Sure, these are tough times for St. Louis fans.

The Rams collapsed last season, finishing 3-13. The Cardinals have gone from defending World Champions to projected also-ran. The Blues appear poised to miss the NHL playoffs still again.

St. Louisans aren’t used to such futility. The Rams won two NFC Championships and a Super Bowl in happier times. The Cards won two National League pennants and a World Series.

Not that long ago, the Blues won a President’s Trophy and reached the NHL’s Final Four. Now this sports region is in a down cycle.

But South Florida has it worse. The Dolphins just finished 1-15, the Heat have caved and both the Marlins and Panthers are in perpetual rebuilding mode.

The Sun-Sentinel asked former Washington Generals coach Red Klotz to assess the carnage. This guy lost more than 13,000 games while playing patsy for the Harlem Globetrotters.

“Losing is something I know a little about,” Klotz told the newspaper. “Your teams are losing more than I did.”

Red’s advice for moving forward: “My advice to you guys is to get rid of everybody that doesn’t play to win. You know who they are. Just watch the games.”

Simple advice, for sure, but sage.

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while wondering if Roger Clemens is starting to regret his all-out PR attack on Brian McNamee:

• Now that Barret Jackman has re-upped for the Blues, which of the other pricey defensemen will get voted off the island?
• Is Dan Boyle really a six-year, $40 million defenseman?
• And now that he is – according to the Lightning, anyway – are the rest of the league’s defensemen celebrating their newfound earning power?
• When Michael Beasley and Bill Walker head to the NBA, will we ever hear from Kansas State again?

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Norman Chad, syndicated columnist: “For a point-guard collection, the West now has (Jason) Kidd, Baron Davis, Steve Nash, Tony Parker, Chris Paul and Deron Williams. The East, at the moment, has Chauncey Billups. The Knicks don’t even have a point guard — Coach Isiah Thomas runs a Microsoft Excel program just before tip-off and picks out the 10 most likely plays in which his team might get fouled.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “I don’t mind athletes on Dancing With The Stars, but it gets boring when all of them are, you know, athletic. I would rather watch Refrigerator Perry or Keith Traylor mashing the toes of a howling partner.”

Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “I loved the Gerald Green dunk, where he blew out the candle on the cupcake before slamming the ball. But you know Charles Barkley was thinking, ‘While you’re up there, why not eat the cupcake?’”

Dan Daly, Washington Times: “What a zoo Indiana basketball has become. First Mike Davis got forced out — messily — in 2006. Then Kelvin Sampson replaced Davis and dialed M for murder (as they say around the NCAA enforcement division). It’s almost enough to make you wish for the tranquility of the Bob Knight era.”

Steve Rosenbloom, ChicagoSports.com: “Mats Sundin is 37 and playing for a bad Maple Leafs team, but he refused to waive his no-trade clause. So, winning doesn’t matter enough to this guy. Which is why he has never won a Stanley Cup. This guy’s a captain?”

Dwight Perry, Seattle Times: “Police in Evesham, Pa., investigating a minor car accident last week involving Eagles defensive tackle Mike Patterson, said they sniffed a certain odor and found marijuana in his car, so now he has been charged with drug possession. Since the baggie contained less than 50 grams, though, police could only credit Patterson with half a sack.”

Jerry Greene, Orlando Sentinel: “It’s definite. The Miami Marlins are going to get a stadium where the Orange Bowl once was. It’s a win-win. The Marlins get their own home and the Orange Bowl rats don’t have to find a new place.”

MEGAPHONE

“I just want to be that guy who is 95 years old, who’s out there playing tennis, getting 29-year-old girls pregnant or, um, getting my 85-year-old wife pregnant. You know?”

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.