#7

A WEEKEND OF PERSONAL PERFORMANCES
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Usually, it'll take me a few days of thought to figure out what I want to write about next. However--this weekend I instantly knew. Let me explain.

On Saturday night, Dan Hines and I decided to go to the Blues game on a spur of the moment decision. Since I was still down in Carbondale, I had to drive up to home (O'Fallon) and go from there. Although gas prices would economically justify me not going to the game, I wanted to go anyways. It was the next to last home game of the season, and the Blues were playing the Red Wings.

The Red Wings have been a source of trauma for me since my childhood. The epitome came when I was 11 years old, in the 1995-1996 season. The Blues took the hated Red Wings to the brink of elimination, forcing double overtime in Game 7 before Steve Yzerman beat Jon Casey to end the series.

With all of my hatred, how could I not go?

The game itself was amazing. There were 16,000 fans (half Detroit, half Blues, amazingly) ready for a matchup between two teams that were polar opposites this season.

Goalie Jason Bacashihua played unbelievably, singlehandedly saving the game. He got no help from the Blues defense, as a number of turnovers and lapses led to several breakaways and odd-man rushes. However, he made 4 or 5 seeming impossible saves, earning several standing ovations from the partisan crowd.

The Blues were behind 2-0 within the first 10 minutes, but they battled back to tie the game going into the third period. In a period marred by one-sided officiating against the Blues, they spent most of the twenty minutes killing penalties.

With just under a minute to go, I kept thinking to myself "Boy, wouldn't it suck if Detroit scores and Bacashihua doesn't get the win". Of course it happened, as Zetterberg scored with just under 9 seconds left to give Detroit the win.

I've never seen a goalie lose a game in which he played so well.

Even though Detroit held several stars out of the lineup, it was still a vintage Red Wings team, complete with precise passing and crisp skating. The Blues played one of their best games of the season...only to lose. It happens. Let it be a start to a great 2006-2007 season.
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On Sunday afternoon my sports weekend continued with a trip to the new and improved Busch Stadium, thanks to Dan.

Initially, I was sad to see the old Busch go. However, after seeing how beautiful the new stadium is, I think it was worth every dollar of the $345 million bill.

We sat in the Hardee's suite, and it was amazing. The suite had a bathroom, fridge, a 42 inch plasma TV, and several seats inside of an air conditioned interior. Also, there were eight seats outside.

The game was back and forth. The Cardinals were down 7-6 in the bottom of the eighth when So Taguchi batted with the bases loaded. However, he and David Eckstein failed to bring home a run.

Braden Looper pitched a scoreless top of the ninth. Between innings, I noticed that Pujols was due up second.

"It's easy," I told Dan. "Leadoff man gets a hit, and Pujols will hit a walk off HR."

This thought was absurd for several reasons: 1) The Cardinals were out of bench players
2) Give Albert a chance to win the game, are you kidding me?
3) Three home runs in three straight at bats? That's insane.

Even with all of those reasons looming in my head, I still held out hope.

Jason Marquis, an excellent hitter (and a pretty good pitcher, as well) led off the inning with a single. Could it really happen? Albert Pujols walked to the plate, sending the crowd into a frenzy. In what was seemingly a manner of seconds, Pujols was down in the count 1-2 . However, on the next pitch he hit a no-doubter--the only question was if it would stay fair. It was fair by about 10 feet.

Game over.

I've never heard such a reaction from Cardinals fans, and I have been going to games for almost 15 years. As we walked through the streets of the city after the game, the fans were still buzzing. A group of men were walking around chanting Pujols (okay, they were a little intoxicated), and other fans joined in. Cardinals fans are the best in the sport...without a doubt.

Albert Pujols and Jason Bacashihua both had amazing performances this weekend. It's a shame they both couldn't win.