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Notes From the Pine: Mike Leake Traded For Getting Rid of Mike Leake’s Contract

The Cardinals traded Mike Leake out of nowhere Wednesday morning. The deal was all but official by the time rumors started leaking on Twitter that something was in the works.

Leake was sent to the Mariners to be reunited with Marco Gonzalez who was traded to the Mariners back in July. In return the Cardinals received a light-hitting, minor league shortstop by the name of Rayder Ascanio. Continue reading “Notes From the Pine: Mike Leake Traded For Getting Rid of Mike Leake’s Contract”

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Notes From The Pine: Little League Goes to The Show

Welcome to the View From The Pine newsletter. Want this directly in your inbox? Sign up here. And you’ll be the first to get all the interesting news and notes from past week in sports curated and delivered directly to your inbox.


The St. Louis Cardinals are set to play the Pittsburgh Pirates in Williamsport, Pennsylvania this Sunday. Lance Lynn and Randal Grichuk are among the Cardinals to have already played in Williamsport back in their LLWS days.

It should be a battle as the Cardinals look to gain 1.5 games on the Cubs in the NL Central while the Pirates role falls somewhere between spoiler and contention themselves at 5.5 games back.

Let’s hop right into this weeks news and notes from around the sports world. Continue reading “Notes From The Pine: Little League Goes to The Show”

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Free Agent Fan Week 3

New York Giants

The Rams are gone and I’m taking suitors for a new team. So far, we’ve contemplated staying a Rams fan and crossing to the darkside with the Patriots.

This weekend, I laid motionless on my couch, phone propped on my gut, watching my fantasy team get beaten again (0-3 baby!) and thought about which team I should watch. I landed on the NY Giants since their game with the Redskins happened to be on Redzone the most and the remote was just out of reach. So let’s do this.

Continue reading “Free Agent Fan Week 3”

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Free Agent Fan: Week 2

New England Patriots

After the Rams left town, I went into fan free agency. Last week, I was able to cement my disinterest in the new/same old LA Rams. This week, I’m gonna cross over to the dark side and see if I have enough spite for the team that trashed STL to become a Patriots fan. Are you happy now Kroenke?!

I’m not gonna feel good about myself…

Continue reading “Free Agent Fan: Week 2”

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Free Agent Fan: Week 1

Los Angeles Rams

Since the Rams left town, I’ve decided to rethink my life and finally pick a new team. After over a decade of being subjected to the worst football imaginable, I’ve got a fresh start! I’m going to lock my Greatest Show on Turf memories in a little keepsake box and jettison all the other years into a black hole.

So each week, I’m going to pick a team, follow their game and analyze key points like their star players, ownership, bandwagon effect, etc. This will hopefully answer the question “Do I see myself as a drunk dude in their stadium?” Obviously, a very scientific process.

So, here we are at week 1. Who better to start off with than the Rams? They’re the team that got us here in the first place and I’ve subjected myself to their 7-9 bullshit for this long, what’s one more game? Also, this way I’ll do the analyzing for you. As Big Tom Callahan said, “I can get a hell of a good look at a T-Bone steak by sticking my head up a bull’s ass, but I’d rather take the butcher’s word for it.” So come along as we delve into a land of pure mediocrity! Continue reading “Free Agent Fan: Week 1”

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Guide to Picking a New NFL Team

With the NFL season fast approaching, it’s time for St. Louis fans to pick a new NFL team to follow for the 2016-17 season. The Rams are gone along with their mustachioed head coach Jeff “7 and 9” Fisher and their mustachioed turd of a person owner.

Really it was a team that was the shell of the Greatest Show on Turf for the last 10 years. They’ve moved to L.A. to chase dreams of making it big. Only to find out no one in L.A. cares about a football team that once went 15-65 over 5 years. They already aren’t getting the ratings Rams preseason games would get in St. Louis.

There is good news though. You get to start fresh. No longer are you forced to deal with sub-mediocrity. You get the chance to pick a team to root for over the upcoming 16+ games. That’s right. 16 plus. You could finally have a team that’s relevant for more than 16 games. A team that doesn’t shatter all hopes by winning in overtime in week 1 then following it up by losing to Washington in week 2 and literally lighting their own field on fire in week 31.

We know this is a tough decision, and that’s why we’ve put together this helpful guide so you can pick a new team from the 28 teams left out there once you remove the Rams and the Cleveland Browns from contention. Because no one is willingly rooting for the Browns. Not even Lebron. Continue reading “Guide to Picking a New NFL Team”

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Preview: Arizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams – Bruce Arians Die Hard Edition

The Rams are set to kick off the 2013 season Sunday vs the Arizona Cardinals in St. louis. Buzz is high in St. Louis for the NFL’s youngest team, which got alot younger after losing Steven Jackson to the Falcons in the offseason and replacing him with second year player Daryl Richardson.

Meanwhile the Cardinals hired Bruce Arians to take over as their coach. Bruce is best known from his run as the interim coach for the Indianapolis Colts last season, and for playing the bomb tech in 1995’s Die Hard: With a Vengeance.

Bruce Arians Die Hard With a Vengeance

If there’s one thing we know about Bruce it’s that he’ll try his best to defuse a bomb, even if it turns out to just be syrup because the German soldier with a bone to pick wouldn’t blow up a school, he’s just in it for the money.

Below we’ve created a game to help you differentiate between Bruce Arians and that guy who defused the bomb in Die Hard: With a VengeancePick which are Bruce and which are Die Hard.

[envira-gallery id=”1335″]

Trick question. They’re all Bruce.

On to the preview. Continue reading “Preview: Arizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams – Bruce Arians Die Hard Edition”

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4 Big Games For The Rams in 2013-14

The NFL released team schedules for the 2013-14 season last Thursday, and rewarded the Rams’ most competitive season in recent memory with their first Monday night game since 2006. Which they lost to the Bears 42-27. The Rams get the Seattle Seahawks at home in this one, so let’s hope they can carry over their tough play against NFC West opponents.

Here’s 4 big games to watch in 2013-14. Continue reading “4 Big Games For The Rams in 2013-14”