1,2,3,4....A Weekend of Goods in Missouri

The most exciting thing about this weekend is the Tour of Missouri rounding out the first of it's many future stops in St. Louis. The second most exciting thing about this weekend is the fact that Missouri's offense continues to look more and more impressive. Third, the fact that the Cardinals could potentially win a game against the Cubs, snapping a (as I write - between doubleheader games at Busch) nine game losing streak. It seems we haven't won in ages, so a win would feel as good as a sex addict finally getting the proper fix after two months in the Big House. And fourth and foremost is a Rams game at home.

***Starting at the top, I'll continue to simply urge you to make the trek to the Big City tomorrow and watch the finish of the Tour of Missouri. As I've said before, getting the chance to see world class athletes up close like this is a rare opportunity. This isn't baseball or football, where you see the world class athletes but, in reality, they're so distant from you that they feel like immortal souls. The sport of cycling seems to be a bit different, although I can't go on a paragraph bash about how cycling stands out because it's so much cleaner and is littered with less cheats than the big sports....because we all know it isn't. But what I can do, enlisting my experience in the Durango area and being surrounded by world-class cyclists as evidence, is suggest that these athletes are much less corrupted - all in all - from the spotlight of being a world class athlete. If you get the chance, mingle with them - something you can't do with pro football, baseball, or basketball players, and learn for yourself.

These guys work harder than most athletes, and they seem to be a hell of a lot nicer too. Go show them your respect.

Here's a Race Update from the St. Louis Post Dispatch, following Saturday's finish:
"Danny Pate of Colorado Springs, Colo., rode to a solo stage win and George Hincapie of Greenville, S.C., kept his race lead for the fourth day Saturday in stage 5 of the Tour of Missouri.
Pate (Team Slipstream), a former junior world time trial champion, escaped from two other riders to claim the 126.8-mile Jefferson City to St. Charles road race in 4 hours, 50 minutes and 21 seconds.
John Fredy Parra (Tecos de la Universidad) of Colombia was second, and Jeff Louder (Health-Net) of Salt Lake City was third, both eight seconds behind Pate. Hincapie (Discovery Channel), who assumed the lead after winning stage 2, finished 25th in the main field, 2:26 behind the stage winner.
Pate maintained his 1 minute, 40-second race advantage over William Frischkorn of Boulder, Colo. David Canada (Prodir-Saunier Duval) of Spain is third overall, trailing by 2:22, with Dominique Rollin of Canada fourth, trailing by 2:23."

***Secondly, Missouri's offense seems to be untouchable right now. Two touchdown passes and a TD run for Chase Daniel adds to his impressive and ever growing eleven touchdowns over the course of the squad's first three games. Adding to West Michigan's trouble this week was wide receiver Jeremy Maclin's 275 yards of total offense (96 yards receiving, 52 yards rushing, 96 returning kickoffs, and 31 yards returning punts). "He obviously had a great day catching the football and on punt returns and kickoff returns," Mizzou coach Gary Pinkel said. "We find different ways to get him the ball because he can make things happen. He's just got to keep working harder, which he will. He's a great young man. He can do a lot of things to change a game fast." The Tigers were 23rd in total offense going into this week, ranked in the top ten in both passing and receiving. I would imagine that those stats only got better.

If you cut out the early second half collapses, which have allowed Illinois, Ole Miss, and West Michigan to make scary attempts at comebacks, we have to like what we're seeing out of the Tigers right now. "We take each game one week at a time, and it was all about coming out and dominating today," MU defensive lineman Lorenzo Williams said. Yeah...well, let's try dominating for an entire game, instead of just half of a game.

Elsewhere in the Big 12, Oklahoma looks damn near unbeatable and Nebraska will get a true test tonight against the Booty-led USC Trojans. The Sooners have won their first three games by 158 points - the most dominant start to a season since the Sooners outscored their opponents 169-6 in 1972. But as it stands, Mizzou is holding its own and things are looking good on the home front for now. Once Big 12 play starts, things could go another direction. We shall see....

***When it comes to the Cardinals and deprived sex addicts...everybody's just depressed. Seriously, winning a game would feel like a junkie or an addict...of any kind....getting a long awaited fix. I don't even like talking about this.

NEXT.

The Rams take on the Gold Miners at home this weekend. Division game. Huge rivalry. Two of the most exciting running backs in the game. A young and upcoming quarterback vs. a savvy veteran. Two teams nobody has any clue if they're going to be great or absolute trash. It's got THRILLER written all over it.

or

The 49ers could absolutely roll over a one week old but terribly depleted, aching, and probably completely atrocious offensive line, leading to a SF rout. Let's hope for the classic. But without Pace and Steussie, the Rams are going to have be magical to knock of Frank Gore and the boys.

*for info on fantasy football teams and players this week, check out Jason's blog.

Here's to hoping the Cardinals win, the Rams win, and you get off the couch and go watch some bike racing tomorrow. As for me, well, I'll figure something out.