so just surf on by if you aren't into sports, or baseball, or ranting.

This year there are four (count 'em) four Cardinals going to the All-Star game : Renteria, Rolens, and Pujols as starters and Edmonds as a reserve (plus Woody Williams may be pitching, I haven't figured out the pitching rosters yet.) At the same time, every sportscaster and sports journalist who thinks he's got a tiny bit of expertise in baseball is griping about how there aren't any big stars in the game or the home run derby (where Rolens, Edmonds, and Pujols will be competing) this year. Coincedence? I think not. Yes, it's ridiculous that Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens got left off the AL roster, that the league's hottest rookie, Florida Marlins pitcher Dontrelle Willis, wasn't even put on the ballot, and its a shame that Bonds is too selfish to give the fans the pleasure of watching him in the home run derby the way his predecessor, Mark McGwire, always did. (However, considering the turnout the NBA has had for the Dunk contest in recent years, it could have been far worse.) But the sports media, which is concentrated on either coast, has never given proper credit to teams in the middle of the country. Pujols has been nothing but phenomenal since his rookie season, and even now is getting about half the attention that Dontrelle Willis (who yes, is exciting, but wasn't even on the Marlins' roster in April) has been receiving ever since his first major league start.

The St. Louis Cardinals have the second largest radio and television network of any major league team. But since their fans are in Missouri, Indiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kanasas, etc. it takes someone like Mark McGwire, who was already a superstar when he was traded to the Cardinals, and then did something as crazily fabulous as be the first man to 62 home runs, before any of their players are get significant media attention. Thus, their All-Stars, three of whom at several different points in the season have been 1,2,3 in league batting average, are "nobodies" with no drawing power. All I can say is, this year the fans picked the starters and the players picked the reserves. If the media didn't get their darlings in the the game, maybe it's they who don't really know what they're doing.