St.louis

Sam Bradford's roots run deep in Oklahoma. He's had a rough few days, worrying about family and friends in the Sooner State after lethal tornadoes ripped through areas around Oklahoma City. Here's to all the people affected by the nasty storms recovering very soon. Have you seen the St. Louis Rams' short 5 part videos series about rookie camp? No? Go here, here, here, here aaaaand here. A fond farewell to another great Chicago Bears linebacker. Brian Urlacher is calling it a career after 13 NFL seasons. He'd toyed with signing on with another team after the Bears release the virtual lock for the Hall of Fame. Word has it 2013 second round draft pick Jon Bostic has the inside track to replace Urlacher. Here's a rundown of the Rams' running back situation for 2013 by Bleacher Report. No new details, but there's a couple of videos you might like to take a look at if you have the time? Vinnie Iyer of Sporting News has his off season grades up, and guess who got an "A -"? Tavon Austin has lots of pressure on his tiny shoulders, doesn't he? Impact rookies? How about a short slide show... How about a picture of Tavon Austin? I mean, why not, eh? via dy.snimg.com Sorry for the shortage of links for your day, but it's that time of year...

The club announced yesterday that Jaime Garcia will have surgery on Friday. Dr. Paletta will repair the labrum in his shoulder, as well as debride the rotator cuff in his left shoulder. The club did not release any details about what was seen in Jaime's most recent consult with Dr. Paletta. The club did not say whether the tear in the labrum was worse, better, or about the same as it was last season. Neither did it specify whether any change was seen in his rotator cuff. Labrum tears are pretty serious injuries. The recovery from such tears is mixed, although the outcomes are improving. A 2004 Will "Injury Expert (tm)" Carroll article in Slate painted a very dire picture of labrum tears indeed, although that article certainly does not reflect anything that has happened in the last 9 years and exaggerated the poor outcomes at the time (notably omitting Roger Clemens' labrum repair in 1985 and Curt Schilling's 1995 repair). Baseball Prospectus has a more updated, nuanced view of labrum repairs, dating from the Michael Pineda fiasco. I'd recommend you just view the article rather than read my summary of it. Briefly, some come back and do really well (Chris Carpenter, Schilling, Clemens, Anibal Sanchez), some come back and flop (Mark Mulder, Matt Clement), and some never return at all. The likelihood of someone returning from a labrum tear, generically described, and succeeding as a pitcher is probably less than 50%. But there's no such thing as a generic labrum tear. The chance of return depends in part on the degree of the tear. Last year, the club described the degree of labrum tearing as "moderate," which is the middle case ("complete tear" and "minor tear" represent the ends of the spectrum). The club, as I said before, has not clarified whether it remains moderate, has improved, or worsened. Jaime describes his pain now as worse than before, which is something of a flag. The other complicating factor is the involvement of his rotator cuff; pitchers with labrum tears but no damage to their rotator cuffs will typically recover better than those with torn rotator cuffs as well. Garcia will be having a repair to his cuff as well. So, while the labrum tear isn't quite the kiss of death that Carroll made it out to be, it's clearly pretty serious. Taking all that into consideration, I'd think that we should give some leniency to the fact that Garcia gave rest and recovery the opportunity to work. Success following surgery is far from a sure thing; surgery can clearly be a career-ender. Looking at Garcia's and the club's long-term interests, even blowing 9 months on the rest option doesn't seem unreasonable. The big risks were a) that rest would be a failure and surgery a success, resulting in the loss of playing time to rest and rehab or b) that his tear would worsen in an attempt to come back from rest-and-rehab and become inoperable. We certainly didn't know then and don't know now that surgery will be successful. We don't know whether the rest-and-rehab followed by a return helped or hurt his shoulder. I think people looking from the outside who insist that surgery was clearly the only option are speaking way too soon. People inside the club, people with access to the doctors' advice and evaluations may have a more valid perspective, but random-dude-on-the-internets rants about how Jaime clearly should have gotten surgery are worth nothing. Like a lot of things in life, we can only go on the best information and hope it all works out. Right now, I hope Jaime rebounds quickly and starts healthy in 2014. **** In other news, Fernando Salas has been suffering from shoulder inflammation. He goes on the 15-day DL to allow Tyler Lyons a spot on the active roster. Lyons, of course, went 7 innings last night, allowing four hits and one run (on a solo homer in the sixth). He walked one, struck out four, and got 12 groundouts, which is pretty much the kind of solid, innings-eating good stuff we were hoping for. The bad news

On Wednesday, the Peoria Chiefs and Caterpillar Inc. released the new logo for the recently-re-named Dozer Park. Not surprisingly, the image incorporates baseball and a Cat bulldozer. Specifically, the logo features the familiar bright yellow track-type tractor pushing the name Dozer Park and a baseball across home plate. Last month, Caterpillar acquired naming rights for Chiefs Stadium for $2 million over 10 years as part of a much broader set of Chiefs refinancing actions. Details can be found here. Logoed signs will be installed at the downtown stadium in the coming weeks with a grand re-opening event expected this summer. Follow me on Twitter. Follow The Cardinal Nation Blog on Facebook. Tweet This Post

Sam Bradford has the pedigree of a No. 1 draft pick but the numbers of a below-average starter. So where will the St. Louis Rams QB's career go from here? Gregg Rosenthal examines.

It's been reported that the St. Louis Rams' potentially starting left guard Rokevious Watkins will be suspended for the week 1 contest against the Arizona Cardinals. Rams G Rokevious Watkins suspended for first game of 2013 season. Efforting to find out violation. Likely personal conduct policy. — Howard Balzer (@HBalzer721) May 22, 2013 NFL confirms suspension, but it's for violation of policy for substances of abuse. That's usually not just one game. — Howard Balzer (@HBalzer721) May 22, 2013 Failing tests as part of NFL program usually results in four-game suspension. Could be violation of law. — Howard Balzer (@HBalzer721) May 22, 2013 Watkins was drafted in the 5th round by the Rams last year, and he became a starter week one. However he suffered an ankle injury during the first game and has been working to improve during the off-season. Watkins is only suspended for one game, so this suspension shouldn't hurt his chances of being the starter at left guard. The players that Watkins are competing against for the left guard position are Shelley Smith, Chris Williams and the Rams' recent 4th round pick Barrett Jones.

30 mins ago it came to light that Rok Watkins will be suspended for 1 game next year for violating the PED policy. It is unclear what the substance was that Rok was using, or why he was only suspended for 1 game while other players such as the Cardinals Daryl Washington was suspended for four. The Last players to be suspended by the NFL on the Rams was last year when TE Brody Eldridge and WR Austin Pettis were forced to sit out for similar abuses. Though Austin Pettis was just using Adderall. So with Rok out of the picture the first game the picture at LG becomes even more cloudy. My personal favorite to play the first game would be Barret Jones. This is why we brought him in. To be a Swiss army knife and play where needed. Though the more probable situation is Shelley Smith playing the first game as he has some starting experience. Either way, this will make our OL even more interesting as the season continues. Thanks for reading folks. Poll Our LG for game one will be? Shelley Smith Chris Williams Barret Jones 2 votes | Results

Is it bad that I have, at this point, essentially written off Jaime Garcia for the rest of, well, ever? Not in a huffy, angry, my gay friends all think I'm being overly dramatic, he's dead to me now sort of way, mind you; rather, I have just given up any hope of ever seeing him take the mound in an effective, useful way again. With the news Jaime is officially entering the Land of Shoulder Surgery, his career is, to my mind, officially over. Sure, he's still only 27 years old, in what should be the halcyon days of his prime, but nope. He's done. My brain insists it, my heart agrees, and it's really rather sad. A shame, really; even with the pyrotechnic brilliance of a Shelby Miller or Carlos Martinez on this team, Jaime Garcia remains my absolute favourite Cardinal pitcher to watch ply his trade. It's just more fun to watch him than anyone else. When he throws a changeup that seemingly changes direction in midair, veering off in a way that doesn't seem physically possible, leaving Ryan Braun to helplessly corkscrew himself into the ground , it is just perfect. Sigh. Goodbye, Jaime. Forever, says my heart and mind. I'm fairly certain it's because Jaime is just too handsome. After all, the last time we saw all this happen it was Mark Mulder on the literal and metaphorical chopping block (surgeons use blocks, right?), and he was also rather easy on the eyes, if I do say so myself. He was wholesome and tall and fair and American, where Jaime is all laser-cut beard and slightly mysterious Latin charm, but the end result is the same. I'm fairly certain there is a curse at work here, and I don't think it's very fair. It's why my onetime infatuation with bringing Jeremy Sowers into the organisation was almost certainly doomed to fail from the very start, come to think of it. Ergo, I would like to propose that, from this point on, the St. Louis Cardinals are to steer clear of handsome lefties. Swear off them entirely, like a girl promising herself she won't fall for another guy in a leather jacket . She's nearly a grown woman now, after all; 22 years old is old enough to know better on His Kind. I leave it to others, bitchier, cattier others, to decide if, say, John Gast sneaks in under the handsome bar or not (I would say yes, but that's just me), or if Tyler Lyons is doomed to the knife before his time in the big leagues gets properly underway, but that's all just details. What matters is the idea; we have to steer clear of sinister, handsome men. Period. What we really need is like the lefty equivalent of Aaron Harang, you know? Sure, he may look...unfortunate, but he sure can pitch. Never been an injury just waiting to happen, either, coincidentally or not. Maybe our friends will look at him when we bring him to parties, our new lefty starter, and think to themselves, "Huh. Well that's weird. They can certainly do better. Usually, anyway." They'll make eye contact with the other teams and share a short, amused look that communicates quite clearly that yes, both are thinking the same thing about our new starter. At the cocktail table later perhaps the Dodgers and Rangers will chuckle together, saying, "Well, you know, maybe he's got a really big fastball," as the Twins tell them both they're just the absolute worst. Just uggos from now on, Cardinals. At least if they're left-handed. These handsome guys with the all-American looks and laser-precision cut beards just aren't working for us anymore. Deal?

The Cardinals’ starting pitching rotation is on this week’s cover of Sports Illustrated. Well, what WAS the Cardinals’ starting pitching rotation. Image courtesy sicovers.com Two-fifths of that photo are now on the disabled list. One for the season (Jaime Garcia) and one indefinitely or until the medical staff runs out of elbow injections (Jake Westbrook). Damn you Sports Illustrated, and your nefarious cover jinx.  I bet your editors are the types of people who openly talk about a no-hitter while it’s in progress too, right?  *ducks* All kidding aside, it’s a great photo, excellent recognition for what these five guys have accomplished to date, and I’m sure the cover piece is wonderful as well.  Now, about getting that elbow fixed…

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to all of the TST and FG members who came over and not only wished Crabtree quick healing, but smacked down the few trolls that gleefully danced over the fact that someone got injured. I know as rivals we should hate each other and trash talk (especially during the week before a game between us), but it is great to see that seeing someone injured is not a reason to smack talk. Thank you for that. Here is to no more injuries for any of our teams and that we can play each other at full strength! (I am posting this at both TST and FG because I appreciate both fanbases.) I just wanted to give a quick shout out to all of the TST and FG members who came over and not only wished Crabtree quick healing, but smacked down the few trolls that gleefully danced over the fact that someone got injured. I know as rivals we should hate each other and trash talk (especially during the week before a game between us), but it is great to see that seeing someone injured is not a reason to smack talk. Thank you for that. Here is to no more injuries for any of our teams and that we can play each other at full strength! (I am posting this at both TST and FG because I appreciate both fanbases.)

Sep 9, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; St. Louis Rams defensive back Cortland Finnegan (31) intercepts a pass for a touchdown in the second quarter against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-US Presswire The St Louis Rams traveled into Motown as the underdogs against Jim Schwartz and the Detroit Lions.  The Rams were coming off of a forgettable 2-14 record in 2011 that brought about an organizational housecleaning, ushering in the Jeff Fisher/Les Snead era of Rams football.  On paper the Rams season opener had all the makings of a disastrous start, the NFL’s youngest team (coming off of a 2-14 season) going on the road to play a 2011 playoff team in their first game under a new head coach.  Fortunately for the Rams their new head coach happened to be Jeff Fisher who had his team ready to play.  This game laid the foundation for what the gameplan would be for a majority of the Rams 2012 season.  Conservative offensive playcalling combined with a stout “bend-don’t-break” defense that relied on the teams above average kicking game to help generate points.  Fisher was well aware that the Rams offense was going to be limited, and that the defense was the strength of the team.  For the Lions this may have actually been the high point of the season, pulling off a thrilling last second victory at home had to rate fairly high in a 4-12 season that saw only one other win at Ford Field. Most Rams fans were cautiously optimistic prior to the start of the 2012 season, optimistic that Jeff Fisher could turn the Rams around but with the realization that there was quite a bit of work to be done.  Prior to the start of the season the Rams draft was very hard to grade, sure they loaded up on talent but even the most gifted players (say Janoris Jenkins or Brian Quick) were not without their question marks, which made projecting what would be a reasonable amount of progress difficult to do.  The first game of the season showed that the Rams were ready to take a huge step back towards NFL relevance again, and while they couldn’t close the game out they put forth a pretty solid effort.  Some quick thoughts related this game before we hit some of the game statistics. The Rams first round pick, Michael Brockers, missed this game due to an ankle injury suffered in preseason.  Scott Wells and Rodger Saffold both left this game due to injury, with Saffolds injury initially appearing to be quite serious.  Titus Young was penalized for headbutting Janoris Jenkins, one of the first in an impressive string of mis-steps for the former Boise State team-mate of Austin Pettis.  The Rams received significant contributions from 3 new defenders as JoLonn Dunbar, Janoris Jenkins and Cortland Finnegan all had interceptions in the first half, with Finnegan returning his for a touchdown.  The Rams defense did allow the Lions to pile up the yardage, but they held the scoring in check and had the team in position to win. Let’s go ahead and take a look at the statistics, which pretty well tell the story of why the Rams managed to let this game slip away at the end.  Sam Bradford had an efficient day going 17/25 for 198 yards and 1 TD with 0 INTs for a 105.1 QB Rating, although he was sacked 4 times.  Steven Jackson struggled to find running room as he managed only 53 yards on 21 carries coupled with his 4 receptions for 31 yards.  Danny Amendola and Brandon Gibson each had modest days hauling in 5 passes for 70 yards and 4 for 57 respectively.  Greg Zeurlein went 3/3 to begin his impressive rookie season, including one from 48 yards.   I put together this table of some of the team statistics from this game, since I already covered the 3 first half interceptions of Stafford earlier in the article I excluded turnovers from the table. Rams Team Statistic Lions 14 First Downs 28 4/12 (33%) 3rd Down Conversion (%) 4/9 (44%) 251 Total Yards 429 7-65 Penalties-Yards 3-27 0-1 (0%