I'd like to think I could focus in and write about a big Cardinals win against Reds that re-claimed 1st place in the NL Central. 

Can't.

Need to watch this all day.

So the Cardinals had their annual 'Blogger Event' this past Sunday.

A) That's Bill DeWitt III

He told us that Ballpark Village should have steel showing in the next 3-4 weeks and that the project is on pace to open Phase 1 by Opening Day 2014. He's working on getting better phone/internet in the stadium. And his two kids are sitting on the floor to the right of him, just in case you thought bloggers couldn't sit in chairs.

B) That's John Mozeliak.

He told us that that guys like Wacha and Oscar are ready for the pros now, but the Cardinals don't have room for them. He's working on the draft and knows that SS is an area of weakness. He seemed to be bullish on Carlos Martinez and didn't take a joke about Ty Wigginton as well as the asker would have liked. 

C) That's Bill Ivie.

A long time ago, he wrote for Cards Diaspora. Now he's got a seat. And you can see where they put me. In the back, behind a pillar. Standing. A case for the quality of the work I've been putting out. 

You can see all the photos of the day on the Cardinals website: LINK HERE

And even though the free beer, food and nice pin they gave me were appreciated, I'm still going to have to say bad things about the Cardinals from time to time. I think they'll understand.

Doesn't mean I can say thanks to the front office. They're solid people. Forget everything we said before.

Squander. 

Definition: "To lose (as an advantage or opportunity) through negligence or inaction."

As the Cardinals contine to provide historically good starting pitching through the first month of the season, they also have given no support to said starters. Be it the #FireSquad called into "relief" or the amatuer at-bats the "hitters" have been taken, almost as many times as not, wins become loses; close games become 9-0 laffers. 

The Bucs leave STL in first place. They've won 15 games in April for the first time since 1992. And for the immediate future look like a team that is going to be more of a pest than originally forecasted.

Enter the Reds. 

In town for the second time already this season, by mid-week 6 of the 9 home games with the presumtive Central Division winners will be booked and confirmed. The opportunites to make up substantial ground in front of the warm cheers of the home crowd against these Reds will be minimal. 

It is, for lack of a more creative way of putting it, a large series.

Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran and Yadier Molina don't earn their millions beating teams like the Pirates. They earn it in games like tonight. Getting spanked by a 25 year-old rookie happens. You can recover. It's the Pirates. We've seen this story before. They'll come back to the back. They'll fall behind. 

But another goose-egg tonight? Just not an option. 

It's time for the offense to help the starting pitching. It's time for the bullpen to not give up runs. It's time to step up and see if this team is going to play for the playoffs or if they're coasting on a fluky month of freaky starting pitching and willing to spectate with the rest of us instead of lending a helping hand. 

Game time, Redbirds. You in?

If you don't like NFL Draft talk, move along to the links below. It's one of the best non-sporting sporting events of the year. 

So the Rams did a little draft day moving and shaking last night. 

1) Tavon Austin.

Want to feel good about this pick? Then read THIS article on Grantland from 2 days ago. If you're too lazy to click, it basically says that Austin is the future of how NFL skill players will look.

It isn't an article about Austin being good. Or even great for the Rams. 

No.

Austin is the prototype of how NFL skill players will look.

That's encouraging, no? 

The Rams need playmakers. They know it. We know it. Seattle and SF know it. So by going out and getting Austin, the Rams all of a sudden have a pulse on offense. He's not going to be as good as we'd like in 2013... WRs rarely are. But he's going to break some plays and get better in years 2 & 3. He's a heavy rain in the midst of a drought. 

2) Alec Ogletree. 

Big time talent. Looks like a freaking NFL player. 

But the NFL Draft is really important to players. Unlike any other pro sports league, you need to start earning right away to max out your value. Careers are short and the money is not guaranteed. 

It's alarming to me that in a 4 month period (JAN-APR) where a player is done with school and dedicated to one thing and one thing only - training- that an elite prospect can get a DUI.

I'm not here to mount a high horse.

You want to drink? Go for it. But when there are literally millions of dollars hanging in the balance, I'd like to think that most people... even you or I... would be able to take a break from the party life for 4 months to try and grab as many of those dollars as we can.

Alec didn't.

He drank, he drove, he got a DUI. This is after he had already been suspended for 4 games for failing a drug test earlier in his career.

He knew the microscope was out and didn't care. He pissed away money. And when pro athletes don't care about money, what is going to motivate them? 

I hope Alec becomes the LB that the Rams need. I hope he's a stud's stud. He has the talent.  But the fact that he had 4 months to try and keep his nose clean, he screwed up? Even Janoris Jenkins knew better.

Now, the Friday Links...

The best Venn diagram from today. LINK HERE

Picking the chosen one. LINK HERE

Unnecessary math. LINK HERE

You had one job. LINK HERE

A Lance Armstrong fan. LINK HERE

You know it's coming. Don't freak out. LINK HERE

That's it. That's the week. Weekend series with the surging Bucs should be fun, right? It's about that time of year where Pittsburgh gets 5 games over .500 and Baseball Tonight starts telling us rubes that THIS is year they finally make it over .500. So we have that to look forward to. 

A video about Sportsman's Park for you to consume at your leisure. 

Let's play 'Choose Your Own Column': 

So Mitchell Boggs in the 7th? 

One of these innings he's going to be good again, right? We'll just see how low we have to go. Like a reverse limbo stick.

That game was so ugly, it went into a haunted house and came out with an application. 

You're right. That wasn't funny.

And neither is the sequence of numbers 0, 1, 2. As in 0 runs, 1 hit and 2 errors. If Stanley Kubrick was around, I think he'd be working on Clockwork 2. 

Thank goodness Carlos Beltran was able to scratch out 1 hit, otherwise literally hundreds of Pirate fans in attendance would have had something to cheer about for the first time since the 1990s.

(Side: this won the 'Hyundai Drive of the Game' award. Considering the Cardinals have deals in place to run these promotions every game, what happens when they get no-hit?)

At least the bullpen is getting on tra... what's that? They got lit up for 3 runs to salt this one away?

Well at least Shelby Miller is showing why he's the '5th' starter. 6 innings and 2 runs on the road? You'll take that 10 times out of 10 from your 5th.

I guess you're going to have games like this when you play 162. Every team will. 

But last night's odious performance was as as bad as you can play in one of the most depressing parks to do it in. Let's forget it even happened and get back to our regularly scheduled pounding of the Pirates.

Please.

I 

Sunday was a Top 10 day in St. Louis. 

Unlike San Diego or Miami where 80 degree cloudless days with a consistent breeze seem to be called Tuesday, St. Louis sees precious few. Sitting in Busch Stadium, watching baseball, drinking beers... chances are if you're on this site in the first place, you agree - it doesn't get much better.

Then it got worse.

Much worse.

II

We haven't commented much on Jason Motte here in this space. Much like the rest of Cardinal fans, we're waiting for the official word on his elbow condition. But he's going need Tommy John surgery and his season is over. 

Yes, there is a chance that's not true. But Motte hasn't begun a throwing regimen yet. April is more than half-way over. And other closers, including former Cardinal Jason Isringhausen, have said the surgery is a fait accompli. 

Sometimes, you forget how great the Internet is.

Last Friday in a bit of ESPN synergy, Colin Cowherd (host of ESPN Radio's 'The Herd' and former co-host of SportsNation) went on the BS Report with Bill Simmons (Editor in Chief of Grantland.com) and had a expansive conversation. 

Cowherd is a pretty divisive figure (see this), but beneath all that bravado was a tender young child. A tender young child that got his heart ripped out of his chest and stomped on by none other than The Mad Hungarian, Al Hrabosky.

Let's listen together:

You can get the whole pod HERE, if you care to. 

But in the grand scheme of things you hear today, I have a hard time believing that you were expecting this.