Bernie Show: Can Cardinals surprise in '25?

11/11/24 • 36 min

With Wilson Contreras staying, and with Sonny Gray highly likely to stay, the 2025 Cardinals might not be as bad as expected. I've been hearing that a lot from fans and my fellow media friends. And I think it's an interesting question that warrants a closer look. In this video I cite some of the reasons why the Cardinals could surprise us - within reason -- next season. And that scenario depends on the bounce-back potential of young hitters Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman ... plus other factors.

But I also believe we should make sure to have a reality check. Because there is one area of this team that must turn in an outstanding performance in 2025, or this talk of improvement will quickly fade. In this video I explain the why there are clouds over the positive forecast. And in the latter part of the video, I drop some easy to understand stats on you that will open some eyes. Thanks for watching!

Previous Episode

Bernie Show: Is Mizzou still alive?

On a wild Saturday night in CoMo, the Missouri Tigers overcame a dull start, a plodding offense and a halftime deficit during a crazy, cuckoo 2nd half to outlast visiting Oklahoma 30-23. The star of the show was Missouri backup quarterback Drew Pyne, who shook off an ineffective first half to repeatedly come through with big plays with the game on the line. On the drives that led to his trio of touchdown passes, Pyne completed 8 of 13 throws for 120 yards and the three scores. With everything at stake, Pyne was outstanding when Mizzou couldn't afford him to be anything less than brilliant. This should be a significant confidence boost for Pyne.

After the game, MU coach Eli Drinkwitz stirred up some in the national media by insisting that his Tigers were still in the hunt for a spot in the 12-team playoff tournament. Drink's claims were intentional ... he wanted to attract attention ... and sure enough he got people buzzing about him and his team, which is now 7-2 with a chance to go 10-2 for the regular season. In this video I take a look at where Mizzou stands in the national picture with three games to go on the regular-season schedule. But what shouldn't be overlooked is MU's 18-4 record since the start of last season. And that's worth talking about.

Next Episode

Bernie Show: The Cardinals' reverse devil magic.

For many years the St. Louis Cardinals would mystify front-office executives of other teams by consistently hitting the jackpot with later-round draft picks, low-key trades, and low-cost but high-value free agent signings. These successful sleight of hand moves frustrated opponents and confused media people. How do the Cardinals continue to do this? What do they see in a player that other teams can't see? Why do players go to St. Louis after playing elsewhere and suddenly get better? This became known as "Devil Magic," and the Cardinals had it in abundance.

But in recent years, the Cardinals have lost the touch. And now we have seen a "reverse" Devil Magic set in ... with other teams collecting players/pitchers that stalled or failed in St. Louis, only to thrive in a new environment. The Cardinals are on the wrong end of Devil Magic and only have themselves to blame for letting the high standards fall, the culture collapse, and the leadership weaken. In this video, I offer several theories to explain what went wrong. Thanks for watching.