Sports
Westplex Sports Page For July 13, 2010:
By Bob Hudson
Jul 13, 2010 - 1:59:08 PM

Five members of the St. Louis Cardinals are ready for tonight, and the second half of the season.  First baseman Albert Pujols and catcher Yadier Molina will start for the National League, while outfielder Matt Holiday, and pitchers Adam Wainright and Chris Carpenter may see playing time as the game progresses.  Holiday said Monday that with as much that has happened to them so far this season, they are okay to be just one game back of the Reds in the NL Central.  First pitch for tonight's All-Star Game is set for just after 7:30 p.m. 

NASCAR's Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series is in St. Louis this weekend for racing at the Gateway International Speedway. The racing begins Friday with the CampingWorld.com 200 truck race. Saturday is the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 for the Nationwide Series. One driver that won't compete in Saturday's race is Danica Patrick. The Roscoe, Illinois native is racing open-wheel this weekend, but she will be at Gateway for the October 23rd race, driving her number-seven car.  Gates open for the truck race at 10:30 a.m. Friday, with race qualifying set for 5:30 p.m. The race beings at 8 p.m. Gates for Saturday's race open at 8:30 a.m., with qualifying beginning at 3:35 p.m. The race is set to begin around 7 p.m. 

The World Cup finale may have drawn big numbers nationwide, but no one seemed to care much in St. Louis. The title game between the Netherlands and Spain had the fourth-biggest rating for a World Cup title game in American television history, but it was 14-percent below the national average in St. Louis. The Neilsen Company reports 8.1-percent of American homes with a television watched the game, but it was just seven percent in St. Louis. It's not a shock the number was low, due to the Cardinals playing at the same time. However, St. Louis was 34th nationally in the ratings for the entire tournament. 

There will be a new NCAA athletic program in the area soon. The NCAA announced yesterday that Lindenwood University in St. Charles has been accepted as a Division Two school. The school plans to remain a member of the NAIA until the 2012-2013 season and then enter a provisional year as a NCAA school.  If all goes well, they will be a full member of the NCAA in 2013. The Lions plan to field 26 sports programs by the time they are an NCAA school. The school has a successful athletic program, as they have won ten NAIA championships since 1998.