Hope you had a good weekend...

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* For as much as it's worth in the final days of February, Mike Matheny is off to a good start as the Cardinals' manager. Let me say this up front: the real games matter. I've never been one to hyperventilate over spring training and workouts. I'm not much for pro football training camps, either. When they start keeping score for real, we'll know a lot more about Matheny. When he encounters his first losing streak or blitz of adversity, we'll learn even more about Matheny. When he has his first complicated player issue, it will tell something.

But in terms of doing and saying the right things, Matheny has set the right tone. He spent the offseason reaching out to veterans to establish or strengthen bonds. He's strengthened relationships with his coaches. He reached out to former Cardinals to welcome them back in the family, and the diplomacy is appreciated. It's great that Ozzie Smith feels home again. Based on reports, Matheny apparently is running an organized camp. It may not mean a lot in the larger scheme, but Matheny has seemingly avoided the early-stage awkwardness and clumsiness that can prompt questions about an inexperienced manager.

* St. Louis U is a No. 9 seed in Joe Lunardi's latest bracket projection at ESPN.com. SLU was a No. 8 before Saturday's hideous loss at Rhode Island. Lunardi also has Xavier, tied for third in the A-10, as an NCAA Tournament team, but barely. SLU's home game vs. Xavier takes on added importance. If SLU can win and lock up second place in the conference, then close out the regular season by winning at Duquesne, then start making plans for the NCAA Tournament. This does not seem to be a strong year for the NCAA "bubble." There are a lot of mediocre teams out there, fortunate to still be hanging in the picture. And that helps SLU. The competition for at-large bids doesn't appear to be as unforgiving as in most past years.

But only a fool would conclude that SLU is secure at this point. Jerry Palm of CollegeRPI.com has the Billikens at No. 35 in the RPI; the loss at Rhode Island was damaging. SLU has two bad losses on its resume; No. 114 Loyola Marymount and No. 251 Rhode Island. SLU does not have a win over a top 25 RPI team; the best victories to date were over St. Joe's (No. 51), Washington (No. 52) and Xavier (No. 54.) The rather thin resume could lead to big trouble if SLU stumbles again.

* I'll say it again: if Missouri enters the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed, it isn't a big deal. Lunardi currently has the Tigers at No. 2 in the West. Lunardi has moved Kansas into a No. 1 seed along with Kentucky, Syracuse and Michigan State. And Lunardi has KU in the Midwest (which would be St. Louis.) I don't know if shipping Kansas to downtown St. Louis would be much of a favor.

* Just another thought on Saturday's game at Allen Fieldhouse: Kansas fans didn't like that I pointed out a couple of atrocious calls that went KU's way late in the proceedings. I'm not sure what the fuss is about. As I wrote today, Missouri had no excuses and should have won the game. And Kansas played superbly down the stretch, especially on offense, and deserves credit for erasing a 19-point deficit. But it's also obvious that MU's foul problems were a factor in the loss. The MU offense simply didn't function well with PG Phil Pressey and PF Ricardo Ratliffe having to sit for crucial stretches in Saturday's classic. And some of the calls were dubious. But that doesn't pardon MU and coach Frank Haith for doing nothing to overcome the issue when the Tigers' offense began to stall in the second half.  Just can't stand seeing major blown calls late in games have a direct influence on the outcome. That is all.

* Bottom line after two games: Kansas lost at Missouri in a game that the Jayhawks should have won. And Kansas won at home in a game that MU should have won. The officiating went against KU in the first meeting, with the Jayhawks' shooting only 9 free throws compared to MU's 20. (And KU was called for twice as many fouls, 20-10.) And in the rematch, Missouri was wronged on the game's most critical calls, and ended up with 15 fewer FT attempts than KU ... and the Tigers still should have won the game. In each case the home team received the favorable officiating, and it helped launch spirited comebacks.

* Best of luck to St. Louisan Ben Bishop; hope he gets a chance to stay, and play, in Ottawa. Last summer, when the Blues signed free-agent goaltender Brian Elliott, the move was a bad break for Bishop. And at the time, many wondered (understandably) if the Blues were giving Bishop a fair shake to be their No. 2 goaltender behind Jaroslav Halak. But obviously, importing Elliott worked out much better than anyone realistically expected. He's been one of the league's top goaltenders this season. And given Halak's struggles of last season, was it smart to go into this season with an inexperienced backup? Probably not. Moreover, Bishop had never played at an elite level in the AHL; he was still searching for form and consistency in the minors.

This season, Bishop found it. He was having a fabulous season at Peoria, and hopefully the Senators will make room for him in the NHL. I hope Ben makes the best of it; what a classy guy. One more thing: those of you who think the Blues should have gotten more for Bishop are being delusional.

* Congrats to St. Louisan Tim Ream; the defender made his first English Premier League start on Saturday, playing the entire way for Bolton in a 3-0 loss to Chelsea. Ream's play received positive reviews from the British press. Ream was acquired on a $2.5 million transfer deal from the New York Red Bulls. He was NY's first-round draft pick (18th overall) pick in 2010.

Thanks for reading ...

-Bernie