The Sports Scent (Part 2)

Today is part two of my comparison between the sports scenes in Louisville and St. Louis. There may or may not be a third part. We'll see. My entire point was to show the different scenes, and comparing the two will probably not be a long enough post, so it will probably be a paragraph tomorrow and not much else.

Anyway, St. Louis is another great city for sports, especially professional sports. The highlight of the professional sports scene in St. Louis is the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals are why St. Louis is called "Baseball Heaven." The team can boast probably the most passionate and knowledgeable fans in baseball, and athletes from other cities often acknowledge this. And the Cardinals have rewarded their fans with a history of success. They are the second most successful team in the history of MLB in terms of World Championships, with 10 (trailing the Yankees 26). They are also the second most successful team in the National League, having appeared in 17 World Series (trailing the Dodgers' 18). They won the World Series in 2006, have appeared in the playoffs in 6 of the past 8 seasons, and are off to a torrid start in 2008 with a 13-9 record (soon to be 14-9). They are considered among the elite 4 or 5 franchises in baseball.

The St. Louis Blues have been a part of the National Hockey League since 1967. They appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals in their first 3 seasons (losing all 3), and at one point held a streak of making the NHL playoffs for I believe 25 years which was the longest current streak in professional sports at the time. However, they have never won the Stanley Cup, and in the past 3 seasons they have been a bottom-feeder in the NHL. But it is hard to deny the fact that they add something exciting to the sports scene in St. Louis, and Blues fans are nearly as passionate as Cardinals fans.

NFL Football in St. Louis has had an on and off history. The Cardinals played in St. Louis until 1987 until they moved to Phoenis, but in 1995 the city acquired the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams came to St. Louis among much fanfare, and the people of St. Louis responded as true fans. They sold out every home game for years, and just as attendance was getting ready to slip, the Rams made an improbable run to the Super Bowl and became a dominant force in the league for a few years.

I remember in the year 2000, when the Rams won the Super Bowl, St. Louis was voted the best sports city in America. This is why: that year the Rams were Super Bowl champs, the Cardinals won the National League Central with Mark McGwire at the forefront of their roster, and the Blues won the President's Trophy as the team with the best record in the NHL.

However, professional sports are not the only sports that play a big role in St. Louis. The city claims the University of Missouri and the University of Illinois as "local" college teams. Every year the annual Busch Braggin' Rights basketball game between Missouri and Illinois takes place in St. Louis. I believe the Missouri/Illinois football game also takes place in St. Louis.

High school sports fans are very passionate in St. Louis, with several football rivalries taking top spots in the news annually. CBC/SLUH is one major game that used to be as big as Trinity/St. X in Louisville, but in recent years this game has left a large stadium and taken place at the individual schools. Every year after the high school football season is officially over, on Thanksgiving, Kirkwood and Webster play a rivalry football game.

However, the top high school sport in St. Louis is soccer. St. Louis annually has at least one team ranked in the top 5 high school teams nationally, and usually 2-3 ranked in the top 25. It is an odd year when at least one team does not take the top spot in the national rankings at some point. CBC, SLUH, DeSmet and Chaminade are top local soccer schools, with Vianney, Oakville, and Mehlville also taking top honors in any given year. St. Louis is considered the top high school soccer city in the nation, and is a hotspot for college recruiters.

I'll end this blog with another few small points to think about when considering St. Louis sports. St. Louis was the host of the 1904 Olympics, and an "Olympic Festival" to commemorate the coming of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. The current WWE Champion, Randy Orton, hails from St. Louis, and the city is considered a top wrestling city in the nation, especially back in the 1960's. St. Louis was in the running to be the home of the 16th team in Major League Soccer, and will likely be considered at their next expansion. St. Louis hosted the 2005 NCAA Final Four, and will host the 2009 Women's Final Four.

This is a tough one...I will have to think about which city takes the prize.