Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around pointing skyward, while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.
Studs
Kurt Warner, QB Arizona (22-32, 261 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs) -- Last week, Warner had five interceptions, looks his age, didn't appear to be comfortable with a receiving core most would quarterbacks in the league would die for. This week, in a much-needed victory over the Chicago Bears, Warner flipped the switching, tossing five touchdowns to tie his career high and put his Cardinals back in the driver's seat of the NFC West.
Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around pointing skyward, while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.
Studs
Ted Ginn Jr., WR Miami (6 KRs, 299 yards, 2 TDs) -- Miami fans didn't want him, and how could you blame them for what Ginn Jr. had done so far this season? One touchdown and just 30 yards receiving per game for the former Ohio State star forced a benching by head coach Tony Sparano, only to have Ginn do something on Sunday that had never been done before.
We're a little late on the Spring Dugz tonight (consider it "Autumn Dugz") and the topic isn't technically the St. Louis Cardinals, but we can never resist these baseball noir, or any chance to give a guest appearance to our most successful and longest-running NPC the Lady Cop. Not since the woman ran out a grits have we needed her so badly.
Scott Spiezio. What else can be said? The guy is a grade-A douchebag and deserves every bad thing that comes to him. I hope he gets the help he needs in real life as much as anybody else, but moreso I hope he gets all the kicks to the ass he needs in real life. I wish there was some sort of futuristic cyborg LadyCop who could choke back.
After the jump: not a heck of a lot about training during Spring. But hey.
But seriously, I don't think Rick Ankiel is a bad guy. The argument of "HGH wasn't illegal when _____ was using it" is a flawed one, because "steroids" in so many words have been illegal for decades. If it looks like a steroid and walks like a steroid, you know? If somebody comes up to you and says "this pill/powder makes you bigger and better at sports" you should probably not take it unless you are okay with doing steroids.
That being said, that guy sure did mess up a great story, didn't he? TALES FROM THE INTERNET, after the jump.
Chris Carpenter, who was scheduled to start Tuesday despite elbow soreness after his last outing, is not going to start after all.
Carpenter woke up on Sunday with swelling and stiffness in that throwing elbow, and the Cardinals canceled his Tuesday go. Instead, he's meeting with a doctor today to determine the extent of the injury. The missed start is the second in a row for Carpenter, who missed the Cardinals' game Friday with similar problems.
"We're always going to be real careful with him, we just got excited [Saturday] because he threw the ball so well in the 'pen," La Russa said. "But he didn't back off, he really wanted to test it and he came in [Sunday] and said he's got some discomfort."
Carpenter also had some discomfort following his Opening Day start against the Mets, which caused the team to skip his next scheduled start. He was supposed to be back in the rotation on Tuesday.
"[There's] just enough [swelling] this time that he's not going to pitch Tuesday," La Russa said. "I don't want to say anything more until we compare notes, but I know he's not pitching Tuesday."
Of course the Cardinals are being extremely careful with Carpenter -- he's their No. 1 pitcher on a rotation that isn't at all deep. If they were to lose him for an extended period of time, well, the Cardinals could be looking at a disastrous follow-up to their miraculous 2006 World Series run.
Jim Edmonds is struggling with his recovery from offseason surgery on his right shoulder and left foot, and there's a chance the Cardinals CF won't make it back before Opening Day.
"It would be great to be able to play Opening Day, but I'm not going to lose my cool if something doesn't go perfectly as planned," Edmonds said Sunday. "If I make it I make it, and if I don't, I don't.
"Things have got to be pretty dead-on."
That, my friends, is a resounding "meh."
On the other hand, Edmonds' teammate David Eckstein is also injured, but is planning to come back much sooner. Naturally, this has nothing to do with Eckstein's injury being less severe than Edmonds' and everything to do with Eckstein's legendary Grit, a point I'm sure the Fire Joe Morgan guys would surely cede.
Anyway, it certainly doesn't look like Edmonds is in any hurry to get on the field for the Cards, which is excusable, considering St. Louis won the World Series last year. Then again, if Edmonds catches that Mark Buerhle post-World Series apathy disease, maybe Cards fans will have a right to complain.
Sometimes it's hard to keep track of just how long it's been since a player has accomplished anything meaningful. Rick Ankiel is one of those players. Did you know it's been almost seven years since he's been any good? That it was way back in 2005 that he switched to the outfield? That he's 27 now? How did all of these facts escape me at once? The fact that he's still around the game at all is still impressive. Not only is he still around, but he's managed to catch Tony LaRussa's eye this spring, says the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Ankiel drove one home run to left field and nearly hit two others on the same day that manager Tony La Russa drew a clear distinction between Ankiel and several other outfielders also ticketed for the minor leagues. The one-time pitching phenom, who is two years into reinventing himself as a hitter, will get "a lot of 1 o'clock experience" this spring, La Russa said.
That's Grapefruit League talk for starts in big-league games.
"That's the plan," La Russa said, referring to injuries to Jim Edmonds and Juan Encarnacion. "Now he's got to take advantage of it. He needs to play. He's got a lot of talent. But he needs to play."
He's not expected to make the team straight out of camp, but something tells me that when it's all said and done Rick Ankiel will have made some kind of offensive contribution to the Cardinals and be one of those players that goes down in folklore like only a baseball player with a weird career can.
"Let me repeat," Randy Hendricks said. "Houston, Boston, New York. Only three teams will be picked from if he plays. And he hasn't decided."
I think that's pretty clear. And since the linked article appears on Astros.com with a picture of Roger in an Astros jersey, is it fair to assume that Houston is still the front-runner? I really wish Clemens would hurry up and just make a choice. I know it's a little hypocritical to complain about his inability to pick about a team as I literally write an entire blog post dedicated to him, but sheesh, even Brett Favre's made up his mind for next year already.
Cardinals star Albert Pujols and wrestler Kurt Angle took turns slugging balls at spring training. Angle visited camp as part of Team Eckstein, named after World Series MVP David Eckstein, a lifelong wrestling fan. The St. Louis shortstop played the role of manager for a professional wrestling match in Orlando earlier this month.
So... Albert Pujols and Kurt Angle took batting practice pitched by David Eckstein's brother Rick, while Eckstein giddily looked on. And Cardinals fans think a rotation that will contain Kip Wells and possibly Braden Looper is their biggest worry this year.
There are a couple of enduring images of last October's World Series. There's the Cardinals winning, of course. There's tiny little David Eckstein and his lips wrapped around a bottle of Jose Cuervo, and there's Kenny Rogers' tar stained hand. But there's also Chris Duncan butchering his attempt to play right field most of the series and constantly keeping the Tigers in games that should not have been close at all. Because of his prowess with the bat (that's an understatement... the kid's a masher) the Cards have to do something, but this Pujols guy currently has first base locked up until approximately the end of days at first base. Instead, they're just working hard on teaching him how to play the outfield. Joe Strauss provides an unintentionally amusing checklist of things that Duncan needs to do to improve his glovework including:
Catch balls closer to the head rather than reach stiffly.
and
Alter running technique to more of a "glide" path.
I have funny pictures in my head right now but am not sure how appropriate they are. Plus it's probably funnier if you just try and guess what I'm thinking. The alternate plan is to have Chris' father and Cardinals' pitching coach Dave Duncan attempt to murder people that make fun of Chris' fielding by shooting them with laser beams from his eyeballs.
Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around pointing skyward, while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.
Each week in the 
We're a little late on the Spring Dugz tonight (consider it "Autumn Dugz") and the topic isn't 
Chris Carpenter, who was scheduled to start Tuesday despite elbow soreness after his last outing, 
Jim Edmonds is struggling with his recovery from offseason surgery on his right shoulder and left foot, and there's a chance the Cardinals CF won't make it back before Opening Day. 
Sometimes it's hard to keep track of just how long it's been since a player has accomplished anything meaningful. Rick Ankiel is one of those players. Did you know it's been almost seven years since he's been any good? That it was way back in 2005 that he switched to the outfield? That he's 27 now? How did all of these facts escape me at once? The fact that he's still around the game at all is still impressive. Not only is he still around, but he's managed to catch Tony LaRussa's eye this spring, says 
Apparently 
I don't know what to make of 
