Gateway Despair: The Downward Spiral of St. Louis Sports Teams

Professional sports are a huge thing in Missouri. With several teams spanning the landscape, the Show Me State prides itself on the greatness of its teams.

But these days, St. Louisians want nothing more than something to cheer and get excited about. Here, for your reading pleasure, is the downfall of the teams of the Gateway City.

St. Louis Cardinals: Last October, the St. Louis Cardinals made history by capturing their first World Series Championship in over 20 years. But since that elusive victory over the heavily favored Detroit Tigers, the Cards have been in a slump. The resurrection of Rick Ankiel's career was marred by his admitance of HGH use many years ago. At press time, the Cardinals are well out of the playoff picture, and are dropping further and further into futility. Before long, the Cards will likely join the elite group of past champions who failed to repeat, let alone clinch a playoff berth. 

St. Louis Blues: The last time anyone saw the St. Louis Blues on cloud nine was when they finally got the proverbial San Jose monkey off their backs en route to a Western Conference Finals appearance against the Colorado Avalanche. But since then, the high notes of the Arch have been dismal. Joel Quenneville left to coach the Avs, Chris Pronger left to join the Oilers (only to become a Duck less than a season later), and the Blues have found themselves as the pun of the hockey world. With another season on the horizon, St. Louis is even in more trouble with the fear that the city could lose its beloved hockey team if the owners decide to move them. What more could go wrong for the city? Funny you should ask...

St. Louis Rams: The last time the Rams actually had something to cheer about was when they made their last Super Bowl appearance. Since then, the men behind the "Greatest Show On Turf" have departed. Lovie Smith left to coach the Chicago Bears. Kurt Warner is now a teacher with the Arizona Cardinals. As for Dick Vermiel, he retired...again, only to return to coach the Kansas City Chiefs...only to retire again. Mike Martz, the offensive guru behind the Rams' last Super Bowl appearance, was dropped after a dismal season and some health issues. He is now showing his offensive genius with the Detroit Lions, who are 2-1 this season. The Rams, on the other hand, have fallen farther and farther into the NFC basement. They joined the company of the Bills, Dolphins, Falcons, and Saints , as the only teams in the NFL who have yet to pick up a win this season. 2nd year coach Scott Linehan isn't on the hotseat...yet. But if the Rams can't get a victory soon, expect paper bags inside the Edward Jones Dome at the next home game. 

This situation is kind of like the movie Major League. Maybe one of the players will see this article and pull a Mike Hart style guarantee for the next game. Either way, these guys need some serious motivation...before tomatoes, eggs, and lettuce become more than just some ingredients in someone's omelette.

Good luck boys. You'll need it.