It’s THANKSGIVING WEEK!  Many of us are still savoring the Thanksgiving Day celebrations with family & friends. Let’s look @ the Sports World from an StL fan….we have plenty to be THANKFUL for in 2023.

…We have to be THANKFUL for the Mizzou 2023 season. Now 10-1 after demolishing Arkansas this weekend. MU looked & played like a vastly superior team to the Razorbacks. With their 10th win of the season, MU reaches some “special ground”. The last MU team to win 10 games was under HC Gary Pinkel  when his team went 11-3 in 2014. Pinkel also won 10 games are more in 2014 (11 wins), 2013 (12 wins), 2010 (10 wins), 2008 (10 wins), 2007 (12 wins)! At the final poll of 2013, the Tigers were ranked #5 in the USA!! WOW! Tiger fans had to be patient with Coach Drink, who’s team has made huge strides forward this year. Hopefully, he’ll follow in Pinkel’s footsteps with his progress. Pinkel was 4-7 and 5-7 in his first 2 years @ Mizzou!! MU stuck with him (and he stuck with MU) to lead to later success. Let’s be THANKFUL for Coach Drink….and try to get him  to remain in Columbia.

…It’s early in the season but… let’s be THANKFUL for the early showing of the Blues. Last year, the Blues finished 6th in their division. Opponents scored 301 goals on them…most in the conference. I’m not claiming that there will be another glorious downtown parade (one that none of us will ever forget) but there seems to be improvement. The highest paid players (Thomas & Kyrou) are scoring. Let’s not let the puck pass us by with Justin Faulk—he has 9 assists already! It’s essential for them to put the puck in the back of the net for the Blues to win…especially on the Power Play. Currently, the Blues are scoring only 7.6% on the Power Play. That’s far beneath the league average of 20.4% on the Power Play. Sooo…improvement is needed in that area of the game.  Jordan Bennington looks real sharp again! His phenomenal saves provide lots of “spark” for the Blues.  LET’S GO BLUES!

….Let’s be THANKFUL for the newest soccer club from the Lou—StL City SC. The deeply rooted soccer tradition as really come to life with City SC. Sold out prior to the 1st game for the season(I still wish that it would have been built with 10,000 additional seats—which would have been sold out too), City surprised everyone with their early season success. While they faltered in the 1st round of the playoffs, one would have to say that it was a wonderful beginning for the City SC system. It already has City-2 (it’s minor league team basically) up & running. Let’s be thankful that St Louis again as a professional soccer team!

….StL has seen several professional soccer teams in its long history.  One of the earliest known professional soccer games in St. Louis took place on Sunday, February 12, 1882, at 3:25 p.m. The Hurleys defeated the Hornets in front of 2,000 people at Sportsman’s Park. The game was played under the “Association Foot-Ball Rules of Great Britain”! Then, the St Louis Soccer League competed between 1907 and 1939!!

….Continuing our trip down the Stl Soccer History Road…The Stars competed between 67-77. In the Indoor Soccer competition, the Steamers played in the MISL between 1979-88. The next indoor soccer team—between 1989-92 the Storm also played Indoor in the MISL league. The next Indoor soccer team, the Ambush competed between 1992-2000 and made the playoffs each year except for the final year and won the championship in 94-95 season. Following down the soccer history road..the Steamers played 1998-2006;the Athletica (women’s team)-played in 09-10; AC St Louis (1 year);StL Football Club ‘15-20. The 2 current teams are St Louis Ambush 2013-present & St Louis City SC 2019-present. The developmental team for StL City is StL City Next Pro–’21-present. A semi-professional soccer club- the StL Steelers also began play in 2020.

…We still have to be THANKFUL for our summer-time focus—the Cardinals. While this year was a disaster, it’s rare for the Cards to struggle like they did this year. 2023 was a year to forget since it was the worst record since 1995 when Cards posted 62-81 record finishing in 4^th place of 5 team Central Division. (thank goodness the Astros were moved out of the Central division in 2013.) We have to be THANKFUL for the Cardinals continued success over many years. Frankly, we’ve been spoiled by their success!! Outside of 2023, the Cardinals have been a strong team for a long string of years.

…I must sneak in a quick observation about the Cards 1^st two signings of the off-Season. Veteran pitchers- Lance Lynn & Kyle Gibson were inked to contracts to help fill the gaping holes in the pitching staff. While this pair of starters upgrades our starting staff, neither of them will be a #1 or #2 in the rotation. Lynn will by 37 years old in May. This is NOT the same Lance Lynn that won 60 games for the Cards between 2012-15. He knows how to win–he’s been on 8 different post-season teams! Last year he started 32 games (with White Sox & Dodgers). He pitched 7 innings 6 times in ‘23 & under 5 innings 5 times. Lynn’s 5.73 ERA last year was the highest of his career. He also allowed the most home runs in the majors last year (44).  Although he’s a favorite for me, with his advancing age, we must lower our expectations of his quality & durability. He relies on the fastball almost exclusively. I feel like those pitchers that Stay away from that slider seem to extend the careers! The other signee, Kyle Gibson, is 36 years old, posted a strong 15-9 record with the Orioles last year. His ERA was 4.73 with 157 strikeouts & 55 walks. Gibson holds a 104-100 lifetime record.  Gibson ranked in the Top 10 in innings pitched last year but did lead the league in hits allowed (198) and his 4.73 ERA and his 1.318 WHIP was rather pedestrian.

…On the amateur side of Athletics, let’s be THANKFUL for the outstanding play on the pitch by the SLU Womens Soccer team. The Lady Billikens lost the NCAA Championship game 1-0 to Memphis. The Lady Billikens won the A-10 Championship in the regular season with 9-0-1 conference record as part of their 19-3-2 record.

…Still on the Women’s Collegiate level….let’s be THANKFUL for University of Missouri-St Louis (UMSL) outstanding volleyball play in ‘23. The Tritons, seeded #1 in the upcoming regional tournament with a 30-1 record are coached by CBC Grad—Ryan Young.  The Tritons will be hosting the that Regional Volleyball play beginning this Thursday, Friday & Saturday @ UMSL.  The winner advances to the National Quarterfinals. UMSL hopes to advance to the Final Four with a win in the Regionals (like they did last year-2022). UMSL dropped the National semifinal match (a Final Four game) against W.Texas State last year.

….Thanks for your read!  If there are other sports teams, moments, players that you’re thankful for as a fan…send them along!   HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! Bob