Westplex Today Sports Page:   September 4, 2008

Afternoon Edition

Usually at this time of the year, either the Cardinals or Rams get top billing in our sportscasts.   However, the remains of Hurricane Gustav have taken over the top spot, because the heavy rain that accompanies Gustav is threatening one of the top men’s golf tournaments in the world, scheduled to be played in the St. Louis area.  

Play at the BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis County is being threatened by rain.  Players were expected to tee off at 10:45 this morning, but because of rain, play has been suspended for at least until 12:45.   And, if the torrential rain continues, today may be totally washed out.   In addition, parking has been closed off to the public due to saturated fields.  St. Louis native Jay Williamson will be one of the 69 players taking part in the tournament, which is expected to run through Sunday.  The winner of the tournament will take home 1.26-million-dollars.  In the absence of the injured Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh has picked up the baton of top golfer.   Vijay has won the last two PGA events in the past two weekends, he has 3 victories overall this season, and he has earned over $6.4 million.   The other favorites include Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, and Kenny Perry.

There seems to be a different winner each game, in the lottery of who will give up a lead in the Cardinals’ bullpen?   Last night, the unfortunate winner was Chris Perez, who allowed two runs in the 9^th inning to suffer his 3^rd blown save of the season.   As a result, the Cardinals’ bullpen posted its 29^th loss of the season—tops in the major leagues, and the Cardinals’ 3-0 lead was eventually overturned into a 4-3 loss to the Diamondbacks in Arizona.   The Cardinals wrapped up their six-game road trip with a 1-and-5 record following the loss yesterday afternoon. 

Kyle Lohse pitched six innings of shutout ball in a no-decision.  However, reliever Kyle McClellan started the slide from victory to defeat by allowing two runs through two-thirds of an inning.  He's got an ERA approaching six since the All-Star Break.  For the second consecutive game, third baseman Troy Glaus benefitted from batting in the 2^nd spot in the lineup, just ahead of Albert Pujols.   Glaus connected on his 23rd home run of the season, in a losing cause.  With the loss, the Cardinals are fortunate to remain 5 ˝ games behind the Brewers in the NL Wild Card race, as the Brewers were pounded by the Mets 9-2.    

Meanwhile, the Cubs are wasting opportunities to slam the door shut on the NL Central pennant.   The Cubs dropped their fifth straight game after getting shutout 4-0 by the Astros last night at Wrigley Field.  Ryan Dempster allowed three runs through seven innings of work and falls to 15-and-6.  The Cubs still maintain a 4 ˝ game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central, and the Cubbies will look to snap the slide when they take on the Reds in Cincinnati tomorrow night. 

The surging Astros won their 8^th straight game by blanking the Cubs.   And, the Astros are only 6 ˝ games off the wildcard pace, one game behind the Cardinals.  

In pro football: The Rams are continuing preparations for Sunday's contest against the Eagles in Philadelphia.   Two key elements to the success of the Rams’ offense should be able to play Sunday.   Orlando Pace, who's dealing with a strained shoulder, has taken all the reps in practice this week and is expected to play.  Also expected to play is Rams Pro-Bowl running back Steven Jackson.  Despite missing most of the preseason due to a contractual holdout, coach Linehan expects Jackson to get a full workload during the week one contest.  In other Rams’ injury news, rookie wide receiver Donnie Avery is dealing with a right knee sprain and didn't practice yesterday.  Running back Brian Leonard and cornerback Fakhir Brown, who are both dealing with shoulder injuries, each fully participated in practice.  Center Brett Romberg was limited due to a broken hand.  Kickoff in Philadelphia this Sunday is set for noon Central time.

The NFL season kicks off tonight at 6 p-m, as the Super Bowl champions officially begin their defense of the Lombardi Trophy.   The New York Giants will put the trophy aside to host the Washington Redskins.   The Giants were 2-2 in the pre-season, but one of those wins was against the Patriots last week, in a rematch of the Super Bowl last February.   The Redskins were 3-2, winning their first 3 exhibition games and losing the last 2.   The Giants must generate a pass rush without its top two threats, as Michael Strahan has retired and Osi Umenyiora will miss the season due to injury.   The Redskins have a new head coach, former Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback Jim Zorn.

Top-25 college football action is also on tonight's schedule, as 24th-ranked South Carolina plays its SEC opener at Vanderbilt.  South Carolina was completely dominant in a 34-0 romp over NC State to open the season, impressing enough voters to move the Gamecocks into the top-25 this week.  Vandy, meanwhile, opened the new season on the road with a 34-13 romp over Miami-Ohio.  The Gamecocks own a 14-3 series lead over the Commodores, but Vandy won last season's meeting by a 17-6 final.

The annual GAC Gridiron Classic will take place this Friday and Saturday at Harlen C. Hunter Stadium on the Lindenwood campus.   Friday, Troy will face Holt at 5 p.m., and KFAV will broadcast that game beginning at 4:45.   That game will be followed by St. Charles West and Fort Zumwalt North at 8 p.m.   Saturday, Washington and Warrenton will play at 4 p.m., and KWRE will have that game on the air at 3:45.   The final game of the GAC Gridiron Classic will feature state-ranked Fort Zumwalt West and Fort Zumwalt South at 7 p.m.

In tennis:   Two men's quarterfinals are on tap for today at the U.S. Open in New York and four-time defending champion Roger Federer will get it started this afternoon against upset-minded Gilles Muller of Luxembourg. Federer, seeded second this year after losing his No. 1 status to Rafael Nadal, is trying to salvage a Grand Slam season that saw him lose in the semifinals at the Australian Open and fall to Nadal in the finals at both the French Open and Wimbledon.  The Swiss superstar has not finished a year without a major title since 2002.

Tonight's second quarterfinal will pit third-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia against eighth-seeded American Andy Roddick.  Djokovic won the Australian Open crown back in January after a runner-up finish to Federer last year at Flushing Meadows, while Roddick is the last man not named Federer to win the Open crown, doing so for his lone Grand Slam title back in 2003. Today's winners will meet in Saturday's semifinals, joining Nadal and Andy Murray of Scotland, who advanced with quarterfinal wins on Wednesday.
                            

The women have Thursday off in preparation for Friday's semifinals. Serena Williams and Dinara Safina won quarterfinal matches on Wednesday to join Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva in the final four. Williams, who beat sister Venus in a pair of 7-6 tiebreaking sets on Wednesday, will meet Safina in one of the semifinals, while Jankovic and Olympic gold medalist Dementieva will square off in the other.