"The Man" is 90 years young, but he's barely slowing down. Always ready to roll, Stan Musial is preparing for his trip to Washington. He's raring to go. What else would you expect from an icon that hit .330 at age 41? Musial's staying power remains intact.
In some respects it's the road trip of a lifetime for The Man.
A special day is nearly here. On Tuesday, Musial will be at the White House to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. It's the most prestigious award that can be presented to a civilian in the U.S.
Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. has arranged for a private jet to take Musial and family to Washington. They'll leave Monday, settle in for the night, then fly back to St. Louis after the ceremony.
Travel isn't easy for Musial. But he's excited to make this journey to the nation's capital.
"Stan is getting pumped up," said Dick Zitzmann, Musial's longtime friend and business partner in Stan the Man Inc. "He'll turn out that Musial magic."
Musial will be one of 15 recipients of the medal. The list includes another distinguished athlete, Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell. Others receiving the award are President George H.W. Bush, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Congressman John Lewis, John H. Adams, Maya Angelou, Warren Buffett, Jasper Johns, Gerda Weissmann Klein, Dr. Tom Little, Yo-Yo Ma, Sylvia Mendez, Jean Kennedy Smith and John J. Sweeney.
Each medal winner is limited to having six guests at the ceremony, which will be held in the East Room at the White House.
For Musial, it will be a family affair. His six guests are his beloved wife, Lil; their four children (Dick, Gerry, Janet and Jean); and grandson Brian Schwarze.
Reading Time, three Minutes
It's been entertaining to watch the national media begin the ritual hyperventilation over the Albert Pujols signing "deadline." It sounds awfully dramatic, and the escalating tension is certainly raising the collective blood pressure of Cardinal Nation. But in the grand scheme of things, this deadline is no reason to have an anxiety attack. We'll opine on this in Sunday's newspaper.
The Blues' OT shootout loss at home to Minnesota on Friday was one of the most disturbing defeats of the season. How in the heck does a team get stoned on five consecutive shootout attempts? The return of Andy McDonald has been a plus, and David Backes is doing his share to carry the load. But the up-and-down, pot-luck goaltending of Jaroslav Halak remains an ongoing mystery.
Proud father: Rams general counsel Bob Wallace is undoubtedly pleased by the college choice made by his son, Grant Wallace, the outstanding John Burroughs wide receiver and defensive back. Grant will be attending Yale, where he will play football. Bob Wallace was a running back at Yale. ... Cardinals broadcaster Dan McLaughlin continues to move up the ladder at ESPN; he's been busy this winter calling Big 12 basketball games for ESPNU. McLaughlin is drawing an increasing number of prominent assignments at ESPN.
What does baseball pundit Joe Sheehan (SI.com and joesheehan.com) think of the Cardinals' chances in 2011? "The question of whether the Cardinals are good enough comes back to a different single-word answer: Pujols," Sheehan wrote. "The Cards open the season with the best player in baseball, and if they just put an average team around him, they're good enough to contend. Pujols gets them to 87 or 88 wins all by himself. It's certainly possible for the Cardinals to fail to be a .500 team in the other 24 roster spots, but it's not easy. There's a reason the Cardinals have slipped under .500 just once since 2001. The issue of whether to sign him, for countless years and dollars, is complicated, but we do know that building a team without having him around would be a challenge they haven't had to face in a long time."
A crowd of nearly 12,000 — the largest of the season for a men's basketball game at Oklahoma — turned out Wednesday night to greet native son Sam Bradford. Bradford signed autographs, posed for photos and high-fived fans. The first 5,000 received a special Bradford poster. ... Speaking of Sam: Wouldn't it be nice if someone at Rams Park arranged to have Bradford finally meet his new offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels?
Rams running back Steven Jackson is vacationing in Australia. ... According to Politico.com, Arizona politicians are tossing Kurt Warner's name around as a possible U.S. Senate candidate in 2012 to succeed the retiring Jon Kyl. Warner, the retired Rams and Cardinals quarterback, tweeted this on Friday: "As of now, I have absolutely no plans for politics."
We were saddened to hear of the premature passing of St. Louisan Lee Winfield, a class act who made such valuable contributions as an assistant basketball coach at SLU and Mizzou. Our condolences. ... Congrats to Vern Moehrs, the Metro East baseball legend. This year Moehrs will celebrate 50 years as the manager of the Waterloo Millers (formerly "Buds") in the Mon-Clair League. He's won 23 Mon-Clair championships and has nearly 1,800 career victories. Amazing.
Hometowner Mark Buehrle, the Chicago White Sox pitching ace, stirred it up earlier this week when he acknowledged having bad feelings about Philadelphia Eagles QB Michael Vick. Buehrle, a dog lover, was sour over Vick's quick transition to football hero after serving 18 months in federal prison for his role in a dog-fighting ring.
"He had a great year and a great comeback, but there were times where we watched the game, and I know it's bad to say, but there were times where we hope he gets hurt,'' Buehrle told Scott Merkin of MLB.com. "Everything you've done to these dogs, something bad needs to happen to these guys." Buehrle and wife Jamie own three dogs. Late last year, they paid a $3,000 medical bill to save a dog found roaming the St. Louis area with an arrow protruding from her abdomen. Buehrle's comments must have made someone nervous; they were later scrubbed from the MLB.com site.
St. Louis natives Mike Barack and Stuart Fraser are doing well as the owners and operators of the Texas Brahmas of the Central Hockey League. The Brahmas' STL delegation grew by one recently when the team acquired center Sean Muncy, a Marquette HS grad and Chesterfield native. ... Kelly Chase and Darren Pang are off to an impressive start with their "Hockey Guys" radio show on KFNS (590 AM). Guests so far have included Wayne Gretzky, Brendan Shanahan, Mark Messier, Curtis Joseph, Mark Grace and Joe Buck. It's a weekly show. The day changes based on the Chase-Pang travel schedule. But it will air the next two Tuesdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
It was good of SLU to honor Lucas Roethlisberger during the recent home game against UMass. Roethlisberger ran cross country for the Billikens. The St. Louis police officer suffered injuries when shot during a routine traffic stop last year. But Roethlisberger is making steady progress in his recovery. He attended the game with his wife, Courtney and the son, Lance. ... Congrats to members of the Luechtefeld family (Dave, Stan, Jeff, Donna and Ryan), who will be among those inducted into the Billiken Hall of Fame on Feb. 18.
The Nice Section
Yes, I'm going to continue to nag you to sign up to play poker (for a reasonable entry fee of $50) at the Barwick/Newton National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund event on Saturday, Feb. 19 at the Crowne Plaza in Bridgeton (6 p.m.) If you don't want to play Texas Hold 'Em, please consider stopping by to make a donation, anyway. You can hang out, eat some food, sip on beverages, bid on auction items and talk sports. I'll be there. Proceeds assist surviving family members who travel to Washington to participate in the annual memorial ceremony for their fallen heroes as part of Police Week. Please help. For information call Det. Chris Welby at 314-954-1555.
