It was a mid-February morning at the training headquarters of 狐狸视频 City SC, and the coffee wasn鈥檛 the only thing steaming.
狐狸视频鈥 MLS expansion team鈥檚 official debut in Austin, Texas, was rapidly approaching. The league鈥檚 official season preview had just published online. It stung.
Thirteen of the so-called Major League Soccer experts picked City SC to finish either dead last or second-to-last in its Western Conference debut.
鈥淥n paper,鈥 read the article on the league鈥檚 official website, 鈥渢his team will be at a clear talent deficit against almost everyone they line up against.鈥
Good thing soccer鈥檚 played on the pitch instead of on paper, right?
鈥淩ight now, we are unknown,鈥 City SC sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel told me that day. 鈥淪till a foreign object. Still strange. It鈥檚 our big advantage that nobody knows what to do with all of these names.鈥
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From an ownership group led by Carolyn Kindle that filled the hole the NFL left behind with something new and good, to an approach to roster construction (pieces that fit over big-name stars) and playing philosophy (opportunistic and aggressive) implemented by Pfannenstiel and head coach Bradley Carnell, to the players who transitioned from relative strangers to local sports stars, City SC rarely looked undertalented or overmatched during its debut.
In a year in which the last-place Cardinals left the spotlight up for grabs, City SC pounced.
Treating opportunity like a lazy pass by an opponent, City SC took it and ran with it.
For that reason, City SC鈥檚 rollicking rookie season takes the top spot in the 2023 edition of the Post-Dispatch鈥檚 biggest sports stories of the year ...
1. An unforgettable launch
Before becoming the eighth MLS expansion team to reach the playoffs in its first season, City SC became the league鈥檚 first team to clinch a conference title in Season One. It also became the first MLS expansion club outside of the shootout era to win 17 regular-season games (17-12-5). The sold-out crowds that gave CityPark an electric atmosphere for every home game saw 11 wins there, which tied the MLS record for an expansion team.
Goalie and captain Roman Burki was named the league鈥檚 goalie of the year. Burki and fellow captain, defender Tim Parker, were named league All-Stars in addition to representing City SC on the 2023 MLS Best XI, making 狐狸视频 the first expansion team in more than half a sdecade to put two player on that list. Carnell (coach of the year) and midfielder Eduard Lowen (newcomer of the year) were finalists for the league鈥檚 year-end awards.
The season featured 18-year-old Pattonville senior Miguel Perez scoring his first goal, goal scorer Klauss becoming a one-name St Louis sports figure and memorable wins from start (in Austin) to finish (clinching the West title) before the team started to fade.
A first-round playoff ejection by lower-seeded Sporting Kansas City, a team City SC handled twice at home, was the only lasting bruise on the season, and it stung.
The start of Season Two is less than two months away.
2. Mizzou restores football roar
Powered by a trio of 狐狸视频 stars who found very different paths to a shared spotlight, the Missouri football team put recent seasons of mediocrity in its rearview mirror and surged to the program鈥檚 best record since 2014.
The icing on the cake was a gritty Cotton Bowl win against Ohio State.
Quarterback Brady Cook (Chaminade) diligently chipped away at his star turn before quieting doubters once and for all. Running back Cody Schrader (Lutheran South) became one of the nation鈥檚 most beloved transfer portal success stories, climbing from Division II Truman State to the SEC鈥檚 leading rusher for the season and Mizzou鈥檚 all-time single-season leader. Star receiver Luther Burden (East 狐狸视频) surpassed sky-high expectations as a true sophomore.
Fourth-year Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz maximized what felt like was a make-or-break season as his 11-2 Tigers climbed as high as No. 9 in the College Football Playoff rankings before the Cotton Bowl even kicked off.
Fans responded accordingly, selling out the Tigers鈥 final five home games and snapping up Mizzou鈥檚 portion of the Cotton Bowl offerings in mere hours.
With Cook, Burden and more returning and the expansion of the College Football Playoff looming, black-and-gold hopes are soaring for 2024.
3. Blues eject Berube
Only one coach in the history of Blues hockey (at least so far) has led the hometown team to a Stanley Cup championship.
Four and a half years later, and just 22 months after inking a contract extension, Craig Berube was fired.
After a 13-14-1 start to the season following a sixth-place finish and trade-deadline selloff the season before 鈥 goodbye, captain Ryan O鈥橰eilly 鈥 longtime Blues general manager Dour Armstrong sacked 鈥淐hief鈥 in attempt to jolt a meandering team that wasn鈥檛 winning enough and wasn鈥檛 playing all that well even when it did win.
Interim coach Drew Bannister, promoted from the Blues鈥 AHL affiliate, is off to an encouraging new-coach bump. We鈥檒l see if it continues.
Berube departed with his 狐狸视频 sports legend status secured, as evidenced by Blues fans raining down boos on forward Jordan Kyrou after the young forward made the mistake of making a pithy no-comment after he and his teammates led to Chief鈥檚 ouster.
4. Cardinals get wings clipped
Rare is a year in which the Cardinals can鈥檛 be found at the top of this list, and a case can be made that a historically bad baseball season in 狐狸视频 should appear much higher than here. Good news got the advantage this year, though, and there just wasn鈥檛 much good news to be found at the ballpark in 2023.
The last-place, 91-loss Cardinals struggled through their worst season of chairman Bill DeWitt Jr.鈥檚 largely successful stewardship of the team as the brand鈥檚 gradual but undeniable drift away from deep postseason contention accelerated.
The Cardinals failed to properly address their pitching needs and it bit them. They failed to successfully onboard their big offseason addition, catcher Willson Contreras, and it bit them. They failed to avoid avoidable controversies 鈥 the Tyler O鈥橬eill flap over his lack of effort, the Contreras position change that wasn鈥檛, the Nolan Arenado trade speculation that never needed to have as much life as it did 鈥 and it bit them. But hey, there was that trip to London!
5. Waino hits 200
Stop me if you have heard this one before.
Just when the world thought Adam Wainwright was done, he dominated once more.
Perhaps the single lasting positive memory from the Cardinals鈥 last-place season was 42-year-old Wainwright completing his quest for 200 wins.
Let鈥檚 not sugarcoat it. The road there in his 18th season was neither smooth nor short. He was stuck on 198 for nearly three months.
But on September 18 in a 1-0 Cardinals win against the Brewers, Wainwright dazzled for seven scoreless innings. The longest outing of his sendoff season became the final start of his career.
鈥淚鈥檝e tried to do all I could,鈥 Wainwright said. 鈥淚 literally left everything I had out there.鈥
Wainwright became the 38th pitcher in National League history (and fifth active pitcher) to reach the 200-win milestone.
Only three Cardinals pitchers are in the 200-win club: Bob Gibson (251), Jesse 鈥淧op鈥 Haines (210) and Wainwright.
6. Gates starts fast at Mizzou
The Dennis Gates era of Missouri men鈥檚 basketball earned a lot of good will early thanks to an inaugural season that sped past modest expectations like D鈥橫oi Hodge on a fast break.
Coach Gates鈥 Tigers won nine games out of the gate, then won 12 of their first 13, and then went on to never lose more than two games in a row.
Then the No. 7 seeded Tigers beat No. 10 seed Utah State in the NCAA Tournament to secure the program鈥檚 first March Madness victory since 2010 before 15th-seeded Princeton spoiled a chance to go deeper. Now a new batch of transfers is having a hard time matching last season鈥檚 early success. But Gates, according to scouting service Rivals, just signed the nation鈥檚 second-best 2024 recruiting class.
7. Rolen into Cooperstown
Let there be no doubt about the team that cemented third baseman Scott Rolen鈥檚 Hall of Fame case. Its logo is right there on his plaque鈥檚 hat. Rolen鈥檚 six seasons in 狐狸视频 included four of his seven All-Star appearances, three of his eight Gold Glove awards, his highest MVP finish (fourth) and, of course, his 2006 World Series championship, in which a player most celebrated for outstanding defense hit .421.
8. Baseball media legends lost
Baseball commentary and coverage upstairs got a whole lot smarter (and more entertaining) after the 2023 deaths of former Cardinals turned broadcasters Tim McCarver (81) and Mike Shannon (83) plus Hall of Fame Post-Dispatch baseball writer Rick Hummel (77). All three were gifts to the game. They are dearly missed by so many.
9. Betting on vets
During a still-ongoing offseason that centered on adding, in president of baseball operations John Mozeliak鈥檚 words, 鈥減itching, pitching, pitching,鈥 the Cardinals moved swiftly to add three veteran free-agent starters who they hope will provide certainty and substance. Sonny Gray received, along with a three-year, $75 million deal, an invitation to be an unquestioned ace at the age of 34. Mizzou alum Kyle Gibson (36) and former Cardinal Lance Lynn (36) have joined him in an attempt to help the Cardinals relocate their lost pitching prowess. There鈥檚 still time to add more arms. Hint. Hint.
10. Yadi returns
In any other place, there is no chance the hiring of a special assistant to the president of baseball operations would merit much of a headline let alone an appearance on this list. But not every city is 狐狸视频, not every team is the Cardinals, and not every former player who is working his way back into the game after his retirement is beloved former catcher and future Hall of Famer Yadier Molina. His new role is foggy still. That won鈥檛 stop speculation about Molina perhaps one day manning the manager鈥檚 seat.
Honorable mentions
The Battlehawks excited fans at The Dome again but missed the XFL playoffs because of a convoluted tiebreakers system the league itself didn鈥檛 seem to understand ... SLU women鈥檚 soccer team reached the Sweet 16 ... Mizzou and Illinois brought college wrestling to Stifel Theatre ... Mizzou hoops star Kobe Brown got drafted in the first round ... The Blues named Brayden Schenn the team鈥檚 captain.