Football Is Here....Sort Of

  So much talk.  So much promise.  So much hype.  So little to show.  Yep, that pretty much sums up the start to the St. Louis Rams season.  After a 31-13 blowout, fans can only sit back and hold their breath.  Sorry folks, it looks like it's going to be a loooooong season.

  After a great showing by the defense on the Eagles opening drive, stopping the "Mighty Vick" from scoring, one could not have asked for a better start from the offense.  I'm at my usual bar, Truman's Place, watching the Rams come up to the line of scrimmage.  As I often do with my friends, I'll give the Steve Savard-like play-by-play of what ensued on the first offensive play of the season:

  Rams come to the line of scrimmage, Gibson and Amendola the receivers on the far side, Steven Jackson in the backfield.  Sam takes the snap, hands off to Steven running left, finds a hole, picks up the first down, and more!  25-20....Steven Jackson takes it 47 yards to the end zone, TOUCHDOWN! ST. LOUIS RAMS!

 It appeared the buzz during pre-season was coming to fruition; the Rams were back!  Not so fast, though.  One more carry by Jackson and he was gone with a quad strain.  This seemed to create a domino effect of not just injuries, but bad play all around on both sides of the ball.  With Danario Alexander deactivated, the offense looked EXACTLY like last year.  Short routes and no deep threat.  Rams wide receivers hardly got any separation and were dropping passes left and right....and also down the middle.  Danny Amendola ended up leaving the game with a separated shoulder after actually making a catch, Jason Smith left with an ankle sprain (again) and Sam Bradford missed several snaps, tending to his injured throwing hand.

The defense, well, the 31 points should tell the story.  Vick ended up eluding the pass rush just fine.  DeSean Jackson got down field and burned the secondary for a touchdown, and LeSean McCoy was able to bust loose for a touchdown as well.  Rookie Robert Quinn was nowhere to be found, as he was deactivated as well.  By the end of the game, Ron Bartell left with a stinger and Quintin Mikell left in the third quarter and did not return.

  Let's sum up, shall we?  Steven Jackson scored the only touchdown, the Rams wide receivers were ineffective, and key injuries caused the Rams to sputter on both sides of the ball.  The result...a Rams loss and a lot of wondering.  Does any of this sound familiar?  As stated in my title, football is back....sort of.  However, we might be in for more of the same, but with 15 games left, anything can happen and lets hope it does.

Game Over!

  To appease my friend Garrett Gordon and in honor of the MLB trade deadline approaching, I've decided to pay homage to one of my favorite players.  Surprisingly, it's not a Cardinal.  It's definitely not a Cub and I can for sure tell you, it's not a DH.  For the avid baseball fan, the title of the post should give it away.

  No closer was feared more from 2002-2004 than Los Angeles Dodgers closer, Eric Gagne.  Complete dominance is the only phrase to describe him.  Look at his numbers: 2002 - 52 saves; 2003 - 55 saves; 2004 - 45 saves.  Throw in a Cy Young and MVP award and you've got yourself a shut down closer.  Not the biggest guy at 6'2, but if you watched him pitched, his violent leg kick mixed with a fastball just under 100 mph left one thinking  "GOOD LORD!"

  Arm trouble in 2005 derailed Gagne's season and career.  He last pitched with Milwaukee in 2008, registering a modest 10 saves.  In fact, Gagne registered only 51 saves from 2005-2008.  For those three dominant years, however, I was on his bandwagon and I made it a point, someway somehow, to see him pitch.  Yes, he was that great!  Despite the steroid rumors, I still think he would've been a Hall of Fame pitcher when it was all said and done.

 This weekend, players will change teams, some of them being acquired to be that shut down closer in the ninth inning.  EVERY manager would've loved to have had Gagne in his prime; not Rivera, not Hoffman, not Smoltz.  Give me the Canadian with the shaggy look and rec specs over any of those great closers.  When he came out of that bullpen to close the game, he didn't need a trot, a song blasting, or even a highlight reel.  All he had to do was walk out of the gates as he had a certain.....confidence/swagger about him.  It's probably because he knew, as did every opposing hitter and the manager knew as well, it was GAME OVER!

I'm Back!

  After a five year absence, Mike T is back, ya'll.  Yes, your favorite TV/movie quoting junkie,  St. Louis homer, Republican advocate and want-to-be lawyer is up to his blogging ways again.  Who missed me?  Who didn't miss me?  Who cared?  Actually, don't answer the last two questions.

  A lot has happened since my last blog in 2006.  The Cardinals won a World Series. Boston Legal and Lost are no longer on the air. I'm actually working in the legal field. I'm back in the 314 MO and The Harry Potter Saga was completed on the Big Screen.  Add to that, my stint at KMOX Radio, my work with the St. Louis Cardinals and my turning 30, there is a lot to blog about.  Where to start is hard.

  For now, I'll just preview what I'll be talking about in my upcoming blogs.  You'll read my complaints about the business side of the law.  There will be comparisons of real depositions and trials to those scenes on TV and movies.  You'll read my thoughts on movies and current issues/trends in sports.  If you follow me on Twitter and Facebook, you'll know what you are in for.  You've been warned; proceed at your own risk...