It’s been a few months since we STOPPED BY THE BAR.  The “usual” guys were already there. Gus, a-big, burly man who worked in construction was there early today. He was enjoying his 2^nd beer of the day. Rain had come and closed down the working site “early” for the day.

… Shortly after he arrived, Len popped in through the front door. Len’s IT job kept him at the desk all day long. He was ready for his good, ol’ Budweiser. As the looked at the Bar-keeper, the unspoken signal was sent! He had barely sat on the bar stool, when his Bud was delivered, that Gus was beginning with,” Can you believe it?  Not only does Lebron James make $48m a year…now he wants his Kid on the team with him? Hearing this as he walked in was Bernie, who worked as a debt collector, “Well… I don’t think that I’ll visiting him anytime soon 😊 Gus ignored him, “Yea…he’s good but now his Kid playing too”.

…Len was shaking his head as his dark black hair shifted,” His kid doesn’t have it..no matter how much money his ol’ man throws out there.  Bronny was the 55^th pick of the draft! #55!! Yet the Lakers signed him to a 4 year deal! Len, the real “numbers” guy of the group continued as he raised his IPA…”Hell… Bronny James played just one year of college basketball at USC and averaged  a whopping4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game last season. He played in 25 games…big deal! But he signed a 4 year $7.9m contract. He’ll be playing with his DAD in the NBA. But….Ya know…it’s not what you know..it’s…

…Suddenly Arnold came busting through the door. “Hey guys…did you hear Jimmy Edmonds ripping that rookie kid on the Cubs when he hit a HR?” Gus responded, “hell, all those kids “ham it up” on many HR’s no matter if it’s their 1^st or 50^th ….not too many of them hit 50 dingers. Arnold frowned, he knew Gus had a short fuse on some categories. But, Arnold took a chance, “ hey, in a way, Edmonds was right– the kid’s batting .229 and celebrating like he won the World Series”

…Arnold looked right past Gus and mumbled something like, “ he probably won’t even hit another HR!  Enjoy it….it’s maybe a 1x deal for him. And…Edmonds is “ol school” anyway.. his time is looonnnggg gone”

…”running late” today, Bernie came sauntering through the door with his forefinger up in the air. He immediately jumped into the discussion as he reached for his beer from the bar, “Our City SC club stinks—we’re in 13^th place (14 teams) with a 4-10-10 record (4 wins;10 losses;10 draws)! They’ve won 1 of the last 13 matches! We can’t score!! I mean.. hardly anyone really “scores” a lot in Pro soccer. But, a 3 goal game is almost a sure win. This new coach won’t change much unless he can change the roster. I mean a REAL transformation of the roster. But, it’s too late in the season to do that”, he bellowed out! But, we DO have 4 wins Arnold. Bernie loved teasing Arnold. “There’s always next year Arnold “

…Arnold, who liked all sports & liked teasing most everyone. Turned towards Len(a Mizzou grad),” Hey Len… your Mizzou Tigers really are #1!  Yea…yea… they are #1.. #1 in the playing the easiest Football schedule in the SEC  for 2024. Their first 4 games are all home games against teams that were 13-34 last year! Then their cupcake schedule continues in SEC conference play. Mizzou plays 4 of the 5 SEC teams that DIDN”T reach a bowl game last year ! Way to go Tigers…

…suddenly…Gus wanted to change the topic…sooo…he blurts out, “Hey, there’s no BS about the Chiefs! Yea….they are good now and they have a strong, smart coach AND they always have! Always!  KC has had 5 really good head coaches…. 3 are already in the HOF.. for a total of 43 years as a HC in KC. In the NFL Football HOF are Hank Stram (15 years as KC HC); Marv Levy (5 years as KC HC); Dick Vermeil (5 years @ KC) in NFL HOF; Andy Reid—11 years w/3 super bowl championships-he’ll be in HOF when he retires.

….Arnold, wanting to “stir it up”, yea Gus….KC is good….but the NFL is long gone for the Lou! We’ll never see them again.  Getting back to the coaches…..any professional team in any sport with a strong, winning coach has an advantage. Take a look @ those StL Cardinals. Anyone think that Ollie is going into the HOF …does he compare to Tony LaRusso or Whitey Herzog in ANY way? Sure he doesn’t have the players but do you think that Tony or Whitey would have hung around with this roster?

…Len sensed that particular discussion wasn’t going to go too far or too long soooo he changed the topic…”boy oh boy, Mizzou really hit a Home Run in basketball recruiting! Coach Gates got the size, the shooters, the athletes”  in his signings this spring. Some say it was the , #5 in the entire USA! Now….most of the guys were looking at him as he dug out the newspaper and read it aloud,” guys like Peyton Marshall,  Center, 7-0, 336, 4-star prospect; T.O. Barrett-Guard; 6-4, 180, 3-star; Trent Burns, Center  7-2, 200, Houston, Texas; 4-star ;  Marcus Allen-Small forward, 6-5, 205, Little Rock, Ark. 4-star prospect; Annor Boateng,  Small forward, 6-4, 180, Edmond, Okla, Consensus 4-star prospect.  Transfer Josh Gray, 7-foot, 265 pounds, Gray spent the last 3 seasons at SEC rival South Carolina. He accumulated 375 rebounds with the Gamecocks, which included a team-leading 6.3 boards per game during the 2022-23 campaign and 7.9 in SEC play. How about that man….we were crap this year….but in only 1 year. Gates got out there & turned us around.” Len finally took a long breath and reached for his beer.

…. Bernie returned to the bar after his quick trip to bathroom, wanted to change the topic as he bellowed out, “Those Blues…I heard that they signed a defenseman for minimum salary. GREAT! Then I heard the guy was 39 years old! Huh?  How tough & fast will he be? Next year Ryan Suter will get $775,00 from the Blues….but man… he’s got a racket going. He’s been “bought out” by TWO other teams!! The   Stars opted to buy out the final year and $3.65M remaining on his contract last year. Prior to that  Minnesota bought him out!  Hey…man…how can I pull that off… getting paid by 3 different teams at the same time!

….Len, who’d waved for another beer…started shaking his head….”just what happened ?  What’s happened to Jordan Walker?  His numbers are worse in the minors than in the MLB!! WOW… then there’s Herrera….when he was given the chance to be an every-day catcher, the league ran & ran & ran on him. They’ve run him out of the league…he probably couldn’t throw out his mother if she was trying to steal 2B. These were our 2 top prospects for a period of time…ugh! Cards sure missed on him! And now….He took another big gulp!

…Arnold, raised his glass, and said, ”let’s salute the biggest surprise team of the AL…it’s the Cleveland Indians…oops…Cleveland Guardians!” No one needed a extra motive to “hoist one up” but they did it anyway😊   With everyone’s attention on him, Arnold went on, “The Indians are 56-37 today…the best in the league…not bad considering that they finished 10 games UNDER .500 last year!”

…Gus Jumped into the conversation, “ya Know… the Guardians have been good…damn good.. for about a decade! Since 2016, Cleveland has been in the post-season 6 different seasons! They’ve lost to the Yankees in 3 of those years. They fired Terry Francona as manager after last season. He’d been around 23 years as a manager…but I don’t think he’s done…. How would you like to see the Birds-on the Bat Uniform on him?

….Len ,shaking his head negatively, blurts out, “ NO WAY!  Francona was getting $4.5m as manager…our Redbirds  can’t …or won’t… pay a manager that much money. Anyway…his contract got extended through 2026 about a month ago.

….Arnold wanted to stir it up,”ya know…that Ohtani isn’t what they cracked him up to be..

Instantly, even before he took another gulp, Gus jumped in..”Are you crazy, the guy is fabulous! He’s 2^nd in Batting Average; 1^st in Slugging %; 4^th in On-Base %; 1^st in OPS; 1^st in HR. As a pitcher he’s 1^st in WAR (wins above replacement) is 10-5 for the season with an ERA of 3.14! He has 167 strikeouts in just 132 innings! Man…he IS the REAL thing.

…Bernie waited everyone had taken their next drink, then said, “I hear that Cards might want to boost up their attendance and bring in a hometowner—Max Scherzer! A couple shook their head “yes…in agreement” but Not Gus. Gus frowned…then he almost shouted out saying, “No WAY… absolutely NO WAY! He has a $43m contract for this year. Do any of you guys REALLY see this ownership opening their wallets that wide? I mean… the guy is way past his prime…Like I said…NO WAY” as he pounded his fist on the bar.

….At that point Gus went to the bathroom. When he returned, they were all gone! Soooo… He decided to have “just 1 more”! Thanks for your read!! Sit down (figuratively) to make your comments to boys at the bar (& all the readers on my Facebook page).We’re always interested in YOUR thoughts! Like the guys at the Bar….we DO have our own thoughts. But NO POUNDING on the BAR!! Thanks for your read & response!!  Bob