A Christmas Tale

Here's a Christmas Tale to warm your hearts on a cold day.

WIZARD OF BOZ

Tom and Tammy, we haven't heard from you lately. How about an update. Your days of quiet, peaceful dinners, restful nights, and sleeping late are almost over.





You'll have your hands full!

Why the Cards are still the best team in the NL

Because he plays for the birds..........


.......and they don't.

CURE FOR THE WINTERTIME BLUES

Lake Springfield in winter. You can't beat it.

HUH?

Our Fake Drilling Debate

G.F. Will or G.F. Swill?

1,001 and counting

This one is for you Andy B. You called for a debatable topic...here it is.

At 12:01 PT, Stanley "Tookie" Williams will be given a lethal injection after being denied clemency by the Governator. Despite his claims that he did not commit the killings, he was convicted of the 'execution style' slaying of three individuals.

His supporters request for a stay of execution has primarily been based on the argument that he should be allowed to continue his anti-gang work. Whichever side of the capital punishment fence you fall on, this is a weak argument. His supporters are using a non-legal argument to try and rectify a legal situation. But I guess if the normal arguments haven't been working, sometimes you have to try a new approach.

Andy, consider the pot stirred...now the fun begins.

The hot stove is fired up...

The KC Star is reporting that the Royals are planning on trading Jeremy Affeldt and Mike MacDougal for Anna Benson and a player to be named. Rumor has it that player may even be Kris Benson.

Palindrome

I just got done watching the movie "Palindrome" that Jeff was talking about quite a few post ago, and thought it was great. It's very disturbing, and makes you go "what the?", but that's exactly what I expected having seen his other movies. It's the kind of movie that will have you thinking about it long after you're done watching it.

If any of you have seen it, I would like to know what you think.

Ain't Science Grand??

Researchers have found out something that we have known for years...

Another Cupcake Killer

This is Abby at the birthday party. I feel Abby and I have a special bond. I can tell by the way she orders me around when we play.

Twisted Sisters

Here's another picture from our weekend at the Daw Mansion. Lexi and Willa had a fine time together. They even made money helping Aimee around the house.

Tangled Up In Blue

What a weekend the Phillips family had at the Daw mansion. The food was wonderful. There was a lot for the kids to do. They let me win beer at golf. They let my wife win cash at poker. We highly recommend it for a November Vacation Hotspot.

Seriously, it was a blast. A big thanks to do the Daws for having us. We might try to do it all over again on the Saturday after Thanksgiving if anyone is interested. There will probably be poker for sure. The golf, of course, is at the mercy of the fall weather.

And let me tell you, no one knows fun like Isa does.

Concerns

I talked to Sweet Lou the other night. He filled me in on a situation that some of you may have heard about. Lou and Misti's son Cody will be undergoing an operation to repair a hole in his heart on November 22nd. Lou said the Doctor makes it sound routine. They will go in through a vein in the leg and plug the hole with a piece of wire mesh shaped like the plug in a piggy bank. Eventually, the heart tissue will grow around the mesh and completely repair the hole.

Keep Sweet Lou and Misti in your thoughts and prayers.

DAMMIT!!!

I watched the World Series until the start of the 7th inning, feeling as if I was watching the 15th mile of a marathon. That damn Lance Berkman and Willie Tavarez getting key hits again, giving me flashbacks to the NLCS. The only thing missing was a really bad call by the umpires. Realizing I would never last until the end of the game and disheartened by the uninspiring play of the White Sox, I gave up. I just now looked at the sports scores and damn if I didn't miss three great innings of baseball. Another ding-dong given up by Lidge - what a shame. I bet it doesn't go past 5 games. The stros have a chance with Oswalt on the hill but that's it. Just like last year, the American League champ is on a roll (won 13 of their last 14 I think).

I wish the Cards had arms in their bullpen like the Sox have. I looked up Brian Giles' career OBP - .413. Not too shabby. I wouldn't mind having him and Eckstein in front of Pujols, Edmonds and Rolen.

Potted Meat

I have turned on a feature designed to fight Spam in the comments. From now on when you comment you'll be asked to verify some letters that you'll see on the screen. This will slow down automated Spam comments like we have seen in our comments. If you have a problem, just shoot me an email.

Somewhere in this Favored Land

Now we have an entire winter to speculate on the moves the Cards need to make. What do they need to do? Walker is gone. Will Reggie be gone too? Will they bid on the services of Brian Giles?

What about the bullpen? Ray King's tirade ensures the exit that his poor performance made probable. The Reyes injury really was a big problem in the postseason. Tavarez just isn't as depenable as Reyes.

The real problem is when you play a team with three starters like Oswalt, Clemens, and Pettite in a short series you can't make any mistakes. You have to stay within a run to enable the offense to try to manufacture runs. When you're down three you can't give away outs to get one run. That's what happened to them Wednesday night. When they had two on nobody out they couldn't bunt the runners over and try to scratch out a couple runs.

There was no room for error against these Astros. The Cards didn't play error free and they lost. What can they do to improve for next year?

Take your mind off it

If you need a little help getting past the mourning stage, get over to Paul's blog and enter his new contest. You won't want to miss this contest. Get your entries in now!

That's a Winner!!!

Wow!! How many of you saw it? No lying! How many of you went to bed?? Tell the truth . . . It was awesome!!

Joyless in Mudville

Ever since Howdy blogged October baseball the Cardinals have played horribly. Tonight the frustration seemed to boil over. Edmonds cannot lose control there. That was a huge at bat.

Do they have a miracle in them this postseason?

Good Day

Today, I escaped from the ranks of the unemployed. About three o'clock this afternoon I received a call offering me a position at the very medical center where my pathologist brother toils away his weekdays. Indeed, it's the job the Shelly and I desired the most. Another prayer answered.

Also today, I found myself mentioned on Andy's blog. It's always a good feeling to be remembered by your friends. In his blog, Andy muses about when a person has the right to speak for someone whose experience he does not share. For instance, I could offer my opinion about the quality of a certain hair stylist, but my opinion wouldn't have much weight. Certainly I wouldn't want Andy making statements on behalf of bald men.

But some people have no voice. Someone needs to speak for them. Someone needs to hear their voices even when they are just a whisper. So, Andy, I would say one needs to do more than presume to speak for others. One needs to seek out their whispers and amplify them.