Albert Pujols ate spinach for dinner!!!!!!

I find it funny how St. Louis writers continue to preach about everything Albert Pujols. Forget him. We live in a culture of ‘what have you done for me lately’. And the last time I checked, Bert has contributed to approximately 0 of the Cardinals’ 22 victories in 2012. He’s an Angel now. You don’t cover him. You don’t know Mickey Hatcher, the former hitting coach who was fired on Wednesday. You preached to fans that the team would be OK without #5, so why can’t you cover the teams St. Louis cares about?

Seriously, get another paper in the St. Louis area, because the one we have is putting on a pathetic display of news.

Moving on …

It would be a joke to not salute the Blues for growing up in 2012. They played very good hockey. Ken Hitchcock stabilized a group of players into professionals. The youngsters got their feet wet in postseason play, and that matters. But the real test will come next season. Can the Blues sustain their intensity? Can they lay off the booze? Can they learn from their sally like approach to the semi-finals sweep?

As with any playoff competition, the NHL is more like the NFL in April. The Kings took advantage when Dwight King injured Alex Pietrangelo in Game 1. So what if the NHL suspends King, a 3^rd liner. The Blues lost their BEST player for a game, and it hurt. King instilled an imperative mojo  after fighting (and winning) BJ Crombeen in Game 2. It was a turning point in the series.

It’s naïve to think a team can win a Stanley Cup when their leading goal scorer owns 23 goals. I mean please. We’re talking professional hockey, not CBC v Chaminade. An uh, we know how that went.

A major caveat to the Blues’ success was goaltending. Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak stood on their heads countless times during the regular season. It’s a damn shame Halak went down in Game 1 against San José. They build off one another in a winning way.

I mocked them after Game 2 calling them the “Cubs of hockey”, but really that might be an understatement, because the Cubs have mocked the Cardinals into a 4-4-season series record through May.

St. Louis 4, Giants 1

Jaime Garcia. His unpredictability has teased us once again. Sandy Koufax or Ron Villone? Jaime has the makings to be a legit top of the rotation guy, but he struggles to take the bull by the horns. He did however on Wednesday, striking out 9 Giants en route to a 4-1 victory over San Francisco. Remember, he’s an X-Factor.

How great is watching David Freese hit to right field?

Finally, a retractable roof at the Ed. I really do not care. If it happens, so be it. Nobody complains about a stadium when the team is winning. I believe I speak for the majority of fans: win some damn games. Just like Lambaeu creates havoc, so can a dome. It did in 1999, as well as 2001.