Maybe you remember the song, “TURN, TURN, TURN”. It was released in 1965 by the Byrds. The lyrics describe changes in our life. So too in the Sports World.  Take a quick look at their words… “A time to build up, a time to break down;  A time to dance, a time to mourn; A time to cast away stones; A time to gather stones together.” So too in the Sports World.

…Clearly a TURN has been taken @ St. Louis University on the Mens basketball court. HC Josh Schertz has installed an entirely different approach this year. It starts @ practice time. He uses a “station” approach—each one emphasizing a fundamental skill or a strategy. The Assistant Coaches direct each station while Schertz is monitoring it all from mid-court. His direct “hands-off yet very attentive style emphasizes player development & decision making.

…STILL TURNING….It’s working (so far!) sitting in 3^rd place currently in the A-10 with a conference record of 6-3 and overall 13-9. One of the highlights thus far was bouncing back after an 18 point loss to VCU on the road, 2 weeks later  the Billikens upended the very same VCU team @ home 78-69.  I’m not claiming an NCAA Final Four appearance this year…but it sure appears that the program (what do they mean by that expression—“program”…there’s only 1 team??) is TURNING in an upward way!

…College Football has certainly taken a huge TURN this year. The SEC conference expanded in a big way. Not so much in the quantity of teams, but adding 2 name-brand high quality programs of Texas & Oklahoma into the conference. Texas had a tremendous 1^st year in the SEC. They were the Conference Football Champions (11-1-overall & 7-1 in SEC). Oklahoma traveled a tougher road. OU finished with a 2-6 conference record but won all 4 non-league games. Hint for OU…maybe you need a tougher non-league schedule!! By Comparison, Mizzou  held a 9-3 overall record and was in a 4-way tie 7^th place with a 5-3  conference mark in SEC play.

…But the SEC wasn’t alone in expansion. The Big 10 went to the Far West to bring in USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington to become an 18-team conference. Sooo…you can easily how the Pac-10 (Pacific 10) was wiped out.

…the NCAA Football finally introduced a 12 team College Playoff system so that one team could be crowned as Champion. Ohio State beat Notre Dame for the title. STILL TURNING..I would expect the field to be expanded to 16 next year or year after. It all depends on the television contracts.  And..then…it won’t be long (I’d guess 5-8 years) until a 24 team playoff system comes knocking at the door.

…TURNING TO A NEW DIRECTION…the Cardinals have turned away from adding key, experienced players to their roster. We saw some of it last year and already Paul Goldschmidt was “let go” w/o any effort to keep him this off-season. His $12.5m contract with the NYY is very modest in this crazy-money era. The only remaining veteran is 3b Nolan Arenado.  He’s set up a real road block – he want’s to be traded to a contending team.

 ….That’s not so easy to do. Many of those “contenders” already have a quality 3b on their roster. Take a look—Philly has Alec Bohm. He just agreed to a $7.7 million contract with the Phillies in January 2025.  Manny Machado has signed with SD (he’s considered #1 3B in MLB right now). Boston has signed Rafael Devers to a 10 year contract worth $313+m. Free Agent Alex Bregman seems to be leaning toward Detroit currently. Baltimore’s Gunner Henderson is under team control for 5 more years so there’s no way that they are parting with him. Dodgers are in the 2nd (final) year(although a clause enables LA to extend) of Max Muncy’s contract for $14.5m. Soooo..LA isn’t in the market for a 3b. My point is….which contenders have an open spot @3B for a veteran who’s hit over .272 only once in the last 5 years and had a total of 71 RBI’S last year? Somehow, I don’t see him as a “happy camper” on a team that will be young & still developing(that’s code for losing). Some teams don’t want to add the salary cost of an aging star player to their roster. How much more will he age in 2025? He could be a Cardinal until June (trading deadline) or if an injury sidelines a 3b on a strong, playoff bound team.

…STILL TURNING .. The Cardinals top 10 batters listed by a sports magazine don’t easily fit into a starting lineup. Take a look at the Cards starting lineup printed by 1 magazine.. Masyn Winn-SS (most sure thing in lineup); Alec Burleson (LF)-probably platoon(despite his batting mark in Sept of .202); Brendan Donovan (RF); Wilson Contreras(1b); Nolan Gorman (1b)—I guess a platoon situation.  Ivan Herrara (catcher); Victor Scott (CF); Thomas Saggese (2b) & 1^st round draft pick of 2024-JJ Wetererholt-3b. I just don’t see it that way..Herrara can throw me out trying to steal 2b..but not other MLB players; Where is Lars Nootbar?  Now, he was the 8^th highest average on the Cards last year but not starting??? Victor Scott, who played in almost 1/3 of the season batted a paltry .179. Yet, he’s listed as a starter. I don’t care how fast he can run…he can’t steal 1b!! Thomas Saggese wasn’t even “called up” at the end of ’24 season and now he’s listed as a starter!

…The Cardinals will sort this lineup out in spring training. I really have concerns about the proposed lineup defensively. Wilson Contreras(32 years old) @ 1b hasn’t first base in an MLB game since 2019 with the Cubs. He has played total of 11 games at first base, starting 4 of them. Just last year the pre-season talk was about the wonderful strength of Contreras as a catcher!!  Nolan Gorman, a HR hitter with a low average, should be the DH. Where can he actually play good defense? I know he strikes out a lot….but he has power (which the lineup lacks up & down the lineup). He blasted 19 Home Runs (3 behind team leader Goldschmidt’s 22 dingers with 234 LESS at-bats than Goldschmidt. Defensively, there are concerns behind the plate.  Last year, Herrara threw out just 4 of the 59 stolen base attempts while he was catching.  

…The NFL will be holding their draft shortly. Each team hopes to TURN AROUND their roster in the draft. Only two Mizzou players are on the list. According to 1 poll (not me)…the #24 rated player is OT Armand Membou of MU. The other Mizzou player is rated @ #29 —  WR Luther Burden III. They are the only 2 Mizzou players of the 175 players rated by some of the NFL scouts. On this same list of 175 NFL prospects, by contrast Univ of Texas has 12 players!! Texas did finish on top of the SEC this year—it wasn’t a fluke judging by the draft outlook.

…NIL has radically TURNED AROUND  the off-season action in  NCAA Football/Basketball and probably all collegiate sports for that matter. All the rosters now have a sizable turnover each year. Mizzou has seen 3 offensive starting linemen exit; Mizzou loses 5 Wide receivers (including their top 3 receivers) to NFL draft or the portal. Meanwhile, WR –St Mary’s HS grad-Kevin Coleman has already indicated his transfer Into the MU program. It’s his 4^th team in 4 years!! It seems that receivers are in abundance in the transfer portal… but…how many of these transfers are SEC 1^st teamers..or even regular starters… is the question?

…btw….I have some questions about NIL….why can’t we fans know what these players are being paid?  Why are they keeping it from the fans? Are they afraid that “regular” fans might “turn on” some of these highly paid NIL transfers due to the enormous “buy out” from the previous school. #2) This still is a school…albeit a college….I’d like to know how many college credits these transfers have accumulated at each school. At one time, there was a 15 hour requirement to be considered a full-time student.  Further, part time students (less than 15 hours/semester) weren’t eligible when school accomplishments superseded athletic performance Is that still true?  I really doubt it. Is this the TURN AROUND that colleges expected? Or …have college sports just become a “minor league” system for the NFL & NBA?

…Btw…Mizzou finished their 2024 season with a 10-3 record (7-3 in SEC). Five of those wins were by 8 points or less in 2024. Those tight wins help keep the record TURNED AROUND. Soooo…assuming that the level of competition remains constant, the Tigers don’t have much room to spare. From my eyes, the replacement for QB Brady Cook is a very important element for the Tigers offense in 2025. As of this moment, MU has signed former Penn State back-up QB Beau Pribula.  Pribula had 19 total touchdown passes in two seasons as the backup. Can he step up to a 1^st unit QB is the question. He did have some “big” games. But the question always is…did he get much “quality time” as a QB against the top defensive units or were the stats primarily in mop-up roles?  Pribula upset Penn State fans by announcing prior to the Penn State Bowl game his intentions to transfer. Meanwhile, I think Cook will try to TURN AROUND his college career into a professional level job in the NFL.  

…As one watches the Blues, it’s apparent that this roster isn’t going far and needs to be TURNED AROUND….Right now it seems unlikely that they’ll even reach  the 1^st round of NHL playoffs. They need to TURN the roster around using all avenues—draft choices, trades, releasing players-bringing up players. We aren’t anywhere close to a Stanley Cup, or even the playoffs right now) with this roster. Recently parting with veterans Brandon Saad (released) & Scott Perunovich (trade for 5^th round draft pick) indicated the current Blues road. I  must admit though it was good (at least to my eyes) to see Colton Parayko being more aggressive with & w/o the puck. His increased  involvement in the offense zone especially by taking more shots, I believe, can be directly attributed to HC Jim Montgomery. He should be the leader of the team. He’s a veteran, 31 years old, has played over 700 NHL games. His shot has been ignored (for the most part) for years. He already has 11 goals – the highest of his career for a season!  I hope he “lets it fly” more often. This guy is a +58 for his career (58 more goals while he’s on the ice than the opponents have scored)

…TURNING AROUND A LOSING STREAK..# 22 Texas Tech (17-4, 8-2 Big 12) beat  #6 Houston (17-4, 9-1 Big 12) in overtime 82-81. It ended Houston’s 33-game home winning streak in a   Big 12 game between two of the hottest teams in the NCAA right now. The Red Raiders got their 1st ranked win of the season and now have their best 10-game start in Big 12 play in program history. They’re hoping to keep it rolling!

…Well….I’m TURNING THE PAGE to wrap this one up. It’s YOUR TURN to share your thoughts.  I threw out several topics…I’d love to hear from many of you…maybe choose the topic that interested the most. BTW.. I publish all responses on my Facebook Page-Bob Ryan. Check them out…there are some very interesting responses. Thanks for your read! Bob