Acknowledging The Problems...And Hoping For Success
Much like I felt like the Cardinals in August 2009 were the best Redbird team I had seen in my lifetime---which now seems like an absolutely asinine statement---I don't recall a Cardinal team going from so good...to so bad...so quickly...than this 2009 club.
In the whole scheme of things, the disaster from September 11th to the end of the season doesn't impact October all that much. I think there is great value to homefield advantage, but as 2006 proves, the Cardinals don't need to play at Busch Stadium 
to win series...as they won all three of their 2006 postseason series without homefieldadvantage.
But, I think at this point, you'd be hard pressed to find a person associated with the Cardinals---players, coaches, front office, fans, and media---who, deep down, aren't at least a little concerned with what took place over the past three weeks.
I've noticed from a small segment of fans this odd sense of denial that everything is going to be ok when October rolls around. Based on what we've seen from the team lately---ranging from Ryan Franklin's mess dating back to mid-August, to Joel Pineiro's September, and the disappearance of the offense---I don't know how someone can feel that the proverbial switch will be flipped Wednesday in Los Angeles.
However, as I wrote on Friday, I really like the Cardinals' chances in this series *as long as they can win one of the two games at Busch Stadium.* That may seem like a ridiculously obvious statement...or a statement that sets the bar absurdly low...but that's how I view the NLDS against the Dodgers. Win at least one of two in Los Angeles...which they damn well should do with Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright going...and then split at Busch Stadium with Pineiro and John Smoltz going...and then win the series a week from Tuesday in Los Angeles with Carpenter.
That's the most realistic plan to success for the Cardinals on paper as I look ahead to this series, but as 2006, for example, proved, random surprises occur in October that you can't handicap in advance. So, perhaps the Cardinals have a big positive---or negative---surprise in store from one of their pitchers...or the Dodgers have the same surprise waiting when things get underway on Wednesday.
My one statement of caution for those of us relying on Carpenter and Wainwright to simply win every single one of their starts and therefore the tandem single-handedly carries the Cardinals to Yankee Stadium is this: The Cardinals have lost 3 of Carpenter's last 6 starts and 3 of Wainwright's last 4 starts. In other words, while they both have been outstanding, their appearance on the mound has not meant automatic wins for the team.
But, in order for the Dodgers to beat the Cardinals, they will have to beat Carpenter or Wainwright at least one time out of the three starts they'll get.
Thursday Night Sports Paradise And A Favorable Schedule
How strong is it that the Cardinal game Thursday is a 5 p.m. start? So huge. That means you can watch the Cardinals and Dodgers, and unless it's some marathon, they'll be about done by the time things get going between #24 Missouri Tigers and #21 Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Blues' Home Opener. I was scared that they'd be playing at the same time. Instead, the schedule sets up for about a 7 hour sit-on-your-couch-fest with two of the biggest games on the 2009 St. Louis sports calendar 
being played back to back. It's really saying something that the legacy of both the 2009 Cardinals and 2009 Missouri Tigers will be largely determined by what takes place between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. Thursday.
What To Make of The Big 12 So Far?
Brief aside: It looks like the Big 12 of 2009 isn't in the same ballpark as the Big 12 of 2007 or 2008. There's just one team in the top 10, and while Texas, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Missouri are all ranked, only the Longhorns have looked really strong in each of their games. The Cowboys already have a loss at home to Houston...who somehow lost to UTEP...who Texas ran out of the stadium last week. KU has the ability to move the ball through the air at will, but they lack the ability to stop that offensive attack so far. Nebraska has a good loss at Virginia Tech, but considering they had that game in the bag before a blown coverage, I'm sure perma-grumpy coach Bo Pellini doesn't feel too great about their record, and then Missouri has the weakest strength of schedule of the lot. I still don't have a grip on where Missouri is this season, but we'll learn a lot the next three weeks with Nebraska, Oklahoma State, and Texas all up next.
European Vacation
How about the Blues' weekend in Sweden? Man...I would've been thrilled with picking up two points against the Red Wings, but to get all four...and to come back twice from two-goal deficits? Wow. That's an indication of where this team is this year with the veteran leadership of Keith Tkachuk, the re-emergence of Paul Kariya, the health of Erik Johnson, and the youngsters having a year of NHL experience under their belt.The Blues are 2-0 for the first time since 1994...and nearly as enjoyable, the Red Wings are 0-2 for the first time since 1989.
Other fun facts:
- The Blues look better equipped for back-to-back games this year with former Red Wing Ty Conklin settling down in his first start after allowing two goals early against his former team. He faced a barrage of shots in the first period, but as Tkachuk noted in his postgame comments to Jeremy Rutherford of the Post-Dispatch, Conklin kept the team in the game when it could've gotten out of hand. Andy Murray is going to play Conklin in those brutal back-to-backs, and his performance probably has the Wings wishing they would've found a way to keep him.
- After two games, 12 of the Blues' 19 starting position players have a point.
- The Red Wings have 8 players who hail from Sweden...which perhaps explains why both games may have felt like home games for Detroit. The most popular player for the Wings from Sweden, Nicklas Lidstrom, didn't have a point over the weekend.
- You'd like to think that after picking up a surprise four points from Detroit this weekend that the stage would be set for a big start to the season. They play 13 of their next 19 games at home.
The insideSTL.com September 2009 Girls Next Door Competition And Party This Friday
September 2009 was quite a month for the insideSTL.com Girls Next Door contest. And, this Friday at Lucas Park, one of the stronger groups of girls in the competition's history will be on hand for the Girl Next Door Party. You can vote for your favorite by CLICKING HERE. After one of the biggest nights in St. Louis sports this decade Thursday with the Cardinals-Dodgers, Missouri-Nebraska, and Blues' Home Opener, relax on our "day off" from the playoffs, college football, and Blues by coming and boozing at Lucas Park...and cheering for your favorite September 2009 Girl Next Door.
Here's a look at our five competitors for September 2009.
Rhianna L.
Kasey Losch
Abbie Favinger
Sarah Elizabeth
Jamie Theis
Lumiere Place: Home of The 2009 insideSTL.com Girl Next Door of The Year Party
Speaking of the Girl Next Door competition, I'm pleased to announce our 2009 Girl Next Door of The Year Party will take place at Lumiere Place this January. insideSTL.com is quite excited to begin a partnership with Lumiere, and I'm really 
pleased that the GND of The Year and AFC/NFC Championship at their outstanding property. We're celebrating our new relationship with Lumiere by having a Ladies of Lumiere Girl Next Door month this October. All of this month's GND's are employees of Lumiere. Take a look at the first October GND, CLICK HERE.
Road Tripping
We did wind up road tripping this weekend...just for the hell of it. After a long deliberation, we decided to go to Nashville. For those of you interested in a road trip to middle Tennessee, here's a rundown:
- It only took us about 4.5 hours to get there. Not too bad at all.
- I wouldn't recommend the Aloft Hotel in Franklin, Tennessee. Franklin is about 20 miles outside of Nashville, and with Vanderbilt hosting Ole Miss this weekend, downtown hotels were sold out. So, we opted for the Aloft. As a creature of the night, I must have complete darkness in my room in order to sleep, and for whatever reason, the Aloft is the only hotel I've ever stayed at that doesn't have blinds or drapes that give the guest the option of completely blocking out the light. So, Saturday morning, with blinds that allowed the light in on the sides, I was up and hungover at 7 a.m. after going to bed at 4:30 a.m. Furthermore...for those of you who aren't as big of pussies as me...the room went from hot as the fires of hell to a 30 mph gust of cold air blowing directly on the left side of the bed when the air came on. It's a nice hotel, but those two flaws made the experience one that I would not want to repeat.
- Even though Memphis is the city known for barbecue in Tennessee, Nashville has a famous barbecue spot in Jack's...which from what I understand, Jack's has two locations in the area. We went to the one on Broadway...which is right in the middle of the downtown bars and music joints. Oftentimes these local legend restaurants are given more credit than the food deserves, but Jack's was damn good barbecue. I would recommend the beef brisket to those of you making the trip.
- Anna-Marie and I are far from country music fans, but we're not strongly against it either. So, we were cool with having some booze at the "Honky Tonks" (yeah...they actually exist) in downtown Nashville. There are a few famous ones down there...so I'm told. The Stage and Tootsie's are two of the more well known joints, and from what I heard a guy saying, Kid Rock just showed up at Tootsie's last Saturday, which is about the size of a hole in the wall bar, and just started performing spontaneously. But, for the most part, it's aspiring country music artists just hoping to catch a break by catching the eye of a music executive. Perhaps that's why on both Friday and Saturday night, we saw the same guy randomly "pulled out of the crowd" by the different bands we were watching. Each time, he would sing the "country?" music song "You May Be Right" by Billy Joel and then "Hurts So Good" by John Mellencamp. That would not be all that noteworthy, except on Saturday night...after recognizing him from Friday night...we noticed he walked up to the lead singer of the band and handed him five $20 bills. About five minutes later, he was introduced as "a good friend and a hell of a talent," and he proceeded to do his thing with Billy Joel. I guess that's what you got to do to get a shot at the honky tonks of Nashville.
- Even though we aren't country music fans, we still had a good time at these joints. The places were packed with good ol' boys and girls. I wouldn't call fitness a high priority for patrons of the honky tonks, and I would say there's more diversity at a St. Charles golf tournament than at a Nashville honky tonk. But, as far as having a good time and people watching goes, it's quality amusement. From a set list perspective, it seems that you can count on a few cuts being played by just about every band...no matter who they are or where they're playing: Dixieland Delight by Alabama, Dust on The Bottle by David Lee Murphy, and, of course, Save A Horse by Big And Rich.
- By playing those songs, you get the crowd---oftentimes made up of Vanderbilt sorority girls and/or lasses who made the trip in from surrounding rural areas for a bachelorette party---singing along and dancing. However, late in the set at Tootsie's Saturday night, 
the lead singer of the band was up on the bar, and he pulled a young African-American lass up on the bar with him...and told the crowd he wanted to sing Prince's Purple Rain to her. The place cleared out like the bar was on fire.
- We didn't hit any of the stag bars, but thorough research was done before making that decision, and it turns out that Nashville has a BYOB policy along with a "3 foot rule." I don't know what it's like these days, but I recall the outstandingly classy Club Vogue in Columbia, Missouri had a BYOB policy, but I've never been to a place with a "3 foot rule." I'm curious what the point of the "3 foot rule" is. My guess is that it's just about a political compromise between the Family Valules voters of the community and the great Americans who partonize the stag bars. It's the strip bar equivalent of the casinos-must-be-on-a-body-of-water deal we have in Missouri.
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