What A Difference A Week Makes in Local Sports Scene

By Randy Gardner

As the world turns is the title of my column this week, and quite appropriate for this issue, Halloween, Oct. 31.

Last week I was talking about how great of a sports weekend it was, now I am talking about how bad of a St. Louis sports extended weekend we had (includes Monday).

Let’s first start off with the St. Louis Cardinals as they let things slip through their hands at home. By the time this column comes out on Thursday, the series could be over. Looking at the Series so far as an innocent bystander.

The Cardinals have not hit and the Red Sox have hit  in the clutch.

The Cardinals have, for the most part, quality pitching in the Series both starting and relievers, except for the few glitches that costs them two games. But the fielding has been filled with little sprints of Little League Ball.

There have been at least two major calls that have made a huge difference in the outcome of the games. So where do you stand? Many say that the Cardinals have not played well enough to win but they have stuck in there. Sometimes it is luck that can make a difference, we will just have to wait and see, not knowing at press times if Michael Wacca can continue his magic Wednesday night.

Can you honestly say that the Cardinals deserve to win the series? Sometimes the best team doesn’t win. You look at the bats of this team throughout the year, they were phenomenal but they have gone silent in the playoffs. I am hoping that as Thursday rolls around and this column hits the home that tonight will be Game 7. If not, it was a great run this year for the Cards, just the hitting went South in the Playoffs.

Rams Fall 1-Yard Short with Pass Play

The Rams finally got their chance in the national spotlight on Monday Night Football but were overshadowed by the Cardinals. What bad luck for them as they played the Seattle Seahawks all the way to the end. The defense played great in this one and gave offensive and the Rams a chance to win. At the end they throw the ball inside the 5- yard line instead of letting rookie  Zac Stacy run the ball like he had been doing all evening with over 130 yards rushing. Give the guy a shot; he had played great all night.

These are coaching  decisions that  don’t understand. That was a very painful loss to a divisional team and could have really changed the season for the Rams especially emotionally as they move forward. Just to let you know as a coach, I would have  had no shame in letting a defensive player take a penalty in hitting  wide receiver Tate for Seattle after his stupid showboating. There is no place in sports for that crap at any level. If he was one of my players no matter how good he is, he would be sitting on the bench. That’s ridiculous.

Mizzou Can Still Have Great Season

Another emotional loss was the Mizzou Tigers as they fell just short of staying unbeaten. Just like in years past, this team is snake-bitten by the littlest things that just destroy them. Will they rebound against two teams that are  not as good and salvage a great season or will they collapse. I will be curious to see, it will all be about willpower now. I hope for the sake of Gary Pinkel that he can pull this team together and make a decent run here at the end.

Leave a Reply