St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page D002

Sports D2 2 FRIDAY DECEMBER 19, 2008 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH STLTODAY.COM CALENDAR ROAD RAMS stlouisrams.com 314-425-8830 Sun. vs. 49ers Noon No local TV Sun. at Falcons Noon KTVI (Ch.

2) BLUES blues.nhl.com 314-622-2500 Sat. vs. Wild 7:35 p.m. KPLR (Ch. 11) Sun.

vs. Bruins 5:05 p.m. FSM Tue. at Red Wings 6:35 p.m. FSM Sat.

vs. Sharks 7:35 p.m. FSM Sun. vs. Ducks 5:05 p.m.

FSM MIZZOU mutigers.com 800-228-7297 BASKETBALL Mon. Alamo Bowl vs. at San Antonio 7:05 p.m., ESPN Sat. vs. Stetson 6:05 p.m.

FSM Tue. vs. Illinois 6:35 p.m. at Scottrade Center ESPN2 Sun. at Arkansas 2 p.m.

Mon. vs. SEMO 6:30 p.m. ILLINI ghtingillini.com 217-333-3170 BASKETBALL Sat. vs.

Detroit 7:05 p.m. Big Ten Network Tue. vs. Mizzou 6:35 p.m. at Scottrade Center ESPN2 Sun.

vs. Eastern Michigan 1:05 p.m. Big Ten Network Sat. vs. N.

Carolina at Myrtle Beach, N.C. 2 p.m. Mon. vs. Purdue 7 p.m.

ST. LOUIS U. slubillikens.com 314-977-4758 BASKETBALL Tonight vs. Liberty 7:05 p.m. Mon.

vs. DePaul in Las Vegas 7:05 p.m. Tues. vs. Creighton or Fresno St.

in Las Vegas p.m. Sat. at Wyoming 7 p.m. Mon. at Colorado 8 p.m.

OTHER EVENTS FAIRMOUNT PARK Simulcasting: Daily, 11 a.m.-11:30 p.m. TICKET INFORMATION Cardinals 314-345-9000 Rascals 636-240-2287 Grizzlies 618-337-3000 Gateway 866-357-7333 Aces 314-726-2237 Rage 636-896-4285 Illinois 217-333-3170 Rams 314-425-8830 SLU 314-977-4758 MVC 314-421-0339 Mizzou 800-228-7297 Fairmount 314-436-1516 Blues 314-622-2583 618-345-4300 REID LAYMANCE ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR SPORTS 314-340-8272 ROGER HENSLEY DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR PRO SPORTS 314-340-8301 DON REED NIGHT SPORTS EDITOR 314-340-8313 CAMERON HOLLWAY ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR COLLEGES PREPS 314-340-8149 MIKE SMITH ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR ONLINE 314-340-8137 TALK TO US To e-mail editors, use the rst initial AND last For general information call 314-340-8222 ON THE AIR THE POLL If the Rams and Lions had played this season, who wins? Vote now at STLtoday.com/rams PREVIOUS POLL Should the Cards wait or pass on Brian Fuentes? THE RESULTS: PASS: a perfect in the Cards bullpen, but they afford to wait on one player. 58 pct. WAIT: Even if he sign, the Cards have other closer options to explore. 42 pct.

TODAY COLLEGE FOOTBALL 7:05 p.m. NCAA Championship Subdivision title game: Montana vs. Richmond, ESPN2 HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL 7:40 p.m. Boys: Collinsville at Alton, WBGZ (1570 AM) 9:15 p.m. Boys: Alton Marquette at Wood River (taped), WBGZ (1570 AM) COLLEGE BASKETBALL 6 p.m.

Men: Wake Forest at Richmond ESPNU 10 p.m. Women: Duke at Southern California, FSM GOLF 7:30 a.m. European PGA Tour: South African Open (taped), Golf Channel 2 p.m. Exhibition: Chevron World Challenge, Golf Channel PRO BASKETBALL 7:05 p.m. NBA: Los Angeles Lakers at Miami, ESPN 9:35 p.m.

NBA: Cleveland at Denver, ESPN SATURDAY PRO FOOTBALL 7:15 p.m. NFL: Baltimore at Dallas, NFL Network (Not carried by Charter cable) HOCKEY 7:35 p.m. NHL: Blues vs. Minnesota, KPLR (11), KMOX (1120 AM) COLLEGE FOOTBALL 10 a.m. NCAA Division III championship: Mount Union vs.

Wisconsin-Whitewater, ESPN2 10:05 a.m. Eaglebank Bowl: Wake Forest vs. Navy, ESPN 1:35 p.m. New Mexico Bowl: Colorado State vs. Fresno State, ESPN 3:35 p.m.

St. Petersburg Bowl: Memphis vs. South Florida, ESPN2 7:05 p.m. Las Vegas Bowl: Brigham Young vs. Arizona, ESPN COLLEGE BASKETBALL 11:05 a.m.

Men: Iona at Ohio State, Big Ten Network 1:05 p.m. Men: Louisville at Minnesota, FSM 1:05 p.m. Men: Michigan State vs. Texas, KMOV (4) 1:05 p.m. Men: North Carolina at Valparaiso, ESPNU 1:30 p.m.

Men: Temple at Kansas, ESPN2 2:05 p.m. Men: Arizona at Nevada-Las Vegas, Versus 3:05 p.m. Men: Purdue vs. Davidson, KMOV (4) 3:05 p.m. Men: Iowa at Drake ESPNU 3:30 p.m.

Men: Arizona State vs. Brigham Young, FSM 5 p.m. Men: Syracuse at Memphis, ESPN 5 p.m. Men: Coppin State at Wisconsin, Big Ten Network 5:05 p.m. Men: Southern Illinois vs.

St, KSLG (1380 AM) 6:05 p.m. Men: Stetson at Missouri, FSM, KTRS (550 AM), KJFF (1400 AM) 6:30 p.m. Men: Rhode Island vs. Oklahoma State, ESPN Classic 7:05 p.m. Men: Detroit at Illinois, Big Ten Network, KFNS (590 AM, 100.7 FM), WBGZ (1570 AM) 8:05 p.m.

Men: Norfolk State at Missouri State, KSLG (1380 AM) 9 p.m. Men: Virginia Commonwealth vs. Oklahoma, ESPN2 7 p.m. NCAA Division I championship: Stanford vs. Penn State, ESPN2 GOLF 8:30 a.m.

European PGA Tour: South African Open (taped), Golf Channel 2 p.m. Exhibition: Chevron World Challenge, KSDK (5) SUNDAY PRO FOOTBALL Noon NFL: Rams vs. San Francisco, KLOU (103.3 FM), KTRS (550 AM) (Blacked out on local television) Noon NFL: Pittsburgh at Tennessee, KMOV (4) 3:05 p.m. NFL: Atlanta at Minnesota, KTVI (2) 7:20 p.m. NFL: Carolina at NY Giants, KSDK (5), KFNS (590 AM, 100.7 FM) HOCKEY 5:05 p.m.

NHL: Blues vs. Boston, FSM, KMOX (1120 AM) COLLEGE FOOTBALL 7:15 p.m. New Orleans Bowl: Southern Mississippi vs. Troy, ESPN COLLEGE BASKETBALL 11:05 a.m. Women: Michigan State at Penn State, Big Ten Network 1:05 p.m.

Men: Texas Christian at Texas ESPNU 1:05 p.m. Women: Michigan at Ohio State, Big Ten Network 2:05 p.m. Women: Kansas at UCLA, FSM 3:05 p.m. Men: Western Illinois at Southeast Missouri, KSLG (1380 AM) 6:05 p.m. Women: Stanford at Tennessee, ESPN2 8:05 p.m.

Men: Clemson at Miami FSM 8:05 p.m. Men: California-Irvine at Missouri State, KSLG (1380 AM) GOLF 8:30 a.m. European PGA Tour: South African Open (taped), Golf Channel 2 p.m. Exhibition: Chevron World Challenge, KSDK (5) Starting times are subject to change. HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER MAIL Sports Sound Off St.

Louis Post-Dispatch 900 North Tucker Boulevard St. Louis, MO 63101 FAX 314-340-3070 E-MAIL Must include name, address for cation. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. DIGEST BASEBALL Dave Smith, a former All-Star closer, died Wednesday (Dec. 18, 2008) in San Diego, apparently of a heart attack.

He was 53. Smith had 216 saves in a 13-year career. He played with Houston from 1980-90 before nishing his career with two seasons with the Chicago Cubs. His 563 outings with the Astros is tops on the list, and his 199 saves ranks second. Rafael Furcal accepted a deal to remain with the Los Angeles Dodgers, one of the representatives said while refuting Atlanta Braves claims that Furcal reneged on a deal with them.

Furcal accepted a three- year contract with the Dodgers worth at least $30 million. Free-agent elder Aaron Boone agreed to a $750,000, one-year contract with Houston. Boone played for Washington last season, hitting .241 with six homers and 28 RBIs. elder Trot Nixon agreed to a minor-league contract with Milwaukee. Nixon, 34, has a .274 career batting average with 137 home runs and 555 RBIs over 12 seasons with Boston, Cleveland and the New York Mets.

Red Sox owner John Henry said Boston was being outbid for free-agent first baseman Mark Teixeira. Red Sox cials were in Texas Thursday to talk with agent Scott Boras. MOTOR SPORTS NASCAR has settled a $225 million lawsuit led by a former cial who said she was subjected to racial discrimination and sexual harassment during her two-plus years working for the stock-car organization, The Associated Press reported. The suit was settled during a Dec. 3 mediation held in New York between Mauricia Grant and NASCAR.

Settlement terms were dential. SOCCER Wayne Rooney came off the bench and scored twice in a four-minute span to lead Manchester United over Gamba Osaka 5-3 in Yokohama, Japan, and into the nal of the Club World Cup. The European champion plays South American champ Liga de Quito in nal. VOLLEYBALL Alix Klineman had 20 kills, Cynthia Barboza added 19 and second-seeded Stanford advanced to the NCAA Division I title match with a 20-25, 18-25, 25-15, 25-22, 15-13 victory over No. 3 Texas in Omaha, Neb.

The Cardinal (313) will play for the title Saturday vs. top-seeded Penn State, a 2517, 25-18, 15-25, 22-25, 15-11 winner over No. 4 Nebraska. COLLEGE FOOTBALL Miami quarterback Robert Marve will not play in the Emerald Bowl because of a violation of team academic rules. Jacory Harris will be the starter.

Stan Parrish Ball offensive coordinator, signed a four-year contract to be the head coach. FROM NEWS SERVICES DAN CAESAR MEDIA VIEWS Ramsey, Knott head to new sports-talk station Bob paid vacation, technically known as a suspension, will end next month. Ramsey, who has been banished with pay by KFNS (590 AM, 100.7 FM) for nearly a month because management thought he was planning to jump to a new competitor, will return to the sports-talk airwaves when he does indeed make that move. join WMVN (101.1 FM), which begins broadcasting in the format Jan. 2, and work with Randy Karraker on the afternoon drive-time show.

Former Ram Farr might also be added to the program. Ramsey already has been on WMVN a few times, calling St. Louis University basketball games. The team moved its broadcasts there this season from KFNS, and his deal with KFNS allows him to broadcast SLU on a competitor. But because he is under contract at KFNS for talk radio until Dec.

31, he did not want to comment cally about announcement that he has agreed to join it in a sports-talk role. has been strange not being on the said Ramsey, who has been working in sports-talk radio since its debut locally in 1992. be anxious to get back on the air whenever be working at WMVN for program director Jason Barrett, who formerly held that position at KFNS. be reconnected with a guy who is as talented as him is Barrett said. knows the market well and has had a long stay of success in the format.

The bottom line is the audience likes him. You want to put people on the radio who people like. We did a lot of market research to nd out who the market wanted and he tested in the top ve to 10 per- sonalties in town. If what they want, you go get LANDING WMVN also has hired KSDK (Channel 5) sports director Rene Knott, who joins the long list of local TV sportscasters who have a radio program. But his role will be limited as he will appear 10 a.m to noon Saturdays beginning Jan.

10. He will work with Larry Thornton, a producer at KSDK who oversees the program, and Anthony Atencio, a former KSDK intern who is a senior at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. have asked me to do (radio) before, but with my work schedule so he said. spend enough time away from my family as it is.

But now my in college and a little less running around at the house, so this is an opportunity to do something small on Saturdays and ease into KMOV MOVES KMOV has shaken up its sports production staff, ring Troy Roberts and moving Tim Klutsarits to the news department effective next month. Both had been in sports for many years. Channel 4 news director Sean McLaughlin said Brad Brown, a news producer and promotions writer, will move to sports when Klutsarits transfers. McLaughlin said a combination of factors led to the moves. nancial implications of happening with the local economy are having an effect on our business and caused us to streamline some he said.

brutal; never seen it like this before. situation with Tim was that he had been talking for a while about trying to expand into other areas. We have some things doing with our morning news that we thought lined up well with some of the skills developed over the years working in He said the net loss of one person when the moves are completed necessarily lead to a cutback in manpower in the sports department. just not the hardened walls up anymore where these people are (solely) in sports or these people are (solely) in he said. a bit more of the being spread thing.

So I necessarily think fair to say there are fewer people in Channel 4 sports director Steve Savard is sad to lose Roberts and Klutsarits. and I worked together for 15 Savard said. was very loyal to me and committed to every sportscast he produced. be missed in the sports department. He already Savard added, hate losing Tim.

been my right hand for the past 11 years. He made my life a lot easier. It will be a tough transition, but my loss is the morning (news) gain. lucky to be getting MLB ON CHARTER Charter Communications, the largest cable TV system in the area, has added MLB Network to its digital package, on Channel 412 or 413 depending on location. On satellite, DirecTV will carry the network (channel varies by location), but no deal has been reached with Dish Network.

MLB Network plans to launch its regular schedule Jan. 1 and have 24-hour coverage of the sport, including live game telecasts. now showing taped fare, including the 2004 Cardinals-Red Sox World Series video. Greg Amsinger, a 1997 St. Charles High graduate, will be one of the studio hosts.

Matt Vasgersian is the lead host. ICE TIME The U.S. Short Track Championships are being conducted this weekend at the Iceplex in eld, and live coverage of some of the competition will be available on the Internet. Go to www.usspeedskating.org and select the events tab, which will lead to a E-mail: Phone: 314-340-8175 On STLtoday.com/sports REALITIES THE BLUES MAY FACE THIS OFFSEASON Jeremy Rutherford says if the Blues fall out of the playofff race there will be many questions: Does Tkachuk want to stay or does he want to be traded? Can the team re-sign McDonald? Do they want to re-sign Legace? STLtoday.com/blues JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS Cardinals: Reason why Cardinals signing good free agents. Blues: Jay McKee and trade rumors.

Rams: A question for Rams fans in St Louis. Press Box: What would your ideal sports radio lineup be? STLtoday.com/sportsforums LAST CHANCE GIFTS Still looking for that perfect something for the golfer in your family? Let the Bogeyman help you out. STLtoday.com/bogeyman Will the Blues trade Keith Tkachuk? everything else is equal, we know is not quite accurate. But not everybody can do the Giants and the Cowboys and the Patriots every He said that when he sees the Rams on the assignment sheet, he is more concerned whether they are at home or on the road than being stuck with a lousy team. The Edward Jones Dome his favorite venue from which to work.

pretty dreary, he said. a little more trouble than having them on the road, because the building stinks and just no energy in there. one of those things you look at and go, man, are we the Vasgersian is no stranger to strong comments about the St. Louis market. He had been the San Diego television play- by-play announcer before giving up that assignment to take the MLB job, and while broadcasting a game from Busch Stadium in August 2007 said Cardinals fans should get in their El Caminos and drive back to the Ozarks.

He said that was a joke. But he also was heard that night in comments that intended to be broadcast: done with this place. so tired of losing here. hotter than (bleep). We get our (butts) kicked every time we come here.

not coming here next He finds it somewhat ironic that been working a lot of football games involving a lousy St. Louis team. a he said, chuckling. But while he mind taking shots, the Rams could be too easy of a target for broadcasters. first thing I think is, how do we not pile on because the temptation is to crush, crush, crush.

None of us want to do that, not good for anybody, although there are times Sam Rosen gets Ram-shackled this week, and will be working with analyst Tim Ryan and sideline reporter Chris Myers for the contest between the 5-9 San Francisco 49ers and the 2-12 Rams. But if you are in the St. Louis area Sunday, you be seeing their work. The game is blacked out locally and figures to be played in front of thousands of empty seats. sad thing from my standpoint is that missing a large part of the Rosen said.

a broadcaster, you want as many people as possible bringing eyeballs to the TV set. never insult anybody, never put anybody down, you just hope to have a good He acknowledged that he exactly thrilled when the assignment was made. initial reaction was, OK, who did I tick off to get this Rosen said. all have the competitive juices that we would love a game that has meaning toward the playoffs. But once you get to the game, in all honesty you just do the game.

had games that on paper look terrible but end up being good. You hope that 314-340-8175 Rams games are not much fun for announcers RAMS FROM D1.