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Best Holiday Wishes To Our Teams
BY JIM WIENERS
As 2006 comes to an end on Sunday, Dec. 31, it’s time to send some wishes for this holiday season. There is nothing special for these holiday wishes, just some thoughts from this writer as we are about to say goodbye to 2006 and hello to 2007.
TO THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS, 2006 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS: Repeating as World Series Champions, something the Cardinals or any Major St. Louis Professional Sports teams have never done.
TO ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEIR NEW ON-CAMPUS ARENA OPENS IN A FEW YEARS. Continued improvement in their athletic progress, especially since Baseball, Women’s Volleyball, Men’s Soccer and Women’s Soccer gained NCAA Division I bids and there are signs that Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball are headed that way.
TO ST. LOUIS CHRISTIAN COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL, off to a 9-4 start prior to Dec. 18 (9-5 assuming a loss Dec. 18 at Columbia [Mo.] College): A second straight 20-plus win season after going 23-11 last season.
TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI (COLUMBIA) FOOTBALL TEAM (en route to the Sun Bowl, Dec. 29, El Paso, Texas, against Oregon State University): A 10-win season and a spot in the Big 12 Championship game for a shot at a BCS (Bowl Championship Series) Bowl game.
TO THE RIVER CITY RASCALS (INDEPENDENT FRONTIER LEAGUE) BASEBALL TEAM UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP: A post-season playoff appearance and a return of fans, after drawing less than 109,000 last year, the second smallest in franchise history.
TO JIM SCHOTTMUELLER, McCLUER NORTH HEAD FOOTBALL COACH: A state championship team before retiring.
TO TRINITY CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS, ESPECIALLY TO HEAD SOCCER COACH AND ATHLETIC DIRECTOR VINCE DRAKE: A state championship in any sport.
TO LOCAL DIRT TRACK RACING PARTICIPANTS AND SPECTATORS, NOW THAT ST. CHARLES SPEEDWAY AND GODFREY, Ill., SPEEDWAY (ALSO KNOWN AS 67 RACEWAY PARK) ARE CLOSED PERMANATELY: Hope that Tri-City Speedway (Pontoon Beach, Ill.) and I-55 Raceway (Pevely, Mo.) remains open for a long time.
TO THE MISSOURI STATE HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVTIES ASSOCIATION ON THE STATE QUALIFYING METHOD FOR FOOTBALL: A return to five classes from six, since it seems that Classes Five and Six seemed more watered down and modifying their qualifying method (three weeks seem too few).
AND TO ALL OF THE READERS OF THE INDEPENDENT NEWS, and www.flovalleynews.com: Happy Holidays and hope for the best in 2007.
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