We St. Louis fans are lucky. We have seen
three of the most dedicated, focused teams in professional sports in recent history. They have all gone through so much,
and still have been able to maintain stability for so long.
The St. Louis Cardinals had it the hardest.
As they began to recover from the death of long-time announcer Jack Buck, their own friend and teammate, and one of the strongest
supporters through Buck's death, Darryl Kile, died, too. As the season progressed, former fan-favorites Darrell Porter
and Enos Slaughter would also die. Those are just the hard times. The team would, because of Kile's death and
many injuries, use 26 different pitchers and 14 different starters. Yet this team came so close. 3 wins from their
first World Series appearance for 15 years.
Next it was the Rams turn. The team started
with an 0-4 record, and it was in that fourth game that star Quarterback Kurt Warner finally succumbed to injuries that had
plagued him all year. The fifth game would be back-up QB Jamie Martin's only chance. He was no good, either.
An 0-5 record and injuries to their top two QBs faced them going into game 6. They must have felt they had nothing to
lose when they gave the ball to third-string QB Marc Bulger. They were right. In a Warner-esque start, Bulger
would lead the team to 4 wins, to improve the record to 4-5 and renew their playoff hopes. But in game 9, star running
back Marshall Faulk would go down, and miss the next few games. Going into game 10, a QB controversy started becoming
an issue. Warner would dress as a back-up for the game, expecting to start the next one. But it was Bulger who
would be asked to lead the way. But there was another obstacle in the way. Bulger would injure himself in the
game, leading to an improbable and early return for Warner. But it would last just one drive before Bulger returned.
Bulger finished and won the game, but, due to injuries, could not even be considered to start game 11. Bulger made
the Rams the first team to ever go from 0-5 to 5-5 and now it is Warner's turn to put them in the playoffs.
The St. Louis Blues have had similar problems.
The tam currently $21 million tied-up to injured stars, in starting goalie Brent Johnson, captain and top defenseman Chris
Pronger, and power-forward Keith Tkachuk. When Johnson returns, he will be the sixth different goalie to start a game.
The other 5 include: the team's back-up all along, who has led the way most of the season; a 39 year-old mid-season
signee, who has not played much yet; and 3 rookies, each of whom has collected their first NHL win this year. In fact,
the Blues are already the first team ever to have 4 different goalies win their first game of the season in 4 consecutive
games. Furthermore, the leading goal-scorer started the season in the minor leagues. Oh yeah, and the Blues have
already pulled off a 9-game winning streak and have one of the best records in the NHL.
Its like each team has fed off how the others
have handled it. No matter what happens, they all have had amazing seasons and deserve everything that comes their way
(Tony La Russa's Manager of the Year award is just the beginning). We definitely have a lot to be proud of here!
Congratulations to all 3 teams!
-Sam
