» About Last Night: Cardinal Knowledge

About Last Night: Cardinal Knowledge

Dennis Wierzbicki/US Presswire St. Louis Cardinals celebrate

October 20, 2011

In case you were out living a life of leisure, here’s what you missed in sports on Wednesday.

Allen Craig’s RBI single in the sixth inning proved to be the game-winning run as the Cardinals beat the Rangers 3-2 in Game 1 of the World Series. A series of bullpen moves by Cardinals manager Tony La Russa paid dividends in the late innings, which should silence those critics who still doubt the power of Flippy, his lucky coin.

According to sources, the Cubs may finally hire Red Sox GM Theo Epstein sometime during the World Series, possibly as early as Thursday. And let me be the first to congratulate the Cubs, who have just been mentioned in the same sentence as the World Series for the first time since cars were invented.

The second day of mediation in the NBA labor dispute ended without a resolution, but the good news is that players and owners will return for a third day. And this time, they’re not leaving until they decide once and for all whether to have doughnuts or bagels for the morning snack break.

A group of NBA stars are planning a six-city international exhibition tour as the lockout continues. They’ll play games in England, Australia, Puerto Rico, and Macau. The latter is a special administrative region of China, like Hong Kong, with limited sovereignty in governing affairs. The city was chosen by LeBron James, a special administrative unit of Dwyane Wade with limited sovereignty in personal decisions.

LSU has suspended defensive standout Tyrann Mathieu and running back Spencer Ware for Saturday’s game against Auburn after they violated the team’s drug policy. Head coach Les Miles refused to give any additional details, but did request that Auburn stop sending complimentary marijuana packets to his players.

After acquiring quarterback Carson Palmer, the Raiders say they plan to start him this Sunday against Kansas City. And before we get too judgmental, we need to remember that the Raiders have a different culture than us, with different rites and traditions, and that what seems bizarre or even scary from our point of view has been going on for years in their society. It’s important to show tolerance for other ways of living. Just don’t go near them after dark.

Rex Ryan set off a war of words with Chargers coach Norv Turner after saying that if he’d been offered the Chargers job in 2007, he “would have had a couple rings. Those teams were loaded.” Turner, not amused, fired back. “I was wondering if he had those rings with the ones he’s guaranteed the last couple of years.” Unfortunately, Turner made the odd choice to release his statement at 2 a.m. Eastern time, and the poor time management ensured that his zinger had no real impact.

After struggling all season and throwing four interceptions in a 20-13 loss to the Eagles, Rex Grossman has lost the Redskins starting quarterback job. At least someone in Washington is losing his job for incompetence. Am I right, America? (Applaud now.)

USC athletic director Pat Haden said that for players at USC and Notre Dame, the annual meeting between the teams is just like any other game. The only real difference is that the nation is divided between those who despise Notre Dame’s pompous arrogance and those who bridle at USC’s breezy arrogance. It’s a nice break, in a way.