Good news, everyone! It's time for the part of the show where I link to and discuss items from SB Nation St. Louis and our own fanposts section, and then suggest that those of you with some free time and something marginally interesting to say about the Cardinals (sometimes I write front-page posts without either one of these things, but we have higher standards for fanpost writers) take it to the fanpost section, so that I can write about it next week.
SB Nation St. Louis
Alex Fritz's latest is a complete breakdown of the St. Louis Cardinals' transactions in 2011, including the ones we don't hear as much about, like that time John Mozeliak released a rap album, or set himself on fire. On the Sports of St. Louis I talked about the Cardinals breaking the news to Pete Kozma, after the fact, that he was briefly on their active roster; gushed over Maikel Cleto's average fastball velocity, which was all he really gave us to gush over; did the math on Albert Pujols's third base fantasy eligibility; and attempted to explain why I would root for the Mavericks in spite of being a 2004 Cardinals fan. And other things!
Fanposts
It's been a light week-and-change for fanposts, and personally, I blame you. You know who you are. gatorfan4life, acting in his capacity as marlinfan4life, came by on the 26th to thank us for the Roger Dean project, in which some of VEB's finest joined the Marlins fans at Fish Stripes for a game thread in which nothing terrible happened, for the first time in the history of SB Nation mingling. Red Blazer got drunk ("Drunk doesn't even begin to quantify last nights state of being.") and linked to a possible ode to Daniel Descalso; I nearly deleted it and suggested a move to fanshots, but at the last possible moment Descalso slapped me into the opposite field for a game-winning double. Finally, Dave Pendleton wondered whether the Cardinals/Cubs rivalry is waning.
Personally I think it's a matter of expectations, and not only winning percentages; if both fanbases think their team should be in contention, whether it is or isn't, the series is exciting, but the Cubs are in the middle of a truly awkward rebuilding phase, and it's probably hard to get the old fire going for a team led by Kosuke Fukudome and Alfonso Soriano, even though Soriano is in the process of one of the great hacker seasons in recent memory.