April is supposed to be a time of buzz and excitement for a diehard sports fan, especially in St. Louis. But for some reason, this year just doesn’t seem to live up to the hype.

The big story of this week is NFL Draft and that is what every sports channel seems to be talking about. Who is going to be drafted where? Will there be any big trades? How many times will they show Frank Caliendo doing his Mel Kiper impersonation? What should be a week of fun and excitement surrounding our Rams, has turned into will there even be a Rams team in St. Louis? With all of the news about what Stan Kroenke is going to do with the team, the whole threat of moving to L.A, its hard to get excited when you don’t even know if you will get to root for that player. Every year, I look forward to the draft but this year it’s hard to be fully invested in the Rams, when we don’t even know if the owner is invested in our city.

That leads us to the always depressing St. Louis Blues. Let’s start on a positive note. At least the Blues have an owner who is fully invested in the community and wants to make St. Louis a winner. The only problem, that investment always seems to turn into disappointment come playoff time. As a Blues fan, 5-6 years ago all we heard about is the young potential that will turn this team around. While they have done that during the regular season the past few years, the playoffs are another story. To see a team dominate in the regular season as they have the past three seasons, gets every fan excited about what could be. For a franchise that has never won a Stanley Cup, this was supposed to be the year. This was the year ownership went out and made the big moves in the offseason. This was the season we saw two of our young players (Schwartz and Tarasenko), become standout players and take on a big role. This was the year we maintained health, won our division and were supposed to have the easier road to the Cup. Or so we thought. Another disappointing playoff series of sluggish starts, and little effort led to an early first round exit. In the past there was always the thought of “next year we could really do it with one more piece.” This year is different, this year stings worse than before, and it makes a fan wonder will the Stanley Cup ever be paraded down Market Street?

The one positive in St. Louis sports over my lifetime has always been the Cardinals. Year after year they have put together quality teams, always making a push to be in the playoffs and contend for a World Series. When 2 of the 3 sports teams lead to disappointment, the Cardinals were always there to pick up the slack. To provide that winning environment and give St. Louis hope for a championship. While that hope is still there, it was a sad week for the Cardinals. News came out that Adam Wainwright tore his Achilles and will miss the remainder of the season. While this is a huge blow to the team, hopefully the ownership will continue to do what they have continually done – make the right moves at the right time to give us a shot at winning. At a time when there just seems to be a black cloud following St. Louis sports fans around, let’s hope the Cardinals continue to do what they do best. Just win!