It’s that wonderful time of the year….Christmas time…..sure enough, we found many…some unusual… Gifts under the 2018 St Louis Sports Tree…
…..for Mike Shildt… new Card hat that actually fits him…so that we can see his face while he wears it
…. for Marcell Ozuna….a long red or white sleeved shirt for under his Cardinal uniform(not yellow)
….for the Taylor Family ….a Crown ….as the new King of Sports Families in the Lou
.…for Miles Mikolas…the Dobbs Award for his pitching in, up, down & out pitching style
….for John Mozeliak…the disappearance of his book on Casey Stengal’s “Talking Clearly”
….for Bill Snyder…an award given annually in his name to the Coach who has revives a collegiate football program…some background…prior to Snyder arriving @ K-State in 1990..the Wildcats had won 4 games in 5 years and only 4 winning seasons in 44 years..after going 17-16 in his first 3 years in Manhattan, KS…Snyder finished with a record @ K-State of 215-117-1, 19 Bowl seasons and 2 Big 12 Championships…maybe there won’t be a winner every year of this award
…for Barry Odum…. A longer fishing pole for his recruiting…he’s shown that he can “reel em in”
…for the Blues….the Lazarus Award…I thought they were dead…
…for Andrew Miller….the ghost of Christmas Future is more like the Ghost of Christmas Past than like the Ghost of Christmas Present
…for Alex Pietranglo…..Fountain of Youth…. to turn back the clock a few years
…for the Alabama football fans… Kleenex … after all their weeping about “their guy” not winning the Heisman…heck, I think that almost ANY QB could lead the Crimson Tide to wins
…for Jack Flaherty…the White Castle Award …so his ‘slider” stays good
…for Mike Yeo…the YMCA Swimming Award….only guy to keep his head above water in the playoffs.. he is the ONLY Blues coach EVER to hold a winning playoff record in Blues history
…for Adolis Garcia….the Don Denkinger Award….for the bad play that could define his career
…for St Louis College of Pharmacy….the Elvis Presley Award for Persistence… as they snapped 106 or 108 game losing streak(it was so long NO ONE actually knew for sure how many games they lost) …. background—Presley was fired after his 1st performance in 1954 and told “You ain’t goin’ nowhere, son. You ought to go back to drivin’ a truck.”
…for Bill DeWitt…a new nickname (compliments Tom Murray)…Bill DeWallet
…for Mizzou football program….ONE set of black & gold uniforms….all other sets given away
…for Mizzou football….a big win in Liberty Bowl Game that should catapult them into the Top 20 at the end of the 2018 season and the Top 20 at the start the 2019 season
…another for Mizzou program…..the UP, UP & Away Award after the recent signings & transfers
…for Manny Machado’s non-signing…. “actions speak louder than words” about his play in playoffs
…for Dexter Fowler… a graceful exit from St Louis…probably with millions of $$$ due him
…for Travis Ford… the JOB Award…..for patience for a team on the upswing who will “grow” as the schedule unfolds
…for Pat Maroon…a turnaround in the 2nd half to help him enjoy his “coming home” story
…for the Porter brothers of Mizzou….the DGB (Dorial Green-Beckham) Award…the award for unfulfilled sports potential
…for Jose Martinez…..the Six Flags Award….for having fun at the Park every day
…for Mike Girsch…the Frank Nitty Award…for always being the man “behind the scenes”
…for Stan Kronke…again winning for the umpteenth time…”Most Hated Man in St Louis” Award
…for Yadi Molina…a new cell phone for the next time that he “camps out” in the pen so that he can actually communicate with the Manager
…for the NCAA Football Guru’s…some consistency….we can’t expand the Final Four to 8 teams but we can still sit through 40 different bowl games of which 20 bowls have teams we could care less about
….for Harrison Bader….a contract with some toothpaste company for his wide smile
….for Vince DeGreef, John Diffley & Kerry Rockwell….gold star award ….for their officiating in a Friday night game (that I announced)…and for the combined 100+ years of refereeing at a high level
…for Paul Goldschmidt…the Coca-Cola Award for “sharing a special moment” (his signing) with us
…for Carlos Martinez…the Rodney Dangerfield Award….his lifetime ERA 3.37, 54-38 record and batting mark of .241 against him would seem to merit him more “luv” from the fans…
…for Carlos Martinez…Cpl Klinger Award (MASH) for his eccentric mannerisms –driving him from fans
…for the Cardinal bullpen…the new mantra of In-Game Battle….fight each skirmish during the game with your best…let the final battle of the 9th inning be just ‘another skirmish”
…for Incarnate Word Acad….reservations in Columbia, MO for STATE final 4…the Red Knights have been there 9 straight years with 7 STATE championships during that time
…for Tyler O’Neill….the Charles Atlas Award for the MLB….strongest man in the league
…for Tyler O’Neill…the Ironing Board Award….depicting his flexibility
…for the Laporta Family….the Rusty Wallace Award ….for most successful participatory sports “family” Award in St. Louis area…From Highland…Olivia (Sr Volleyball Player @ Fordham), Alex (Soph Basketball player UMSL-leading rebounder), Sam(Sr in Highland HS—just signed with Iowa Football), Bella (Soph-#2 scorer on Highland HS basketball & #2 attacker on Highland ‘s 33-3 Volleyball team)
…for Drew Lock….a ring of safety in the bowl game to protect/enhance his draft status
…for Jose Oquendo…the “Time has passed me by” award…once Shildt was chosen as manager
…for viewers of the Texas Bowl (two 6-6 teams)…..a remote control ….to change the channel
…for all of you…A Thank You Award …..for taking the time each week to read my “stuff” on a regular basis
….all of YOU are invited to post your own special gift or to react to any of these gifts—do it right on the Prepcasts site….you may do more than one…if you can’t get it posted…send to me….I’ll forward it to have it posted……..Merry Christmas To All!