I tweeted that I was at a point where I didn’t care about what Albert Pujols did with signing and I meant it.

The Pujols contract situation has been a distraction for too long for the Birds. I think he is a remarkable player and also one of the better people St. Louis has ever had on its team. However,  for him,  it is obvious it is about money, with him signing with the Los Angeles Angels. I don’t think Albert will play 10 years, so I don’t think it is worth it for Los Angeles to spend that kind of money.

St. Louis is a special baseball city and the Cardinals seem to always rebound no matter what happens, so the team will be OK. There are several talented players still on the team.

The days of professional athletes being loyal or owners being loyal back I think have ended. In a word today, it is all about money.

I doubt seriously if I visit Albert’s restaurant anymore. It’s apparent he didn’t want to stay in St. Louis. I am curious what everyone else thinks about Albert signing with another team.

On the bright side, my daughter, Sierra, now is a loyal, faithful Cardinals fan and will carry on my tradition. She bought a special book at her book fair recapping the season. She read it cover to cover last night.

The Cardinals and the loyal Redbird fans will survive without Albert, folks.

It’s amazing to me how much a Major League Baseball team can rally everyone around it during the post season.

The St. Louis Cardinals are doing exactly that – creating a bond that I don’t normally see between families and friends. Maybe that is why I am such a St. Louis Cardinal fan, because of my childhood and endless hours watching the Cards, including a Series trip when St. Louis hosted  against Boston in 1967.

Manager Tony LaRussa’s phone call to the bullpen in Game 5 will likely forever go down in Cardinal folklore.

I let my 11-year-old daughter stay up and watch the game against Texas with me the other night. She sported a red Cardinal hat with her blonde hair sticking out that said, “Pujols” on it and a red and white jersey from a previous visit to Busch Stadium. For her, it’s all about the outfit or game attire, just like her mother. I can see that already, she loves the Cardinals. That is what happened to me and now she will carry on that tradition.

Win or lose, it has been a great season for the St. Louis Cardinals. Hopefully, the Cards will stay alive tonight, if they get the game in despite the rain. Even my wife, Victoria, who is originally from South Carolina, has become a devout St. Louis Cardinal fan. She simply loves the Cardinals and watching the games. A girlfriend and her husband treated her to a World Series birthday game present last weekend (her first) and she has already preserved her game pass like it a ticket to the Oscars. Asking her to go to a World Series game was one of the kindest presents we have been given by any friend over the years.

I will sport some red in my attire this evening and be busy watching the game. In simple words, GO CARDS, and let’s get to Game Seven!

Liberty and Lincoln Middle School cross country teams are doing something I think is outstanding.

The kids have a running shoe collection for One World Running organization on Tuesday. One World Running will send the shoes to Africa, Haiti and Central America. The collection date is at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Liberty Middle School track. Those attending are asked to bring gently used running shoes and $5 to assist in shipping fees and also run a mile.

The idea for the shoe collection was that of Diana Kamadulski, and I commend her on coming up with the selfless concept. Her husband, Brian, is the cross country coach at Liberty Middle School, and I can speak from personal experience that he is one of the best coaches of grade school kids I have seen in quite some time. He is extremely organized and considerate of the athletes and he gets the absolute most out of these young people. He is a coach that goes way above and beyond the call of duty year round for his athletes.

What I like most about Brian is he is also thoughtful about other people and he is setting a solid example for both Liberty and Lincoln Middle children to follow for the future.

We have to think about more than just ourselves as we get older and these young people are going to be so much ahead of other contemporaries by taking part in this kind of project.

As much as running has meant in my life for nearly four decades, it pains me to think about young people in Africa, Haiti and Central America not having running shoes with which to run and train. We are so blessed in this country and we should think of those in other parts of world who do not have the same tools that we possess here. Who knows, because of the efforts of these children, there may be a future Olympic champion discovered that might have never been found without their gift.

This is a good example for other athletic teams to consider, no matter what the charitable cause. I encourage people to consider giving some running shoes and $5 to assist in this event on Tuesday.

I spent some time on Tuesday night watching an interview on CNN with Amy Winehouse’s father, Mitch. I have two daughters, so it was painful for me to watch some of his reactions and strife at losing his daughter, Amy, a well-known singer. Amy was found dead in her London home on July 23.

It seems now for me because of having children, when one father hurts I share the pain. I had commented earlier that I didn’t think Amy would be remembered in the category of Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain, but after watching video clips of her and her abilities, I may be wrong. There is no doubt, Amy had boundless potential for future if she could have eliminated the drug problem. It seems her death is most likely related to the months of addiction and damage it did to her body and organs, so without her abusing drugs, it’s likely she would still be alive and well in the music industry.

Mitch Winehouse has established the Amy Winehouse Foundation in the United States and purpose is to support organizations that help young people who are vulnerable, including those with addictions.

If you haven’t seen a video duet of Amy and Tony Bennett of a song called “Body And Soul,” I encourage you to do so. I think you will be captivated by Amy’s talent with the legendary crooner Bennett if you see the video.

The video of the two together also made me feel some sorrow. Watching the video you think of Amy as a sweet, beautiful young lady, not someone who had been afflicted by drug addictions. Thankfully, she was not found with drugs in her system, quite a surprise to many.

For those young people who are contemplating using or experimenting with drugs, I hope they will use the example of Winehouse to avoid that. In my younger era, we had Len Bias, the former University of Maryland basketball player’s death, to look at as an example. Bias died of a cocaine overdose, just before starting his career in the National Basketball Association.

I also hope citizens will support the new Amy Winehouse Foundation. I think the mission behind it is positive and hopefully money raised for the foundation will help those young people with troubles, including drug addiction. I also commend her father for his work with it and hope the foundation can be a place where he puts some of his grief into positive results for other younger people.

Age 27 is too young for someone to die, but I am hoping in the end, Amy Winehouse’s death might help some others struggling with addictions. Nothing bothers me more than to see people with such talent die long before they should. From now on, I will include her when we talk of the others, Morrison, Hendrix and Cobain, because I don’t think she was far behind them in terms of ability.

We have to continue to educate the younger generations of the pitfalls of abusing alcohol and drugs and hope that we steer many the right way for the future.

A week ago, I spent Saturday evening at Union Avenue Opera, watching the performance of “Dead Man Walking.”

My wife, Victoria Brannan, has played with the Union Avenue Opera strings section as a violist for many years.

The orchestra is directed by Scott Schoonover and I always think he does a magnificent job. It’s obvious that music is in Scott’s soul from his head to toes by the energy he displays as he directs. I am prejudiced because my wife plays in the orchestra, but the musicians’ work is first class. It’s amazing what a solid orchestra does to help keep the cast and the production moving.

The opera cast of “Dead Man Walking” was also first class. At times, I felt as if the production was real because the performers were so believable in their different roles.

I thought Jordan Shanahan, who portrays Joseph De Rocher, and Elise Quagliata, who plays Sister Helen Prejean, in “Dead Man Walking” were both terrific. Robert Reed was captivating as George Benton, the prison warden. There was just something about the aura of Reed’s personality that automatically draws attention in his direction.

Performances are set at 8 tonight and Saturday at Union Avenue Christian Church of “Dead Man Walking.” Sister Helen Prejean visited the UAO production when it opened and that made for a memorable event. I think it is great she takes the time to visit the productions first hand.
This is the 17th season for Union AVenue Opera and from my years of watching I have to say those who come to see the productions will not be disappointed.

If you get a chance turn out tonight or Saturday to the the UOA closing shows of the season. The UOA performers and organizers would be most appreciative.

The country band Sugarland performed on Thursday and I must admit I was quite moved when I saw Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush in video clips on stage.

I think the band showed courage getting back and performing. I am thankful that Sugarland did not take the stage the night the 60 to 70 mph winds gusted and destroyed the massive stage into the audience. Four were killed immediately and one later.

Nettles sang the song “Love,” from their 2008 album. Someone on the Sugarland tour held the group back and likely saved their lives. I doubt if they would have survived if they had been positioned on the stage that was severely mangled.

It’s amazing how one move or a second in time can be the difference between life and death. I think this proves that we should never take anything for granted and always live each day to the fullest.

I hope the Sugarland band members can continue making wonderful music; I love the voice of singer Jennifer Nettles, she is truly one of the best today in country.

The daily Wall Street watch is becoming an adventure. The stock market was again off on Thursday.

I am sure anyone with investments has had a difficult time watching the market woes. My uncle, Hal, always told me, you have to ride the market out and look at everything for the long haul, so I can still hear him telling me that. Hal died a few years back. He helped me with some of my retirement investments and I learned a lot in talking with him over the years about investments and strategy.

Uncle Hal’s favorite stock was Johnson & Johnson. He invested heavily in it. His other point was if you use a product and like it and have done that for years and years, it’s likely a good investment. He used many of the Johnson & Johnson products at home, so he always considered that a worthwhile place to invest.

If you follow Uncle Hal’s advice, the best thing to do in these roller coaster times is to stay calm and keep in your investments. This could be a good time to buy certain stocks, with stock levels falling.

Let’s hope the economy can start recovering and the market does stabilize. Sooner or later, for those who stick it out, it will be steady again.

I may be dreaming, but I would sure love to see someone take over the Borders book store in Edwardsville.

A closing sale is going on now at the store and each day it has been packed with people scooping up the buys. From what I have been told, the Borders in Edwardsville was very successful prior to the financial woes of the larger scale Borders company. It’s a shame that operation has to be shut down.

If done with a combination store/interactive approach, I can’t see how a store like what Borders had couldn’t make it. It appears Borders didn’t put much into the interactive side of the book business and today, it has to be a combination of both the hard copy and Web versions. I still contend that people want to read a printed copy of a book. I thought the coffee shop section of Borders was also excellent. The people who worked there were always so helpful and nice.

I took my children to Borders each week to read books and have a hot chocolate, tea or whatever. It was something I looked forward to each week.

For local authors, where are they now going to distribute books? There are very few private book stores going and each day it seems we are losing stores.

My hope is that someone will take over some of the Borders stores, at least the successful, and most of all, I hope the Edwardsville store will reopen under a different company’s umbrella. Again it may be wishful thinking, but we have to hope for better things…

I must admit it was good to see Def Leppard and Heart could still rock and roll on Wednesday night at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater.

I have been a fan of both groups for years, and I knew every song that was played. I don’t think there was one number I didn’t know some or most of the words of their songs.

I thought the amphitheater setting was a good place for the concert. It was so easy to get in and out, I could hardly believe it. We didn’t have to wait at all to leave when it was over.

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard still has his voice, and I think Ann Wilson is almost as powerful with her voice as she was back in the 1970s and 1980s. The musicians in both bands were fantastic. I loved the guitarists in Def Leppard.

My favorite part of the night was probably different than some. It was watching Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen, who  lost his left arm in a car crash in December 1984. He was so committed to being Def Leppard’s drummer that he realized he could use his legs, and he worked to design a custom electronic drum kit. The other band members supported his recovery and never sought a replacement. Now that is what I call brotherhood.

I remember how sad I was when we learned he had lost his arm, but he has rebounded and triumphed. I raised my arm up as high as I could a couple times when he had solos. I admire a person like Rick Allen so much for overcoming adversity. For me, watching him in person made my night.

It was good to see so many people who love rock music together, standing and watching two bands pump out so many of their favorite songs. There was a camaraderie there that I can’t really describe.

Overall, it was a fun night. The most enjoyable part was a night out with my beautiful wife, Victoria, and both of us enjoying such excellent music.

As high school football practices in Illinois get under way today, I was thinking back to many years ago when I took part in the workouts.

I must admit, two-a-day practices are simply brutal. In the Midwest, you never know just how hot the weather will be when practices start.

Back in my era, we weren’t allowed to consume much water, which I thought then was ridiculous. Much of that has since changed.

Would I play football if I had it to do all over again? I doubt it. I don’t think I was big enough at the time to absorb the hits, weighing only about 155 pounds when I was a senior. I was fast, but when I was hit, look out. I broke my nose and a finger in football and my collarbone. Thankfully, my knees remained OK.

The problem with football is any person who plays for a long period of time ultimately is injured. If I had sons, I don’t know if I would want them to play or not, but I doubt it.

I do still enjoy the sport, though, but not as much as I used to want to watch it. My dad played college football, so I really didn’t have a choice. I would have loved being on a cross country team, rather than playing football.

My question is for those who played football, because of the injury potential, would you play again? I wonder how many feel like I do about the game after years to reflect about being on the gridiron.