Editor's Note: I know some people don't count Columbia, Missouri as part of the "St. Louis" sports scene. However, much like the University of Illinois in Champaign, the University of Missouri has a large portion of fans in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Hence, I count it.

Yesterday's From The Desk of Tim McKernan poll question asked the question, "What are you looking forward to most this weekend?" And, the options were the Rams-Packers, Cardinals-Rockies, Blues-Stars pre-season game, and Missouri-Nevada.

To my absolute surprise, the Missouri-Nevada game took nearly 60% of the vote. The Cardinals-Rockies took second with 25%, and then the Rams-Packers finished in third...just eleven percentage points higher than a Blues' pre-season game.

While I, as a Missouri "graduate," am looking most forward to the Tigers' game in Reno, I'm surprised 60% of our readers would choose it over the Cardinals-Rockies...or Rams-Packers. But, that's an illustration of how far the program has come...and how far the Rams have fallen.

So, with that said, I'd gather Thursday October 8th will be the biggest sports day of the year around these parts. The Cardinals will play Game 2 of the NLDS either here against Colorado or in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. The Blues open up the home portion of the 2009-10 schedule against the Thrashers. And, Missouri hosts Nebraska in a Thursday night nationally televised game.

Ideally, the Cardinals are at home with a 1-0 lead going into Game 2 and Adam Wainwright on the mound in a day game. Then, you either get to head down to Columbia or the Scottrade Center for the festivities...or just hope picture-in-picture is working.

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