It’s always good to have HOPE. It makes our family life, job, hobbies much better. HOPE is plentiful in the Sports World right now in the Lou. Take a Look…

….the Blues loss in game 7 was a real tough one to take.  The Jets tied the game at the 59:57 mark. It was the latest game-tying goal in a Game 7 in NHL history! It was crushing!!  It was only the 6th time in the past 30 years that a NHL team has won each home game in the best-of-7 series. It was heartbreaking when the Jets tied the game so late in the match. Somehow, you just felt like the Jets would win in OT with the momentum from that late goal & their experience.

…Nonetheless, HC Jim Montgomery brought the Blues into the playoffs with a sparkling 19-4-3 in the final weeks of the season. Clearly it was his motivation, strategy, “matching up” of lines that played a major role in the Blues late success. That’s not to downgrade the players, but…they were a totally different team under Montgomery. The LGB chant continues with lots of zest this off season.

…One couldn’t help but notice the increased use of Blues rookie, Jimmy Snuggerud, in game 7 of this playoff series. He played 34 shifts for a total time of 20:53 on the ice. He had 2 assists & 2 goals in the Series against the Jets. That’s a hopeful sign for the future for the Blues. It’s in his blood…his Dad, Dave Snuggerud, played 265 games in the NHL! His strong showing in the playoffs & a full season under HC Montgomery provides plenty of HOPE for the Blues in 25-26 season.

…the Cardinals have some HOPE also in the early days of 2025.  The Cardinals made a big jump last year from the 71 wins in 2023 to 83 wins in 2024. But, as you move up the ladder in the standings, the challenge gets steeper & tougher. Strong years from the returning regular players, Arenado, Contreas, Sonny Gray, Miles Mikolas & Eric Fedde, who all turned down trade opportunities due to their no-trade part of their contract is essential for the Cards to continue to move up. Contreas has been holding a “hot” bat in the early going. Keep in mind that as a 1b player,  more offensive output is expected that when he was a catcher. Let’s HOPE it continues!

…The Cards still have a tight road to walk between a) providing time for many young players sometimes despite their performance b) by keeping & using the younger players who have actually had “good” games in the MLB. We understand that not all hot “prospects” will actually make it in the MLB. But, HOPE tells us that some of those young players WILL make it. I’m not talking about making the MLB Hall of Fame here. I’m talking about being an “every day” starter who contributes regularly to the club offensively & defensively.  Hopefully, they’ll earn every-day starting status. Platooning initially and then advancing to the every-day level is a common road traveled by young players. With that in mind, I wish that if a young player excels in the minors, that he’d be given a real opportunity to play regularly. For reference in how difficult it is to reach & stay in the MLB–the average MLB player career average is roughly 2.7 years, meaning many players don’t reach 3 years of experience. This indicates that fewer than half of all players who enter the MLB will stay in the league for three or more seasons.

…It’s a delicate balance between developing players in the MLB with developing them in the minor leagues. Last week, I mentioned my frustration with the demotion of Thomas Saggese. Saggese seems to have demonstrated some skill, especially at the plate. Thomas Saggese was sent down to the minors after compiling a .400 on-base percentage (OBP) with 16 walks compared to 15 strikeouts. Before being sent down, he had 33 plate appearances, eight hits, one home run, and three walks. That’s not spectacular but…it brought HOPE to me that the Cardinals could find another “solid” hitting middle infielder to team with Masyn Wynn. Wynn has already won the every-day SS role.

…on the other hand, HOPE abounds in the Lou as we see rookie Victor Scott fly around the bases with his blazing speed. Almost immediately, his lightning speed brings to mind Lou Brock. Now Lou Brock was terrific on the basepaths. Sure his 938 stolen bases brought the Lou tons of excitement. But.. don’t forget Brock had over 3,000 hits (usually overlooked), he finished with 3023 Hits for his career. Further, Brock reached All-Time Best Mark when he surpassed Ty Cobb’s all-time stolen base mark of 892 during the 1977 season. He led the NL in steals every year but one between 1966 and 1974.  Those numbers put him into the HOF. He was just the 20th player elected in his first year on the ballot.

Let’s not “rush” Victor Scott….let’s just show our appreciation for his play (off, def & running) with tons of cheers! Who knows…Vic…Tor, Vic….TOR, Vic…Tor  cheers may come some day!

…St Louis U Men’s basketball gave us some HOPE last year under new Head Coach, Josh Schertz. Coach Schertz has hit the “recruiting trail” hard this off season. That alone brings us even more HOPE.  There seems to be a heavy emphasis on height in the recruiting trail this year for SLU. His signees with Letters of Intent are Cameron Huston 6-6 from E. Lansing Michigan and Luke Laczkowski 6-8. Both are rated as 3-star level players (5 star is the highest). He has a ‘HARD COMMIT” from 4-star player Jax Kerr Owasso Oklahoma. The transfers entering SLU are Trey Green a 6-0 guard from Xavier; 6-5 forward Ishan Sharma from Virginia Univ;  6-7 Brady Dunlap from St. Johns; Dion Brown 6-3 guard from Boston College; 6-5 Quintin Jones from N. Illinois. I don’t ever recall the Billikens being so aggressive in using the ‘transfer portal”. That new approach provides us with lots of HOPE for the upcoming Billiken season. Now….I don’t want to dampen your hopes but to keep it in perspective, the Billiken’s recruiting class (not including transfers) was ranked #103 in the USA by FREE 247Sports.com in the recruiting class for 2025. Maybe….that’s why they went out and landed so many quality transfers.

…It was another strong recruiting season for Mizzou football. The Tigers continue to raise our HOPES with their signees. MU signed 17 players during the December signing period. The December signing window seemingly has become the primary signing period for colleges. Personal note… by that time I think the perspective signees and their families have been worn down by the recruiters !!  🙂    247 Sports composite rankings put Mizzou as the #20 Recruiting class in the Country and #12 in the Southeastern Conference. Mizzou signed zero-5 star players; 11-4 star players and 6-3 star players. I assume that the cost for 5 star players was going to “break the NIL bank” for MU.

…Mizzou football has really given us HOPE that another successful season is on the horizon. Posting double digit wins in back-back seasons has lifted expectations for the Tigers. If the Tigers win 10 or more games in 2025, it’d be the 1st time that MU has won 10 games over 3 straight years. But, we can’t take it for granted. MU has won 10 of 11 one score games in 2023 & 2024. In those close games, a key play or 2 can change the outcome of the game.

…Generally overlooked, are the spring sports in college sports. For example, St Louis U Softball team compiled a strong 30-21 record in 2025. The Softball Billikens finished 18-7 in Atlantic Competition as they finished 2^nd in conference behind Dayton Univ. The Softball Billikens posted the best defensive stats in the A-10 with. 976% fielding percentage. The Billikens also led the A-10 in Home Runs with 35 round-trippers and Slugging % with a dazzling.420 mark. Defensively, the Softball Billikens posted the Best Defensive Percentage, .976, in the A-10. Looking at those 5 categories, it’s easy to see how the Billikens won so many games! With those stats, the Softball Billikens have HIGH HOPES for 2026,.           

…Meanwhile the Billiken baseball team finished in 3^rd place in the A-10 with a 16-8 mark. The Bills were only 1 game behind the league leaders-George Mason & Rhode Island who both finished at 17-7  in Atlantic 10 conference play. SLU’s 2^nd best conference defense, only behind Richmond, kept them in games. Congrats to both SLU spring teams! Now they have high HOPES for landing a strong recruiting class.

…some HOPES get crushed along the way. That’s the case for Shedeur Sanders. He, and his Dad, had very high hopes for the NFL Draft.  In the 2025 draft, Sanders was picked in the 5^th round as the #144 pick of the draft.  In a shocking move to me, a lawsuit was filed against Sanders.  It was suggested that he “tanked interviews” and “was too cocky”. His performance in the Bowl game-21 of 38 passes for 204 yards, 1 TD pass, and 1 interception did not help his status in the pre-draft rankings.

… Apparently, this harmed his reputation and influenced the NFL’s decision making. The lawsuit claimed that the NFL violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by colluding with teams to influence the draft, which restrained trade and limited competition within the league. The lawsuit also said the NFL violated the Civil Rights Act, as the decision regarding Sanders may have been influenced by racial discrimination. The document also said the NFL violated the consumer protection laws, claiming that the NFL may have misrepresented the drafting process and qualifications of players. With 53.5% NFL players being African-American, it seems balanced to me. Further, NFL teams guard this draft info with very, very tight control. To me, it doesn’t seem like this claim has much solid ground. From my view, the lawsuit has 2 chances to succeed….SLIM & NONE!

….Let’s HOPE that ST Louis U spring sports gets just a tiny bit more coverage. You know with Night games in the professional sports too late the make the paper the next morning…why not give some of that space in the sports section to our D-1 home town teams.

….I have high hopes that you made it to the bottom of the Buzz 😊 Thanks for taking your time to read it & responding. I love YOUR thoughts…please feel free to respond. You can respond in a couple ways—a) send me an email; b) post on my Facebook page-Bob Ryan.            Bob