There’s LOTS OF ACTION on & off the Court in the St Louis Sports World right now… Take a look at the ACTION in the sports world in the Lou….Thanks for your read! Bob/Coach
…There was TALK ABOUT BILLIKEN BASKETBALL in the Pre-season. There was also some skepticism—was last year a fluke?
…. But now, due to the ACTION ON THE COURT in 25-26 season, SLU has erased any doubt about “is this team good?” No…they are really, really good!
…But, some of the ACTIONS regarding SLU have been Off the Court! SLU reached the 18th spot in the AP weekly rankings this week!! But, one has to think that in the TALK OFF THE COURT, there are still all kinds of discussions about …”who is this St Louis U? Where did they come from, who are their stars, etc, etc.” A deep run in the NCAA Tournament is starting to percolate in the minds of the Billiken fans.
…Well….let’s look at the ACTION of the Billikens first. The A-10 stats, alone, tell you a great deal about this team in 25-26 season! In the A-10 Team Stats for 2025-26, St Louis U is #1 in team scoring as they are averaging 91.0 ppg; SLU is 3rd in TEAM DEFENSE permitting a scant 67.7 ppg!; SLU is #1 in 3-pt baskets AND ALSO #1 in 3 pt % with 274 3-pt baskets while the are sinking 40.8% of their 3-pt shots. SLU also lead the league in rebounds with 1008 boards!!
…The most important ACTION isn’t the stats but that St Louis U sits in the 1st place spot of the A-10 Conference with an 11-0 conference record and are 2 games ahead of VCU. Now this long-time ignored basketball school is beginning to garner some national attention. They were ranked #18 in the national rankings last week.
…The Cardinals ACTIONS regarding Team Salary Scale has caused some eyebrows to be raised. There has been a dramatic change in the salary scale of the Cards. Comparing the salary scales of the last 2 years is startling. In 2025 (last year) the team salary for the season was 20th in the MLB @ $156,648,581. THE SALARY ACTIONS In 2026, the Cards will be 24th in the MLB in player salary @ $99m. That’s a 37% pay cut from one year to the next.
…That level of salary scale doesn’t necessarily mean that a team CAN’T win. But it’s a very, very steep challenge w/o the proven veteran players who have done it before in their career. Take a look at the success of the 2025 MLB teams who were under the $100m salary scale. The Athletics—76 wins, Tampa Bay—77 wins, Washington—66 wins, Chicago White Sox-60 wins, & Miami-79 wins! Remember 81 wins is a meager .500 record. The Miami number is really shocking. That number alone provides the Card fans with at least SOME hope!
…The Cardinals will have plenty of young, fresh faces on the diamond this year. It seems that GM Bloom leans toward fast players (that’s good) who are athletic (also good) but many come into this spring training w/o demonstrating that they can “hit” at the MLB level. By “hit”, I mean .270 or higher..not necessarily a .300 hitter that we once expected of good hitters years ago. We can TALK about it all we want, but we’ll all see throughout 2026 which players continue to improve and which players decline or “level off” as the season progresses. Their ACTIONS(especially at the plate) will provide us with the answers. I do expect a couple of these young batters to get off at the start of the season to get off to “good” starts. I’ll let you define what a good start is 😉 But, as the season unfolds and opposing teams analyze the strengths/weaknesses of each batter, their number will sag.
…Mizzou Mens Basketball has not provided us with much “TALK” in 25-26 season. Like many schools do now, they piled up several easy wins over sub-standard competition in their early non-conference games. They beat Howard, SE MO State, VMI, Minnesota (D1 team but sub .500); Prairie View; S. Dakota, S. Carolina State, Alabama St, Bethune-Crook. For the most part, those were easy “walk over” wins against overmatched opponents. It looks good on paper…but did it help them prepare for SEC play? I doubt it. MU did register a solid win over Florida (76-74) but dropped games to Notre Dame, Kansas & Illinois prior to SEC play beginning. This was the exact same “open soft” approach as the Football team. Sooo…I would speculate that the Athletic Director is guiding them down that “softy” road. From my eyes, it’s not the road that one travels if they hope to become a nationally known team. Use the early season games against quality opponents so that you’re “ready for the higher level, conference games later in the season. That’s how you become a national contender.
….While we’re TALKING about Mizzou, the ACTION off-the-field in the recruiting season is vital to having a successful season. According to experts in recruiting, Missouri Football was listed at # 30 in ESPN’s in the 2026 football recruiting class rankings. According to an ESPN analysis, the Tigers have two incoming recruits from the ESPN TOP 300 commits in Johnnie Jones and Brandon Anderson. Two of the top 300….that doesn’t sound real good to me!! We are in the SEC conference—loaded with powerful teams who send out terrific athletes with powerful skill sets.
….The portal/transfer season has not smiled on Mizzou football this spring. The team lost 45 players this offseason, including 25 players to the portal. While everyone can be replaced in life in any job, one as to wonder why 25 players chose to “move on” from Mizzou. That’s a good portion of their roster.
… On the “sunny” side, MU has added 20 players to finish with 247Sports.com’s at # 7 in the transfer portal ranking for 2025. Nonetheless, the departure of 45 players seems like a very high number to me. That’s more that half the players!! Clearly, the new regulations about transferring has made it much easier to transfer these days. Since the transfer rule has changed, players no longer are being forced to sit out 1 season after a transfer. It makes me wonder about the culture, the promises to players, relationships of coaches/players in the program there currently. You can bet that other college recruiters will cite that high exit number to future recruits. Now that transfer door does swing both ways. Mizzou did add 20 players to their roster. From my ancient view, this new transfer system isn’t good for the school or the players!
…I still keep asking the question, are these players academically eligible. Do they “carry” the hours required (it used to be 15 hours) or… isn’t that a requirement any longer. If so….that’s tragic! This is a college not a minor league!! Missourians don’t pay taxes to support MU to be a football/basketball/baseball minor league.
…The Blues have an important off-season ahead of them. Their performance on the ice needs to elevate… and by a lot! They are 20-28-9 for the 25-26 season and are 15th of 16 teams in the Western Conference. These stats express it better than I can do. Goals For: 146 (28th of 32), Goals Against: 200 (31st of 32). Sooo… we are 2nd last in goals against and 5th lowest in goals scored.
… It’s obvious that the Blues will need to make some major changes this off season. We’ll probably see them clear out some older, higher paid, veterans this off season. That will be difficult since some have high salaries. Further, reevaluate their assessments of each player. I sensed earlier, in the season that the Blues were not fully “sold” on Bennington (GK). Well, he started for Team Canada in goal last week in some type of hockey international tournament. In their eyes, he DOES still have it!! I DO think that he’s the least of our problems of climbing upwards next year.
….Actually, moving defenseman Justin Faulk and captain Brayden Schenn might have gotten a bit harder as well. The market might not be too enticing for either of them. GM Armstrong needs to pull the trigger and send this Blues franchise into its next era. In addition, Injuries have really stymied the Blues this season (doesn’t it always seem that way for bad teams?). Fans had hoped that other, younger players would “step-up.” In most cases that didn’t happen. Hockey personnel across the league seem to be a bit surprised that the Blues haven’t found anyone to play at a higher level. It’ll be tough….but somehow, the Blues have to SHOW SOME ACTION themselves BY unloading their aging vets (with the big salaries) WHICH Will be very, very Difficult. Then find some fresh, aggressive, durable, quicker players who give it “their all” each night on the ice and score some goals!!! This resilient fan base has continued to support this disappointing team all season. They deserve better!
…Well, it’s my time now to take the ACTION of wrapping up. I hope that I’ve given you some TIME to kick around some of these ideas. Please pass the word to family & friends. Thanks for your time & read! Bob