One of my favorite songs was the 1970 CCR song “Who’ll stop the rain”…first of all….all of us have to have tremendous concern & pity for all those impacted by all the tremendous rainfall of the last week or so…our concern for hitting or throwing a ball, kicking a ball, trying to put a puck in a net, watching horses run around an oval really pale by comparison to the REAL problems that many of our fellow StL friends, family and everyone else have struggled with during the past few days…our hearts go out to them…it HAS stopped raining for 2-3 days now but …..”who’ll really stop the rain”?
…Who’ll stop the rain of Cards early season battles with Cincy & MIlwaukee? The schedule will even out….it had the Cards playing 14 of their first 28 games against the Reds & Brewers. In the remaining weeks of May, the Cards to through the Western Division primarily-Atlanta-3 games, Miami-3 games, Cubs-3 games; Boston-2 games, Dodgers-6 games, Col-3 games, Giants-3 games…Surprisingly..at least to me…is that the Cards have 4 games off in the month..with 2 of them being during a homestand…one at the beginning of that homestand and one at the end of the home stand…that should be a very strong time to “rain down some wins” for the Birds…rested.. AND at home….
….How did the Predators “rain down” on the hopes of the Blues….while the Blues played much better as the series unfolded ….it appeared to me that the Nashville attackers were faster skaters… their defense looked more physical with consistent body checks, it seemed that the Preds passed the puck with more frequency than the Blues who seemed to be forced into “dumping in the puck” on many occasions… both teams had superb play in goal…the Blues #2 line was ghost-like though many minutes of each game…this wasn’t a matter of lack of effort….or poor coaching….Nashville was just a slightly better team…plain and simple…. let’s remember the Blues were #3 in the division for the season…so…winning 1 series seems “about right” for a team of that level. I do think that the Blue-note must upgrade the play of their center-icemen to continue to upgrade the play of the team…our offense in the Nashville series scored 5 goals in the last 4 games…that won’t win many…if any…playoff series
…here’s a strange football fact to “rain down” on you…only 10 other QB in the NFL history have thrown half as many TD passes as Payton Manning did in his career
….How did the Draft “rain down” on NFL teams….according to some….the team with the fewest choices…made the most of them….the New England Patriots…the Pats received a grade of “A” from one NFL web site…the only team to get that grade…so what glamor player did they choose… none…they chose a DL in 3rd round(their 1st pick) followed by a versatile pass rusher from Arkansas in 4th round…they grabbed a 2 OT in later rounds as protection since one of the starters is a free agent at the end of this year..both have quick feet…I didn’t provide their names because they aren’t local guys so …who would have heard of them? The only Mizzou guy drafted was Charles Harris (#22 pick 1st rnd by Miami)
…Who’ll stop the hits from raining down in Washington….no one as long as Ryan Zimmermann & Bryce Harper are #1 & #4 in the MLB in hitting
…a strange golf fact to “rain down” on you…Jordan Spieth won $61,687 less at the Masters Tournament than Arnold Palmer won in his WHOLE career!
….the MLB is REALLY NOT trying to “Rain down” on the speed of their games…it’s all PR stuff that we hear….strictly done to appease the fans…if they REALLY wanted to speed up games…they’d shorten appeal process… MGR steps on top step…that’s an appeal…why should he have electronic, slo-mo to be reviewed and then decide…appeal on what you ..and the umps …see with your eyes…now some people want the game to be perfect…and are willing to sit thru a jillion appeals… but…it’s an imperfect game…pitchers don’t hit their targets each pitch, batters don’t hit “their pitch” every time why do we expect umpires to make the perfect call every time? It’s part of the game…play on…and play
…Who’ll stop the Awards from Raining Down on these guys?…in addition to Harper & Zimmermann mentioned above….Mike Trout was sensational, Fred Freeman did his “thing” quietly in Atlanta as he seems to be driving pitches in the strike zone better this year and outta nowhere comes Eric Thames of Milwaukee..he looks like he could be a LB for Green Bay and… of course Mike Leake -who was absolutely terrific in April on the mound for the Cards
….Who rained down some Intensity on NYY Marlin Castro…former Cub….he’s hitting over .340 for the Yanks…this guy was the biggest “dog” as a Cub…never hustled, seemed to be flashy but couldn’t execute the fundamentals; played w/o any intensity, etc…but a change of scenery…like the Cubs saying…we really don’t want you Starlin and dumped him… that apparently….woke him up
….Raining down my ranking of Cards starting staff to this point on their production—Leak, Lynn, Martinez, Wacha & Wainwright
….Who’ll rain down the peace beads or the hatchets for the O’s & the BoSox…the feud between these 2 teams began with a high-spiked slide by Manny Machadeo into Dustin Pedroia (leader of Red Sox). Boston’s Pitcher Matt Barnes whizzed a fastball behind Machado’s head the next night..then regrettably for the AL…the 2 teams met again a few days later ..and the feud continues….Chris Sale whipped a knee high fastball behind Machado which set off more sparks…the next day after American League official, Joe Torre warned each team about any more retaliations…. Kevin Gausman (Balt starter) threw a curve (slow 76mph) that hit Xander Bogaerts in the rump…Gausman was ejected…come on…these are grown men…professionals…stay out of it…this isn’t time to play by PC rules…we aren’t in T-ball…these pros were sending messages as they’ve done for 100 years when a player has gone beyond the normal limits of fair play… by the League Officials injecting themselves directly into the mainstream of this debate just muddled it even more…as usually happens in this type of case…if ANYONE was to get punished by the league…this was the wrong guy…let the actual players handle it….you guys off the field…stay out of it…
….It sure did “rain down” in Louisville for the Kentucky Derby..however, it didn’t seem to dampen the spirit of the event or the race…or maybe I was Always Dreaming 
…It really did“rain down” on local guys who weren’t drafted… plenty signed after the draft… and let’s be direct here…these guys have an uphill battle to make the squad…it’s possible…but tough…here’s a list of Mizzou players who signed … Aarion Penton (CBC) signed with LA Rams (maybe to join his fellow Tiger DB-EJ Gaines; Josh Augusta signed with the Patriots (see above-NE stock piling lineman); TE Sean Culkin-LA Chargers; speedy Donavin Newsom (Pk North) –SF 49-ers; long snapper Jake Hurrell-Balt Ravens; Rickey Hatley-Houston; CB- John Gibson-Seattle…but here’s a real small-school hero…from nearby, Drake University, Eric Saubert , who WAS drafted by the Falcons as a TE
…a surprising fact “raining down” from the NYY baseball history…Babe Ruth was on 4 World Series Championship teams….Yogi…he was on 13 World Series Championship teams
…why do MLB teams want their teams to rain down HR …well….the top 3 MLB teams in HR thru May 4 were #1 Milwaukee, #2 NYY, #3 Washington Nats, …and their position in the standings Milwaukee-tied for 2nd place; NYY-1st place; Wash Nats-1st place
…Well….I can’t stop the Rain…but I can stop this blog…thx for reading  Your comments are invited….put them right here on the Prepcasts site or send me an email…let em’ “rain down” on me 