St.louis

The TST commander in chief is in California for the NFLPA Rookie Premiere event. These are the pictures and videos he has taken. He tried to capture the spirit of the thing. Tavon Austin in a Rams uniform for the first time. Stedman Bailey, Keenan Allen and Robert Woods posing in their new uniforms. The new Jaguars helmet up close Many hate on this new helmet, but I find it to be of good quality. Knile Davis is taking a snack break Geno Smith Warming up The WVU Crew Jonathan Franklin doing work Jaguars Offensive Weapon: Denard Robinson (Shockingly, his shoes are tied) Stedman Bailey Dancing Cordarrelle Patterson rocking the Ray Bands Denard Robinson; Investigative Reporter ROLL. DAMN. TIDE. The Future of Da Raiders? Tavon Austin gives the fans in St. Louis a shout out. He's a wee lad isn't he? All kidding aside, Rams nation can't wait to see you take the field. Follow Ryan on Twitter for more pictures and videos.

Ryan Jackson is nothing if not persistent. Earlier this month he was hitting a BAbip-heavy .341 and I suggested he simply didn't have enough gravity, as a Cardinals prospect, to Wally Pipp Pete Kozma so long as Kozma was doing his replacement level thing. In the week-and-a-half since I said that, of course, Kozma has hit for even less power (.233/.314/.267) and Ryan Jackson has hit .486 with six doubles and two home runs. Now he's hitting .385/.453/.525. It's easy to discount Jackson's season so far, and necessary, even though his breakout is now 50 at-bats longer than Kozma's was last year. But the problem, as Bernie Miklasz discussed earlier this week, isn't whether Jackson should replace Kozma, but whether Jackson is good enough to be on the 25-man roster, taking at-bats from him. Toward a Unified Theory of Ty Wigginton The St. Louis Cardinals signed Ty Wigginton because the slower he gets, the more like Ty Wigginton he becomes. That answer is almost certainly yes. But the Cardinals' weird bench construction on the infield has forced them into a situation in which their replacement level is lower in the major leagues than it is in Memphis. Yes: This is another thing that is Ty Wigginton's fault. Ty Wigginton has taken seven more plate appearances than Adam Wainwright. He's played 40 innings on defense. There's a cost to having a Ty Wigginton on your team—one roster spot—that used to be much simpler for teams to absorb. Before bullpens got huge and hyper-specialized you could afford to stash a third catcher or a backup-backup-pinch-hitter who was really just a good clubhouse guy on the 25-man roster, because what were you going to do with 25 men, anyway? In the last 20 years teams have mostly gone with lefty specialists instead of clubhouse specialists. The cost of trying to do both isn't just Wigginton's at-bats—it's the way it makes the positions he's supposed to be backing up worse, the inefficiencies it creates. And the weird thing is that the 2013 Cardinals seem desperate to prove how inefficient he can make them. Every player he touches on the depth chart is locked in a slump—David Freese, Daniel Descalso, Pete Kozma—and every player he's blocking (Ryan Jackson, even Matt Adams) is off to an unexpectedly strong one. Getting regular playing time has been good news for Jackson, who wasn't even assured of a regular job in Memphis after last season. But he's done everything the Cardinals could have hoped he would with those at-bats, and the big league team's absurd bench construction has forced us to think of the Cardinals' infield in terms of Jackson or Kozma when that shouldn't be the question at all. This is the question Ryan Jackson, a 25-year-old prospect with diminished defensive scouting reports and a limited history as a hitter, should be answering: Wouldn't it be nice to have another genuine middle infielder with a little offensive upside to turn to when Descalso, Freese, and Kozma are all struggling?

The one thing I don't like about creating threads using the fanpost option, is the 75-word minimum. Maybe I should be using the fanshot option, but what do I know? Y'all can use this thread to discuss any old thing, but haiku and puns should run rampant. Also, I like gifs, especially funny ones, so anyone wanting to put some of those in should do so. Only five more words to go, now I can publish. The one thing I don't like about creating threads using the fanpost option, is the 75-word minimum. Maybe I should be using the fanshot option, but what do I know? Y'all can use this thread to discuss any old thing, but haiku and puns should run rampant. Also, I like gifs, especially funny ones, so anyone wanting to put some of those in should do so. Only five more words to go, now I can publish.

I've been batting this article around in my head since literally the night playoffs ended for the Blues. Do I write it here, do I write it at my site? Do I write it at all? Am I the only one who has noticed a huge cultural difference between the Blues and Cardinals and how they handle disappointment? Of course, while thinking on this, Bernie Miklasz kind beat me to the punch a little bit. That'll learn me to worry about if bringing the Cards up on Game Time is a good idea or not. In today's post, he wonders why the Blues are so satisfied - they didn't play as well this year as last, they didn't win a single playoff series, and yet Ken Hitchcock and Doug Armstrong put a positive spin on things. In his post, Miklasz writes: Hitchcock seemed offended by the post-series criticism of the Blues. I don’t know why. They blew a 2-0 series lead and lost four consecutive games. The Blues were up by two goals in Game 4 but squandered the lead, the game and the opportunity to go ahead 3-1 in the series. But Hitchcock emphasized that the Blues – after being swept by LA last season – were more competitive this time around. Do you get a trophy for that? "To write off the playoffs and just say it was not good is really not fair to this team," Hitchcock said. I’ll write it: It was not good. Your team had a 2-0 series lead and didn’t win again. And I’m not sure why Armstrong thinks it’s so terrible for fans and media to link the present-day Blues to the franchise’s history of postseason futility. "That’s somebody else’s issue," Armstrong said. "To live in the past and try to exorcise ghosts is irrelevant." Irrelevant? Simply preposterous. Simply correct. The Blues seem to be caught up in this culture of participation. "We did well!" Yes, you did. Making the playoffs should never be a team's goal - winning the Stanley Cup should be. Sometimes you need to be realistic about expectations, sure, but doing so means not building up expectations during the year and then justifying when they fail. Your fans expect you to compete for the Stanley Cup every season. Of course, being Blues fans, we're a realistic bunch. We know what the front office is doing, and for the most part we just accept it. The team's just kind of "happy to be here," and so are we. Believe me, that attitude isn't the best to have, but it's next to impossible to shake. During game five of the NLCS last year, when Lance Lynn beaned the hell out of second base on a botched throw to God-knows-where, I turned to my friend that I was watching the game with and I said this: "Well, that's it. They're done, but they never should have made it this far, so I'm happy." During game six of the 2011 World Series, I kept thinking "well, the Cards tried. This was a really great series, win or lose." In one of those situations, I was spot on. In the other I wound up being pleasantly surprised. In neither was I thinking like the Cardinals organization - I was thinking like the Blues. Later on in his article Bernie, who must be a mind-reader, because I was thinking this same thing writes: The Cardinals have won 11 World Series championships, including two since 2006. And after the Cardinals blew a 3-1 lead to San Francisco in the 2012 NL championship series, manager Mike Matheny and his players were furious and inconsolable. That hasn’t changed. Mention the NLCS to Matheny, and a cold, hard look of disgust appears on his face. Adam Wainwright frequently discusses the anger that remains from losing the NLCS, and how the players use it for motivation. They want to make amends. There’s a profound difference in the standards that the Cardinals and Blues set for themselves. The Blues always promise to do better next year. The Cardinals, even after a situation that in any other season before last year would have been impossible for the team (the second wild card helped), want to make things better. So far th

Memphis @ Tacoma, 7:00pm - Nick Additon Springfield @ Arkansas, 7:10pm - Tim Cooney Palm Beach vs. Jupiter, 5:35pm - Jonathan Cornelius Peoria vs. Clinton, 6:30pm - Kyle Helisek

A decent night in the system as they 2-2 W-L overall. Carson Kelly hit his 1st home run in the Midwest League. Although Tyrell Jenkins outing was cut short is was still a positive outing Memphis 7, Tacoma 4 Memphis is still without Oscar Taveras. They didn't miss his intimidating presence nor violently controlled swing in there lineup last night as they rallied for 4 runs in the 8th to go on to win. Adron Chambers was 2-5 with the go-ahead RBI single to spark the rally also stole his 4th bag. Jermaine Curtis hit a 2-run single to break the game open. Ryan Jackson continues to rack as he goes 3-5 with a 2-run shot. His 2nd of the season Jackson is now batting .385 that leads the system. J.R. Towles smacked his 4th homer which was a solo shot. Vance Albitz was 2-4 with a run scored. Tyler Lyons pitched 5 1/3 innings allowing 6 hits, on 3 earned runs, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts. Threw 92 total pitches. Jorge Rondon continues to be an erratic power arm as he pitched a scoreless inning walking 2 and striking out 2. Barrett Browning pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Eric Fornataro gave up an earned run in an inning of work Springfield 6, Arkansas 7 Springfield had the lead in the 8th but the bullpen imploded giving up 2 runs in the late innings. Starlin Rodriguez showing some of that bat speed-fueled power potential by smacking his 3rd homer in which was a 2-run shot. Xavier Scruggs went deep as well was a solo shot. His 11th of the season. Luis Mateo hit a 3-run jimmy-jack his first as a Springfield Cardinal. James Ramsey appeared via pinch hit recording a single in his lone at bat. Anthony Ferrara gave up 5 hits on 5 earned runs in 5 1/3 innings walked 2 and struck out 4. Ferrara induced 9 groundouts. Deryk Hooker pitched a scoreless 7th. Then gave up 2 earned runs in the 8th Palm Beach 1, Jupiter 2 After the Ramsey promotion. Palm Beach has been squandering offensively looking for any spark from somewhere. Collin Walsh was hitless but walked twice. Stephen Piscotty doubled. Jonathan Rodriguez was 2-4 with a double. Danny Stienstra produced the only RBI for Palm Beach. Ryan Sheriff pitched 5 innings giving up 4 hits, on 1 earned run, walked 4, struck out 4. Lee Stoppelman walked 1 and struck out 4 in 2 scoreless innings. Nice bounce back outing from Stoppelman after being roughed the previous Peoria 5, Clinton 1 Breyvic Valera barreled an RBI single. Jacob Wilson was 3-4 with 2 doubles, and an RBI. Wilson now has 34 RBI's this season. Patrick Wisdom hit an RBI single. His 20th RBI of the season. Carson Kelly hammered his first home run in the Midwest League. #Chiefs get two more as Kelly crushes one and almost kills a girl by the inflatables with a mammoth blast. Chiefs up 4-1 in the rain end 4.— Kevin Capie (@KevinCapie) May 18, 2013 Charlie Tilson starting to find that stroke as he goes 3-4 with 2 doubles. Tyrell Jenkins pitched 5 solid innings allowing 4 hits on 1 earned run, 0 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Jenkins induced 8 groundouts-to-2 flyouts. His outing was cut short due to a rain delay he only threw 62 pitches going into the 6th inning. From reports it seems Jenkins is doing a better job keeping the ball down and throwing his sinking fastball to get ground balls and is mixing in his improved curve-ball which has been one of the reason to his recent success. Joe Donofrio ate 3 scoreless innings in relief. Zach Petrick pitched the scoreless 9th while striking out a batter.

Yaaaaaayyyyyyy we got Tavon Austin, and Ogletree, and McDonald, and Bailey, hell we even somehow came away with Stacy. But what about the guys who were a little more unheralded? Since the end of the draft I have spent the last three weeks researching the hell out of our undrafted free agents. I've been digging up every piece of info I could find. Some guys I had already done plenty of research on leading up to the draft, and others either not as much, or none at all. After doing all of that digging and reviewing our current roster, I came to the conclusion we could see 8-11 UDFA make the final 53. I'm only going to list the seven I believe have the best shot, with some having relatively nice impacts. BENNY CUNNINGHAM RB Benny Cunningham vs Georgia Tech 2012 (via xuesac84) WOW!!!!!! This kid is the truth. He looks like a true gem, and a hell of a steal to go undrafted. I'm not saying he is the next Arian Foster, but he has some serious potential, and it only proves that we have better skill at the RB position than we are getting credit for. Understandably so! Steven Jackson is gone, so all you hear now is who is going to fill the void??? Well, we certainly have some damn good options between Richardson, Pead, Stacy, and Cunningham. I do believe Ganaway will be the odd man out, seeing as how he is the least talented of the bunch. But Stacy has been my favorite for a while now. I was a fan before we drafted him. But after studying a lot more on Cunningham, he is going to give Stacy a run for his money. Cunningham has a really well built upper body. He is 5'10" 210, and they way he is built he resembles Ray Rice. He ran a 40 four days before the draft at a private pro day where only two teams showed up, one being the Rams. He was declared 75% back to his old form (tore his patella tendon) at the time that he ran, and still clocked a 4.51. You can see on film his burst and top speed is closer to a 4.4. I found a few things saying he ran 4.42 and even a 4.38, but none were concrete sources, although I wouldn't doubt the accuracy. But he is more than speed. The guy is a BULL. He is so well built and so fast, he is really hard to bring down. His bench total was 26 reps. I thought the Georgia Tech tape was his most impressive game because of who the 212 yds were against, but his best game hands down was against Florida International. The guy only played in 5 games before hurting his knee and was averaging about 120 yds a game with 11 td's. I'm not one to get excited about someone getting injured, but it may have been a blessing in disguise for us, because at the rate he was going and top notch workout numbers to match (I estimate him finishing the year with about 1800 yds 24 td's, and testing a 4.40 40, 4.35 shuttle) he probably would have been about a 4th rounder and we would not have gotten him. He is a nice blend of Stacy, Pead, and Richardson mixed in one. He has Stacy's power, patience, and vision, Pead's speed and agility, and Richardson's burst and decisive running style. Once he is 100%, probably will start out on the PUP list, look out. Click here for an article covering his entire and impressive workout!!!!!! Click here for footage of his workout!!!!!! EMORY BLAKE WR Emory Blake vs Georgia (via Aaron Aloysius) Blake is one of the guys I wrote about before the draft for possible UDFA pickups. He was definitely someone I was glad we got to sign. I believe he is terribly underrated. He runs good routes, has good hands, tough, smart, NFL bloodlines, and a VERY good blocker (most underrated and over looked trait for a WR). He just played on a team that sucked and the QB was abysmal. Even when Cam Newton was there (his best season 33 rec, 554 yds, 8 td, 16.8 ypc) they didn't run an offense that feeds their WR the ball. Between Cam running and the RB getting nearly 1200 yds, they ran too often and when they did pass it was spread out. Nevertheless Blake was a nice pickup. PHILLIP STEWARD OLB Philli

Carson Kelly Homers; Ryan Jackson Boosts Average to .385; Cardinal Farm Results   The Peoria Chiefs were winners on Friday 5-1 over Clinton LumberKings in a rain soaked game that I was in attendance to witness Tyrell Jenkins. Jenkins was the winning pitchers as he lasted 5 innings and allowed 4 hits and one solo [...]

Coming out of Florida Atlantic, nobody saw Alfred Morris having the season that he had last season with the Redskins. Some didn’t expect him to make the roster. Morris shut down his critics, but began the season as the starter and helped lead the Redskins to having the best rushing attack in the NFL. Morris piled up 1,613 yards and 13 TD last season. Every team looks for those hidden gems in the late rounds of the draft. It just so happens the Rams may have found one in RB Zac Stacy who could be the next Alfred Morris. After passing on Eddie Lacy in the first round, the Rams waited until the 5th round to get their running back, Zac Stacy out of Vanderbilt. The Rams traded both of their sixth round picks away in order to get Stacy. Snead and Fisher obviously saw something in this kid that a lot of people didn’t. Zac Stacy had 27 bench reps which will allow him to bring a physical compliment to the Rams small, speedy running backs. Don’t think for a second that Stacy isn’t fast though, he ran a 4.55-40 and is agile despite his build. Stacy played in the SEC which is by far the most dominant conference in college football. Stacy played against a lot of NFL talent and piled up some decent stats along the way. Stacy had 3,143 yards and 30 touchdowns during his college career and rushed for 1,141 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. He also piled up 83 yards against Georgia and 86 yards against LSU which are NFL caliber defenses. Stacy is  a decent pass blocker and can catch out of the backfield having 150 yards receiving last season. Most importantly however, is that Zac Stacy is consistent, which is what the Rams are losing in Steven Jackson. Jackson always talked about how he took pride in being consistent, Stacy brings that consistency to the table. Zac Stacy could be the hidden gem in the bottom of the draft and be more NFL ready than people think. The Rams are going to have an open running back competition between Richardson, Pead, Stacy, and Ganaway. It’s probably more of a three man race between Richardson, Pead, and Stacy however. Stacy will have every opportunity to start, and if he is not the week 1 starter he will definitely get touches in the running back by committee approach the Rams will have going. Stacy has a legitimate shot of starting, definitely don’t rule him out. Richardson has the most NFL game experience, but Stacy fits the typical Jeff Fisher running back. Zac Stacy has the ability and potential to surprise a lot of people this season and be the next Alfred Morris. He probably wont rack up 1,600 yards rushing, but could be the week 1 starter and rush for over 1,000, and that could be doubtful as well as all of the running back on the Rams roster except for maybe Ganaway will get touches this season, giving the Rams three solid options to go with . However if it’s one guy to keep an eye on and watch out for, it’s definitely Zac Stacy.

No fan of Sanchez? Neither is Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith. He went off during an interview on what he thinks of the King of Butt Fumbles... You can't be a quarterback, so... Joe Webb has been a fan favorite in Minnesota for the last couple years. That doesn't mean much to head coach Leslie Frazier, who has committed to Christian Ponder as his #1 quarterback. Webb is an excellent athlete, so his shift to being a full time receiver is at least possible, right? The best DT tandems in the NFL? Gregg Rosenthal rates his top 5 defensive tackle duos in the NFL. No love for the Rams' Brockers and Langford, but who knows what the future holds? I don't agree with his #1 DT duo. Have a look and tell me I'm wrong... The top 100 plays for 2012 - No love for any Rams plays from 100 to 50, but it could happen, right? Nah! The greatest play of last season for St. Louis was an Amendola catch against San Francisco that was "Gibson-ed". Nevertheless, here's 50 videos for your Saturday morning... Thoughts of the Rams best play of 2012? Let me know in the thread. Three teams from the NFC West in the playoffs? Have a need to be "Dameshek-ed"? Well, the NFL resident comedian predicts the NFC West will send three teams to the playoffs in 2013. Hmm... The surprise and disappointing teams for 2013 - The St. Louis Rams will make waves this season. Jason La Canfora either believes the Rams will make a move up in the standing this season, or he owes Jeff Fisher money? Breakout players for 2013 - Jared Cook gets the nod as one of the players to watch in 2013. Nice to hear he may live up to his ka-jillion dollar contract. I think Cook could have a great season, but like everything Rams, it will happen through the offensive line's success or failure. Seattle's Bruce Irvin get four game suspension for PEDs - He'll miss games against the 49ers, Texans, Panthers and Jaguars. Like it the NFL couldn't have suspended him until after the Seahawks play the Rams? Multiple surgeries on his arm, and now his back? Rob Gronkowski must have spit in the injury God's guacamole. He's looking at a fourth - and possible FIFTH - surgery on his ill fated forearm. Now it looks like back surgery could be in the offing too. Bradford and trick or treat? Odd little categories have Sam Bradford ranked low among NFL quarterbacks. I think this "make or break year" thing may be catching on? Cardinals on the rise? Sports Illustrated's Chris Burke is buying stock in the Arizona Cardinals, or at least he knows what we fans in the NFC West know. I agree with him the Cardinals will be improved over their 2012 version. Can Bruce Arians really turn this team around so fast? Tavon Austin may have cousins, but Tyron Smith has parents who'll threaten to kill for $$$ - Dallas Cowboys offensive tackle has taken out a restraining order on... His Parents? Yup, you read right. It seems his parents actually threatened his life, and that of his girlfriend if Smith didn't share his wealth. I wonder what happened when Smith was a kid and he was late for dinner... I wonder what the deductible is? The Denver Broncos owe Peyton Manning something in the neighborhood of $40 million in guaranteed cash over the next couple years. So they took out an insurance policy against major injury for the man with the bionic neck. Is it just me that thinks the Insurance lLobby is about to chime in on tackling rules for quarterbacks? Pressing questions about all 32 NFL teams - You know what the St. Louis rams needs are, but what about the other 31 NFL teams? Here's your chance to dial in your 2014 mock drafts, or just have a peek at flaws in teams the Rams will face in 2013. Fantasy Football you say? How about some "bounce back" specials for 2013? Fantasy Football season is just around the corner, so take a look at who may bring the points this season. Marketing a player isn't about a nice smile... Learn how companies decide on who will help them sell their products, and appear in commercial