St.louis

Much has changed in the past year for Rams running back Isaiah Pead. A year ago at this time, Pead was in his Cincinnati apartment, waiting for Rams running backs coach Ben Sirmans to contact him ...

Seahawks tight end Anthony McCoy needed surgery to repair a partially torn Achilles tendon tear. The back up to Zach Miller last season, McCoy was ranked the 12th best pass catching tight end by NFL.com. Though his run-blocking was suspect, he gave Russell Wilson an effective target. "NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reported Friday that McCoy went under the knife Thursday and is expected to miss at least six to nine months, according to a person briefed on his injury. McCoy simply was running when the injury occurred, according to RapSheet..." - via NFL.com's Marc Sessler It seems like there's a certain injury pops up every year that sweeps through the NFL. The San Francisco 49ers' Michael Crabtree went down with the same injury only days ago. Hopefully these two players aren't the start of an epidemic like foot injuries seemed to be in 2012. McCoy will be out 6 to 9 months, so it looks like rookie Luke Wilson will get some serious looks going into training camp. Like any injured player, let's hope Anthony McCoy gets well soon.

Uh oh. Jeff Fisher is going to catch hell from Twitter's army of draft analysts. And what egregious crime has the St. Louis Rams head coach committed this time? He downplayed the differences between left and right tackles. The world will end soon, swallowed up by the gash Fisher's arrogance made in the fabric of space and time. The subject in question here was Rodger Saffold. He is now the Rams starting right tackle, moving over after the team signed Jake Long in free agency this year. When OTAs opened this week, Saffold finally got his first reps on the right side of the field. "Football's football," Fisher admitted. "Responsibilities are the same. He's just at the point of attack when the ball goes to the right." So in Fisher's mind, the right side and left side really aren't all the different. Clearly, the Rams are doomed from this kind of backwards thinking. DOOMED! "We may have a tight end outside of him more often than the left tackle does," Fisher said of the right side. "Because with a right-handed quarterback, you're typically right-handed." Saffold is apparently responding well to the move too. His coach praised his work over there on Thursday after practice. "He's done a great job since we've moved him over," Fisher said. There are some differences. Fisher's Jedi mind trick isn't fooling Saffold. Here's what he said to the Post-Dispatch after practice about the move to the right side: "It's just a matter of getting used to it, the muscle memory, the change in stance. Honestly, it hasn't been as hard as I thought it was going to be. As far as the smaller details, that's what I'm constantly working on. It's just the second day out here, so I just want to continue to work and to learn." Wait a minute, he doesn't make the right side sound all the different from the left side either, not really. And not as hard as it seems? Well, now all of my notions of reality are shattered. Okay, I'm obviously being facetious here, just a little. The are differences in the right and left side of the protection scheme, but every year we see guys who pundits tell us must live on the right thrive on the left and vice versa. The importance of the two positions are not so different anymore either. An arms race for pass rushers and more sophistication defensively sends just as much trouble for passers around the right side as it does the left side ... the middle too, which is why teams spend more on guards and centers than they once did. I get the sneaking suspicion that if Saffold picks up where he left off on the left side last season, he'll be just fine on the right side this season.

Sometimes a little bit of a refresh is needed, isn't it? Your old clothes aren't fashionable anymore, so you go shopping for some sleaker styles. Don't be surprised if you wind up bumping into the Blues while you wait in like at a fitting room. In Jeremy Rutherford's most recent Blues chat, someone asked about the Blues' uniforms and if they will be getting a bit of a revamp like the Dallas Stars' uniforms and Carolina Hurricanes'. Here's what Rutherford had to say: I heard some teams will be having new uniforms next year (Dallas and Carolina), any plans for the Blues to do an update? I'm hearing whispers that there may be changes in store for the Blues' uniforms. Don't have any details whatsoever. But don't be surprised if we hear something. Heard Stillman is discussing probably scrapping 3rd logo. Any truth? Haven't heard that specifically but could be true. Third logo has Dave Checketts imprints all over it. I know folks who would consider that a crime scene. It'd be a shame to lose the thirds in my opinion more thanks to the color scheme than to the logo specifically, though I do like the logo. I prefer the thirds' lack of terrible Reebok Edge piping as well - it's less busy, and it gets straight to the point. I'll go out on a limb and assume that if the Blues get a re-do it won't be anything hugely different -- it'll probably be cleaning things up and ditching the piping. None of this whole "let's randomly add red!" stuff of revamps past.

In case you haven’t heard, the NFC West has had some minor or not so minor troubles the past couple of weeks, both on the field and off the field. It all started with Rams CB Trumaine Johnson who got caught driving under the influence. From then on it kind of all went downhill. Seahawks DE Bruce Irvin then got suspended four games for breaking the NFL substance abuse policy by taking Adderall. Fans have been mockingly calling the Seahawks the Seadderall Seahawks because the Seahawks have had more PED suspensions than any other team in the NFL since Carroll took over. The troubles for the NFC West did not end there however, earlier this week 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree  tore his Achilles tendon and could be out for the majority of the season. The troubles still were not over, Rams OG Rokevious Watkins got suspended week one for breaking the NFL substance abuse policy as well. Hopefully the troubles stop here for the NFC West, however this does shake things up a bit, so how do these situations affect the Rams and the rest of the NFC West? Trumaine Johnson probably wont miss any games for his disappointing situation, however he may get fined. His situation will not affect the Rams and the NFC West at all. Irvin’s suspension on the other hand might. Many were surprised when the Seahawks took Irvin last season in the first round, but Irvin has turned out to be a good player and one to keep an eye on for years to come. Irvin played mostly in passing situations last season and racked up 9 sacks and 18 tackles including the post season. Irvin would be more of a loss had the team not signed Cliff Avril in the offseason who had 35 tackles and 9.5 sacks last season. The Seahawks should survive just fine and shouldn’t be affected by Irvin’s suspension. The Seahawks play the Panthers, 49ers, Jaguars, and Texans during Irvin’s suspension. One situation that will affect the Rams and the rest of the NFC West however, is Michael Crabtree’s injury. Crabtree’s injury is the same injury that Terrell Suggs dealt with last season and ended up missing the first half of the season because of it. What is normally a season ending injury has become on in which the possibility of returning is plausible. With the expansions in medicine coming back from what were horrific injuries 10 years ago is possible. Example A, being what Adrian Peterson did coming off of an ACL tear last season. Crabtree became Kaepernick’s favorite target pulling in 665 of his 1,105 yards and 6 of his 9 touchdowns after the 49ers made the switch. Against NFC West opponents Crabtree had 33 receptions for  511 yards and 5 touchdowns. 12 of those receptions were against the Rams, and those went for 171 yards and one touchdown. Crabtree’s loss could be a big hit to the 49ers offense, and even if Crabtree comes back, he will be limited and will not be the same player. The 49ers did just sign Anquan Boldin, therefore Boldin could fill the void of Crabtree, but Boldin and Kaepernick don’t share the connection that Kaepernick had with Crabtree just yet. There may be some growing pains before it all starts to flow, and then it may be too late. With Crabtree’s absence, the rest of the NFC West may be able to jump ahead of the 49ers, especially if their offense struggles. For more informations on how Crabtree’s injury will affect the Rams, read, “Wide Receiver-By-Committee: Why Losing Michael Crabtree Will Hurt The 49ers” by Nathan Kearns http://ramblinfan.com/2013/05/23/wide-receiver-by-committee-why-michael-crabtree-will-hurt-the-49ers/The Rams play the 49ers week 4 on Thursday Night Football and again Week 13. Rokevious Watkin’s suspension wont have much of an impact on the rest of the NFC West, but it might have an impact on how the Rams’ final roster shakes out. The Rams drafted OL Barrett Jones in the 4th round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Jones has the potential to start at guard and with

This year we doubled our number of upcoming nationally televised prime time games. If the Rams are able to come out firing on offense with some big explosive plays for the highlight reels for ESPN and the NFL network, they will generate a buzz. That buzz will only grow with every win that we notch in our belts, much like what surrounded Arizona last year with a great start to the year. They eventually faded into the team we tore apart for sack after sack and finished in the cellar of the NFC West. As long as we have a positive buzz going into our prime time matchups with the Seahawks and 49ers we should generate a lot more interest in the team. When we are generating points on offense and smothering offenses and destroying opposing quarterbacks on defense, we will be creating a demand for more spotlight next year. When Les Snead took over for the failed attempt at running a professional anything by billy devany, he repeatedly said he wanted to bring in explosive players. Boy oh boy was he serious, he drafted players based on physical skills, natural instincts and most importantly speed. Drafting Chris Givens in the 4th round of last years draft provided the Rams with a homerun, vertical field stretcher that we needed to keep safeties honest. Bringing in Jared Cook the fastest TE at the combine in the last ten years besides Vernon Davis and standing at 6'5" provides the seam busting threat of a faster Rob Gronkowski. Then we have the 2013 NFL draft where we got hopefully the quickest, one of the fastest most explosive players to be drafted in the last few years and coupled him with a great compliment in Stedman sure hands Bailey. Bailey will make the acrobatic catches and with good strength off the jam, great route running and a giant catch radius; Stedman will be getting open. Which makes him very explosive in his own right. Running backs Daryl RIchardson and Isaiah Pead both have the change of direction and acceleration to make massive gains complimenting all the zone and two man over coverage other teams will have to play against these fast wideouts. Unlike years of old with 9 man boxes we now can use these explosive threats to stress all areas both horizontally and vertically, thus creating plenty of space underneath and giving one on one matchups to the big nasties of our OL. This should also provide for plenty of screen play opportunities which should go for big gains. I believe that if we are able to get these two in particular in space much like Tavon they will do their best damage reaching the second and third levels quickly. Not to forget the hard running and the tough job of grinding thru the inside runs to the sure handed powerful Zac Stacy which will hopefully be effective with plenty of play action. I looked up the odds and currently we are 8-1 to win the NFCW! Let them sleep on us in the media and Vegas. We were 4-1-1 in the division last time I checked, but until we prove last year wasn't a fluke...don't expect too much additional media coverage. The line to win the Super Bowl for the Rams opened at 60-1 for the first month since the start of the second month the line has changed to 50-1. Meaning lots of gamblers were betting the Rams and that plenty of people (myself included) love the payout lol. Personally I believe we are set at OT for the first time in about 10 years and we were a few big playa away from finishing last year with wins vs DET MIA NYJ slipping away. However my point is that with all the upgrades we made on paper look amazing there are a couple question marks for the casual observer but to us here at TST I think we all expect dramatic improvements. I for one am a believer and soon enough the rest of the country will be paying us a lot more attention. This year we doubled our number of upcoming nationally televised prime time games. If the Rams are able to come out firing on offense with some big explosive plays for the highlight reels for ESPN and the

First, let's begin with the mock draft from one of the best in the business, Jim Callis of Baseball America. His newest mock just came out so let's take a look at who he considered and who he mocked to the Cardinals. Phillip Erwin - OF - Samford University Jim Callis - Baseball America Phillip Erwin fits the Cardinals draft pick profile with a scalding season in the Cape Cod League. We took a look at Erwin earlier this year in our Cape Cod League hitter roundup. He fits the Cardinals style to a 'T'. I wouldn't be surprised if the Cardinals selected him in any of their three first round selection (including the comp picks). Here's what Jim Callis has to say about his thought process: A lot of college pitchers get mentioned here, including [Alex] Gonzalez [RHP - Oral Roberts], Florida’s Jonathon Crawford, Jacksonville’s Chris Anderson and Gonzaga’s Marco Gonzales. A selection will still be available when St. Louis picks again at No. 28, so the better play could be to take a toolsy college outfielder such as Ervin, Judge or Wilson, who was a Cardinals 12th-rounder out of high school. Let's look next at: Alex Gonzalez - RHP - Oral Roberts Gonzalez is mocked to the Cardinals by Bleacher Report in their mock. Gonzalez is the Friday starter for Oral Roberts and touches 94 with his fastball, and MLB.com indicates that he has heavy sinking movement on his fastball. Seems like a Cardinals pick already. Here's Jonathan Mayo on Gonzalez: The tall and lean right-hander has been performing well all spring, but he seems to be pouring it on even more now. On Friday, he was a tough-luck loser against McNeese State, giving up two earned runs (three total) while striking out 11 and allowing just four hits in a complete-game effort. Gonzalez has a nasty fastball-slider combination with excellent command. Some think he can be a Mariano Rivera-like reliever who gets to the big leagues, while others think he can start. Whatever the role, it looks like Gonzalez is working is way into the first-round picture. The next pitcher mentioned by Callis is: Jonathon Crawford - RHP - Florida Crawford was mocked to the Cardinals by Minor League Ball. Here's some bullet points from Big League Futures on Jonathon Crawford: Low to mid 90′s fastball that touches 97 Some reports of 98 Fastball has late sink Above average slider with plus potential Both his curve and change show good potential, as well Struggles with command at times, but is improving in that aspect High 3/4 arm slot Chris Anderson - RHP - Jacksonville Jonathan Mayo mocks Anderson to the Cardinals at 19. Keith Law in a video for ESPN profiles Anderson as a #2 starter but indicates that Jacksonville has worked him really hard because they have a lack of other talent on their roster. Anderson will need to be handled with kid gloves for the next year or so, but has the potential for great stuff. Marco Gonzales - LHP - Gonzaga No other mocks have Gonzales to the Cardinals at this time, but Callis mentioned him, so let's take a look. Gonzales is an advanced college lefty who would move quickly through the minors like Michael Wacha (well, maybe not that quickly). He performed well on the Cape and Minor League Ball has a good writeup on Gonzales with video. One other college arm that didn't make Callis' list, but made some mock draft appearance is: Bobby Wahl - RHP - Mississippi Big League Futures and DraftSite.com mocked him to the Cardinals. Here's Big League Future's bullet points on Wahl: Fastball generally in the 92-93 range, hits 95 Some reports as high as 97 Arm side run on fastball Slider, 82-84, with plus potential Change 78-80, with late movement High 3/4 arm slot

Video. It's taking the internet by storm. Every since the debut of YouTube roughly six months ago, people have been uploading their own personal takes on hot topics at a blistering pace. That includes sports. The Post-Dispatch's corporate overlords, Lee Enterprises, undeterred by bankruptcy and ongoing layoffs, was an early adopter for online video. They jumped into the fray like a year ago! Former 101 ESPN program director Kent Sterling is doing hot sports takes on camera too, exiled or not. He recently sat down with former NFL interim head coach Rick Venturi to talk about the NFC West. It's about time. I for one am tired of nobody talking about the NFC West as a powerhouse division. The thing is, video on the internet is kind of a tough thing to do. Everybody thinks they can jump right in and be like Bryan Burwell. But it takes work, attention to detail and a crack production staff that knows how to strategically place the appropriate amount of bobblehead dolls around a desk. Let's go to post-production, where crafty editors put the spit and polish on those sports videos you consume so thoughtlessly like cans of Tecate. It's not so easy either. Details matter, especially when it comes to working with the chyron, the thing that puts the lower thirds on the screen. Sterling's video with Venturi left out one essential detail. We have a suggestion for how to improve it next time. Can you think of other tips, clever subtitles that would improve this video?

Here is the top 100 prospects from 85% Sports; the link has the full 200, along with other data (average rankings from other lists, etc). I had this completed at the beginning of April, but site changes has cause the publication to be delayed. Note: the list is prior to any performances this season.Here is the top 100 prospects from 85% Sports; the link has the full 200, along with other data (average rankings from other lists, etc). I had this completed at the beginning of April, but site changes has cause the publication to be delayed. Note: the list is prior to any performances this season. Rank Player Pos Team 1 Jurickson Profar SS Rangers 2 Dylan Bundy RHP Orioles 3 Oscar Taveras OF Cardinals 4 Wil Myers OF Rays 5 Gerrit Cole RHP Pirates 6 Jose Fernandez RHP Marlins 7 Xander Bogaerts SS Red Sox 8 Shelby Miller RHP Cardinals 9 Taijuan Walker RHP Mariners 10 Miguel Sano 3B Twins 11 Zack Wheeler RHP Mets 12 Trevor Bauer RHP Indians 13 Tyler Skaggs LHP Diamondbacks 14 Jameson Taillon RHP Pirates 15 Christian Yelich OF Marlins 16 Mike Zunino C Mariners 17 Travis d'Arnaud C Mets 18 Javier Baez SS Cubs 19 Byron Buxton OF Twins 20 Nick Castellanos 3B Tigers 21 Francisco Lindor SS Indians 22 Jonathan Singleton 1B Astros 23 Carlos Correa SS Astros 24 Billy Hamilton OF Reds 25 Archie Bradley RHP Diamondbacks 26 Carlos Martinez RHP Cardinals 27 Mike Olt 3B Rangers 28 Anthony Rendon 3B Nationals 29 Danny Hultzen RHP Mariners 30 Julio Teheran RHP Braves 31 Kevin Gausman RHP Orioles 32 Matt Barnes RHP Red Sox 33 Addison Russell SS Athletics 34 Gary Sanchez C Yankees 35 Aaron Sanchez RHP Blue Jays 36 Kyle Zimmer RHP Royals 37 Jorge Soler OF Cubs 38 Taylor Guerrieri RHP Rays 39 Noah Syndergaard RHP Mets 40 Mason Williams OF Yankees 41 Jackie Bradley OF Red Sox 42 Albert Almora OF Cubs 43 Nolan Arenado 3B Rockies 44 Trevor Rosenthal RHP Cardinals 45 Jedd Gyorko 3B Padres 46 Jake Odorizzi RHP Rays 47 Kaleb Cowart 3B Angels 48 Trevor Story SS Rockies 49 Chris Archer RHP Rays 50 Gregory Polanco OF Pirates 51 Rymer Liriano OF Padres 52 George Springer OF Astros 53 Bubba Starling OF Royals 54 Alen Hanson SS Pirates 55 Max Fried RHP Padres 56 David Dahl OF Rockies 57 Oswaldo Arcia OF Twins 58 Tyler Austin OF Yankees 59 Robert Stephenson RHP Reds 60 Alex Meyer RHP Twins 61 Kolten Wong 2B Cardinals 62 Nick Franklin SS Mariners 63 Brian Goodwin OF Nationals 64 Austin Hedges C Padres 65 Courtney Hawkins OF White Sox 66 Kyle Gibson RHP Twins 67 Yasiel Puig OF Dodgers 68 Delino DeShields Jr OF Astros 69 Adam Eaton OF Diamondbacks 70 Kyle Crick RHP Giants 71 Lucas Giolito RHP Nationals 72 Jake Marisnick OF Marlins 73 Aaron Hicks OF Twins 74 Luis Heredia RHP Pirates 75 Justin Nicolino LHP Marlins 76 Michael Wacha RHP Cardinals 77 Casey Kelly RHP Padres 78 Michael Choice OF Athletics 79 A.J. Cole RHP Nationals 80 Jesse Biddle LHP Phillies 81 Yordano Venturo RHP Royals 82 Tony Cingrani LHP Reds 83 Eddie Rosario 2B Twins 84 Zach Lee RHP Dodgers 85 Hak-Ju Lee SS Rays 86 James Paxton LHP Mariners 87 Allen Webster RHP Red Sox 88 Wily Peralta RHP Brewers 89 Roberto Osuna RHP Blue Jays 90 Jonathan Schoop 2B Orioles 91 Slade Heathcott OF Yankees 92 Matt Davidson 3B Diamondbacks 93 Andrew Heaney RHP Marlins 94 Trevor May RHP Twins 95 Martin Perez RHP Rangers 96 Dorsyys Paulino SS Indians 97 Clayton Blackburn RHP Giants 98 Dan Vogelbach 1B Cubs 99 Leonys Martin OF Rangers 100 Arodys Vizcaino RHP CubsHere is the full list.

Soccer happened last night @ Busch Stadium. Real soccer. No juice boxes. No orange slices. Questionable body positions: Some observations in no particular order: 1) St. Louis brought the heat. In the last 10 minutes. Wasn't a rowdy crowd. But it was a crowd. And by the last 10 minutes of the game, everyone had kind of picked a side and started rooting for, well, something. Many didn't know what. But everyone stopped staring and started participating. 2) Someone was impressed, though. Don't know who. Don't know the end goal of this exhibition other than to sell a ton of stuff and make some big $$$ for the Cardinals when their main attraction is on a road trip. But SOMEONE had to be impressed at how St. Louis showed up to a soccer game. 3) The scrubs played, but the stars played too. Tip of the cap to the teams involved for having all the stars at least start the game. I was under the false impression that this was going to be a 3rd string coming out party. 4) We're getting sponsors on game jerseys real soon. I don't know how much Samsung pays to sponsor the Chelsea kits, but it do know that they can justify spending a TON on it because I must have seen their logo 10,000 times last night. And that's not counting the game. I know that the NFL has done practice jerseys. But that is a drop in the bucket. Professional owners can't stay away from this pending pile of money much longer. 5) Yes. Blaming injuries and bad play from field conditions will happen on this site. We did it after the Dave Matthews concert. We did it after the U2 concert. And we really did it after The Eagles concert. Because, you know... 6) Busch Stadium? Not built like a soccer stadium. No shit, right? But I'm not talking about the field, but more the entrance and exit of fans into the stadium. One of the big reasons soccer has been getting increased exposure on US TV is the ability to finish a game in 2 hours. Prompt. But when you get 45K people coming in and heading out all at the same time, the exit points become choke points. During baseball, people tend to arrive and leave in waves. Really, that was the only thing you could complain about. St. Louis and the Cardinals put on a class event and fans from all over came to support it. Well done, city.