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10/23/2006: "Rants of a Sporting Nature"

Ah, Monday ... what would men talk about if we didn't have the weekend's sports to dissect?

- Cardinals fans are probably happy to be headed to the STL with a split, but they could just as easily been up 2-0. Kenny Rogers can talk all he wants about his personal hygiene habits, but there's no question in my mind that he had a "foreign substance" on his left hand when he started last night's game. Seeing the same smudge in pictures from his earlier post-season starts just validates the point. I understand that players try to get the edge; what I don't understand is why Tony LaRussa - a lawyer, for God's sake - rolled over so easily when he could have by all rights had Rogers tossed. LA fans all remember Jay Howell's expulsion for pine tar in the '88 NLCS (or, for that matter, Marty McSorley and his overly curves stick in the '94 Stanley Cup finals). It's so obvious - and so easy - that usually the player doesn't complain. But LaRussa kept on the kid gloves, and Rogers went on to 2-hit his squad. Talk is that he didn't want to show up his long time friend, Tigers manager Jim Leyland, but that's lame. This is the biggest stage in the game, and if you can't bring everything you have, stay home. This was a game the Cardinals needed, and LaRussa let it get away. For you conspiracy theorists out there, check out ESPN.com's Uni Watch for an interesting theory about caps as a place to hide stuff ...

- Just when I was ready to write about the other Cardinals getting a win for QB Matt Leinart, they roll over and lose to the Raiders - the freaking Raiders! There goes Jim Rome's hope for the mythical "perfect" 0-16 season - and my one remaining reason to watch the NFL this season ...

- The new BCS poll is out and Trojan fans are in a tizzy. Their team dropped to third - and out of the theoretical title matchup - without even taking the field. But fear not, fans of Troy: First-place Ohio State and runner-up Michigan play each other on November 18, so someone's gonna take a dive in the numbers. Besides, watching the gutty Bruins against the Irish Saturday, I'd say you have at least two tough games to worry about before bowl bids get mailed out ...