Throughout recent memory, St. Louis sports fans have come to expect a high level of play from the Cardinals, Rams and Blues.  For the most part, those expectations have been well-founded.  The Cardinals have been one of the top teams in Major League Baseball for the past few seasons, combining a powerful offense with a solid pitching staff.  The Rams won a Super Bowl six years ago this week, and have been a playoff contender in most years since their victory in 2000.  The Blues have qualified for the playoffs in each of the last 25 seasons, though they have never won a championship.  Nonetheless, St. Louis sports fans have gotten used to a status quo.

Well, buckle up, my fellow St. Louisans.  Some big changes are happening.

After inheriting what could have been a potential dynasty just a few days after a Super Bowl championship, Mike Martz is out as the head coach of the St. Louis Rams.  He was fired and replaced by former Miami Dolphins’ offensive coordinator Scott Linehan about two weeks ago.

While several of the players from the famed “Greatest Show on Turf” remain, that mantra really doesn’t hold water anymore.  In the past few seasons, the Rams defense hasn’t defended much, and the offense can no longer score at will to counteract the porous defense.  As a result the Rams were one of the worst teams to make the playoffs in the 2004 season, going 8-8.  In 2005, the entire Rams franchise hit an iceberg, highlighted by Martz missing most of the season, due to a heart ailment. Interim head coach Joe Vitt was left to command a sinking ship.  While the general consensus seemed to be that Vitt did an admirable job, considering the circumstances, I’ve also heard it very eloquently put that Vitt running this team was like the cabin boy taking over the helm of the Titanic.

Now, with a new head coach in place at Rams Park, a new era has begun.  Linehan does have a strong offensive background, so he should continue to push the issue on that side of the ball.  I hope that the team’s dysfunctional nature, which probably hit a climax when Martz, during his absence tried to call in plays from his home during a game, will go away under Linehan. 

To put it simply, the 2005 edition of the Rams was a bad team.  Many changes need to be made to improve this team.  They could be fixed in one year, but more likely it will be a couple of seasons.  Rams fans will have to get used to the fact that this is far from the same team that was one of the most dominating offenses in NFL history.

The St. Louis Blues are also in the process of some major changes.  They are currently for sale, though reports have surfaced this week that a deal could be finalized in the very near future.  Also, the Blues are about to be absent from the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since the Carter administration; they are currently in last place in the NHL in points.  This summer, they traded away their captain, Chris Pronger, and in the past few days have traded their two leading scorers, Doug Weight and Mike Sillinger.  It can be expected that other notable players on the Blues will be dealt before the trade deadline.  The firesale is on.

The Blues look like they are in the early stages of a massive rebuilding period, and it will likely take a couple of years for positive results to come to fruition.  Hopefully it won’t take them 25 years to get back to the playoffs.

Owners of baseball’s best regular-season record in each of the last two seasons, the Cardinals should be expected to remain among the top teams in baseball.  They return the reigning National League Most Valuable Player Albert Pujols, as well as the reigning NL Cy Young Award-winner Chris Carpenter.  Fans might be surprised when they don’t see pitcher Matt Morris on the roster after being with the team since 1997, but the major changes with the Cardinals have very little to do with the team on the field.  The Cardinals will still call Busch Stadium home, but it won’t be the same stadium.  The ballpark that was completed in 1966 is no longer standing, and a new stadium is almost in its place.  Even though just about everybody who set foot in St. Louis during the past year knows about the closing of Busch Stadium and the opening of the new Busch Stadium, it will be a surprise when they approach the site of the old place and see that nothing remains. 

I experienced that the other day, as I drove by the stadium construction.  It had been my understanding that the demolition process would still be in progress now, but to my surprise, there was nothing left of the old Busch Stadium.  I know I will feel something when I make my first trip to the new Busch Stadium this spring or summer.

So be ready, St. Louisans.  Embrace these changes?_`and don’t say you weren’t warned.