It’s enough to make a Cardinals fan gag, despite the obvious superiority of the STL franchise. Hey, the Cardinals can figure out how to win a World Series even when they have no business being in the postseason (2006).

So, here at STL Sports Nation, we’ve got two words for the Cubs:

“Who cares?”

Even in the unlikely event that the Cubs overcome the Billy Goat Curse and purge the haunting memories of Leon Durham, Shea’s black cat, Steve Bartman and June swoons, what will your team have proved by winning once in 100 seasons?

So, we’ve got two more words for the Cubs:

“Ten rings.”

Call us when you’ve reached double digits in World Series championships, like the Cardinals. Should happen by 2908 at this pace.

What about you, Birds-On-The-Bat fans? How do you complete this sentence?

“I’ve got two words for the Cubs: ___ ___ ”

Post your “I’ve got two words for the Cubs” response below. (And if you’re a Cubs fan who just can’t resist, we’re also accepting “I’ve got two words for the Cardinals” responses.)

Please do the right thing: show us that your command of the language exceeds that of the typical Wrigley Bleacher Bum. Resist the urge to use the F-bomb-and-pronoun combo, as well as the middle-school-ish “Cubs (stink).”

On Tuesday, I caught the McGwire/USA Today article thread started by Jwither in Cards Talk and could hardly refuse the chance to comment. Monday’s USA Today story, “McGwire maintains silent presence, quietly helps hitters”, by Bob Nightengale was solid reporting and a good read. Don’t know if it was to recall, rehash or celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Home Run Chase (where’s the Sammy Sosa piece?), but it still shows that reporters and fans still have a Big Mac interest, as demonstrated by the nearly 200 comments on the story, with many STILL coming down on him for alleged steroids use. That gets to me, and I’ve never made it a secret that it does.

Again, I’m an innocent-until-proven-guilty guy. The key being “proven” in what some may call tired, old rhetoric. Naysayers ALWAYS point to Andro. Hindsight, after-the-fact guilt isn’t justice. If it was important for baseball to ban it, they should have done so before, not after they let players take it without recourse. His 2005 St. Patrick’s Day testimony before Congress? Regrettable, but NOT proof!

Find me proof — REAL proof — then I’ll change my tune. Until then, remember the season, remember the career and remember the impact Mark David McGwire had on baseball in St. Louis and the game’s best fans.

* * * * * *

When June 2008 ended Monday, it signaled the Rams Training Camp countdown from months and weeks to weeks and days. Not lost on the fact was a pair of postings from chaos3430 on the home team with SportingNews.com articles to share with the Rams Talk fans. One post submitted a Vinnie Iyer blog article, “Rams’ burning question: A much better show on turf?”, reviewing and previewing the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The other post highlighting, “Camp Countdown ‘08: St. Louis Rams”, by Post-Dispatch Rams beat writer Jim Thomas, for the Sporting News Rams coverage.

Mr. Spock-type thinking leads to this logic: the Rams have nowhere to go but up. But in reality, there’s always the 2007 Miami Dolphins, they of the 0-13 start and 1-15 season. I think the ‘08 Rams have to be a playoff team, or a fan revolt will be in order.

Maybe after today’s New York Times article by reporter Ben Shpigel, he won’t be so overlooked as the Cards’ power bat not named Albert Pujols. Hopefully it won’t take an against-the-odds invite to the 2008 All-Star game in the Bronx for more fans to get to know him. A thank-you to Post-Dispatch copy editor Alan Fredman for leading us to the story.

“Ludwick, a righthanded hitter, has already established career highs in home runs (16) and runs batted in (56), and despite a 5-for-37 slide, he remains among the league’s more productive hitters,” Shpigel writes.

FARMHAND TUESDAYS

“Parisi makes pitch to go back to St. Louis” by Brian Brasher of the Memphis Commercial Appeal on commercialappeal.com.

“Slugger’s bat returns to life” on Springfield Cardinals’ third baseman Allen Craig by Kary Booher of the Springfield News-Leader on the Cardinals Corner blog  at news-leader.com.

“Cardinals farm director likes system’s progress” by Steve Batterson of the Quad-City Times at qctimes.com.

“Royals hope worst is behind them as they gear up for I-70 Series against Cardinals” by Bob Dutton on kansascity.com.

“Cardinals’ Duncan among the best at helping pitchers” by Bradford Doolittle on kansascity.com. Check out his DoolittleBrothers.com blog too.

FARMHAND TUESDAYS

“Cardinals quietly celebrate their first-half Florida State League title” By Chuck King, special to the Palm Beach Post on palmbeachpost.com.

“River Bandits ready to show skills at all-star game” by Steve Batterson of the Quad-City Times on qctimes.com.

“Halfway there — Cards beat Travs, stave off eliminaton” by Springfield News-Leader writer Kary Booher on his Cardinals Corner blog at news-leader.com. Also check out “Cards force first-half title game”, previewing tonight’s game.

“Reyes feels left out of Cards’ plans” by Marlon W. Morgan of the Memphis Commercial Appeal on commercialappeal.com.

Finally, the minor league All-Star games are gearing up. The Florida State League (Palm Beach Cardinals) played theirs Saturday night and the Midwest League (Quad Cities River Bandits) takes the field tonight. Here’s the full schedule of the rest of the games for the various league. Also here’s an MiLB.com preview page for four short-season leagues. Of note to the citizenry is the New York-Penn (Batavia Muckdogs) and Appalachian (Johnson City Cardinals) Leagues.

Those NBA Finals must be big news or something.

Figured I try Cincinnati.com and their Reds coverage, but it was just game-related coverage with a sprinkling of Pujols medical reporting.

Ken Griffey Jr. hitting 600 career home runs must be big news or something.

I’ll give Cincy and the rest of the sporting nation some time to realize the game’s best hitter is physically incapacitated. But while clicking around the site for the Cincinnati Enquirer, I was reminded about their web-sidekick, NKY.com. Still no Pujols news, but found this Left Turns special on the Racing Wallaces, formerly of Fenton, Mo., by Joe Reedy of the Enquirer staff. This weekend’s Nationwide Series race at the Kentucky Speedway will feature three Wallaces, over two generations, on the track and one — top Wallace, Rusty — broadcasting for ESPN2, according to Reedy’s narrative. Here’s some other online copy for the citizenry:

“Izzy looks sharp in rehab start” by Joe Cress of the Springfield News-Leader on news-leader.com.

“6 with ASU ties drafted in 1st round” by Jeff Metcalfe, of the Arizona Republic on azcentral.com includes coverage on the Cards’ first-round pick Brett Wallace.

“Five more Ole Miss players taken in draft” by Chris Kieffer, Oxford Eagle on oxfordeagle.com that has coverage on Lance Lynn, the Rebels P the Cards selected with their post-first round comp pick in last week’s MLB Draft. Here’s the Daily Mississippian (the school’s newspaper on theDMonline.com) story by Jacob Threadgill.

Finally, here’s copy from the Edwardsville Intelligencer (goedwardsville.com), the Alton Telegraph (thetelegraph.com) and the Belleville News-Democrat (belleville.com) on SIUE’s move to Division I sports, courtesy of the Ohio Valley Conference.

Not to mention a turn-back-the-clock NBA Finals between the Celtics and the Lakers is just getting going.

Early to rise to watch the women’s (Saturday, 8 a.m. NBC-KSDK Ch. 5) and men’s (Sunday, same time and channel) French Open finals. Weekend morning TV improves 10-fold with live tennis from Europe.

Later on Saturday, ABC (KDNL-Ch. 30) broadcasts the Belmont Stakes to see if Big Brown can deliver a Triple Crown champion for the first time since 1978. A 5:25 p.m. post time is set, but coverage leading up to it begins at 4:30 p.m.

Later today, the LPGA Championship cuts will set the weekend field. Find third- and fourth-round coverage starting at 3 p.m. on The Golf Channel both days.

To close out the weekend, Game 2 of the NBA Finals will tip off at 8 p.m. Sunday on ABC, live from Beantown.

Oh, and the home team is back in Houston for three against the Astros, with Friday (7:05 p.m-FSN Midwest), Saturday (6:05 p.m.-FSN Midwest) and Sunday (1:05 p.m.-KSDK-Ch. 5) at Minute Maid Park.

For the best of the rest, check the Post-Dispatch Weekend Sports On The Air listings. Until next week…

Not to mention way-better summer jobs than their friends will ever have.

Over two days and 50 rounds (plus two compensatory rounds) — not to mention the 1-minute time limit between picks after the first round — the names will be called often and the major-league dreams (should picks decide to sign) beginning.

So here are your basics, starting with the STLtoday.com blogging gold standard — Derrick Goold’s, Bird Land. He provided updates for Cardinal Nation throughout Thursday. The best of the rest (or at least some of them) for all of your drafting needs: MLB DraftTracker, BaseballAmerica, and, of course, ESPN.com.

We start with Wednesday’s Post-Dispatch Top 5 list of STL Sports Nation card-carrying members to see how their fortunes turned out.

Aaron Crow, P-Mizzou (First round, No. 9 overall, Washington Nationals): “Presently, Nats are looking to future” by Chico Harlan of the Washington Post on washingtonpost.com

Tim Melville, P-Holt H.S. (Fourth round, Kansas City Royals): “Meet your Royals draft picks” by Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star on his Royals blog on kansascity.com.

Jake Odorizzi, P-Highland H.S. (Compensatory pick after the first round, 32nd overall, Milwaukee Brewers): “A fast-rising Northern star” by Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on jsonline.com.

Aaron Shafer, P-Wichita State (Second round, Chicago Cubs): “Four Shockers drafted” by Paul Suellentrop of the Wichita Eagle on kansas.com.

Conner Mach, INF-Parkway West: As of 3:50 p.m on Friday, Mach was still waiting for a phone call.

* * * * * *

Finally, here’s a tour of favorite sites and/or news gatherers and their local perspectives prior to the draft:

“A. Heritage’s Hosmer expected to be a top MLB draft pick” by Patrick Dorsey, Miami Herald on miamiherald.com.

“Astros go in search of draft’s hidden treasures” column by Steve Campbell, Houston Chronicle on chron.com.

“Draft plan has many options” by Nick Piecoro, Arizona Republic on azcentral.com.

“Right-handed power hitter tops Padres’ draft wish list” by John Maffei, North County Times on nctimes.com.

“Twins keeping all draft options open” by La Velle E. Neal III, Minneapolis Star-Tribune on startribune.com.

“‘Unique’ draft could bring a few surprises” by Tom Haudricourt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on jsonline.com.

“Georgia emerging as premier baseball prospect producer” by Todd Holcomb, Atlanta Journal-Constitution on ajc.com

By the end of the weekend, we’ll know whether the Stanley Cup finals are a best-of-3 series or the white-gloved handlers are putting on an extra shine in anticipation of handing it off to a bunch of ice skaters who like to take round-trips on the ice with sports’ most recognizable trophy lofted high above their heads.

Game 4 from Pittsburgh returns to NBC (KSDK-Ch. 5) again with a puck dropping at 7 p.m. Monday’s Game 5 starts at 7 p.m. as well on NBC.

As for the other pro playoffs — arena style — the NBA Eastern Conference finals resume with the Celtics and Pistons tipping off at 7:30 p.m. tonight on ESPN. If Boston wins tonight, they’re in — The Finals. I’m not a fan of the NBA’ers anymore, but I’ll tune in to a Lakers-Celtics battle for hardwood supremacy (even if Boston would have bought their NBA Finals invite this season) should it materialize.

Cards welcome the Bucs back into town from Pittsburgh for a four-game extended weekend series at Busch Stadium. Friday (7:15 p.m.), Saturday (6:15 p.m.) and Monday (7:15 p.m.) games are on FSN Midwest. Sunday’s tilt sees a 1:15 p.m. first pitch on KSDK (Ch. 5).

Grand Slam, tape-delayed tennis from Paris can be found on the TV airwaves this weekend as well as the various motor sports events on the asphalt. Find the rest of this weekend’s sports TV musts from the Weekend Sports On The Air listings from Friday’s Post-Dispatch.

Until next week….

Wednesday night’s Cards-Padres game was more than just an 11-3 power showing by the home team. Albert Pujols’ crushing liner off the face of SD starter Chris Young, followed by his aggressive slide into catcher Josh Bard, left the Pads in pain. Here’s how Lee Enterprises counterpart the North County Times covered the game on nctimes.com as well as the San Diego Union-Tribune reports at signonsandiego.com.

“Rookies finding their path to payday is blocked,” by Alex Marvez, FOXsports.com senior NFL Writer. We took notice when the Falcons signed ‘08 No. 1 draft pick, BC quarterback Matt Ryan, earlier this week. We now know why: Because the NFL opted out of the league’s collective bargaining agreement. Marvez details how negotiations with Rams’ draft pick Chris Long — No. 2 overall from this year’s draft — and other top picks could play out this summer.

“Stars sign Hull, Jackson to contract extensions” by The Canadian Press on TSN.ca. St. Louis Blues legend Brett Hull has found a permanent front-office home with Dallas. The Stars’ gain is the Note’s loss. But will short-term success with co-GMs pave a new path of NHL management? I’m skeptical. Here also is the Dallas Morning News site for the Stars and NHL on dallasnews.com.

Finally, Oklahoma City is hosting this year’s Big XII baseball tournament. The Oklahoman at NewsOK.com has traditional story coverage as well as blog and video reports. Keep up with the Mizzou Tigers through this weekend’s games (registration is required, but painless).

Also, if the rain ever lets up in Indianapolis, the first weekend of qualifying for the Indy 500 will start filling out the field. On Saturday, check out runs at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on The Deuce (ESPN2) and in between at 2 p.m. on ABC (KDNL-Ch. 30). Sunday is one-stop shopping for qualifying coverage, starting at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on The Deuce.

Oh, and there’s the local nines in action at Miller Park in Milwaukee, complete with a bonus Monday game to finalize the four-game series against the Brew Crew. Locally, see Cards action at 7 p.m. Friday (FSN Midwest), 2:45 p.m. Saturday (FOX-KTVI Ch. 2), 1:05 p.m. Sunday (KSDK) and 7 p.m. Monday (FSN Midwest).

Check out the rest of the sports TV lineups from the Weekend Sports On The Air as seen in Friday’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Finally, go ahead now and TiVo your Sunday sports needs so as to spend the day with the mothers in your lives. Happy early Mother’s Day to all!