Sometimes, it’s good to LOOK AHEAD! It doesn’t always work out the way we thought…but it’s necessary. Soooo…let’s LOOK AHEAD IN SPORTS

…St Louis City SC has always LOOKED AHEAD as they plan for the future. The Soccer Club really spoiled the Lou with their unbelievalbe success in their 1^st season. City SC became the 1st expansion team to win its conference, winning the Western Conference. The team fell short of the all-time point record for an expansion team. 2023 was a unbelievable season. 2024 has seen a drop off in the wins for StLCitySC. Nonetheless, the management has LOOKED AHEAD. They built a beautiful stadium that I enjoyed for the 1^st time last week.  The direct cost of the privately-owned stadium campus – which includes the stadium, team training facility and practice fields, team store, parking garage, and corporate headquarters  was built for $667m. The overall impact includes approximately $122m in incremental tax revenue, including $33m in local/state tax revenue, and $15m in infrastructure upgrades–lighting, sidewalks, bike paths and streets in the surrounding area. It’s airy, comfortable, beautiful.

…It’s already paid off–In 2023, CITYPARK hosted 20 St. Louis CITY SC matches, 4 international matches (including 3 involving U.S. Soccer men’s/women’s national teams), and 15 CITY2 professional soccer matches, as well as over 200 private events. Further CITYPARK hosted close to 1 million visits over its first 12 months with approximately 18% coming from outside the metro area. CITYPARK visitors’ spending on hotels, food, and other retail provided an additional $14 million boost to StL .Further, CITY SC/its operations generated almost $24m in tax revenues, including $5.1m for the City of St. Louis. CITYPARK also served as a catalyst for growth and vitality in Downtown West. $1.4 billion in new/redevelopment has been built and proposed within walking distance of the stadium since 2019. All in all.. CITY SC’s Efforts to  Revitalize Downtown- West with investments Totaling More Than $1.4 Billion. Clearly this was an organization that was looking ahead for the team and the community.

…All that being said…CitySC now must really focus on improving their product on the pitch. I attended my 1^st City game last weekend. I was in awe of the stadium—terrific!  During the match though, it was a different story. Clearly the Colorado Rapids (9-4-7- W-D-Loss-4^TH PLACE in the Western Division.) was the better team. Their key players seem to have the speed that CitySC couldn’t match. The Rapids passing & ball handling was somewhat better the CitySC. It was a 3-0 win for the Rapids. I’m sure that City now 12^th place with a 3-5-12 (w-draw-loss) is LOOKING AHEAD to improve their product.

…Mizzou Basketball-Men is also LOOKING AHEAD!  Coming off of an 8-24 record (0-18 in the SEC), HC Dennis Gates realized that a talent upgrade was absolutely essential. He really hit the road hard and signed one of the best “newcomer” classes in the entire country!  This Incoming Frosh class was ranked #5 nationally while his transfer class landed at the #12 in the USA. The new players include mark Mitchell  (2 year starter @ Duke & 2 years remaining) & Marques Warrick (N.Kentucky) has 1 year remaining.

….LOOKING AHEAD on the ice are the St. Louis Blues & GM Doug Armstrong. Coming off a 2^nd straight year of missing the playoffs (that’s only happened to the Blues 4x and there was a drought of 3 year miss 05/06, 06/07 & 07/08 seasons. Immediately, many Blues fans “zero in” on the defensemen. Well…I think that Parayko is an untouchable this year after his 23-24 year. The Blues do have $16m available in the cap space. Nonetheless, some of their free agents will be allowed to “walk”. In addition, the salary cap itself expands to $88m. The Blues are now expecting even more prodction from Jake Neighbors, Jordan Kyrou, &  Robert Thomas as leaders on the team. Both in leadership & on the scoreboard!  I would not be shocked to see Bennington traded. Joel Hofer seemed to “hold his own” . Their save percentage was identical (.913 v .914). Bennington’s record was 28-21, 2.84 goals against with 5 OT.. Hofer 15-12, 2.65-Goals against. Bennington is in the midst of a 6 year, $36m contract. Hofer will be in his 2^nd year of his 2 year contract @ the league minimum– $775,000. So the wily GM Doug Armstrong has some wiggle room for make roster modifications with financial considerations(there are ALWAYS financial considerations-don’t kid yourself 😊 There WILL BE SOME MOVES as the BlueS LOOK AHEAD!…you can bet on it! The Blues absolutely don’t want to miss the playoffs again in the 24-25 season!

…The Cardinals are LOOKING AHEAD right now. After a rugged start to the 2024 season, as I write this, the Cards are 2 games over .500 for the 1^st time in 2024, in 2^nd place of the NL Central and have won 7 of the last 10 games after sweeping the Giants. Sonny Gray was sharp, pitched like a strong ace in the his last game on the mound vs the Giants. With Wilson Contreras returning to the lineup, the Cards will get a boost offensively & defensively. Contreras brings a .280 average into the game—that’s 3^rd highest on the team! 2 rookies–Masyn Winn are the only ones with higher marks–.299 average &Eric Burleson holds a .285 mark—leading the way at the moment. Burlison’s slugging % is .787 for the season. The only player with a  higher slugging mark is … Wilson Contreras—Welcome back!! I two cornerstone players (Goldy & Arenado) are holding low batting averages (.231 & .257) respectively. But… they are two of the top 5 players on the team with 30+ RBI’s. This series against a strong Atlanta team maybe a yardstick for the Cards. They’ve shown that they can beat the weak teams…now can they do the same against the stronger teams (Atlanta is one of those teams).

…Wrapping it up on a different tilt as we LOOK AHEAD @ All-Star Games in all professional sports. Viewership is way down in all of the professional sports.  Take a look–The Pro Bowl’s audience has been shrinking since 2011, going from 13.4 million viewers to a measly 6.28 million last year. In 2023, only 4.6 million people tuned into the NBA All-Star Game, marking a 20-year low. NHL All-Star Game viewership numbers have ebbed and flowed throughout the 21st century, but the audience is overall a fraction of what it was in the early 2000s. The MLB All-Star Game,  has seen the sharpest decline in viewership: In 1993, 22.31 million people were watching; 30 years later, the audience fell to a mere 7.01 million.

..Experts say that 1 obvious reason for these declines is that the way we consume television has radically shifted. One TV expert feels that all-star games of all types were more relevant “in an era when we didn’t have expanded playoffs, regional sports networks, 24-hour sports networks, and each league(and almost every team) having their own network. Now, you can watch so many games and see these stars all the time. Nobody is starved for sports.” How about YOU?  What do you think of All-Star games? Is it just a 3 day holiday for most players now? I would say abolish the All-Star games.  I like competition….these games are Just “showcase games” to me. What’s YOUR vote or suggestion on All-Star games? I’m always grateful for your read. Please relay this Buzz on to others who enjoy sports. Have a great week & I’m looking forward to YOUR vote on the All-Star game (no stuffing the ballot box now 😊  Bob