Rick Ver Mehren

Depending on where you live, you are either doing winter workouts or playing early season games.  For those of us living in the Midwest, the weather only allows for indoor workouts this time of the year.  With that in mind, I’d like to talk about getting more from the limited time you have during these winter workouts.

Not every team is the same.  Some have more structure than others.  So if you’re on a team that has every drill mapped out and has coaches that target specific players for specific drills to improve something about their game that is lagging, then you’re already ahead of the game... read more

by Dan Evans

As we announced earlier this month, former Los Angeles Dodgers GM, major-league executive, and player agent Dan Evans has joined Baseball Prospectus as a regular contributor. In his first article, he explains what the trade deadline is like from a general manager's perspective. Dan will be answering your questions in his chat this Wednesday at 1:00 PM ET, so submit your questions now. Tension? Absolutely. Anxiety? Sure. Pressure? Without a doubt. Enjoyment? No question.

Tuesday's MLB trade deadline is unlike any other time of the year, as it affects more people in the sport than any other event over the course of a season... read more

Startups gain recognition in a crowded space

Gabe Lozano - LockerDome

You only have to walk the halls at one of St. Louis’ science or technology incubators or listen to aging serial-entrepreneurs-turned-investors to know that there’s a buzz in the air. Entrepreneurs representing dozens of small and innovative startups are toiling away, perfecting their computer code, marketing materials and 30-second elevator pitches... read more

BY JEREMY RUTHERFORD

SAN JOSE, CALIF.• The Shark Tank has had its fill of the Blues.

A series that was even when the Blues and San Jose arrived at HP Pavilion earlier this week will return to St. Louis after back-to-back Blues' wins, including a 2-1 victory Thursday, their fourth win of the season at the building otherwise known as the Shark Tank.

The Blues opened a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference first-round quarterfinal and gave themselves an opportunity to clinch their first playoff series win since 2002, Saturday at Scottrade Center.

Letter from Mike Matheny.....

I always said that the only team that I would coach would be a team of orphans, and now here we are. The reason for me saying this is that I have found the biggest problem with youth sports has been the parents. I think that it is best to nip this in the bud right off the bat. I think the concept that I am asking all of you to grab is that this experience is ALL about the boys. If there is anything about it that includes you, we need to make a change of plans. My main goals are as follows:

(1) to teach these young men how to play the game of baseball the right way,

(2) to be a positive impact on them as young men, and

(3) do all of this with class... read more

by Jason Martin

Tenacious pitching and a dominating offense led the American National Eagles U14 baseball team to an impressive win in the United States Specialty Sports Association Spring Smackdown Game 7 Tournament on March 30. Led by coach Steve Burnett, 13 eighth grade boys from north St. Louis County outscored their opponents 43-9 over five games, never allowing more than four runs to be scored against them.

Burnett attributes much of their success to a high level of flexibility among his position players: nine of the 13 players are capable pitchers.

BY TOM TIMMERMANN

The precise number varied from player to player, but the consensus among the Blues on Thursday was they did a pretty good job for most of Wednesday night's game with Detroit.

Ryan Reaves pegged the length of the Blues' quality play at 54 minutes, Barret Jackman at 55, Matt D'Agostini, either slightly more critical or with a slightly more precise clock, said it was "close to 55," while goalie Brian Elliott, perhaps acknowledging the difficulty of measuring such a thing, took a more general "50-plus" and Alex Steen had it in the 50- to 55-minute range.

The American National Eagles 14U team opened up the 2012 season by winning the Game 7 tournament out in Chesterfield, MO.  The boys used dominating pitching, great hitting, and stellar defense to post a 5-0 record, outscoring their opponents by a combined 43-9.

The Eagles opened pool play by defeating the St. Louis Fury 5-2 in Game 1.  Dalton Niedringhaus threw 3 dominating no-hit innings (outside of a sac bunt, the other team did not put one ball in play in those 3 innings), Kyle Ver Mehren finished up with the save, and Anthony Green rocked one off the CF fence in top of the 1st... read more

TAMPA -- Rookie Jaden Schwartz scored on his first NHL shot as the St. Louis Blues became the first team to clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 on Saturday night. The Blues, who've made the playoffs just once in the previous six seasons, also became the first team in the League to reach the 100-point mark this season.

Read more...

Professional sports leagues in the United States have long relied on high schools to help cultivate the country’s best athletes. Rosters in Major League Baseball, the N.F.L. and the N.B.A. are filled with former scholastic stars, many of whom hold tightly to their quintessentially American memories of homecoming, letterman jackets and games played under the Friday night lights.

But for the organization charged with producing soccer players who can compete with the world’s best, that system has been deemed inadequate. The United States Soccer Federation announced a new policy recently that will uncouple high school soccer and the training of top youth players, a move that is unique among major team sports in this country and, some believe, is indicative of a trend in the way the United States develops elite athletes... read more

ublished on: February 24, 2012 | Written by: Clay Travis

I spent three months training for the NFL Combine alongside future NFL draft picks like Peyton Hillis of the Cleveland Browns, Jason Jones of the Tennessee Titans, and Brad Cottam of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2008 and I learned everything a non-athlete could possibly know about the forty. 

Here's my tutorial for y'all. 

... 

The forty is the single most important measurement in American sports today and there isn’t a close second. Current players know it, fans know it, and would-be draftees know it... read more

By Nicholas J. Cotsonika

The night of Nov. 6, David Backes tried to go out with his wife, Kelly. They had to come home early. Only 13 games into his first season as the captain of the St. Louis Blues, Backes faced a crisis. The team had started 6-7-0. Head coach Davis Payne had been fired.

Backes let the dogs out and got on the phone. He hoped he would have the chance to speak to his new coach, veteran Ken Hitchcock, a Stanley Cup winner, before they showed up to the rink on Monday. They had to get on the same page and fast. Their next game was Tuesday night, and it was against a Central Division rival, the Chicago Blackhawks... read more

It seems a berth in the All Star Game has become as much a nuisance as an honour for some NHL players.

Clearly that’s not the case for Brian Elliott, who plans to savour an invite few would have predicted when the season started.

The St. Louis stopper celebrated his nod in the mid-season classic by taking the rare — it may even be a first — step of having an special All Star Game mask created just for the game by Head Strong Grafx. The one-off “memento” mask still features the Casey Jones character from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on one side, while the other features the Blues logo and the famed Gateway Arch... read more

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings are good enough to beat teams at home even if they don't get help from their opponents.

St. Louis took two costly penalties, retaliating for hard hits, and the Red Wings took advantage.

Pavel Datsyuk tied the game early in the second period on the power play, and Niklas Kronwall sealed the victory late in the third as Detroit beat the Blues 3-1 on Monday night for its 17th straight home win -- the NHL's longest single-season streak in 36 years.

"We have such a calm team," said Jimmy Howard, who made 21 saves for his league-leading 30th win... read more