Cards mourn the loss of Hancock

Tragedy has struck the Cardinal team. Pitcher Josh Hancock was killed this morning in an auto accident westbound on Highway 64/40 within city limits. The St. Louis Cardinals and the Police department will make a brief statement in an interview set for 3pm today. Major Leauge officials have been notified and tonights game against the Cubs has been postponed. Hancock has been a member of the Cardinals since Feburary 2006 and helped the 'Birds win World Series. Please take a moment of time today for a moment of silence in rememberance of Josh Hancock. Please keep his family and friends along with the members of the Cardinals in your thoughts and prayers.
*Por Siempre: Let's Go Cardinals.

New Brothers!

Thursday night, the Sigma Alpha chapter, welcomed 9 new brothers! Although 4 of these brothers are returning to their home countries, it is still exciting. The ceremony was nice, and very formal. As an alumni I even had a speaking part; I filled in as the chapter advisor. After the ceremony, they nominated people for positions for next semester. Next Tuesday, the new officers will be elected. After that, we went to Applebee's only to discover that it closed at 11. It was close to 11 when we got there. So we went to Steak'n'Shake. That was just as good. It was fun hanging out with my brothers again. Its good to see that the chapter is faring well, after a rough semester. So Congrats to the newest brothers of Sigma Alpha!
Also, Congrats to the new brothers to Section 49 as a whole! Welcome brothers!

Cubs 5, Cards 3

The title explains it all. We lost to the Cubs last night. We were doing better until LaRussa (in a move I highly disagree with) decided to let Preston Wilson pinch hit, even tho Wilson has a BIG tendancy to strike out with runners on base. So what did Wilson do? Drive in the winning runs? No! He struck out! Then Adam Kennedy popped out. I think Wilson needs to be sent down to the AAA league in Memphis and have John Rodriguez brought up. He can hit with runners on base. He is a decent player and deserves a chance to be on the bench or as a regular starter. That's my personal opinion. Hopefully, he will brought up to the majors soon.
On another note: Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa was none to happy with the Post Dispatch's poke on the Cubbies. He stated that he would not answer any questions from them until the series was over. Click here to get the full story.
*Editor's note: I am a bit biased towards Preston Wilson. The comment he made in Spring Training has not sat well with me or my father (a die hard Cards fan). He said that Spring Training wasn't important. That a player really didn't have to work hard. Yeah, tell that to the major league hopefuls like J-Rod (for example) who fought hard to earn a ticket to the big show.

No Tinker. No Evers. No Chance.

I found this highly amusing little poem* (a new twist on the oringal one) about the Chicago Cubs today in the Sports section of the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

These are the cruelest of echoing words:
No Tinker. No Evers. No Chance.
Spend all they can, Cubs still chasing the 'Birds.
Since Tinker and Evers and Chance.

A goat and his curse; a scapegoat and his error,
Black cat greets Santo, raising defeatists fans' hair.
Ernie Banks-one of the greats who never got there.
No Tinker. No Evers. No Chance.

Sweet Lou brings his brash to friendly confines.
He once won as much as Frank Chance.
Cubs renewed hopes flourish wehn Soriano signs.
They tinker, forever, for a chance.

When other clubs reversed curses, Cubs knew they should,
But roster was flimsy, built on Prior and Wood.
Up comes the hymm: "Wait 'till next year. Then we'll be good."
No Tinker. No Evers. No Chance.

*In 1910, New York columnist Franklin Pierce Adams wrote a poem that immortalized the Cubs' double-play combo and, according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame's website, helped "them gain admission to (Cooperstown) as a trio 36 years later. Click here to read the article on the front page of the Sports page.

Zeta Beta

I have recently learned that all of the brothers of the Zeta Beta (Alpha Phi Omega) chapter are safe and accounted for. I very happy to hear this. Yesterday I was wondering if there was a chapter there and if the brothers were okay. I received two notices letting me know that there is indeed a chapter there and that the brothers are okay. I was also sent the following;
Hello Brothers,I'm sure you've all heard about the tragic events today at Virginia Tech, and I know that I'm wondering what if it had happened on my campus. The brothers of the Zeta Beta Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega at Virginia Tech have had this tragedy occur right where they live and study. They could use as much support and encouragement as possible right now in light of this tragedy, so it'd be great if as many chapters as possible could send cards and letters of encouragment to them. Their mailing address is below:
Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity
PO Box 1011
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Thanks.
In LFS, David Erickson Alpha Phi Chapter

I encourage all of my brothers to do this, this is a fantastic idea. I was just thinking of what other chapters could do, and this popped into my inbox via facebook. All of my thoughts and prayers are with the brothers of Zeta Beta, as well as the rest of the people affected by this horrible event.
LFS,
Jenny

Virgina Tech

This morning I was watching Ellen, when it was interupted by Breaking News; There had been a shooting at Virgina Tech. At this time, around 11 AM, they were reporting 20 deaths and at least 28 injured. Broadcasters were saying that the shooting began in a dorm and then moved to an engineering building; this is where the majority of the shooting took place. A half hour later the death count went up to 22; 20 killed in the engineering building, 1 in the dorm and the last the gunman himself. I am horrified by this, especially since the death count has risen to at least 31 deaths. All classes for today and t/m have been cancelled. According to KMOV.com, this is being recorded as the most deadly shooting rampage in U.S. History. According to authorities, the shooting began about 7:15 AM at West Ambler Johnson, a coed dormitory, and then continued two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building about half a mile away. No one is exactly sure on what caused this or what exactly happened. Details are still stetchy; different reporters are reporting different death tolls, with KMOV citing 31 deaths, and Y98 citing 32 deaths. Why do ppl do this?! I am absolutely horrified by this, I can not believe that someone would resort to violence at this scale for whatever reason. My thoughts and prayers are with the students and family at VA Tech. As the day progresses, more details will come to light. Hopefully, the reasons for why this horrific event took place will be revealed. I ask everyone to take a moment of silence for those victims affected by this.

Cards defeat the Brewers, 10-2

Friday nights game: Cancelled due to rain. Former Cardinal Jeff Suppan (now a pitcher for the Brewers) recieved his World Series ring.
Sat game: pushed back from afternoon start to evening start. Jeff Suppan was bumped up in the rotation, and got his first win w/ the Brewers. Brewers beat the Cards 3-2.
Today's Game: Cards got even with the Brewers, smacking them down with a score of 10 to 2, thus winning their first home game. First Baseman Albert Pujols slammed two Homeruns- his first off of starting pitcher Ben Sheets in the 3rd inning with 2 on and nobody out (the center fielder knew it was gone and just watched it sail into the bullkpen), and his second in the eigth off of reliever Elmer Dessens with no outs and nobody on. Pujols got 5 RBI's today. Outfielder Chris Duncan also slammed a homerun off of Sheets in the 5th innning w/ no outs and noone on base. Catcher Yadier Molina made a great defensive play by picking off Prince Fielder at first base. Molina also went 2 for 3, his batting average is at .273. Starting pitcher Braden Looper got the win today, his second for the season. Outfielder Preston Wilson made a spectacular catch in right field, Chris Duncan continues to amaze as he is making catches that he missed last season.
*In Honor of Jackie Robinson-baseball's first African American player, all of the players for both the Cardinals and the Brewers wore the number 42. Today was the 60th anniversary of Robinson's breaking the color barrier. It was a little confusing with everyone wearing the same number, but after a while it became easer to discern who was who.
*Up Next: Monday, April 16 7:10 PM.- Birds onthe Bat vs. Pirates. Pirates are sending Ian Snell (0-1) to the mound to square off against Cardinal starter Anthony Reyes (0-1).
*Cards take on the Pirates at home and then travel to San Francisco (stupid West Coast games) to challenge the Giants.
**Por Siempre: Let's Go Cardinals!!

Allergies!

Allergies majorly suck! For the past two days, my eyes have been swollen and painful. I thought when the weather got colder, the pollen and mold counts would go down. Wrong! I have been exhausting the tissue supply and putting cold washclothes over my eyes. So at the moment, contacts and any eye makeup of the sort is out of the question. Hopefully, my eyes will get better soon and I will get to wear my contacts again! Loki also suffers from Spring Allergies. In fact, she is on medicine for it. At one point, poor Lokilu was suffering so bad from allergies, she had to get a shot from the vet. Poor baby was so miserable, scratching and biting everywhere. Her eyes and snout were all red and puffy. She is much better now. The medicine is working wonders.

Baseball Season Is Officially Here!!

That's right folks, my fave time of the year is here; Baseball season! The Cardinals were presented their World Series ring on opening day in a grand ceremony. The rings are outrageous. 40 diamonds, 32 rubies, and the top of the ring is as a big as a bottle cap. Too much bling for me. The Cards opened the season against the New York Mets (who they beat in the NLCS to go on to the World Series). The Mets, unfortunately, beat us all three games. We went on to Houston to play the Astros, where the Cardinals won the series 2-1. Then they went to Pittsburgh to beat up (I mean play) the Pirates. The Cardinals won all three games. It was a very successful road trip (5-1). Currently the Cardinals record is 5-4 and they are a half game behind Cincinnati. The Chicago Cubs are in last place (suprise suprise). Here's some Cardinals highlights:
* First baseman Albert Pujols has gotten off to a slow start w/ .176 average. Very un-Pujols like, but its early in the season, we have a lot of games left to play.
*Third Baseman Scott Rolen sat out for two games due to back spasms. He is back in the line up for Friday, April 13th's game. Scott Spezio filled in for him and did a great job.
*Star pitcher Chris Carpenter is on the DL due to an elbow injury. According to the team doc, he is not expected to return to the lineup until May. Randy Kiesler has been called up from Memphis to take his place until his return.
*Adam Wainwright has made an impressive start-1-0. Braden Looper has also gotten off to a nice start 1-1.
*The Cardinals are playing musical chairs in left field; Chris Duncan starts one night, then So Taguchi, then Skip Schumaker, then Preston Wilson, and then Scott Spezio. Jim Edmonds is the only constant in Center field.
*New comer Adam Kennedy is also struggling at the plate; he is off to a 3 for 22 start for the season. Aaron Miles has been filling in for him. No worries thou, Kennedy will figure things out.
*Rookie Anthony Reyes gets the start tonight agains the Milwaukee Brewers, new comer Kip Wells will get the start on Saturday. Braden Looper will face off former Cardinal Jeff Suppan on Sunday. Jeff Suppan is being presented his World Series ring Friday night.
*Por Siempre, Let's Go Cards!!