MB73

40,000, what? Our St. Louis City limits population is estimated at 317,000 for 2014, I think an all time low. It was actually 319,000 just a few years ago. It was 850,000 in the '50's. If you think St. Louis City is robust, growing, and that prosperity is on the way, I hope you are right, but...

Growing? How many?

Nice try.

This means almost zero, nothing, though to you it might. Yes, I think SLU's alliance with SSM will help. And I understand the dynamics, including the east side piece, not just Chesterfield; all of this is not that simple. I do think that pounding $ 2.5 billion into bricks and mortar downtown will not pay off, and so do some other healthcare observers.

BJC/WU has absolutely made brilliant, successful strategic moves in their outreach to the county, the new Children's facility on 40 in west county is the most recent example. But what does that tell you? So, as a separate issue I (and other people on this planet) wonder about the wisdom of investing $ 2.5 billion on the Kingshighway corridor.

Tenet = good riddance. SLU Hospital will be much better off in this new alignment, but will not return to the prominent position it held many years ago. It's location has hindered and will continue to thwart it's ability to thrive in the new healthcare environment. A lot of the metroploitan county population is simply not willing to travel to mid city / inner city hospitals for so many reasons. FYI, IMO BJC, which is also slipping, is making a big mistake investing $ 2.5 billion on their (Kingshighway) Campus Renewal Project.

SShoe, on 29 May 2015 - 2:49 PM, said: Sad that a SLU graduate would think this study is credible.

nm

They discussed the DeSmet statue on The Kelly File tonight, including a brief portion re the forthcoming statue honoring the campus protests. It will repeat at 11:46 tonight. Course, most of the foo foos on this thread were probably watching weirdo lefty Rachel Maddow.

The thing is, Jay has a minus minus minus arm. Worst CF arm, by far, in MLB. Runners go wild when the ball is hit his way. No way to measure that exactly with some formula. I'd give Grichuk an A-, possibly a B+. Clemente, Dawson, Kaline, Mantle, Barfield, Mays, V. Guerrero, those types = A+'s.

Ricky Horton pointed out last night that Grichuk has speed when he beat out an infield hit. And I don't know where you have been but experts all over have cited Grichuk's plus arm and excellent range, glove skills and instincts in the outfield.

5 tools, Grichuk: Established: 1. PLUS ARM 2. PLUS RANGE AND GLOVE SKILLS in the outfield 3. PLUS SPEED on the bases TBD, a long way to go, but he shows the abilities necessary: 4. PLUS POWER with > .900 OPS (looks like he will qualify if he continues to make contact) 5. PLUS BA / on base %.... over .300 BA (not a sure thing of course) He is 23 years old. They need to play him over Jay and even Heyward sometimes and see what we have going into next year with Heyward a question mark and Holliday aging. He will pay off on defense alone.

I am a strong believer in sabermetrics, hopped aboard in the early '80's with Bill James ("runs created") who before the '82 season correctly cited the wisdom of Whitey Herzog's transformation of the Cardinals to adapt to the huge artificial turf stadium with speed speed speed, defense, and pitching. But sabermetrics are not everything to be taken into consideration, they are not infallible, including WAR. Grichuk hasn't played enough to establish a credible WAR. Grichuk has superior abilities across the board and no, WAR does not capture all of the aspects of defense... runners going from 1st to 3rd every time on Jay who wouldn't even try on 90% of the CF's in MLB. (How about 2012 & 2013 when Molina's defensive WAR was only 2 or 2.5... any good baseball man will tell you that is very low. How do you calculate the runners having to stay close to first base in fear of being picked off by Molina? How do you really understand how many runners do not try to steal on Molina because of his prowess? Etcetera. ) Grichuk is a superior athlete, 23 yo, only 170 at bats in MLB, he should be given much more playing time than Jay, 30. He has all the tools, though he is not proven. Jay has proven he has only one tool. Jay always hits .290+, but has little power, below average speed on the bases for a MLB CF, average to below average range and glove skills, (some years he gets to the ball better, he is having a good year so far), and Jay has a terrible arm. Grichuk is the future, though, sure, he has to earn it. Nice .924 OPS so far in 2015.

But some of us know that 1) Jay would not get to that ball and 2) if he did, he wouldn't even bother to throw.

Grichuk just made yet another spectacular play, a rare double play; with Jon (nice guy) Jay it's a double and a run scored and no one out. Does this show up on "WAR"? Outfield defense matters. A lot. Especially in CF. You cannot go far with the worst CF arm in MLB. Grichuk is a 23 year old potential 5 tool player with All Star abilities whereas Jay is a one tool 30 year old player with no upside: F arm, C- range & glove, D speed, D- power, B batting average. (the play will be on ESPN all day and night, McCarver called it one of the greatest plays he's ever seen)

I respect your input, and no, I am not familiar with the requirements for Presidential Scholarships. So tell me, other than studying so hard -- which is not apples to apples since the athletes do not have the time to study as hard -- how much time do they spend as ambassadors or anything other than studying to prepare for their future life, their future careers? (as compared to athletes, during the season: about 3-4pm to 6-7pm every day meetings & practice & weights, plus games, numerous 3-4 day road trips, this includes weekends... plus workouts all year).

Think. My point is the overwhelming hours spent as an athlete take a lot away the opportunity to study and enjoy student life. I am not saying a lot of students do not work hard, I am saying they can work hard because they have much, much more time to do so.

Sure for 4-5-6 years. Then they are 27-28 or so, need to make a living, 35+ more years of work, and have no prior experience in whatever field they attempt to pursue, whereas the other students have 4-5-6 years of related experience. (and sure, DocB, a lot of academic scholarship recipients work hard, of course, but the athletes do not have the time to work equally as hard and devote it to a field, a career, that is their realistic future; basketball is not a realistic future career)

Weak. Drejaj? I didn't say athletes can never go to bars, I am saying non athletes can drink all afternoon, into the evening, every day if they wish. I do agree, of course, that the partial scholarship athletes in other sports are not as well set. Obviously. That's different. And "after school pro opportunities" = a joke, only Hughes & Bonner have ever made a real career of basketball, the others earned small bucks for a few years and then needed a real job for the next 35+ years of their lives, so 0.01%.

Comparing an athletic scholarship to a Presidential scholarship? Absurd. Presidential scholarship.... you just get the money. Everything else is normal.Athletes on all of our sports teams work hard all twelve months of the year to be ready to compete. It is brutal. They pay the price. Meetings, running, weights, practice, games, including weekends... and those 72-96 hour road trips to road games including distant A-10 destinations... do the math, averaged out, 10x a year is 840 hours alone. Meanwhile, Presidential scholars sleep in, do much more studying for their real future careers, enjoy campus life, go to the bars all they want, etcetera. Weekends, no classes. Nice. People who keep saying athletes get such a "sweet" deal just do not "get it", and / or are just plain jealous. Our athletes are talented but also dedicate a lot of time and risk, with many sacrifices. (and the economy is NOT improving)

I doubt you are a business major. The players work all year, even in the off season, to play for our school. During the long season, there are countless meetings, plus practice, running, weight room, then games, all of those 72-96 hour road trips... do the financial analysis. Well, find someone who can. I'd say they make about $ 25 an hour, give or take, but they deserve it. And almost none make it to the pros to make any real money other than Larry the Legend so this work does not lead to a real future career. And they miss so much of college life, especially a good social life and the team commitment makes it much more difficult to get top grades (yes some do I know but it is much harder). Meanwhile, many non athletes sleep til 10, take 2 classes, then a nap, study for an hour or two, go out drinking, get back at 2am, go to sleep. Weekends off. Then b*tch about the team.

Nope. It isn't free. It has to be earned with a combination of ability plus numerous sacrifices, pressure, hard work, and extensive time dedicated to the success of the team.

If the A-10 is not a mid major, then, what? Tell me. Is the A-10 the same as the Big 12, Big 10, Big East, ACC, SEC, Pac 12?

Outfield defense matters: the World Series last year: KC Royals year had great outfield "D", SF had excellent outfield "D". John Jay has by far the worst arm for a starting major league center fielder that I can recall in a long time. Decades? This costs plenty of runs, but is not directly measurable. It is something a civilian fan does not understand. Runners go from first to third at will, then score on a ground ball or fly ball, this matters. Jay seems to be getting to the ball better this year, but overall his range is below average. Some stretches he seems to see the ball and get to it OK, then he regresses, I cannot figure out why. Overall his arm is an absolute "F", worst in the league, and his range/glove skills over the last 3-4 years is "C-" at best for a major league center fielder. SS, C, and CF are clearly the key positions defensively for baseball. All others are of secondary importance, far, far less skill is required. Hitting? Jay slaps the ball to left, draws some walks, but has NO power, and has below average speed running the bases for a center fielder. Grichuk immediately improves the team with 1) his plus arm, 2) his plus range in the outfield... offensively he 3) has much better running speed than Jay, 4) has superior power, but in his brief career has not yet demonstrated ability to hit for average... but it is more than possible. SO he has 4 tools better than Jay, and the 5th is to be determined. He should play. (hsmith19, another subject down the drain, we need to find something you are good at... like Pyle in Full Metal Jacket)

No. Losing Waino hurts badly, a huge loss, there goes 200+ innings with a low era, tremendous veterans leadership, the kind of man that can make the difference that can take us to the goddam World Series. It isn't about someone stepping up to be the ace, it is about the difference between him and whoever replaces him in the rotation. I like Gonzales but he is unproven, Garcia is totally unreliable health wise, though I guess it is possible he could go for 4-5 months in this case; his mechanics are flawed, he cannot sustain his success, maybe we will get lucky this year. Oh, and you cannot be successful with a CF batting 6th with (for a CF) "F" power, "F" arm, "C-" below average speed, "C-" below average range/glove. Get Grichuk in there, asap...5 tool potential.. hell even play Bourjos if necessary. Blues? Clean house? Blues were a tired club coming into the playoffs, Hitchcock is a good coach but does not rest his team (especially veterans) all year like Quenneville and other savvy coaches do. Hitchcock is sophisticated, knowledgeable, uses 100 fifty cent words that most of the team does not understand, he is a good man but it is time for a change. Blues are not built for the playoffs... 1) you cannot win the playoffs without an excellent goalie, Allen is not ready 2) a KEY to NHL hockey is depth with defensemen # 4-7 and the Blues do not have it, and 3) in the NHL you need your forwards # 7-12 to be punishing, hard hitting... and you need # 1 - 6 to have 3-4 real scorers, which the Blues also do not have. The Blues need to restructure, but not clean house. A new coach, probably.