ROCKY DAYS…

…There are ROCKY days in the sports world that take place frequently. It probably exceeds the “extreme HIGHS” that we celebrate with them. Let’s take a look at a few OF those ROCKY DAYS…including some with very well-known athletes who have already had some ROCKY DAYS.                                                                             …After all the unbelievable wins, St Louis U was bound to have some ROCKY games. And…they sure did against a mediocre Rhode Island Team last week. The game against Rhode Island may have caught them “off guard”? Rhode Island played like they were the team that was 24-1 for the season! 😊The Billikens trailed for 36 minutes (40 min in a game). They committed 18 turnovers. They struggled to slow down Rhode Island’s rhythm from the opening half. Further, the Billikens seemed unable to get into a flow of good offensive shots and defensive stops. Further, Rhode Island handled the boards effectively. The longer the game went on, the more the RI fans “got into the game” and added energy to the team on both ends of the court.  Clearly, on this night, RI was the better team.                                                                                           …Despite SLU hitting 5-of-9 from the field to start the game, Rhode Island came alive as the crowd became more & more engaged. Then URI took control, leading 22-15 midway through the first half by forcing 10 turnovers from the Billikens. During that time, the Billikens play became ROCKY! The 10 first-half SLU turnovers helped give Rhode Island the momentum. Rhode Island seemed to “take charge” more & more as the game unfolded with their boisterous crowd urging them on.  …Sooo…Instead  of dictating tempo, Saint Louis spent the night chasing it. …The season isn’t over by a long shot…. sooo…the Billikens, who will drop in the polls due to the loss, can still fight to get back on that Top 20 rankings again with wins down the stretch and wins in the post-season tournaments. This game could be a wonderful “learning lesson” for SLU since the biggest month of the season is starting now.                                                                                       …St Louis U sold-out Chaifitz Arena in the last couple home games(prior to RI trip) because fans were very excited about the record & national ranking. It was the first time since 2012 that the Billikens landed in the National top 20 Boards!!  It’s a real challenge to balance between having a “mild” schedule part of the time and a couple, maybe even a few, games against quality opponents the other part of the schedule.  With this tremendous upturn in quality (and coaching) this year, maybe a couple more home/away games or tournament games against stronger opponents could be installed into the 26-27 schedule to help erase the possible ROCKY times in February& march!                          ….Man…the Billikens are 24-2 for the season and I’m complaining? Sports fans (St Louis fans are no different) sure get spoiled in a HURRY 😊                                                                                                                                       ….While the StL area has some energy about the 2026 Cardinals youthful roster & the players coming behind them in the minors, being young, fast & seemingly talented, doesn’t eliminate ROCKY DAYS for many of them down the road. The major question is almost always….but “can they hit in the MLB?_Just last year, here’s a taste of those “promising” MLB rookies who suffered through ROCKY DAYS—1^st round draft pick, Jackson Holliday(Baltimoe Orioles,) struggled at start of ’25 season. Some even called his rookie year “disappointing”. That’s not uncommon–it does happen throughout the MLB as Dylan Crews (Wash Nats) & Matt Shaw (Cubs) were also both highly touted rookie prospects but each also got off to slow starts with averages hovering around the .190s. Sooo….expect our some of our Cardinal “phenoms” to experience some early ROCKY DAYS  in 2026 also.                                                                                                                                     …2025-26 season was certainly a season with many ROCKY DAYS for the Blues! What happened?  Well…here’s a quick break down from of the Blues. It could have been a full column…but I’ve tried to hit the highlights…or lowlights!!          1)  Conflicting Messages: At start of 25-26 season, the team seemingly was trying to navigate through a rebuild (oops…can’t use that word in the Lou any longer—just ask the Cardinals😊) phase with a younger roster. On the ice, but there seemed to be mixed messages. They seemed to be caught between “rebuild” vs “work it out” expectations for 25-26. The extended use of younger players vs the use of veteran seemed to be major decision. But lack of wins early led to extra pressure  as the Blues took huge slide in the standings. But then….when highly touted rookie, Dalibor Dvorsky, did not make the opening night roster, at least some of the other younger players had to be “scratching their heads” about ”what’s going on here?”—wasn’t it supposed to be “our time” ?                                                           2)  Even the Scouts indicated that the Blues defense, especially early in the year, was characterized as having a “leaky defense” in early season matchups. To make it worse…Those were our veteran players!! There really aren’t that many goals in a hockey match so you can’t afford to be “leaky” on the defensive end. To complicate matters,this D-corp was probably difficult to trade a) play on ice wasn’t sharp  b) Teams didn’t want to assume their salaries.                               3)  From my eyes, the play of their offensive leaders, Robert Thomas & Jordan Kyrou, fell short in 25-26 season, way short of matching their contracts of $8.1m/ year. If your anticipated stars don’t play like stars regularly, you’re in trouble!!    ….It was a ROCKY NIGHT in Manhattan, KS last week. 4 days after the Kansas State Wildcats(10-15 overall & 1-11 Big 12) fans wore bags over their heads in a home game, Kansas State fired their Head Mens Basketball Coach, Jerome Tang.  K State lost 91-62 against Cincinnati that night. It had been a down-hill slide for Tang. He led the Wildcats to a 26-10 in his inaugural season. While his career KS records were a 71-57, overall his Big 12 record of 25-26 was unacceptable for the Wildcat administration.   It’s farily clear that adminstrators & fans have short memories!                                             … It was a real ROCKY week for NCAA ranked teams last week.  #5 UConn lost to Creighton; #No. 13 Texas Tech fell to Arizona State, # 24 Clemson dropped both games to Virginia Tech and Duke this week; # 10 Ohio State lost to Minnesota in the Big 10 (oops Big 19)                                                                     …now, I can’t finish a “ROCKY” Rewind w/o mentioning the REAL ROCKY –ROCKY Marciano –Heavy Weight Champion!  The Real ROCKY is the ONLY boxer (EVER) to finish his career unbeaten!  He finished with a 49-0 record with 43 knockouts! He had a career knockout record of 87.8%!!!! He was the World Heavyweight Champion from 1952 to 1956. His career lasted from 1947-1956. Compare his 49 fights in a career to the current approach of a fighters who have 2 or 3 a year!!!                                                      …Thanks for your time & read! I really appreciate it! If you enjoy it, please pass the word to your friends & Family! New readers may find it on my website weekly (it is posted new each Saturday) on http://www.bobryansportsblog.com. Older REWINDS may also be found on my Facebook page-Bob Ryan.   Thanks for your help in spreading the word.       Bob