For local fans, 2001 was a pretty solid year in St. Louis sports. 

The Cardinals tied for the NL Central crown with 93 wins and made the playoffs where it took the eventual World Series winning Arizona Diamondbacks all 5 games of the NLDS to knock them out. 

The Rams returned to the dominant form of 1999 and made another appearance in the Super Bowl after going 14-2 in the regular season. 

In hockey, the Blues came within one round of their first Stanley Cup finals since…well quite frankly I have no clue when the last time they were in it because I was only born 28 years ago. 

So, none of the major teams won anything significant, but as far as fans go, we had a solid product to keep us interested all year round, which is about as much as you can realistically hope for these days. 

Just 4 years later, the idea of the three major teams in this area all competing for a title is about as far-fetched as Joe Sportsfan.com getting a Christmas card from Chris Berman.   

Now, I’m never one to shy away from a good solid crutch for a column, so the first week in the New Year seemed like a perfect time to take a look at the current state of St. Louis sports to see how they compare to where they were this time last year.   

St. Louis Blues
One might think that the simple fact that they are playing hockey in St. Louis means they are better off than they were January of last year.  Let’s not jump to conclusions. 

The plight of the 2006 Blues team brings to light an interesting question for a sports fan – would you rather see your team get systematically destroyed nearly every night or would you rather just not see them at all? 

The question may have more relevance than one might initially think.  If there are any passionate Blues fans left out there, it can’t be fun for them to pledge their allegiance to the organization that is widely considered the worst in their league.   Cracking open your wallet and paying your hard earned money for a chance to watch perpetual mediocrity on skates is roughly the equivalent of forking over $60 on a fantasy football season in which your team’s number one pick was Jamal Lewis, i.e. brutal. 

While the NHL was awaiting their return from last year’s strike, the Blues were put up for sale (brilliant business decision to gut a team, leave it for dead and then try to sell it), traded away their franchise player and captain, Chris Pronger, and brought to the ice a team that is destined to break the longest playoff streak in all of professional sports. 

The state of the Blues can be summed up like this – I have friends who had made a calculated decision to bet against the Blues every single game this year as a legitimate money making business. 

Whether or not their scheme is successful is irrelevant at this point, when you have a team that is bad enough to where the idea of betting on them to lose every game actually might be worthwhile, it is not a good place to be. 

St. Louis Rams
For the first time since they entered the 2000 season as the defending Super Bowl Champion, the St. Louis Rams will not have offensive Rain Man Mike Martz on the sidelines.  The simple fact that the current NFL season isn’t over and we’re already talking about the start of next season tells you all you need to know about the 2005 version of the Rams.

Now that the tumultuous relationship between Rams fans and Martz is finally over, there are some among the fan base who are wondering why the team just cut loose the offensive mastermind that, despite being somewhat wacky, was largely responsible for the successful seasons in ’99, ’01 and ’03.  It wasn’t as if the team had experienced much success before he arrived, right? 

Count me amongst those who are thrilled with the change.  The last few years of the Mike Martz era served as a prime example of the “JD Drew Effect” – a phenomenon where, even though you know that the player or coach that is leaving your team has a good chance of experiencing significant success elsewhere, you’re so damn frustrated with them that you just don’t care. 

When JD Drew was a Cardinal he was so difficult to root for.  From the minor injuries to the unfulfilled potential, every game he gave the impression that he just didn’t give a crap, which obviously rubbed Cardinals fans the wrong way.  In his first season after he was traded to the Braves, he could have batted .420, hit 64 HR’s, had a 72 game hit streak and discovered that he could throw a 95 mph fastball lefthanded and I wouldn’t have regretted the team getting rid of him one bit. 

For Martz, even if he goes on to put together a historically good offense in Oakland or wins a Super Bowl in Detroit, I don’t think I’d blame the Rams organization for firing him this week.  It was just time to part ways. 

As great as the trick plays and the reckless playcalling were when they were racking up points and victories, they were equally maddening for fans when the coach’s stubbornness and refusal to adapt cost them victories.  And with a dismal track record of drafting players, it didn’t seem like the Rams were headed in the right direction under Martz. 

This time last year, the Rams were getting ready for a playoff game, so the team on the field was better than this one by all measures, but depending on who they tab as Martz’s successor, the franchise as a whole is probably in a better place than they were 12 months ago.  

St. Louis Cardinals
On the surface, the Cardinals look like a team that is amidst major changes.  They have new faces in Junior Spivey, Juan Encarnacion, Sidney Ponson and Larry Bigbie, they are moving into a new stadium and being broadcast on a station other than KMOX for the first time in over 50 years. 

But are they really that much different? 

The core of the offense and pitching staff is still strong, the front office hasn’t been touched, Tony LaRussa is still patrolling the dugout with his hair over his ears and Albert Pujols is still looming in the middle of the lineup.

This time last year the Cardinals were fresh off their first World Series whipping since 1987 and were welcoming Mark Mulder into the rotation.  Times were good. 

100 regular season wins, an MVP Award, Cy Young Award and another NLCS appearance later, and things still are pretty good.  Those who look at the Cardinals lineup and think that it is significantly diminished have to consider that last year the team ran away with their division with a mediocre Jim Edmonds season, injury riddled seasons from Larry Walker, Reggie Sanders, and Yadier Molina and absolutely nothing from Scott Rolen.  Basically they won because of the solid years from David Eckstein and Mark Grudzielanek, a typical Albert Pujols season, Chris Carpenter’s dominance, contributions from the bench and a deep pitching staff. 

There is no reason that they can’t duplicate that effort with the projected 2006 team.  If Ponson flourishes or Anthony Reyes develops into the dominant starter many think he can be, they have a chance to be better than last year. 

2005 wasn’t exactly a banner year for St. Louis sports.  It certainly wasn’t anywhere near a season like 2001 in terms of overall fan enjoyment, but in comparison to where each of the major team’s were just one year ago, things may be looking up.  The Blues are at least playing again, the Rams are set to shake off the frustrating final years of the Martz regime and the Cardinals have the potential to make another run at their first World Series since 1982. 

All in all, it could be worse.  We could be Cubs fans trying to convince ourselves that Juan Pierre is the missing piece.