NL Central Projections

Kevin Goldstein from Baseball Prospectus joined us to help break down the NL Central. We talked about the make-up of the Cardinals line-up, anchored by the deadly middle of the order. We talked about some of the young Cardinals like Colby Rasmus and David Freese. Goldstein talked about the Cubs, and what could be a down year and more for the North Siders. The rest of the division provides some intrigue as well as you will hear in this information-packed interview.

Spring Training Report Feb. 26

Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers talked it over with Globe Democrat Cardinals reporter B.J. Rains on Friday morning. Among the topics of discussion: the newest controversy surrounding Mark McGwire, progress being made by some of the Cardinals young pitchers, and details on the 5th starter derby.

Schefter Says Bradford...We Say NO! Sorta

NFL "insider" Adam Schefter said on Thursday that he expected the Rams to draft Sam Bradford. This seems to be a growing trend out in the expert world, where folks like this would have the Rams draft the best QB, sure, but far from the best player. Earlier this morning, Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers we broke down the 3 scenarios the Rams could look at when Draft Day rolls around.

Mizzou Cruises, SLU Can't Break Through

The Missouri Tigers were winners on Wednesday night while SLU came within arm's length, but just couldn't topple the Xavier Musketters. We look at where each team is headed, and talk it over with some of our fellow Benchwarmers Up Late, on 590 The Fan KFNS.

H2H

Earlier today as The Benchwarmers went Head-2-Head, Brendan and Arlington talked what lied ahead for the SLU Billikens beyond 2010. They looked at who were the most tournament ready teams in the Big 12, and whether or not Jamie Garcia would get a fair shake in the race for the Cardinals 5th starter.

Team USA into Hockey's Final Four

Team USA took another step closer to the Gold Medal in the Olympic Hockey Tournament. The Americans took out Switzerland 2-0 on Wednesday to win a spot against Finland in the semi-finals. Our hockey analyst Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers, Chris Gift, from St. Louis Gametime, joined us to help break down the Americans latest big win.

H2H

Arlington Lane and Brendan Wiese go head-to-head on a number of sports topics each and every night Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers. Earlier today, we looked at the possibility of the Cardinals adding Felipe Lopez, and what the Billikens' chances are for making the field of 65.

Who's Bubble is Burstin'?

We're under two weeks and counting until Selection Sunday. SLU is making a late run at a bid, Mizzou might have one locked-up, and the Illini may have all but locked one up. Mix in the round the clock bubble discussion, and you've got plenty of college hoops to discuss. Jerry Palm from collegerpi.com
joined us Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers to talk about all the latest bracket discussion.

Spring Training Update Feb. 23

All the Cardinals have convened down in Jupiter, FL with baseball finally back, at least in the complete team sense. Plenty of stories have been breaking during the Cardinals brief stay so far in their spring training home. Globe Democrat reporter B.J. Rains joined us Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers to talk about some of the early story lines so far.

Team USA #1 Seed in Olympic Hockey Tourney

The Team USA hockey team is inching closer towards a gold medal at this year's Olympic Games. It has been a somewhat unexpected run for Team USA, who now finds itself as the top seed, and in better position than favorites Canada and Russia. Our hockey analyst on Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers, Chris Gift, from St. Louis Gametime
helps us break down this fascinating tournament thus far.

Here Comes Tiger!!

The most anticipated non-sporting sporting event since Brett Favre's last "retirement" is here. Tiger Woods will tell the world on Friday what his plans are for the future. He is also expected to apologize to his wife Elin, his sponsors, his family, his fans, blah,blah, blah. We broke down what will be said on Friday, and wondered what would happen if Jim Nantz introduced Tiger's day, from Augusta.

NL East Preview

We begin our look at MLB 2010 with a look at NL East. Kevin Goldstein from Baseball Prospectus helps us look at the defending NL Champion Phillies, the Altanta Braves, and the rest of the East. Goldstein will help us preview all of baseball's divisions as we go through spring training.

Faulk Dogs Rams

Former Rams running Marshall Faulk has had some unkind words for the his old team lately. Faulk says "it's well deserved: that Sporting News listed the team dead last in the post-season rankings. Earlier this morning, Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers, we talked about the impact of Faulk's words on his old team.

Spring Training Update

The Cardinals' pitchers and catchers have arrived down at the team's complex in Jupiter, FL, officially kicking off spring training. B.J. Raines of the new Globe Democrat joined us live from spring training to talk about what he saw on day 1. Apparently, Mark McGwire is the hitting coach now. Who knew?

Talkin' Draft

We had another rousing edition of our weekly NFL Draft hour earlier this morning, Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers. Ron Clements from the Alton Telegraph joined us live in studio again, with the conversation leaning heavily towards what the Rams quarterback situation will look like, and how the draft will effect it.

Blues Hit Olympic Break on High Note

The St. Louis Blues did exactly what they had to do last week in hitting their Olympic break, winners of 3 in a row. Blues fans also have their eyes on Olympic hockey as well, pulling for an upstart Team USA. We get the inside scoop from Chris Gift from St. Louis Gametime to break down Olympic hockey, and the Blues push for the playoffs.

Is Radical Realignment in Store for NCAA Football?

College football could be headed towards in largest shake-up in decades. Tim Stephens wrote two articles over the weekend detailing the possible movements for the Orlando Sentinel. The University of Texas stands at the forefront for this possible shift, as Tim put it, they're the biggest fish to be had. Tim Stephens joined us this morning Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers on 590 The Fan KFNS.

Is Bulger Out?

We'll see how this story takes off throughout the rest of day Tuesday, but our good friend Howard Balzer appeared to drop a rather significant bombshell on his twitter page, in the 1 am hour: That Marc Bulger had cleaned-out his Rams locker. Does this mean the Rams are setting a plan in motion right now to move forward immediately at the quarterback position? We talked about earlier today Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers.

Head-2-Head

Earlier this morning Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers, co-host Arlington and I went Head-2-Head on several topics. Right now, we look back on the Hall of Fame credentials of recently retired Frank Thomas, and who the favorite is right now in College basketball.

Rams Dominate News Front

Despite not taking the field in almost two months, the Rams are dominating the news cycles in St. Louis. Earlier this morning Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers, we talked it over with Howard Balzer to break down the upcoming ownership transition, possible free agent moves, and of course....the NFL Draft.

Mockin' Rams

The mock NFL drafts will start getting cranked out fast and furious from now until draft night on April 22nd. Many hacks around the internet will take their uneducated guesses at the draft order. But one of the few educated forecasters out there, Wes Bunting, joined us earlier this morning on Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers. The Director of College Scouting for the National Football Post may surprise some of you with who he has the Rams taking atop his draft board.

New Owner in Place for Rams?

As reported by Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the St. Louis Rams are on the verge of being sold to central Illinois businessman Shahid Khan. Earlier today, we got a leg up on Up Late w/ the Benchwarmers on getting the early reaction from Rams fans on 590 The Fan KFNS.

Weekly NFL Draft Talk

Earlier this morning, on Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers, we had our weekly hour long discussion on the upcoming NFL Draft, and it's impact on the St. Louis Rams. As always, we were joined by Ron Clements from the Alton Telegraph.

Blues Use Shootout to Down Wings

The Blues st the stage for a passable ending to the "first half" of the regular season after salvaging a 4-3 SO win against the Redwings at home on Tuesday night. It was a stark contrast to the Blues blow-out loss in Colorado on Monday. Earlier this morning Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers, Chris Gift joined us to break down the huge Blues victoroy.

Saints Win Super Bowl XLIV

The New Orleans Saints are the Champions of the NFL after winning Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday night. A gutsy call by Sean Payton, and a near flawless performance by Drew Brees propelled the Saints to their first championship. Earlier this morning Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers we got caller reaction to a game that didn't necessarily go the way some experts saw it.

Blues Lose on Road

The St. Louis Blues lost for the third straight time on Monday night, 5-2 in Colorado. Earlier this morning Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers, we were joined by Chris Gift from St. Louis Gametime Publications. Chris helped us break down the Blues loss, and where this team is heading as they get closer and closer to the Olympic break.

The Saints Will March

I have gone on record a number of times now saying that Sunday's Super Bowl XLIV is the greatest Super Bowl on paper since the Redskins and Bills played nearly twenty years ago. The game is loaded with offensive fire power on both teams, like we may have never seen.

Peyton Manning could officially lay his claim this weekend as the greatest ever. I personally believe he already holds that distinction, but a win would clarify his case even more. On the other side, Drew Brees may as well be mini-Manning. Although, he hasn't at played at this high a level as long as Manning, the numbers here recently are just as sparkling. Since 2002,Manning has 122 regular season touchdowns. Brees matches him exactly, at 122.

Rice....The Best Ever?

Jerry Rice will headline the incoming 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame class, that will be announced this weekend. Along with Emitt Smith, Rice is sure fire bet to get the call on Saturday. What also is a sure fire bet, is that Rice is the greatest receiver of all time. Some, actually question this. The true question is whether or not Rice is greatest player of all time. We talked about earlier this morning on Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers.

USC Tops 2015 Recruiting Classes

USC Head Coach Lane Kiffin is at it again. This time he's scoping out the very best football talent....at an elementary school near you. Earlier today on the Benchwarmers, we talked about Kiffin's latest recruiting "get" that as of right now, sets himself up to have one of the better recruiting classes....in 2015.

Missour Suffers Crushing Home Loss

The Missouri Tigers appeared to be on the verge of another blow-out home win last night in Columbia. A win would've extended their home court winning streak to 33 games. Instead the Tigers offense once again went M.I.A. in the 2nd half, going nearly 11 minutes without a field goal. Earlier this morning on The Benchwarmers, we examined the problems for Mizzou right now, and maybe some possible solutions for the future.

Illini Signing Day

Earlier today on The Benchwarmers, Brendan Wiese talked it over with Bob Asmussen, from Newsgazette.com, talking about the Fighting Illini's football recruiting class. As Bob tells us, this will not be one of Ron Zook's more celebrated classes.

If It Ain't Broke....

It looks like it is more of matter of when not if, the NCAA Basketball Tournament is expanded. Earlier today on Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers, we talked about the pros, but mostly about the cons of expanding the greatest sporting event of the year.

The Joe Mauer Effect

Minnesota Twins' catcher Joe Mauer is reportedly close to inking a long-term contract to stay in Minneapolis. Is it fair to say Mauer, and Albert Pujols, are the two legitimate cornerstone players that are nearing contract extensions? Heck, they may be the ONLY two cornerstone players in baseball period. Earlier this morning, on Up Late w/ The Benchwarmers, we discussed what effect Mauer's possible signing could have on the future negotiations of Albert Pujols.