Westplex Today Sports Page:   September 5, 2008

In baseball:   The Cardinals hope the day off yesterday will recharge their batteries for a run at the National League wildcard spot.   They are 4-7 in their last 11 games, but they are still just 5 games behind the Brewers in the wildcard race.   The Brewers obliged the Cardinals by losing 5-2 to San Diego last night.  

The Cubs also had the day off yesterday, and their lead in the NL Central sits at 5 games over the Brewers.   The team to watch right now is Houston .   The Astros have won 8 games in a row, to close within 6 games of the wildcard lead.  

The Cardinals will host the Florida Marlins tonight to start a weekend series at Busch Stadium.   The first pitch will be thrown at 7:15 , and KWRE will start the broadcast at 6:32 with pre-game activities.   The Cards send Braden Looper to the mound against Florida tonight.  The veteran right-hander is 12-11 with a 4.27 ERA.  Looper was 2-3 in August.  Ricky Nolasco gets the start for the Marlins.  He has posted a 13-7 record with an ERA of 3.65 and has won his last two decisions.

In golf:   The BMW Championship tournament was postponed yesterday at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis County because of heavy rain from the remnants of Hurricane Gustav that just wouldn’t quit.   Therefore, the first round of the tournament will be played today, the second and third rounds will be played tomorrow, and the final round will be played Sunday as originally scheduled.   If you had tickets to watch yesterday’s first-round action, you can still use them for either Saturday or Sunday.   Only Friday tickets will be honored today.

Vijay Singh is the favorite to win the BMW Championship, after winning the last two PGA Tour events in the FedEx playoff system.   St. Louisan Jay Williamson will also participate in the tournament on his home golf course.

In football:   The NFL season was officially kicked off last night, with the New York Giants celebrating its Super Bowl victory in front of their home fans for the first time.  Their run to the Super Bowl championship in January and February was consummated and completed in road games, so Giants fans were able to savor the Lombardi Trophy with their heroes in blue.

After recently-retired Michael Strahan helped get the Giants’ fans pumped up, they were able to enjoy the Giants’ season-opening 16-7 victory over the Washington Redskins.   Wide receiver Plaxico Burress is set to have a big season, after signing a big contract and recovering from nagging injuries.   Plaxico had a whopping 10 catches for 133 yards last night.

The Rams open their season Sunday at high noon in Philadelphia , as they face the Eagles.   After suffering a 3-13 season in 2007, the Rams are 7-point underdogs for Sunday’s game.   The Eagles were 8-8 last season.

In top-25 college football:   #24 South Carolina was upset at home by Vanderbilt 24-17 in the SEC.   Number-6 Missouri hosts Southeast Missouri State tomorrow night at 6:00 in Columbia .   KFAV will have all the action of Mizzou football beginning with pre-game activities at 5:00 tomorrow afternoon.

Among the small colleges:   Washington University will host Greenville College to start its season tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 .   The Bears are following a 7-3 season in 2007, in which they achieved their 15^th consecutive winning season.   That places Wash-U in a tie for 13^th place with Texas , on the list of the longest current consecutive streaks of winning seasons.   Linfield College has had winning seasons for the last 52 years.

Lindenwood University will open its football season at Mid-America Nazarene in Olathe , Kansas .   The opening kickoff will be at 1:00 .   Lindenwood won its first 10 games of the 2007 season before injuries took their toll.   The Lions lost their last game of the regular season, then they had to go on the road for the first round of the NAIA playoffs.   Facing a team that had a long winning streak at home, Lindenwood lost to St. Francis University in Indiana 35-14.   Lindenwood enters this season ranked 9^th in the NAIA poll, while Mid-America Nazarene is 12^th.

While the Lindenwood Lions are on the road tomorrow, the GAC Gridiron Classic will be conducted today and tomorrow at Lindenwood’s Harlan C. Hunter Stadium.   The event consists of four high school football games involving teams from the Gateway Athletic Conference.   It starts with Wentzville Holt’s battle with Troy at 5:00 , and KFAV will broadcast that game beginning at 4:45 .   Following that game, St. Charles West will take on Zumwalt North at 8:00 tonight.   Tomorrow, the GAC Gridiron Classic resumes with Warrenton facing Washington at 4:00 .   KWRE will broadcast that game beginning at 3:45 .   The event concludes with state-ranked Zumwalt West battling Zumwalt South at 7:00 tomorrow night.

Here’s the remaining slate of Week 2 high school football games involving Westplex teams:

Winfield at Clopton-Elsberry                                 Hermann at St. James

Orchard Farm at Lutheran-St. Charles                   Duchesne at Zumwalt East

Potosi at Pacific                                                 Clayton at Borgia

South Callaway at Wright City                             Vianney at Howell Central

Howell North at CBC                                           St. Dominic at St. Mary’s

Lindbergh at Francis Howell                                 Poplar Bluff at Union

St. Charles at Wentzville Timberland                      Crystal City at Sullivan

St. Clair at Salem                                              Blair Oaks at Owensville

Bowling Green at Montgomery County                 

Van-Far at Missouri Military Academy (Sat.)

Four-time defending champ Roger Federer and 2007 runner-up Novak Djokovic moved into the semifinals of the U.S. Open Thursday.  The second-seeded Federer won a tough, three-set match from Gilles Muller 7-6, 6-4, 7-6 to advance to his 18th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal.  He will play the third-seeded Djokovic, who outlasted American Andy Roddick 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6.  Top-seeded Rafael Nadal will play sixth seed Andy Murray in Saturday's other semifinal.  The women's semifinals are Friday, with second seed Jelena Jankovic facing fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva and fourth seed Serena Williams playing sixth seed Dinara Safina.

In hockey:   The Blues signed their first-round draft pick yesterday, coming to terms with defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.  Pietrangelo was selected fourth overall in June.  The 18-year-old skated in the OHL's All-Star Classic last year and in the 2008 CHL Top Prospects game.  He finished seventh in scoring among all OHL defensemen with 13 goals and 40 assists for 53 points.  He will be on the ice when the Blues open training camp on Friday morning, September 19th, at the St. Louis Mills Ice Zone.

In minor league baseball:   The River City Rascals failed to make the Frontier League playoffs, but their cousins on the East Side are in post-season play.   The Gateway Grizzlies will face top-seeded Kalamazoo tonight to open the Frontier League's playoffs.  The Grizzlies are the fourth-seed in the postseason after finishing in third-place in the West Division with a record of 51-45. They will play the first two games at Kalamazoo .  The Southern Illinois Miners will take on Windy City in their first round action. 

The 13th Paralympic Games are scheduled to open tomorrow in Beijing , China .  Some four-thousand athletes from around the globe will compete in 20 events.  Radio Australia reports China will field over 300 competitors with 200 coming from the U.S.   They'll compete in the National Stadium, known as the "Bird's Nest."  The Paralympics will run through September 17th.