Merry Christmas!

As I write this I am listening to Christmas music and as the man sings "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", I have to agree. The Christmas Tree is up, as are the exterior lights. The presents are all wrapped and most of the meal has been prepared. So, on this most joyous of holidays let me wish you and yours a very Merry and Blessed Christmas wherever you are. This message is also for our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. To you I say hurry home and may we have you home next Christmas. Thank you for all that you do for us so we may live freely and celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Tigers Rip Illinois

I'm still celebrating last night's win by my beloved Missouri Tigers over Illinois in Saint Louis. The Tigers beat the Illini for the first time in nine years by a count of 81-68 and have bragging rights for the next year. The win improves Mizzou to 8-3. Illinois is now 8-4

This is also the first time in many many years I can remember Mizzou sweeping Illinois in football and basketball. Both games turned out to be easy wins for the Tigers.

MIZ ZOU!

White Rat Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

I spent a lot of time in the '80s at Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis. I mean a LOT of time. One of the reasons was the St. Louis Cardinals were always competitive and won three National League championships and a World Series in 1982.

The man who ran those teams, White Herzog, has been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown by the so called "Old Timers Committee". And it certainly has been a long time in coming. The "White Rat" as he is still affectionately referred to by Cardinal fans, tailored his team for the cavernous Busch Stadium I. (Well, Busch Stadium as it was know while he ran the Red Birds).

Herzog used speed, defense and timely hitting to win ball games and that style of ball came to be known as "Whitey Ball" a term used for a team that manufactured many of it's runs. I can remember seeing Vince Coleman reach on an infield hit, steal second and then get moved over to third base on a ground ball to the right side of the infield. That would bring up the third spot hitter who would then hit a sacrifice fly and put the Cardinals on the board. With the team's pitching and tight defense the Cards won numerous one run games that led to those three pennants.

So here's to you Whitey Herzog. Congratulations on becoming the newest member of the Hall of Fame!

Kansas and Mark Mangino

I have used this space in the past to poke fun at former Kansas University head coach Mark Mangino. As a Missouri alum I have little use for Kansas and their football or basketball programs. But, the University of Kansas stepped in it when they fired Mangino earlier this week.

Mangino's team lost seven in a row and blew a lead to that school's arch rival Missouri in the final game of the season. And that left the alumni unhappy. But, the truth is Mangino is the victim of"Bobby Knight Syndrome". Mangino has dealt with his players in the same manner for the past seven years. But, no one out in Chicken Hawk land seemed to care when he won 12 games and the Orange Bowl.

Kansas was fortunate to have as talented a coach as Mangino and Missouri fans knew he could recruit and coach. To a person every MU fan and alum I know and have talked to thinks that Kansas screwed up. As a Missouri fan I am glad that we won't have to face Mangino led Kansas teams anymore because he was very good at what he did.

I'm not sure who KU will hire, but they are going to have a hard time finding anyone as good as Mark Mangino. Kansas is a basketball school and good football coaches don't want to live in the shadow of the basketball team. As a Mizzou football fan I am not unhappy to see Kansas' program in turmoil. But, Kansas screwed up when they let him go. Mark Mangino will end up better off than the Kansas football program.

And CBS is No Better

While I wait for the Mizzou basketball game (see the post below), I am also aggravated with CBS TV's continuing usage of inane sound effects in their football coverage. I have the Alabama-Florida game turned on but the sound is muted. Every replay or graphic is accompanied by these obnoxious sounds. Wake up CBS, I haven't heard anyone yet who says they enjoy the noise you insist upon inflicting on your viewers.

ESPN Blows Another One

I am aggravated at the moment because the self proclaimed "World Wide Leader in Sports" did a poor job of scheduling programs. ESPNU is currently showing a football game between two small black colleges that 99% of the nation could care less if they ever saw them play. The network only scheduled three hours for the game, but still sold the same number of commercials it always does. So, there was no way the game could finish in the allotted three hours. In fact most of the fourth quarter remained to be played at 4 pm.

The victims are the fans of college basketball and Oregon and Missouri in particular. Viewers are now being told "we'll keep you up do date on what is happening in that game". This is bush league and ESPN knows it. Why doesn't this ever happen to Duke or North Carolina or Connecticut when ESPN shows one of their games. Thank God most of Missouri's games this year are on Fox Sports Net or the Big XII network.

If you're as displeased by ESPN's actions as I am, boycott the sponsors of the football game and the Oregon-Missouri game.

First of the Season

Christmas is only three weeks away and I had my first taste of a Christmas Ale last night. I was able to sample Schlafly's Christmas Ale and it was every bit as good as I remember it being last year. I am color blind but my neighbor H tells me it is amber in color. Hints of Orange Peel, spicy hops and Cloves are present from the time it hits your tongue. On a scale of 1 to 5, I would rate this year's batch a 4.

I plan to sample a number of other brewers Christmas and Winter Ales and will blog my findings as I find and taste them. It's the most wonderful time of the year. Ho-Ho-Ho!

Tigers Whoop Jayhawks

How 'bout them Tigers! My beloved Missouri Tigers came from behind twice yesterday to defeat their arch-rival Kansas 41-39 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

The Tigers defense got pushed around all afternoon long but stepped up big time at the end and sacked KU quarterback Sod Reesing for a safety to cut the chickenhawks lead from 39-38. Three plays later the Tigers were inside the KU five and a couple of plays later the game was over and the Tigers had won.

Kudos to Blaine Gabbert, Derrick Washington and Danario Alexander who moved through a lame Kansas defense pretty much at will. Gabbert passed for over 400 yards, Washington had several key runs for touchdown and Alexander had over 220 yards receiving on the day. And a tip of the hat to the Tiger coaching staff of Gary Pinkel.

The Tigers shot themselves in the foot all afternoon long with stupid penalties and even dumber personal fouls. But, in the end the cream rose to the top and Mizzou has bragging rights for at least the next year. And you know what makes the win even sweeter? Missouri handed Kansas it's seventh consecutive defeat after they had started the year 5-0. Yep, the chickenhawks were a fraud from the start and all that bull about their winning the Big 12 north was just that...a bunch of hot air. And to top it all off Mark Mangino and his band of losers are done for the season and aren't going anywhere near a bowl unless they buy a ticket!!!

MIZ - ZOU RAH!!!

Hilarious TV Program

The funniest thing I have seen this holiday weekend was on TV Thursday night. While visiting family a local TV station "newscast" came on the channel they had been watching. This particular station bills itself as "Newschannel 5". What a joke.

The local talking head came on and did a story, no scratch that. The talking head came on and did a two minute infomercial about the importance of "Black Friday" to local retailers. And he ended his pitch by urging the viewers to get started earlier. The producer of this comedy then put up a graphic with the names of stores that would open very early. This list included retailers who advertise on the local channel. The list did not contain the names of hundreds of other stores that were also opening early the next morning who did not advertise on this Gannett owned TV station.

The station then ran the obligatory Thanksgiving Day cliche about local food shelters feeding the needy. It could have been handled in a 15 second reader, but instead this joke of a station spent more than two minutes showing video of people serving food and a bunch of bums eating dinner. They even interviewed a how should I put it...a colorful character. He uttered some non comprehensible response to "what do you think about this nice dinner" type of question.

And then the funniest segment of the evening was watching some family's football game from earlier in the day. I have no idea who these wannabes were but the station spent time and money to send a photographer to this backyard pickup game and then inflicted it on their audience.

If you missed it don't worry. This kind of crap runs nightly on KSDK TV only in St. Louis and you will be subjected to it repeatedly if you waste your time watching the "local news". Yep, it is the funniest thing I've seen all weekend.

Thanksgiving Addendum

I was remiss in not giving thanks to the families of our troops in my initial Thanksgiving post below this one. Not only are the soldiers making a huge sacrifice but so are their families in living day to day without a spouse, parent, son or daughter. So thank you to those families who are also making that sacrifice.

Post Thanksgiving Post

Pardon the above pun on words. Yeah, I just wanted to tell everyone what I am thankful for. (Oh yeah, never end a sentence with a preposition).

I am thankful for my family and my friends. And, I am thankful for my health. But, I am very thankful for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan who are fighting for the American way of life this Thanksgiving weekend. I have been very richly blessed and have more than I should. So, thank you Lord for all that I have. I have more than I possibly deserve.

A Win and a Loss

My beloved Tigers stepped up this weekend and beat a decent Kansas State team out in Manhattan 38-12. Danario Alexander continues to impress with his speed and agility. He may be one of the most under rated wide outs in the nation. And the defense did a great job too. Sean Weatherspoon dominated the Wildcats and helped lead the Tigers fourth quarter goal line stand that rebuffed K-State on four trys. The Tigers are back home this weekend against Iowa State at Faurot Field and will be looking to improve on their 6-4 record.

Sunday was not as good a day for St. Louis football fans. The Rams played well in the first half but ultimately lost to a very good New Orleans Saints team, 28-23. The Rams are now 1-8. The Rams were tied at half 14 apiece, but New Orleans ran the second half kickoff back for a touchdown and never looked back. Up next for the Rams, the defending NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals in the Valley of the Sun.

Still Trying to Figure out What Happened Yesterday

The Sun still rose this morning, but when I looked out on the net I see where the Tigers still lost to the lowly Baylor Bears yesterday. I know Mizzou can't score in the second half and that puts a lot of pressure on the defense. And Mizzou's defense was on the field a lot and it showed in the fourth quarter. In fact, the Tigers were outscored 24 to 5 in the second half.

As I wrote below this, the Tigers bowl streak is in jeopardy, and they must beat two of their last three opponents to get to a bowl. Kansas State will be tough on the road next week, and then Iowa State comes to Columbia the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Keep in mind that Iowa State has already beaten Nebraska this year, something the Tigers could not accomplish. And the regular season finale is at Arrowhead against those low life Kansas Jayhawks. That will be tough.

Granted this Tiger team is young, but for some reason it doesn't seem to be improving. And that's a question that head coach Gary Pinkel is going to have to answer to move the program to the next level.

No One Said it was Easy

No one ever said it was easy being a Mizzou football fan. I went to Columbia today and what did I see? I saw the Tigers get upset by Baylor 40-32. AAaaarrrggghhh!

But, on the positive side it was a beautiful day to be outside and watching football. The high in Columbia this afternoon was 75 degrees and I can feel the sunburn as I type this.

As they say, there is always next week. But, after watching Baylor beat Mizzou at home I don't have a whole lot of confidence is Mizzou playing in Manhattan, Kansas next Saturday afternoon. In fact the Tigers are not bowl eligible yet and have to win two of their last three games to do so. I have this feeling that is going to come down to the Kansas game on the 21st to see if the Tigers go bowling.

Chiefs and Tigers and Rams...Oh My!

This may have been the worst week of the football season. The college and pro teams I follow managed to get their butts handed them to by their opponents. My beloved Tigers got blown out in Columbia Saturday night 41-6. It could have been worse. My question for Mizzou coach Gary Pinkel is why did he leave an inured Blaine Gabbert in the game? If he doesn't have enough confidence in his bench QBs than why did he recruit them? The Tigers hit the road this weekend and play Colorado in Boulder Saturday morning.

The Rams got blown out by Indianapolis 42-6. The Rams were never close and the game was ugly. Peyton Manning was almost able to move the ball at will. The Rams are now 0-7 and up next are the "mighty" Detroit Lions. How'd you like to be a Lion season ticket holder and have to pay for that game? I'm not sure I could stand the excitement.

And the Chiefs got hammered at Arrowhead 37-7 by San Diego. The game was never close. But, there is good news for KC fans next weekend; the Chiefs have a bye.

I guess the fact that they all got blown out was bad enough, but they all were playing at home. And between the three teams they were outscored by 101 points. Gee, I can hardly wait for this weekend's games.

Catching Up

I've been busy this past couple of weeks and haven't had much time to write. In reality, there hasn't been much to write about.

In sports the baseball playoffs have been boring being dominated by two East Coast teams I have no use for. (Although, as I write this the Angels have rallied against the Yankees to go ahead in game six). But, I fear ultimately it will be another "who cares" World Series of the Yank This and Fillies. (Yes, pun intended).

In other sports, Mizzou has lost two in a row and is poised to lose to Texas this weekend in Columbia and the Rams have continued their winless streak and are now 6-0. But, I believe their defense is actually better than last year.

I guess if I can find some humor in the whole situation it was listening to ESPN talking head Chris Berman trying to do baseball play-by-play. Berman's huge ego got in the way and he was terrible, but so bad he became a laughing stock. Thanks for the laughs Boomer.

Fortunatly,the Cards Aren't Alone

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have done the rest of the baseball world a favor by eliminating one of the most overhyped overpaid ballclubs that made the playoffs. Goodbye, Boston Red Sox.

The Angels came from two runs down in the top of the ninth this afternoon to beat the Sox and sweep them out of the American League playoffs. The final this afternoon was 7-6.

I am not a hater of the Red Sox, but I am glad to see their high priced team go the way of the rest of most MLB clubs. Now if only the Twins can bounce back against those low life Yankees.

Man Was I Wrong

If you read the post below this one you'll see I was wrong about the Cardinals and the Dodgers. The Dodgers swept the Red Birds and it was anything but a classic. In fact, the Cards were downright ugly.

It's taken about 24 hours for me to get past the loss, but as the old saying goes..."there's always next year". In fact Spring Training in Jupiter will start in a little over four months. The team was very good from late July to early September. There 33-11 record was better than any other organization. But, it was all down hill from there. Just like many clubs the Cardinals peaked too early.

The end was bitter, but it certainly was a fun summer.

Cardinals Entering Playoffs on a Sour Note

The St. Louis Cardinals will open post season play on Wednesday evening against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. And I have no idea what team will show up for the Cardinals. The Red Birds lost eight of their last ten games and looked terrible on numerous occasions in the final week and a half of the regular season. The Cardinals made too many errors and the bullpen was not getting many batters out. Cardinal hitters also seemed to be in a funk and did not come up with timely hitting.

On the plus side the Cardinals will start two of the top pitchers in the league against the Dodgers. Adam Wainwright will go on Wednesday and Chris Carpenter will get the start on Thursday. Both have had good success against LA. If the Cards win the first game they may very well dominate the series. But on the other hand, LA is starting two tough lefties each of those evenings. And there have been times lefties have made the Cards feckless.

The teams played seven times this season and the Cardinals won five; three games in LA and two in St. Louis. And all of the games were good tight ballgames. If form continues St. Louis will win and it could become a classic playoff series.

Rams Regressing

The St. Louis Rams may very well be the worst football team in the NFL. The club was embarrassed again this weekend by the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers mauled the Rams 35-0 and it could have been worse as the Niners were missing running back Frank Gore.

In four games the Rams have scored a whopping 24 points. The only game the Rams were in was against Washington and they fumbled that one away inside the Redskins ten yard line when they had a chance to go ahead in the fourth quarter.

This is not the fault of new head coach Steve Spagnulo. He is playing the hand he was dealt. The blame goes directly back to former general manager Jay Zygmunt for squandering numerous draft picks over the past five years. I suppose that's what happens when you let a lawyer who negotiated contracts judge talent.

Zygmunt has been replaced, but his efforts are going to be seen for several years. And my guess is St. Louisans will respond by voting with their feet and not showing up to see this lame excuse for a football team.

A Journalist's Journalist

This space is most frequently utilized for ripping the local "news" media in St. Louis. But, there are times when writers, be they in St. Louis or elsewhere, do an outstanding job and are deserving of recognition.

Check out this story written by Jeff Klinkenberg for the St. Petersburg Times. It's the story of a real man and true journalist in these days of wimpy newspapers and TV stations. The feature is excellent.

It's Going to be A Very Long Season for the Rams

As well as the Missouri Tigers have played (see below), the St. Louis Rams have been just awful. They are off to an 0-3 start and have scored a whopping 24 points in three games. Yesterday the team was beaten at the Dome by the Green Bay Packers 36-17.

It's not the coaches fault either. Don't blame new head coach Steve Spagnuolo. The cupboard is bare and it can all be attributed to the poor management of the Rams over the past six years when a contract negotiator was running the draft. It's going to take some time to rebuild the franchise and hopefully Ram fans will be patient and continue to support the business.

If there is anything Ram fans can hang there hat on is that the defense is much improved over last season. And the players taken in this year's draft have started to contribute.

How 'Bout Them Tigers - Part Deux

My beloved Mizzou Tigers football team is now 4-0 coming off a relativly easy 31-21 win over Nevada on Friday night. The Tigers led the game by 18 points on the road in the fourth quarter before the second string gave up a late meaningless touchdown.

Danario Alexander was the Tiger's offensive star of the game and was recognized this morning by the Big XII Conference for his effort as the league's offensive player of the week. The standout on D was Sean Weatherspoon who played another killer game at his Weakside Linebacker position.

Up next for the Tigers...the hated Nebraska Cornhuskers a week from Thursday night at Faurot Field in Columbia. Kickoff is 8 pm which I hate, but ESPN is paying Mizzou $350,000 for the right to move the kickoff to prime time. But, on the other hand, the lovely Erin Andrews will be coming to Columbia! Woo-Hoo!

New Fall TV Season

This isn't exactly local media criticism, but since over the air network TV has just rolled out it's new fall season, I have a few thoughts on what I have seen thus far.

I have discovered two new shows on Wednesday nights running head to head against each other. And if you haven't seen "Glee" or "Modern Family" yet, check them out. They are well worth your time. Glee is the story of life in a Western Ohio high school. The sponsor of the glee club deals with a variety of obstacles in trying to restore the organization to the glory days it enjoyed while he was a member at McKinley High School. The characters he deals with along the way are well developed and the writing is superb. Jane Lynch is awesome in her supporting role of Cheerleaders sponsor. So far, the plot's have been solid even if a little unbelievable at times. It airs at 8 pm Central.

"Modern Family" is a tale of an extended family where each person believes they're doing the right thing even if they annoy others in both the immediate and extended family. I saw it for the first time last week and was pleased with the way it all came together at the end of the first half hour. It's on FOX and also airs at 8 on Wednesday night.

As fine as Modern Family is, the show after it should be avoided at all costs. It's called "Cougar Town" and is what you would expect from the word Cougar in the title. If you dont know what a Cougar is go ask your mother. The premier was nasty and vulgar and the central premise of the show is profane. Skip it. I feel embarrassed that a talented actrees like Courtney Cox is in this program. I'll be surprised if Cougar Town survives past the end of October.

The Who Cares Football Game of the Week

Flipping channels a few minutes ago, I noticed that Notre Dame and Michigan are being showcased on ABC as the national 2:30 game.

The first thing to pop into my head was who cares about this game outside of Michigan and South Bend, Indiana. Both of these college football teams are way, way overrated. Both programs are playing on their fame of years ago.

Thank God, the Cardinals are on FOX right now and I have options. Oh, and there are also six other college football games on the satellite I can choose from at this very minute. And, dumb ass TV "execs" wonder why their ratings get smaller every year.

I Won't Be Going Back Here Soon

I stopped by Highland Brewing last night for a couple of pops. The brewpub was formerly known as Alandale Brewing and is located in Kirkwood. I sampled the IPA and it is good. Nicely hopped as IPA's should be. I would drink the beer again if I planned on going back to this place. But, the service is atrocious and I don't mean the bartender.

The hostess is stupid. I don't know if they hired her for her looks or she is someone's relative. I was at an outside table drinking my beer and reading the Riverfront Times while waiting for friends to join me. I got up to used the uh, facilities and when I came back my table was occupied by three strangers I had never before seen in my life and my beer and the newspaper were gone. I let her have it and told her I wanted my table back and the items replaced. The Queen of the Bimbos responded by saying I thought you had left. What was particularly infuriating was I had told the dummy I would be back in a few minutes when I walked into the building.

If this is the type of service the newly named brewpub plans to offer, I urge you to stay as far away as possible.

KWMU Rebrands

St. Louis' NPR affilliate has rebranded. The station, which for about the past dozen years has billed itself as "90.7 KWMU, your station for in-depth news and intelligent talk", is now "Saint Louis Public Radio".

The station's General Manager Tim Eby produced this video explaining the action.

Cardinals Deserve Better

The St. Louis Cardinals deserve better TV announcers than what they have. Dan McLaughlin and Al Hrabosky are the club's broadcast crew when games are on Fox Sports Midwest. Jay Randolph and Ricky Horton do the games when the teams games are shown on KSDK.

McLaughlin talks too much about everything but baseball. If he would tone it down and talk about the game or MLB in general he would be better than what he is. It also seems as if McLaughlin and Hrabosky apparently don't like each other and it sometimes comes across that way. Hrabosky has been doing the job as "analyst" for about five years and he doesn't seem to be getting any better at it. Maybe, Fox Sports Midwest will come up with some new talent next year.

On KSDK, Horton is adequate and is upbeat which helps to make him interesting. But, the play by play performed by Jay Randolph leaves a lot to be desired. Fact errors and omissions continue to plague him. I have tried several times to watch him call a game this summer and have had to turn it off and turn on the radio.

Speaking of the radio, John Rooney is one of the best sports play-by-play guys in the business and is a pleasure to listen to. He can make even the dullest of contests sound interesting and he is virtual fountain of information. He also does a great job of playing set up man to the comedy of Mike Shannon. Shannon will never be confused for a good color analyst, but he is humorous and after 30+ years the listener knows what he is getting.

How 'Bout Them Tigers - Part 1

It appears as if, and I am very hopeful, that Mizzou has reloaded for a new season. My beloved Tigers stomped Illinois on Saturday in downtown St. Louis 37-9 and the score could have been worse.

Missouri lost it's QB, TE, 2 wideouts and 2 defensive players to the NFL draft. But, it appears as if Blaine Gabbert and the backups from last year have joined the returning starters from that team and picked up where they left off. (They had left off with a win over Northwestern in the Alamo Bowl last December).

The Tigers will get a bit of a breather this weekend with Bowling Green and next week with Furman before taking off to Reno to take on Nevada. Then it's into the Big 12 wars and three consecutive games against Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Columbia. At that point we should have a pretty good idea of how good this team is going to be.

Happy Labor Day

I hope that you're enjoying this three day weekend and the holiday dedicated to this nation's workers. I think that some labor unions have been abusive and gone overboard in the past, but on the whole you can't argue with the changes in the workplace guilds and unions have accomplished over the years. Organized labor has brought about upgrades in worker living standards, safety in the workplace and benefits that have been won from employers. So here's to the American worker!

Post-Dispatch Dying a Slow Death

Lee Enterprises has decided to lay off another 18 St. Louisans who it employed at the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch. This is the fifth round of layoffs in the past two years under the management of Lee Enterprises.

The logic imparted to labor by Lee was the layoffs were needed due to "declining revenues". As has been written here previously, Lee took on too much debt when it bought the Post from Pulitzer Publishing several years ago. Add to that newspapers are experiencing rapid loss of circulation due to new media, and the Post is not going to get better. And Lee's management record at the Post has been to make bad decisions. The bean counters have vetoed the people who know the newspaper business.

To read the union take on the latest round of layoffs you may click here.

Wannabe Critic at the Post-Dispatch

"The St. Louis Post-Dispatch" has a sports editor who wants to be a media critic. The paper already has a TV critic and a radio critic, but an editor named Dan Caesar has appointed himself the "sports media" critic. And it's fairly apparent the guy has never worked in the broadcast business. He is often off line in his criticism and has shown on occasion to not know what he is writing about.

But, his latest stunt is a real laugher. Caesar has started a campaign in his column to put former St. Louis football Cardinals head coach Jim Hannifan back in the play-by-play booth. Hannifan was informed earlier this year he would not be back to do color commentary on the broadcasts. He has been informative in the past, but he is a walking time bomb with his off color language and is an FCC fine waiting to happen. Thus the management at FM 101 which hires the broadcast crew has told Hannifan his services are no longer needed.

Caeser started his print campaign several months ago and he continues to "beat a dead horse". On Friday (the 31st) Caesar actually wrote Hannifan is still not back in the booth. He might as well have written the Sun will rise tomorrow morning.

Caesar please save the newspaper for news and legitimate criticism and not a campaign to restore the job of your drinking buddy.

How Can it Be August?

It's been a couple of weeks since last posting and I have been busy with a project I am working on rolling out some servers and workstations.

The year is flying past too fast. Granted, fall is just around the corner as is football and cooler days. And Autumn has been my favorite season. But, the older I get the more I love Summer. As I write this I am sitting out the patio barbecuing Pork Steaks, Corn on the Cob and Baked Potatoes. And it is a tremendous afternoon. 83 degrees and low humidity. These are the days that I look forward to in the dead of winter. And these are the days when I can go out and work in the yard or take a walk, or play golf or...well you get the idea.

So, here's to Summer '09 and may the rest of these summer days not rush past too quickly!

Goodbye Old Friend

Walter Cronkite has passed away at the age of 92. "Uncle Walter" may be gone but he most certainly will not be forgotten. Mr. Cronkite came into our home each evening as a trusted friend and presented the days news events without bias. He told us about the assassination of John Kennedy and also presented us with the news that a man had walked on the moon almost 40 years ago to the day of his passing. He showed us the images of the War in Vietnam and also gave us the news that a disgraced President Nixon would "resign at noon the next day".

Whenever important news needed to be told it was always Walter Cronkite to whom we turned. Like many baby boomers, I aspired to be the next Walter Cronkite when I decided on a collegiate major of Journalism.

Farewell, good soldier, goodbye faithful friend.

Post - Dispatch Gets Very Lucky

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch continues to amaze by it's lack of professionalism. Thursday evening a member of the "management" team decided to run full steam ahead with a "tweet" from the social networking page "Twitter". The story was that the annual Farm Aid concert would be held in St. Louis. Management decided the story was so important and on the cutting edge of utilizing social media, that it reported the story as gospel truth, without doing any fact checking or confirming the story.

It turns out the concert will be held at St. Louis' outdoor amphitheatre in Riverport on October fourth. And it will include a wide variety of artists and acts.

But, the real issue is why does an old established newspaper run a major story without doing any fact checking or getting confirmation of the issues? It's shoddy journalism at best and would result in a journalism student getting a good chewing out and a failing grade. Professionals at the Post-Dispatch should know better.

Awful Television

So, I'm trying to watch the Cardinals play the Cubs about an hour ago at Wrigley Field. Unfortunately, it's on KSDK which has one of the lamest baseball production teams you have ever seen. And the play by play guy, Jay Randolph, should have been put out to pasture years ago. Anyway, I'm enduring his lack of knowledge and fact errors when a few dark clouds roll over. Next thing you know, Bozo the weather boy, takes it as his cue to break into the game. Now, Bozo thinks he is being clever keeping the video on in the background. Unfortunately for myself and numerous other Cardinal fans the graphics that Bozo and his buddies in the weather department are running are just about obliterating the batters box. Not Good KSDK.

But, then I thought wait...I don't have to watch these amateurs. I have options on the satellite dish. So, I flip over to WGN in Chicago and all is well again. Not only can I see the game and have some fairly insightful analysis, I also get a different perspective on the Cardinals. Life is good again. Now if the FCC would just give KSDK's license to a qualified applicant...

Yet Another good IPA

As regular readers know I am a fan of "big" beers. Well, courtesy of my neighbors H&G I had the chance to sample Bear Republic's "Racer 5 India Pale Ale".

It features two different hops. I am quite familiar with the Cascade hops the brewer used to tie the malt and bittering hops together. The brewer also used Columbus hops which the company's website describes as a "new hybrid High Alpha Acid hop used mostly for bittering, but used heavily as an aromatic". The result is a drinkable brew with an IBU of 69 and ABV of 7.0%.

Happy Birthday USA

This post is late, but like they say "better late than never". I just wanted to post and tell everyone Happy Fourth of July. It was the 233rd anniversary of the United States of America's Declaration of Independence. And I also want to tell the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces thank you for protecting us and our freedoms.

I also want to say thank you to all of the veterans who have served over the years to preserve the American way of life and to the families of those who paid the ultimate price.

Life Is Good!

As I write this I am sitting out on the back patio barbecuing chicken and drinking a Founder's Centennial IPA. The IPA is very drinkable. (Someone should teach Anheuser-Busch what drinkability really is).

To top it off I am watching the Dodgers and the Mariners on satellite (you know I am a huge baseball fan) and blogging on my laptop. Indeed life is good!

Interleague Play Wraps Up

Bud Selig and his idiot advisers, who "manage" Major League Baseball have subjected another season of Inter-League play on the fans of Major League Baseball. Thank God, it's over for this year. And if Bud and the boys have a brain they won't bring it back.

The problem is the scheduling is uneven. So someone who plays a bunch of sub .500 clubs has an unfair advantage. The other problem I have, is why as a St. Louis fan should I have to watch the Kansas City Royals six times a season. That's the same number of times I get to see the Los Angeles Dodgers or Philadelphia Phillies. Please Bud, let me see the good teams in the same league where the Cardinals play a little more often than the bad teams in the American League Central Division.

Strange Week for Broadcast Journalists

It's been a much busier week for me than most so I am just now getting a chance to post. But, I found it interesting that the three broadcast networks chose to run the deaths of a couple of pop culture icons ahead of the revolution in Iran.

ABC, CBS and NBC all chose to play the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson above the huge story in Iran ahead of the revolution in Iran. People in Iran are literally dieing in their effort to be free and depending on the West to tell their story.

But, the big three networks chose to carry the deaths of an alleged pedophile and a second rate actress above that story. It makes you wonder who the children at the networks are who are making these decisions.

MLB Network Hosts Make a Joke of Physics

While watching the talking heads on the "MLB Network" this evening, the group started a discussion of what exactly an Isotope is. (Look at the post below this one to understand why the topic came up). None of them had a clue so they decided to make a joke of it. At one point the joke turned an Isotope into a well known brand of hand glove.

Granted it's only baseball we're talking about, but any one who took a high school science course should know what an Isotope is. Apparently, the host and two so called "experts" failed their high school science courses.

Major League Baseball Screws Up...Again

For some reason the "MLB Network" has decided to show each bat of Manny Ramirez as he prepares to come back from his 50 game suspension for the illegal use of steroids. When Manny was suspended Major League Baseball attempted to send a message to the world that steroids just won't be tolerated. And for the last five weeks we haven't had to hear anything from or about the cheater.

But, now the satellite channel is almost giddy in it's coverage of Ramirez as he plays for the Albuquerque Isotopes. What kind of message does this send? Well for starters it makes a mockery of professional baseball's steroid and drug policy. It also sends the message that baseball can't live without the cheater. By showing these at bats in rehab games MLB (which owns the MLB Network) is talking out of both sides of it's mouth. If baseball were really serious it would ban Ramirez from minor league rehab games until the full 50 game suspension has been served.

Ultimately the responsibility for this goes back to commissioner Bud Selig. As I've written previously a monkey flipping a coin would make more good decisions than Selig and his misinformed cronies.

I Couldn't Have Said it Better

Albert Pujols went ballistic this afternoon in his hometown. He single handedly destroyed the Kansas City Royals with six RBIs and two home runs including a grand slam. John Marshall filed this game story for the Associated Press:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)—Albert Pujols comes through Kansas City once a season. The Royals wouldn’t be too disappointed if he never came back.

Pujols finished off a three-day romp in Kansas City with two homers and six RBIs, helping the St. Louis Cardinals rout the Royals 12-5 Sunday in win No. 2,500 for manager Tony La Russa. “He’s the best hitter in the game,” Royals starter Gil Meche said.

Pujols made a mockery of Kansas City pitching in his return to the town where he went to high school, hitting three homers and driving in 10 runs in the Cardinals’ three-game sweep over their cross-state rivals.
The two-time NL MVP had four hits Sunday and delivered the decisive blow in the Cardinals’ eight-run fourth inning, pounding his club record-tying third grand slam of the season off a window on the Royals Hall of Fame in left. He also had a run-scoring single in the first and added his major league-leading 26th homer—eighth in 10 games—in the fifth to put the Cardinals up 12-4.

“It’s nothing special. I’m just seeing good pitches and hitting them,” said Pujols, who has 12 homers in 27 career games at Kauffman Stadium.

Pujols tied Stan Musial’s team record of nine career grand slams and matched the season mark of three shared by Jim Bottomley (1925), Keith Hernandez (1977) and Fernando Tatis (1999). His fifth multi homer game this season—28th career— helped La Russa join Connie Mack (3,831) and John McGraw (2,763) as the only managers with 2,500 career victories.

“He does it over and over again and it’s impossible to describe how great he is,” said La Russa, who has 1,180 wins in 14 seasons with St. Louis. “Albert’s amazing.”

Pujols wasn’t the only one hitting on this day. Khalil Greene, feeling good after missing 19 games with social anxiety disorder, homered for the third straight game, but had to leave in the fourth inning after being hit on the right knee by a pitch. The Cardinals roughed up Meche (4-6) early and finished with 13 hits for their eighth win in 11 games.

The outburst made a winner of Adam Wainwright (8-4) even though he gave up five runs and eight hits in six innings. It wasn’t much of a surprise. The Cardinals have scored 36 runs in the right-hander’s past three starts and average an NL-best 6.85 per game when he’s on the mound.

“Early on, he just didn’t have enough bite on his pitches,” La Russa said. “But he’s got great guts and he hung in there.” Meche followed one of his best career performances with one of his worst. Coming off a 132-pitch four-hitter against Arizona that pushed his scoreless streak to 16 innings, the right-hander allowed a career-high nine runs and nine hits in 3 2-3 innings. It didn’t get any better after he left in the fourth inning, when the Cardinals sent 13 batters to the plate and scored eight runs, including one on a bases-loaded walk and another on a wild pitch. Jose Guillen hit his eighth homer and drove in three for Kansas City, which has allowed 53 runs during a five-game losing streak.

“It wasn’t good at all,” said Meche, who allowed two homers after giving up two in his previous 84 1-3 innings. “Pretty much everything that could happen wrong today did. It’s been that way for us the last four or five games. It’s definitely tough coming into the clubhouse after every game when you play like that.”

NOTES: La Russa is 2,500-2,177 in 31 years as a big league manager with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland and St. Louis. … Royals CF Mitch Maier robbed Chris Duncan of extra bases with a leaping grab against the wall in the first inning. … The Royals topped the 30,000 mark in attendance for the 12th game this season after doing it just eight times last year. … The Cardinals swept the Royals in Kansas City for the third time in six years.

Analog TV Still Alive in St. Louis

According to federal regulation, analog broadcasting was supposed to have come to a screeching halt at 12:01 Friday morning. But, Gannett Corporation is continuing to broadcast the same crap it has for the past six months about the digital TV conversion. And not only as it did previously, but now in Spanish as well.

I have no idea what Gannett, which held the analog channel five in the TV broadcast spectrum, is thinking. The message is not subtle. Gannett continues to display it's sleazy logo on the analog band promoting itself as a "news channel".

Maybe the clowns at Gannett know they won't be earning as much money in the future as they had with their television stations. If you missed it earlier today, NPR ran a great story on over the air television as a temporary technology. You can hear it by clicking it here.

A Well Written Article from Texas

Maybe the St. Louis Post-Dispatch can learn something about solid journalism and writing from Mike Hindman. Hindman is a free lance author and has written a fascinating story of the behind the scenes work that went into Ian Kinsler's signing with the Texas Rangers earlier this decade. Who is Kinsler you ask? He is an All-star shortstop who's also an alum of the University of Missouri.

Writing in D Magazine, Hindman explains the work of a Rangers talent scout who discovered Kinsler playing in Columbia, Missouri. You may read the article by clicking here.

Random Thoughts on TV "News"

Now, two local TV stations have gone to embedding their logos in local "newscasts". Both KSDK and KMOV have their garbage on the screen non-stop except for when they are running commercials. I have stopped watching these moronic presentations because they are annoying and pretty much unwatchable. Add to this the crawls across the bottom of the screen warning of the impending change to digital and it's even worse. Thank God for Satellite TV. If you haven't seen this practice yet or it does not take place in your market consider yourself fortunate.

About 20 years ago I had a former journalism professor tell me to get out of broadcast and into print. As he put it then..."radio news is a dinosaur and TV news is a 'Gong Show". Man, did he have that right.

Prarie Home Companion Visits St. Louis

Garrison Keillor and his Prairie Home Companion are in St. Louis this week. Keillor and his crew are entertaining an audience at the Fox Theatre as I write this.

Keillor is no stranger to St. Louis having played here several times in the past. And he certainly got the crowd involved in the performance shortly after the start of the second hour. Keillor, asked the large crowd if they knew of "The Missouri Waltz". It responded with a huge roar. Keillor is probably unaware the official state song of Missouri is played several times at each Mizzou home football and basketball game. But, he didn't sing the song as originally written. He modified the line following the lyrics "the banjos were strumming". And Keillor also got a huge cheer when he made reference to Albert Pujols breaking a light in a sign at Busch Stadium during the Cardinals last home stand.

About 3500 people are attending the show, which was sponsored by KWMU radio which airs it locally.

Lee Enterprises Wanting More...More...More

Lee Enterprises is asking it's employees at the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" for more in the way of concessions. Lee, whose stock closed at a dollar a share on Friday, is asking each worker at the Post to take another week off without pay. The union...er, Newspaper Guild told Lee it would consider the offer only if Lee would agree to no layoffs during contract negotiations.

Earlier Lee apparently angered it's employees by asking for a 23 percent pay cut over the next three years and a huge slash to the benefits of it's working and retired employees.

The Post-Dispatch is the company's largest newspaper holding. Lee's previous newspaper experience has been in markets such as Hannibal and Park Hills, Mo. Maysville, Ky and Munster, In.

A Belated Memorial Day Thank You

I am late in posting this because I had no electricity for 5 1/2 hours last night due to the incompetent power company serving our area.

My post is to tell the men and women active in the US armed services THANK YOU!!! Thank you for all you have given to me, my family and my country. Without you I would not have the life I do. And to those who served in the past in the armed forces of the United States, thank you very very much too! And most importantly thank you to those who paid the ultimate price to maintain our freedom. I salute them and their families.

Nice Job by Mattingly Brewing

I had the chance to stop at a favorite South St. Louis brewpub this weekend. I visited Mattingly Brewing on South Jefferson and only had time for one so I ordered the Brightside Belgian White. As you know from reading past posts I am a fan of big beers. This Belgian Style Witbier is not a "big beer" but my is it tasty. When I received my pint, it almost reminded me of lemonade. But, this was no lemonade. This is one fine beer! I have been to Mattingly's several times now and each of their beers I've sampled have been a treat. I hope to visit again soon.

Congrats to the Mizzou Women's Softball Team

Congratulations to the Missouri University women's softball team which has advanced to the NCAA Women's College World Series for the first time in five years. The Tigers advanced by taking a best of three Super-Regional from second seeded UCLA winning the rubber game 9-1.

Up next for the lady Tigers is a game against Arizona State at two Thursday in Oklahoma City.

...and to the Missouri Men

Mizzou's baseball team is also continuing it's season after a tough loss in the Big 12 championship game yesterday afternoon to Texas in Oklahoma City. The Tigers are the number two seed in the Oxford, Mississippi regional and will take on Western Kentucky Friday. The winner of the regional will advance to the Super-Regional the following week. The winners of the Super-Regional will advance to the College World Series in Omaha the first weekend in June.

More Layoffs at the Post

"The St. Louis Post-Dispatch" has canned 39 more employees. The "paper of record" is outsourcing three of the jobs to one of it's small town papers in Indiana where it operates a call center handling classified advertising. The remaining jobs were cut as Lee Enterprises, which owns the Post, is contracting with a third party to handle it's distribution.

The bottom line for St. Louis is if you want to put a classified ad in the Post, you will have to call someone in Indiana who is employed by a company headquartered in Davenport, Iowa. And if you have a problem with your paper being delivered you will have to deal with some faceless person who doesn't work for the Post-Dispatch, but rather some Lee Enterprises subsidiary.

And Lee wonders why fewer and fewer St. Louisans are reading it's newspaper.

SNL Knocks It Out of the Park

If you missed Saturday Night Live this weekend, you missed one of it's finest efforts of the year. The show was outstanding with Will Ferrell hosting and Green Day providing the musical entertainment.

The regular cast was joined by former cast members Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Norm MacDonald and Ferrell. In addition actor Tom Hanks joined in several sketches. (The fact that his new picture "Angels & Demons" just came out probably motivated him to join the cast this week, as it did Ferrell who also has a new film opening soon).

From the opening sketch featuring Ferrell as George Bush and Darryl Hammond as Dick Cheney (apparently this was Hammond's final appearance as a regular on the show) to the last skit it was full of laughs. The final sketch featured all of this year's cast members, those former cast members, Hanks and cameos from Artie Lange, Paul Rudd & Ann Hathaway as well as Green Day "playing" musical instruments in a take off of the song "Goodnight Saigon".

The funniest segment all night was the spoof of "Jeopardy", with Ferrell playing a beleaguered Alex Trebek. If you missed the segment Saturday night you may see it by clicking here. It's also the funniest skit the cast did all year.

SNL is again funny and full of talented performers. I am looking forward to the start of the show's 2009-2010 season.

Kudos to the MLB Channel

I was watching the Cardinals get blown out tonight by the Pirates and started flipping channels. I stopped on the MLB Network long enough to start watching a program called "MLB Tonight: 1st to 3rd". The show is terrific. It shows live look-ins of various games in key situations. The production also utilizes video highlights of just completed plays from all of the ballparks to keep it's viewers up to date. Add inciteful analysis and you have a can't miss program for any serious baseball fan.

I am constantly criticizing Major League Baseball but this time it got the job done right. Hats off to the anchor of the crew Matt Vasgersian and to analysts Harold Reynolds and Mitch Williams. "MLB Tonight: 1st to 3rd" airs from 7-9 each night there are games. It is followed by "MLB Tonight: Roundtripper" from nine to eleven. It too is an excellent tool for baseball fans. It's anchored by Greg Amsinger with analysis from Harold Reynolds and Joe Magrane.

I Would Like to Have Gotten this Job

Most of the time when I write about the media it's to criticize something I've read or seen.

But, today's post is to compliment NPR on a story it aired on today's "Morning Edition". It's about a job I should have applied for and the lucky individual who got the "position".

Turn on your speakers and click here to listen to it:

Manny's Words Ring Hollow

Manny Ramirez must like to apologize. "Steroid Dude" has apologized for his latest screw up saying he made a mistake. Yeah, no kidding. But, he did the same thing last summer. He apologized to his teammates and his fans after he knocked down the travelling secretary. Too bad I don't believe him this time either.

Regardless of his apology Ramirez won't be on the field until the first week in July.

Manny the Cheater

Manny Ramirez has been suspended by Major League Baseball for 50 games. Why you ask? Because he tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance. Manny must be guilty as sin because he waived on an appeal and the suspension begins with tonight's game against the Washington Nationals in Los Angeles.

Oh and it will cost him over $7.7 million dollars, or roughly 31% of his annual $25 million salary.

I guess what goes around comes around. Last summer Ramirez physically abused his team's travelling secretary while with the Red Sox. All that happened was he was traded to the Dodger and then rewarded with that huge contract. Maybe there is karma.

This Is Post 400

This is a bit of a milestone for me in my posting these things to Blogspot. Number 400. That works out to about 100 per year. By no means is it prolific like many bloggers but I am glad that you all have been reading. So here's to you and to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for being such an easy target.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

How's this for loyalty? Lee Enterprises canned the reporter who took a bullet while covering the city council meeting in Kirkwood in which resident Cookie Thornton shot and killed five city officials. Reporter Todd Smith was shot in the hand and has since endured two surgeries. Lee Enterprises which owns the Suburban Journal Newspapers and St. Louis Post-Dispatch among other newspapers, last week told Smith his services are no longer needed.

This story is a bit old but the Riverfront Times Kristin Hinman has a great post in the RFT blog at this site:

A Great Beer from Michigan

If you read this Blog regularly you know I love big beers. I finally got the chance to taste Bell's Two Hearted Ale on Sunday evening.

I have been aware of Two Hearted Ale for some time, but had just never tasted it. I found it on tap and it was a pleasure. It's of the Indian Pale Ale style and has a tremendous floral hop aroma and pours a cloudy amber color. This fine brew finishes with a nice mix of malts and sweetness. It was so good I ordered a second.

The folks at Bell's know what they're doing and did a terrific job with Two Hearted Ale.

Let's Go Blues

Three Stanley Cup playoff games are behind us and the Blues are in some deep trouble. The Vancouver Canucks could clinch the best of seven series tonight. I would have to say honestly that the Canucks have been the better team on the ice in all three games.

But, here's hoping the Blues can salvage the game at home tonight and worry about future games one at a time as they are played.

Sloppy Writing and Editing at the Post-Dispatch

I've been busy for the past couple of weeks and have not had the time to post. But, a sloppy, sloppy error in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sports section yesterday almost made me laugh out loud.

On Sunday the Cardinals were rained out in Chicago. Wrote the "paper of record". "The game will be made up as part of a day night doubleheader with separate admissions on July 12th. That is one day before the All-Star Game".

Uh...gee, but no it's not. The All-Star Game is on July 14th at Busch Stadium. Maybe I will mail the paper a Cardinals schedule so it's editors can avoid future errors.

How 'Bout Them Blues!

The St. Louis Blues beat the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight 3-1 and guaranteed themselves an NHL playoff berth for the first time since 2005. The crowd at the Scottrade Center went crazy. Am I jumping on the bandwagon? You bet ya!

LETS GO BLUES!!!

Congratulations to the Tar Heels

Congratulations to Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tar Heels on their winning the NCAA basketball tournament last night.

The Tar Heels beat Michigan State 89-72 in a game that never was very much in doubt. Carolina out-shot and out-rebounded the Spartans and were the better team on the floor. I admire the answers State coach Tom Izzo provided the media afterwards. Izzo told the media that Carolina was "clearly the better team on the floor". I have a lot of respect for both coaches and can tell you both of them and their teams will be back in more Final Fours.

I Don't Mean to Sound Negative

I just re-read the two posts below this and they sound negative. Actually, I am a positive person and really hope I am wrong about my assessment of the Cardinals. And I love baseball. I really do. To me it's the greatest game ever invented.

I love the game, it's just some of the greedy owners and greedy players I can't stand.

Cardinals Bullpen Blows the Opener...And So Do Their Owners

The St. Louis Cardinals bullpen has been a concern all winter to me and everyone to whom I spoke.

The Cardinals opened at home yesterday and lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4. Let's put it this way...the bullpen has issues...MAJOR issues. New closer Jason Motte, gave up a two out three run double to Jack Wilson that put the Pirates ahead to stay. The Cardinals front office had all winter to address the issue and didn't. I am a life long Cardinal fan and an optimist, but given the shortages in the pen and at third and second base, I am afraid it will be a long season. I hope I'm wrong but I don't see this team doing very much. And the Cardinals front office is directly to blame for the problems.

What makes it more annoying is St. Louis is arguably the best baseball town in America. The fans in this medium size market continue to turn out every year and surpass the three million mark in attendance every year. But, what to they get in return? Very little except a cheap group of owners who line their pockets and put little back into the team.

Yesterday the owners of the White Sox and Red Sox postponed their games because of cold and wet conditions. But, not the Cardinals. The owners made 45 thousand fans sit in 30+ degree weather with snow flurries swirling around the stadium.

MLB is a Week Late This Year

Don't look now, but Major League Baseball opens it's season on Sunday night when the Braves take on the World Champion Phillies.

In case you haven't noticed, it's a week later than in past years. Why you ask? Well it's all due to the greed of MLB and it's __________(you fill in the blank) commissioner Bud Selig. Selig and his cronies decided to hold another stupid World Baseball Classic again this year. It's a joke in that the only ones who care are MLB and it's idiot partner in crime ESPN which showed way too many games in an attempt to legitimize the "event". (I suppose if the so called "World Sports Leader" showed tiddlywinks enough someone would actually think it's a sport, but I digress). The real reason for the tournament is to sell a bunch of worthless MLB crap to wannabe fans in third world nations. Bottom line; money.

So with that farce running in the background Spring Training in Arizona and Florida has stretched on for what seems like six months. But, now the fun begins and true baseball fans can watch their favorite teams battle for the next six months. Oh, but I forgot to tell you. With the season starting a week later, the season will also finish up a week later. And the playoffs will start a week later. Bottom line is the World Series will end a week later guaranteeing that the World Series will stretch into and end for the first time ever in November. Way to go Bud!

Another Micro Brew Worth Your Time

In the past week, I have had the chance to sample another fine beer. It's the IPA style and I thank my neighbors G&H for providing me the opportunity.

Maharajah IPA from Avery Brewing in Boulder, Colorado is outstanding. The product is actually a Double IPA and carries a mean kick of 10.27% alcohol by volume. It has a cloudy Gold color. This beer starts out with a large head. The first swallow is pleasant with a huge hoppy presence. And it follows with a bitterness all the way down. This is an incredible beer.

Staying True to His Word

Mike Anderson is a man of principle. He said he wasn't interested in leaving Missouri for potential job offers at Georgia or Alabama earlier this year. And Anderson's word is good as Gold.

Anderson turned down an offer that would have had him moving to Athens, Georgia to coach the University of Georgia. Reportedly Georgia offered the Tiger's coach two million dollars a year. But, Anderson who told anyone who would listen, that he was staying at Mizzou turned down the extra cash for a chance to get his team to the Final Four. Anderson will reportedly make about 1.55 million dollars a year for the next seven years. I am not a mathmetician, but I calculate his decision to stay at Mizzou is costing him about $450,000 per season. And I dont know many people with that kind of loyalty that would pass up that much money. A lot of coaches pay lip service to staying with their recruits and building a program, but Anderson actually did costing himself and his family resources they could have used to build financial security. Coach Anderson, I respect you and admire the selfless decision you made to stay with the Tiger basketball program. You are a True Son of the University of Missouri. I salute you!

Late Thoughts on the NCAA tournament

It's taken about a week for me to get past my Missouri Tigers' loss to UConn last Saturday afternoon. I really thought the Tigers would win, but ultimately UConn was the better team that particular day. But, still it hurt to see such a fun season come to a close. I miss seeing them running up and down the floor striking fear in the eyes of their opponent. Mizzou truly was this season "The Fastest 40 Minutes in Basketball".

Having time to think about it now, I have to say this team far exceeded my expectations. After Illinois beat the tar out of Mizzou at Christmas time, I figured this was just another team of mediocre selfish players. But, they fooled me and they improved every game as the season went on.

As it turns out this is the best Mizzou team of all time. They won 31 games and made it to the Championship game of the West regional. So my hat's off to coach Mike Anderson and the Tigers.

M-I-Z Z-O-U!!!

A Question for the Post-Dispatch

Why is it that the largest daily newspaper in the state of Missouri doesn't have a reporter assigned to cover the University of Missouri athletic teams?

Since the woman who covered the Mizzou beat left the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last year, the Post has passed around the state's largest and most prestigious University sports beat as if it were some general assignment.

The daily papers in Kansas City, Springfield and Columbia all have reporters assigned to the beat and it is a prized job at those publications. But, not the Post-Dispatch. If someone from the Post wants to reply I will be glad to post your explanation. As I posted below, the Post is ignoring the largest college fan base in the region with shoddy and in some instances no coverage of Mizzou sports.

Reflections on the NCAAs

Earlier this week the St. Louis Post-Dispatch went out of it's way to run an article from a coach at a second rate basketball school saying Missouri would lose in the "Sweet 16".

Coach Rick Majerus of St. Louis University was quoted as saying Memphis had the better team and would win the game. I had respected Majerus in the past and applaud his taking a Utah Utes team to the Final Four several seasons ago. But, the article was out of line. Maybe the paper was looking for a fresh angle in covering Missouri, but really, who the heck cares what the coach at St. Louis University thinks?

But, why did the Post even run an article saying the Tigers would lose? I'm not sure. It certainly doesn't make any sense for the paper to alienate the largest alumni base in it's readership area. But, the Sports department has shown little concern for Missouri fans and alums in the past. Perhaps it's because many of the writers are from the Baltimore Sun and perceive Mizzou as inferior for some reason. Whatever it's motivation, the publication alienated even more Missouri fans and alums this week. Maybe someone needs to suggest to the paper's management this type of coverage is a reason the Post's readership base continues to shrink.

MIZ ZOU RAH!!!

My Tigers picked up their 31st win of the season last night by knocking Memphis out of the NCAA tournament 102-91. Mizzou jumped to a 24 point lead with 16 minutes left in the second half and then held on to pick up the win and move into the "Elite Eight".

Those may have been the longest 16 minutes of my life as the two teams stopped the clock on almost every possession with fouls. A total of 77 free throws were shot with Mizzou making 30 of 45. I was at my favorite watering hole and as the game ended the familiar "MIZ" "ZOU" cheer was heard echoing through the bar.

This may be the best MU team of all time. This squad has more wins than any team in school history and is only the fourth Missouri team to make it to a regional championship. Up next the top seeded Huskies of Connecticut.

Two More Fine IPAs

If you like the IPA beer style than I have two recommendations for you.

One is Sierra Nevada's Torpedo Extra IPA. The other is Boulevard's Single-Wide IPA.

Each contains a fine mixture of hops. Single-Wide is lighter and more amber in color than Torpedo which has a reddish tint to it. Both are pleasing to the nose. If push came to shove and I could drink only one it would be the Torpedo Extra IPA. But, Single Wide IPA is for all intents and purposes every bit as good.

NCAA Tournament - Part Three

Congratulations to the remaining teams in the NCAA tournament making it to the "Sweet 16".

My favorite of course is my beloved Missouri Tigers. Mizzou, with the third seed, knocked off Marquette on Sunday afternoon 83-79. Up next for Missouri; the two seed Memphis Tigers.

The next round sets up some battles of giants as all but two of the top four seeds in each region are still alive. It appears the NCAA selection committee did a better job than the media initially reported.

Less Post-Dispatch...but no improvement

The "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" has reduced the width of it's daily paper and removed sections from it. The paper is about an inch and a half narrower than it was last week. The paper on Monday dropped it's Metro section too. The ownership of the paper may be doing this to cut down on newsprint costs.

But, it's remains the same old mediocre publication it's always been. The ownership of the Post-Dispatch continues to place ads on the front page in a cry for revenue. Apparently, things really are that bad at the parent company Lee Enterprises.

NCAA Tournament - Part Two

Someone tell CBS to can the obnoxious sound effects they play every time a graphic changes. They are annoying and add nothing to the coverage. CBS get your head out of your butt.

NCAA Tournament - Part One

I just got done watching Villanova defeat UCLA by 20 points in the NCAA tournament. The game was played in Philadelphia and is about a 15 minute ride from the campus of Villanova. Villanova is a good team but is not deserving of it's three seed and a home court advantage. For that matter neither is fellow Big East team Syracuse which really shouldn't be in the tournament let alone a three.

But, for UCLA it just wasn't fair. The Bruins had to fly 3,000 miles and cross three time zones to play the game. Come on NCAA committee...get your collective head out of your butt.

The Cream Rises to the Top

The Louisville Cardinals finally put the Syracuse basketball team in it's place. The Cards knocked off the Orange Men by double digits, 76-66 in the Big East championship game. If you watch the East Coast biased ESPN network, you might have bought into the Syracuse overtime legend of the last few days. But, Syracuse finally played to it's level and were easily beaten by a far superior Louisville team. The Cards will be a number one seed and may very well be the top seed in the NCAA tournament with the win.

MIZ ZOU RAH!!!

How 'bout them Tigers!

The Missouri Tigers beat Baylor this evening to win the Big 12 Conference post season tournament. This is the first time my beloved Tigers have won the tournament since the inception of the Big 12. The final was Mizzou 67-59.

The Tigers are in the "Big Dance" with the win and I have to think they may be in line for a three seed, but more realistically a four seed. Regardless, I am happy to see the team do something no other Missouri basketball team has accomplished since the Big 12 was created.

MIZ ZOU RAH!!!

Hey ESPN Move On!

I've been watching tournament basketball this afternoon on several networks. But ESPN keeps telling the public about a six overtime game last night that was played in New York City.

Granted, it was a very long and probably exciting game for people who care about over-rated Big East Conference teams. But, the game is over and ESPN needs to move on. The baloney coming out of ESPN's studios is laughable. The term "Instant Classic" or "Greatest Game Ever" is overkill.

You ask why does ESPN behave like this? The reason is simple. ESPN management believes the world revolves around the area encompassed by New York City, Boston and it's little headquarters in Connecticut. Add the regional bias of a bunch of workers who went to Big East schools and you see how important it is in their parochial little world. Now, add the fact that it was played in the "Rotten Apple" and you understand why it is so important to ESPN decision makers.

The "inconvenient" truth is while the game was unique in having six overtimes, it was one of many major conference tournament games played yesterday. In that right it is deserving of coverage. But, the overkill displayed by ESPN's talking heads is nothing more than parochial hyperbole.

Had this game been played in the Conference USA tournament in Memphis it would have been treated as a rarity; a six overtime game. But, ESPN would have put it behind them already never to be heard of again. And for the 90 percent of this country living west of the Hudson River, we wouldn't be subjected to the onslaught of elitist bull crap coming from ESPN.

More Choking Noises in Oklahoma City

The number two seed in the Big 12 tournament...Oklahoma has also been knocked out in the quarterfinals. Oklahoma State did the job a short time ago. The Cowboys beat the Sooners 71-70. That leaves my beloved Missouri Tigers as the top remaining seed!