for those teams, however.

First, let's look at some numbers. Dravecky possess the third best ERA (0.35) in playoff history, and the second best WHIP (0.66). In Dravecky's postseason career, he found himself relieving for the Padres, and going multiple innings every time. In 10 2/3 innings of relief for San Diego, he didn't give up a single run, walked just one batter, allowed only 5 hits, and struck out 10.

Then, Dravecky went on to starting for the San Fransicso Giants. In the '87 NLCS, he threw a complete game, 2-hit shutout against St. Louis in game 2, and followed that with a 6 inning stint where he struck out 8, allowed 5 hits and the only run of his postseason career in a 1-0 loss.

Sterling Hitchcock, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees
Surprised? Yeah, me too. However, Hitchcock is one of only eight pitchers to have a perfect win-loss record in the postseason, at 4-0. Not to mention the fact that he has the third best K/9 ratio in postseason history. Hitchcock struck out 12.03 batters per 9 innings pitched, which is over 5 strikeouts per 9 more than his regular season average.

Hitchock appeared in 9 games, and he was a starter in 4 of those games. And in those starts, Hitchcock was 3-0. He struck out 32, allowed only 3 extra-base hits, had a 1.23 ERA and held opponents to a .195 batting average and .287 on-base percentage.

Others
Harry Breechen, St. Louis Cardinals: 1943, '44, '46 World Series - 3 complete games, 4 wins, 0.87 ERA, 3 total earned runs allowed.

John Rocker, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians: 1998, '99, 2000, '01 NL/ALDS, NLCS, World Series - 20 games, 0.00 ERA, 4.35 hits/9 allowed, 11.32 K/9.

Blue Moon Odom, Oakland A's: 1972, '73, '74 ALCS, World Series: 1.07 ERA in 42 innings, 5 total earned runs allowed, 4.71 hits/9 allowed.

Obviously, this is but a small sample size of pitchers that have put up very good postseason numbers. There are many more that have performed well, but these are a few that people may not have known about.

(* = Minimum 20 Innings)

Not long ago, I wrote an article wondering whether the Cardinals were hit with more injuries than any other team in the Major Leagues. It was debatable, but if they weren't hit with the most injuries, they were up there.

After the baseball season ended, most Rams fans were pretty excited about the team. Nobody was predicting Super Bowl success, but 9 wins seemed like a very realistic goal, given the plethora of offensive talent and some improvements made on the defensive side of the ball. Six games, and six losses, later, it's needless to say that the only thing the Rams are battling for is the first overall draft pick. And at least one of the reasons is injuries.

So, after a summer of watching the entire starting line-up, not to mention the two best pitchers on the Cardinals go down, seeing all of the Rams injuries is especially painful.

Obviously, the game of football lends itself to players getting hurt, but no team in the NFL has seen it's starting quarterback, running back and left tackle suffer injuries at the same time. A few have lost a combination of the three, such as the Vikings with Tavaris Jackson and Chester Taylor, but they had some guy named Adrian Peterson to carry the load, and he ain't bad.

Here are the injuries the Rams have had to this point: (starters in bold)

QB Marc Bulger, broken ribs

RB Steven Jackson, torn groin (ouch)

OT Orlando Pace, separated shoulder (out for season)

OT Adam Goldberg, knee injury (out for season)

OT Todd Steussie, broken foot

OG Mark Setterstrom, torn ACL (out for season)

OG Richie Incognito, sprained ankle (missed first 5 games)

WR Isaac Bruce, hamstring injury

WR Drew Bennett, quad and hamstring injuries

WR Dane Looker, blood transfusion from severe thigh bruise

WR/KR Dante Hall, sprained ankle

LB Raonall Smith, knee injury

LB Pisa Tinoisamoa, leg injury

CB Tye Hill, fractured bones in back

SS Corey Chavous, pectoral muscle injury

Let's not forget the Blues, the resident hockey team. Their best defenseman, Eric Brewer, got injured in a fight, another top defenseman, Jay McKee, is just returning, and defenseman Erik Johnson, the number one overall pick in the 2006 draft, has a fractured foot.

But that's sports, right? Who knows, maybe a cheerleader is next.

St. Louis Cardinals fans were stunned yesterday to learn than general manager Walt Jocketty had been fired by Ebeneezer Scrooge's cousin, owner Bill DeWitt.

And suffice it to say, the reaction has not been a positive one. The only person in St. Louis who is happy about this is Scott Linehan, who suddenly became the second-least popular figure in the city's sports landscape.

While the reaction by fans has been cold, so too has it been from media types. The general consensus seems to be: "Huh?"

- Stan McNeal, Sporting News: "When I mentioned the firing of Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty to a couple of execs before Wednesday's Diamondbacks-Cubs game, their first reaction was: 'I guess that means Tony La Russa is gone.' Their second reaction: 'What the ... are the Cardinals doing?'

Good question. Apparently, ownership is tired of dealing with the friction between Jocketty and those in the front office who run the amateur draft and minor leagues and is prepared to embark on a new era. After all, it was almost a whole year ago that the Cardinals won the World Series. So sure, it's time to dump the guy that built that team."

- Ken Rosenthal, FoxSports.com: "The Cardinals did something even more bizarre Wednesday, parting with one of the game's most successful GMs, Walt Jocketty, in large part because owner Bill DeWitt is enthralled with a younger executive, Jeff Luhnow ... It would serve DeWitt right if both Jocketty and La Russa landed in Cincinnati and wound up torturing the Cardinals for the next decade ... Luhnow, a strong proponent of statistical analysis, clearly has the ear of DeWitt. Decisions were made in baseball operations without Jocketty's knowledge — an outrageous development, given Jocketty's track record and standing in the industry ... It's clear that the next GM, like Wade in Houston, will be forced to accept Luhnow's influence on DeWitt. Good news for the Cubs. Good news for the rest of the NL Central. Bad news for the Cardinals."

- Keith Law, ESPN.com: "Many GM candidates with backgrounds in either scouting or player development will balk at the position because of how limited their control will be. They may be forced to fill the position from within, or to accept a candidate whose interest in being GM supersedes his concern at the lack of control. Jocketty, meanwhile, should have his pick of positions, as many teams would be thrilled to obtain a GM with his reputation and track record."

- Jeff Gordon, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Fans wonder why the guys running this franchise -– starting at the top with chairman Bill DeWitt -- couldn’t work together and keep a good thing going. We understood when the Pirates suffered a front-office implosion. Losing is stressful. It does bad things to people. But why couldn’t the Cardinals management remain unified though mostly prosperous times? Why couldn’t these men hold their egos in check and manage their disagreements? Why are we seeing this break-up less than one year removed from a championship parade?"

If there's one thing that American journalsim needs more of, it's copy editors who can write a straightforward headline. Every day you can be assured of opening your paper, noticing a headline and cringing at the thought that someone believed it was clever.

The sports pages are not devoid of these headlines. A look at the best of the worst.

- "Cards can only prosper if DeWitt opens DeWallet"

- "Jamie's achy but not braky"

- "Will he be A-Lightening-Rod?"

- "Perhaps it's always Darko before the dawn for new Grizzly"

- "Right man for job? Sir-tainly"

- "Griese-ing the skids"

- "Fans' beer woes may be brewing"

- "C.C. won't be E-Z task"

- "Sack-rificial man"

- "Madison Err Garden"

On Wednesday, Barry Bonds took his final at-bat wearing a Giants uniform in San Francisco. The appearance was a prime example of why the Giants were bidding farewell to their longtime left fielder. Bonds hit a long fly ball to center that was just shy of the warning track - a ball that in past years would probably have exited the park.

As it is, Bonds represents the Steroid Era more than any other player. And though he will probably play again next year, many of his contemporaries that made the era what it was have retired or are on their last legs. Here's how some suspected or confirmed juicers fared in the final at-bats of their career, in chronological order. As you will see, 2001 and 2005 were particularly bad years for these broken down players.

Rafael Palmeiro, Baltimore Orioles - August 30, 2005: With runners on first and second in the top of the eighth inning, Rafael Palmeiro was struck out looking by Jason Frasor of the Blue Jays. Toronto won the game 7-2.

Bret Boone, Minnesota Twins - July 30, 2005: Having let go by Seattle, the Twins picked up Boone in hopes he would regain his power. In the top of the 7th against the Red Sox, Boone made the final out of the inning on a fly ball to right field against David Wells. The Twins lost 6-2, and Boone was released after hitting just .170 for the team.

Juan Gonzalez, Cleveland Indians - May 31, 2005: Gonzalez lasted all of one game and one at-bat for the Indians. In the top of the first inning, he grounded out to third against the Twins' Carlos Silva. In the bottom of that inning, he was replaced by Casey Blake. The Indians went on to win, but Gonzalez never saw the field again.

Benito Santiago, Pittsburgh Pirates - April 11, 2005: Santiago played only 6 games and registered just 23 at-bats with the Pirates. In the top of the 8th against Milwaukee, Santiago faced Matt Wise, and struck out looking in a 6-2 loss.

Mark McGwire, St. Louis Cardinals - October 14, 2001: In game 5 of the NLDS against the Arizona Diamondbacks, McGwire struck out swinging in the top of the 7th against Curt Schilling. He would be pinch-hit for in the 9th inning of that game by reserve outfielder Kerry Robinson. The Cards would lose to eventual World Champions Arizona in the bottom of the 9th.

Ken Caminiti, Atlanta Braves - October 12, 2001: The last game of his career was his only at-bat of the postseason in game 3 of the NLDS. The Braves swept the Astros, and in the bottom of the 7th, Caminiti pinch-hit for Mike Remlinger. He flied to center off of Octavio Dotel.

Jose Canseco, Chicago White Sox - October 6, 2001: Playing in the final game of a regular season that went long because of 9/11, Canseco and the White Sox were playing in Minnesota. In the top of the 9th, with a runner on first and the Sox down by one, Canseco pinch-hit for Mark L. Johnson. He flew out to center against Eddie Guardado, and the Sox went on to lose. He got a viral infection, went on the DL, and never returned.

Combined Total of These Players: 0-7, 3 K's


(All game info: Baseball-Reference.com)

If there's one thing I've learned about St. Louis sports fans while growing up and living here, it's this: winning isn't enough. If you don't do it their way, you'll never be accepted.

Just ask Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa, who has never been fully espoused in St. Louis. After leading an 83 win team to a World Series victory last season, you would think that the entire city would, at long last, embrace him. It hasn't happened. Unbelievably, there were/are fans (message board types) who refuse to appreciate the championship, saving their joy for the day LaRussa manages his last Cardinals game.

This season, with every starting position player and their two best pitchers being injured, the Cards were remarkably in the N.L. Central race in September before bowing out. Still, calls for LaRussa's ouster were being hailed in June and July.

On the message board Cards Clubhouse, this is but a very small sample of what was being said at that board about him mere months after leading the team to a World Series title:

"He has wore out his welcome in my mind and I wouldnt mind seeing him being fired tomorrow ... Scott Rolen hates and Now I and Albert Pujols hate you."

"He's been making poor management decisions just like that for the last year and a half."

"In my mind, he never was a great manager, the players made him look great. Now, that he doesn't have the players, his 'coat of armor' is very thin, or never was there. Subject at hand!.. Fire the guy..."

"La Russa only wins on talent, anyone could do better then him, he over manages, and it hurts him."

Would you like to know why St. Louisans don't like Tony LaRussa? It's simple, really. There are two reasons.

1) His use of bench players. LaRussa will often sit a regular and play a bench player if he has superior career numbers against that night's starting pitcher. This drives fans here nuts, for reasons known only to their them. A regular could be hitting .022 against a certain pitcher, and a reserve .734, and if LaRussa started the player hitting .734, it's an outrage.

But that's not the main reason. The main reason fans here don't like LaRussa is this:

2) He's not Whitey Herzog.

The same Whitey Herzog who is the epitome of a gutless quitter. 80 games into the 1990 season, the Cardinals had a record of 33-47 ... and Herzog quit, because he couldn't hack it anymore.

Five seasons previous, Herzog got himself ejected from game 7 of the World Series because he was still angry at a call from Game 6. He went into the game unprepared, unfocused and killed his team by choosing to blame the umpire, Don Denkinger, instead of moving on:

"The Cardinals made their frustrations clear throughout the game. ABC television cameras caught Herzog screaming and belittling Denkinger from the Cardinals' dugout throughout the contest ... Herzog even went so far as to directly tell Denkinger that had he gotten "the call" right in Game 6, the Cardinals wouldn't have been subjected to a seventh game in the first place."

Does anyone believe for one second LaRussa would do this? After Detroit's Kenny Rogers blantantly cheated in game 2 of last year's World Series, LaRussa wouldn't let his team dwell on that after they lost. They just moved on to game 3. Herzog couldn't move on, and this was a game 7.

Twice, the White Rat (an appropriate nickname) took his ball and went home like a child. He should forever be remembered for his cowardice in this city, but he's worshipped above any sports figure save Stan Musial.

Which brings us to the St. Louis Rams and their head coach, Scott Linehan. After yesterday's humiliating defeat, 24-3 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it's pretty evident where this season is headed for the team. Straight in the garbage can.

And you can thank Scott Linehan for that. Of course the team is going to suffer after losing Orlando Pace and Tye Hill with injury. But it goes beyond that. The offensive play-calling is beyond drab and confusing, the special teams are horrible and the defense is one of the worst tackling units ever assembled.

Most of this has to fall on Linehan's shoulders. He looks scared and confused. Watch him on the sidelines, and he simply sits there with a blank look on his face, clutching his play sheet like Rain Man when he watches People's Court.

At one point in the game, with the Rams down 14-3 and Tampa Bay getting the ball on offense, the miraculous happened and Linehan started yelling and clapping his hands, doing his best cheerleader routine, trying to light a fire under the team's belly. A few plays later, the Buccaneers scored a touchdown.

But that was a rare moment of Linehan exuberance. Maybe the Bucs scored because Rams players were trying to get their minds around the fact that Scott Linehan is actually a living, breathing soul who has the capability to move his arms, legs and mouth.

And you know what? Rams fans deserve this. They deserve every last bit of the mediocre, excruciatingly boring Scott Linehan era. An era that has explosive offensive players all over the offense who can't score a touchdown. An era that has seen him hire a special teams coach who at this time last year was coaching high school kids.

I make no apologies for the fact that I was, and still am, an enormous Mike Martz supporter. I loved the guy. Because I happen to like guys who say, "Fuck you, I'm doing it my way," no matter what the circumstances are. And that was Martz's greatest, yet most confounding quality. He said, "Fuck you." In fact, he said it so much, he got himself fired.

But despite what mediocre broadcasters like Tom Jackson, comically inept websites like Football Outsiders and ill-informed fans like the ones we have in St. Louis believe, at his core, Martz was a hell of a coach. And facts bear that out.

Martz engineered the greatest offense in football history. His 56 wins are the third most in the history of the Rams franchise, behind Chuck Knox's 57 and John Robinson's 79. And among head coaches who were at the helm for at least 50 games, Martz's .609 winning percentage trails only Knox's .737 and George Allen's .708.

And one thing was for sure: Martz was never boring. He was also extremely tough on his team, and quarterbacks in particular. He was excitable, showed intense emotion and had the kind of arrogance that the media hates and many fans embrace. But not in St. Louis.

Why, you ask? Again, it's quite simple. He didn't do it the St. Louis way. He didn't cry like Dick Vermeil. He threw the ball - a lot. He challenged any plays on the field his players asked him to, citing his trust for them. He would often burn all three of the team's timeouts with time left in the first quarter. And he challenged the fat slobs that represent the media, who would roast him when he didn't give them the answers they wanted. And they wanted traditional, grind it out football, like all media does.

Never mind his record setting offenses, his Super Bowl and playoff appearances, and that he is the only coach in the history of the National Football League to take an 8-8 team on the road and win a playoff game. He didn't do it the way St. Louis fans wanted to - he called timeouts and threw challenge flags, and in St. Louis, you don't call timeouts and throw challenge flags.

Here, you run the ball up the middle and fall down after hitting the back of the offensive lineman. Here, you keep the challenge flag in your pocket. And you damn well better have every timeout at the end of the first half.

So instead of having a coach who takes risks, a coach who says "fuck you," a coach who does what he believes is the right thing to do instead of doing what everybody else wants him to do, we have Scott Linehan.

A boring, unprepared, perplexed, drab, possibly autistic Scott Linehan. And Rams fans, you deserve every ounce of this. Even though the team can't score touchdowns, the special teams are an embarrassment and the defense can't tackle, it sure is better to lose with Linehan than win with Martz, right?

Because at least Scott Linehan loses with all his timeouts left. And Lord knows that's the most important thing in this town.

Coming off a World Series title, the St. Louis Cardinals looked poised to make another run at the playoffs, continuing their streak of reaching the postseason every year this decade. Then, the first game happened.

Pitcher Chris Carpenter, their ace and a former Cy Young winner, lasted all of 6 innings before his season ended. Carpenter hurt his elbow, and ended up having reconstructive elbow surgery, sidelining him for at least a year.

That malady started a trend that saw every starter except one from that game spend time on the disabled list. Five of those players ended up having season ending surgery at some point. Only Albert Pujols avoided the D.L., but he played most of the season battling leg and elbow injuries, and it looks as if his season could be over now as well.

It wasn't only the starters that were injured. Valuable bench players, relievers and other starting pitchers were injured at some point during the season.

Here is a look at every starting player, followed by starting pitchers, relievers and bench players who have been injured or spent time on the D.L. this season.

Starting Line-Up

C - Yadier Molina: The Cards catcher fractured his left wrist in May, landing him on the D.L. for nearly the entire month of June.

1B - Albert Pujols: Never missed significant time until recently, but he has played through various leg and elbow injuries, and now he may be done for the rest of this season.

2B - Adam Kennedy: Kennedy was having a horrendous year, and that was compounded by a knee injury in August, ending his season.

3B - Scott Rolen: The perennial Gold Glover was never right in '07, as he continued to struggle with a shoulder that had been operated on twice. The shoulder progressively got worse, leading to his worst season in baseball. He was shut down in early September.

SS - David Eckstein: Eckstein missed nearly a month with a back injury, and he has struggled with it most of the year.

LF - Chris Duncan: The left fielder had a great first half, but was awful after the All-Star break. As it turns out, he had a sports hernia and underwent season-ending surgery.

CF - Jim Edmonds: Jimmy Ballgame started the year at less than 100%, and he was never fully healthy. He suffered from a pinched nerve in his lower back and missed more than a month of action.

RF - Juan Encarnacion: Encarnacion started the year on the D.L. as he recovered from offseason wrist surgery. A freak accident saw him get hit in the eye by a foul ball while standing in the on-deck circle in August. Not only did that end his season, it may end his career. Cardinals team doctor George Paletta called it, "the worst trauma I've seen."

Pitchers

SP - Chris Carpenter: As mentioned above, Carpenter pitched 6 innings before his season was over. 2008 is in jeopardy as well.

SP - Mark Mulder: Mulder started the year on the D.L. after having rotator cuff surgery last season. He pitched in a few games this year before shutting it down due to soreness. It was recently learned he must undergo another operation on the shoulder, ending his year.

SP - Braden Looper: The surprisingly effective Looper suffered from tendinitis in July, landing him on the D.L.

SP - Mike Maroth: After being blasted in start after start, Maroth went on the disabled list with what was called elbow tendinitis.

RP - Tyler Johnson: Johnson, a valuable lefty out of the pen, missed nearly two months with a shoulder injury.

RP - Josh Kinney: Kinney's season was over before it began. After serving an important role in the bullpen in the '06 postseason, Kinney had Tommy John surgery before spring training.

RP - Todd Wellemeyer: Wellemeyer was a mid-season addition who was used as both a starter and reliever. He missed a chunk of time due to a sprained elbow.

RP - Josh Hancock: As most people know, Hancock passed away due to a drunk driving accident in April.

Bench Players

OF - Preston Wilson: Wilson played in just a handful of games before going down for the season with a knee injury. The injury may end his career.

UTIL - Scott Spiezio: Not only did Spiezio miss time due to injury, he also missed five weeks while undergoing treatment for substance abuse.

In total, that makes 18 players who have had to miss time this year, including every member of their starting line-up and their two best pitchers.

For many St. Louisians, this was to be glorious sports weekend. The rival Chicago Cubs were coming to town to play the Cardinals, the Rams were taking on the San Francisco 49ers at home, the St. Louis Blues (FYI: they're a hockey team - look it up) started their exhibition schedule on home ice, and tens of people were excited about something called the Tour of Missouri, which is exactly like the Tour De France - without the mountains.

No matter what, this had to be better than last weekend, didn't it? Apparently not. If last Friday thru Sunday was a punch in the gut, this weekend was a direct kick in the nuts - with steel toed boots.

The Cardinals were playing the Cubs on a four-game homestand, representing their final shot at making a playoff run. They had lost seven straight going into the series, and realistically needed a sweep to get back into contention. They proceeded to lose three out of four.

Making it especially painful, ex-Cardinal hurler Jason Marquis beat them on Sunday. Although Marquis knows everything there is to know about pitching (just ask him), it seems he is actually listening to Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild, much to the shock of Cardinal Nation.

The Blues (again - hockey team) opened their exhibition on Sunday night, and they proceeded to lose 3-1 to the Atlanta Thrashers. First exhibition games in any sport don't generally mean much, but coach Andy Murray wasn't buying it. His post-game comments to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch included him saying most of the team was average and that they were careless. His highest praise went to the former number one overall draft pick, defenseman Erik Johnson: "(He) was one of our more positive defensemen ... he would have graded out at average and the other guys were below average."

Finally, the biggest debacle of the weekend belonged to the St. Louis Rams. They didn't play terribly, but they were coached terribly by Scott Linehan and company in a 17-16 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. The team is now 0-2 and dead last in the NFC West.

Overall, the team played decently but for a few key mistakes - Torry Holt fumbled the ball and it went out of bounds at the goal line - giving the 49ers the ball at the 20 - and Dante Hall muffed a punt deep in Rams territory to set up the game winning field goal by San Francisco.

The coaching errors were beyond comprehension. They failed to get Steven Jackson the ball enough, particularly in the fourth quarter, and after one particular series he stormed off the field, screaming at the coaching staff.

In the fourth quarter, on what would have been the winning drive, Linehan had Bulger spike the ball at midfield, though the Rams had over a minute left to work with. One sack later, it was third and seventeen. A fourteen yard pass set up a Jeff Wilkins 56 yard field goal attempt, and he came up about six inches short.

Furthermore, Bulger nearly got decapitated, as he was sacked six times, and took at least ten more crushing hits. He winced in pain through the entire second half, but still performed admirably, throwing for 368 yards. Apparently, they weren't prepared for what the 49ers did, as guard Mark Setterstrom offered this opinion: ""We had a little bit of trouble identifying things. I'm sure part of their package was confusion. ... Going into the game, we had a couple of people we were supposed to be looking at, and they kind of changed their scheme up a little bit." Way to make adjustments, coaches.

Needless to say, Rams fans are pissed.

The scribes also had a field day with Linehan, rightfully skewering his decisions. Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell offered these thoughts:

"How do you expect to win games with an offense that seems hellbent on getting its quarterback dismembered and its featured running back stark raving mad over his inexplicable lack of use in the crunch? ... Welcome to the Nightmare on Broadway, a recurring horror story filled with rotten pass-blocking, incomprehensible play-calling decisions and Sunday afternoon bouts of amnesia in the coach's booth ... Lots of odd play calls. Lots of needless hits on Bulger. Lots of misuse of Jackson, who touched the ball only three times the entire fourth quarter."

His colleague at the P-D, Bernie Miklasz, had a similar reaction:

" Linehan seemed lost (again) on the sideline. I don't even want to get into it; to list all of the things that went wrong, I'd need the Library of Congress to catalogue it. But in terms of game management and handling the clock, Linehan made Mike Martz look like Vince Lombardi ... The offense is down to one touchdown a game, and confusion still reigns, but at least Linehan is a nice guy who plays well with others ... Playoffs? At this point, I'd be grateful if the Rams just made it to the end zone ... Two games into the season, the storyline is set: Shaw and Zygmunt's young coach is under fire, and with six of the next eight games on the road, he must avoid becoming the next Rich Brooks. The Internet domain name, firescottlinehan.com, is available for $100."

So it was that kind of weekend for sports fans in St. Louis, and unless things get better, quickly, it could be an awfully long winter on the banks of the Mississippi.

If you do, the entire city of St. Louis would like to borrow it and a DeLorean, in hopes of somehow altering the outcomes of the city's wretched weekend of sports.

Of all the possible scenarios that one could have imagined concerning the Rams and Cardinals, nobody would have guessed this one. It wasn't just that the Rams lost at home, or that the Cardinals got swept in Arizona that hurt. It was how they lost, combined with off the field issues and key players getting injured. Let's painfully review the weekend, and give a bit of the media's perspective on things.

- Rick Ankiel: By now, we all know that the former comeback kid was linked to receiving HGH in Florida in 2004. No, HGH wasn't banned by baseball in 2004, and he stopped receiving it when it did get banned, but the feel-good story of the 2007 baseball season was ruined.

After that came his "denial", where he claimed he did nothing wrong. Problem was, it wasn't really a denial at all, and it sounded a whole lot like somebody else that Cardinal Nation is familiar with when Ankiel said, "I'm not going into the list of what my doctors have prescribed for me ... There are doctor-patient privileges, and I hope guys respect those privileges."

Bryan Burwell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch offered his take on the proceedings, which I wholeheartedly agree with:

"We wanted the truth and could have handled the truth. But all Ankiel did was sound like every other suspect in this era of designer drugs and chemically enhanced magic. He covered his tracks in the murkiness of another wishy-washy non-denial denial. It wasn't quite, 'I'm not here to talk about the past,' but it was close enough for my discomfort."

- Cardinals Swept: After Ankiel's press conference, the Cardinals still had a three-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks to complete. And they proceeded to blow all three games. After a close game that culminated in a 4-2 loss on Friday, the Cardinals seemed primed to take Saturday's game. Until they blew a 7-3 lead and ended up losing 9-8.

Post-Dispatch writer Joe Strauss offers this commentary:

"If Saturday night's action at Chase Field didn't set the game back 40 years, it at least took the Cardinals back to the bad old days of May."

Then on Sunday, the Cards blew a 4-2 lead, and ended up getting swept out of the Arizona desert. As if that weren't bad enough, word comes that left fielder Chris Duncan is probably out for the year with a hernia. Duncan became the fifth significant player to go down due to injury, joining Chris Carpenter, Adam Kennedy, Juan Encarnacion and Scott Rolen.

- Rams Lose To Panthers: After an off-season dedicated to putting some new pieces into the offense, defense and special teams, expectations were pretty high around St. Louis concerning the Rams. That lasted all of one half of football, as the Carolina Panthers ran through and around them to win by a two touchdown margin, 27-13. Good teams don't lose by fourteen points at home to anybody, much less a Panthers team that was 8-8 last year and isn't exactly a juggernaut. I'm not saying Carolina isn't a good team. They obviously are. But not fourteen points better, especially not at home.

How did this happen? Well, the run defense was it's usual self, allowing 186 yards on the ground at 4.9 yards per carry. DeAngelo Williams and DeShaun Foster were running through holes bigger than Paris Hilton's ... uh, nevermind. You get the picture. The gaps were huge.

Offensively, Marc Bulger was not his usual accurate self, and Steven Jackson, after losing just two fumbles all of last year, lost two fumbles in the third quarter alone, which killed the Rams. After which, Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz offered this perspective on the running back:

"Perhaps Jackson will better understand that to be considered great, you have to do more than have one big season. You have to do more than promote yourself. You have to do more than take cheap shots at Marshall Faulk in interviews. And you have to avoid fumbling."

But Jackson wasn't the entire problem. The entire offense was out of rhythm, and then to cap it all off, Orlando Pace got hurt in the second quarter, suffering what coach Scott Linehan deemed, "A pretty bad sprain." Though Pace was injured, and that was a blow, there was no reason to completely buckle in the second half. The play-calling by offensive coordinator Greg Olson was especially brutal, which led Burwell to question what the coaching staff was doing:

"The problem with the Rams' offense isn't coping with Life After Orlando. It's coping with coaches who keep forgetting how committed they have to be to sticking with a game plan that realizes that you have to keep feeding Jackson the ball. It's coping with coaches who have brain cramps too often, where they forget about how and why this offense should work like a dream almost every Sunday."

So, the Cardinals season is slowly slipping away, and should they lose the division by one or two games, all they have to do is look back to the weekend of September 7-9 to see where it went wrong. Likewise, the Rams have gotten off to as a poor a start as anyone could have dreamed. Granted, it's one game, and there are fifteen more to play. But the NFL only has 16 games. And losing at home to a .500 team by two touchdowns is disconcerting, at best.

So, I'll ask again, anybody got that flux capacitor? And can you throw in 1.21 gigawatts while you're at it?

Sorry, Rick. It's time for you and I to go our separate ways. Because I'm not going through this crap again.

Graduating high school is always a daunting thing - life is usually never the same after that. And I did so in 1998. The summer of Sammy and Mark. It was a great summer. St. Louis, and the rest of the country, was caught up in the "Great Home Run Race." Then, a few years later, McGwire decided he wasn't going to talk about the past. In a strange way, that affected mine.

All the memories of friends and acquaintances and total strangers talking about how Mac was going to break Maris' record while we were all fixated to a television - they were suddenly flawed. The last summer of youth or innocence or whatever sappy adjective people use to describe the three months between being a high schooler and being a college student - damaged.

And that's Mark McGwire's fault. Because he didn't want to talk about the past.

Well, I'm a little older, a little wiser, and far more jaded now. With the news that Rick Ankiel has been tied to HGH, I must wish him farewell.

Suddenly, all his accomplishments are in question. And they should be.

Even though he wasn't a position player when he received HGH, and will probably say he was only using it because he was trying to recover from two arm surgeries and it was prescribed by a "doctor," I've still gotta say goodbye, Rick.

There have been too many times that I've had to be disappointed that an athlete I admired has been linked to using something pharmaceutical to enhance themselves. I'm tired of that. This is the last time it happens.

I'm not saying he's a bad person or he's fundamentally flawed or anything like that. I'm not saying I wouldn't have done the same thing if I was in his shoes. There's no anger or resentment or any of those feelings I had when McGwire testified. Because I just care less now about athletes.

I'm not going to boo Ankiel. I'm not going to scream "Cheater!" or any other put-down. Nor will I applaud.

I won't do anything.

And with that, I have to say goodbye, Rick.

Two of the most successful pitchers of the last decade are due to make starts as their teams engage in a weekend series. Mark Mulder will start on Sunday, and Pedro Martinez gets the call on Monday ... in Palm Beach, Florida. The two will be making rehab starts for the Class A affiliates of the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets, respectively.

The reports on both Mulder and Martinez have been good. The question is: which team needs their pitcher more?

Both teams are in the midst of pennant races, though the Mets have a 6 game cushion on the Phillies. The Cardinals, meanwhile, are chasing both the Brewers and Cubs, and remain 3 games out of first place.

The Mets starting rotation has an aggregate 4.23 ERA, but it has risen every month since the start of the season. In April, the Mets starters compiled a 2.96 ERA, best in the National League. In May, they had a 3.69 ERA for the month, in June it was 4.20, in July it rose to 4.50, and in August it has been 5.04.

In St. Louis, the Cardinals starting rotation has a 5.04 ERA for the season, but it has gotten lower in recent months. For the month of June, the starters compiled a hideous 5.31 ERA, it went down to 4.54 in July, and has been very good in August, as the starters have a 3.84 ERA for the month.

The return of both will mean a big boost to each club, as long as they stay healthy. So which team will benefit the most? That depends on which pitcher they replace. In New York, that would be Brian Lawrence, who has not been very good since his recall on August 3. He has a 5.57 ERA, 1.81 WHIP and opponents have hit .318 off of him.

Meanwhile, unless the Cards go to a six-man rotation, the odd man out will most likely be Anthony Reyes. Despite his 2-12 record, Reyes has pitched decently. He has received little to no run support, and his 5.61 ERA is in contrast to his .256 opponents batting average and 1.31 WHIP. He is certainly capable of delivering good performances, more so than Lawrence.

Still, it is pretty clear that the Cards need Mulder more than the Mets need Martinez. Despite their rising ERA, the Mets have a far more proven and stable rotation than the Cardinals. This month may just be a fluke for St. Louis' starters. It is probably unrealistic to believe the likes of Joel Pineiro and Kip Wells can maintain their recent success.

That said, the return of these two formerly outstanding pitchers are clearly going to help both squads. The Mets will count on Pedro to help them hold off Atlanta and Philadelphia, while the Cards need Mulder to assist in an unlikely late season surge to topple the Cubs and Brewers.

Many great philosophical questions have been pondered throughout time. What is knowledge? Does God exist? What is the nature of reality? In a similar vein, many great thinkers have ruminated this question: If the current pennant races were porn, what type of porn would they be?

N.L. Central - Amateur

This is the easiest race to define. Milwaukee, Chicago and St. Louis are in a race in baseball's worst division. In any other division, they would not be anywhere close to the lead. Clearly, the Brewers are baseball's version of the "casting couch" girl. They are apprehensive, unsure of themselves, and wondering what the hell they are doing.

N.L. West - Orgy

The N.L. West is a jumbled orgy. While Arizona's kids are on top for now, the whole division has switched positions throughout the season. San Diego and L.A. have had turns at the top, and are now fighting to be included in postseason.

N.L. East - Watersports

The New York Mets are the rich old men of the group. They simply enjoy toying with the other teams, only to denigrate them in the end. Atlanta and Philly are sandwiched in the middle, but are clearly looking up at the Mets.

A.L. Central - Role Play

Cleveland and Detroit have switched roles throughout the season. They can't seem to make up their mind about who wants to be in what role. Early in the year, Detroit was in the lead role, but now the Indians have made a charge in an attempt to takeover the Tigers as front runners.

A.L. East - S&M

In Boston, the Red Sox jumped out and dominated their opposition. Now, the Yankees have made a charge, and are attempting to get up from under the foot of their rivals. Having been the media's whipping boys for the first part of the season, New York is trying to release itself from the chains of second place.

A.L. West - MILF

In honor of L.A., the Angels are clearly MILF's of the West. The Mariners are doing their best to come from behind, but the wise Angels have veterans who have been there before and know what they are doing.

University of Texas outfielder Kyle Russell led NCAA baseball with 28 homeruns this spring. Seeing that he was a draft eligible sophomore, clubs knew he had all the leverage in the world. It was going to take premium money to get him to sign. The St. Louis Cardinals knew that. They picked him in the 4th round anyway.

As it turns out, the Cards failed to sign Russell, and are left with nothing. In baseball, losing a 4th round pick is a pretty big deal. Those are premium picks, and you have to get something out of it, especially with a farm system as depleted as the Cardinals' is.

Many people are questioning what the Cardinals were thinking by employing this strategy.

John Hadley, a sports journalist in St. Louis, brings up a number of solid points:

"If the Cardinals wanted to roll the dice bringing Russell into the fold, why not buy insurance by picking him in the third round so that if the team failed to ink Russell they could receive a compensatory pick in the 2008 draft? Making the selection in the fourth round risked the loss of a prime pick without dividend."

He also questions why the Cards passed on prep pitcher Rick Porcello, though he was widely considered the best high school pitching prospect available:

"Why pass on such a highly-rated prospect in the first round yet take a chance on a suspect prospect knowing in advance his monetary demands would well exceed his slotting? In relative terms, I wonder if the Red Birds would've been better paying a premium for a premium pitcher in the first round rather than a middle infielder and projection selection in the fourth round?"

At the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, writer Jeff Gordon wonders if the Cards had a gameplan concerning Russell:

"Alan Hendricks, Russell’s adviser, wanted first-round money ... The young man, on the advice of Hendricks, wasn’t bluffing. He was willing to bet on himself. Another big season with the Longhorns ought to make big league general managers more eager to pay up ... So the Cards missed out .... If they weren’t willing to pay first-round money for a potential first-round talent when his asking price was known to be high, didn’t the Cards just throw away that pick?"

In St. Louis, nobody was surprised. It's difficult to call management cheap, as the Cards' Major League payroll is close to $100 million, but it is not unlike the team to try and do things as inexpensively as possible. Such as signing reclamation projects like Kip Wells and hoping Dave Duncan can cure them all, or passing on a talent like Porcello because of ca$h concerns.

This is a difficult pill to swallow, and one Cards fans can only hope the team learns from.

With the recent news that St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa and outfielder Juan Encarnacion are not happy with one another, it calls to mind some of the great feuds between players and the men in charge of leading them.

- Bobby Knight vs. Neil Reed: During a 1997 basketball practice at Indiana, Knight choked Reed, an incident that was caught on videotape. Knight denied the incident, and in an interview with HBO's Real Sports said, "I don't remember that. I am sure that I have with kids. I will tell you this: There isn't anything that I have done with one kid that I haven't done with a lot of other kids. I have no apologies to make whatsoever for anything that I have done in an attempt to motivate kids."

- Brett Hull vs. Mike Keenan: When Keenan was hired as coach of the St. Louis Blues in 1994, Hull didn't like the idea then, saying, "I find it hard to believe that my personality and his are going to get along too well." Boy, was he right. The two never got along during their time together in St. Louis, and publicly feuded with each other throughout Keenan's tenure. The feud has never simmered. In fact, last winter, Hull had this to say about Keenan: "He's a bad human. He's the NHL's version of Adolf Hitler. He did more bad things to good people than anyone."

- Oregon Women's Basketball coach Jody Runge vs. entire team: In 2001, Runge "resigned" after eight players on the team complained about her coaching manner, and how her communication methods. The eight members met with Oregon Athletic Director Bill Moos, who hired an outside firm to investigate. Soon after, Runge was gone.

- Danny Ainge vs. Robert Horry: Ainge was head coach of the Phoenix Suns, and Horry a star player. After being taken out of a game in 1997, Horry threw a towel in Ainge's face. He was suspended two games and later traded to the Lakers.

- Keyshawn Johnson vs. Jon Gruden: Unhappy with not getting the damn ball enough, Johnson famously screamed at Gruden in 2003 during a Monday Night Football game. Eventually, Tampa Bay deactivated Johnson in the middle of the season, citing his behavior as a distraction to the team. Afterwards, Johnson told ESPN, "I was never Gruden's guy. He never liked me. I told him I'd rather retire than play for him in 2004."

- Billy Martin vs. Reggie Jackson: Probably the most famous of player/coach conflicts, the two Yankees really went at it in Fenway Park in 1977. When Martin took Jackson out of the game for failing to hustle, the two famously went at it in the dugout. When Martin left the Yankees after the 1978 season, he called Jackson, "a born liar."

- Rob Dibble vs. Lou Piniella: In 1992, Piniella and Dibble literally started to fight in the clubhouse after a game. At issue was Dibble indicating Piniella was less than truthful with the flame throwing reliever.

- Latrell Sprewell vs. P.J. Carlesimo: When the two were in Golden State together, Sprewell became infamous for choking his coach at a practice in 1997. After leaving that practice, Spree returned, this time throwing punches at Carlesimo. The two had been bickering for most of the season, and Sprewell never played for the Warriors again. His contract was voided, and he was suspended for the remainder of the season.

Also considered: Larry Brown vs. Allen Iverson, Mike Ditka vs. Jim McMahon, June Jones vs. Jeff George, Kobe Bryant vs. Phil Jackson