FANS SHOW SUPPORT FOR WIN CITY TEAMS

Harken back to January, when the Rams returned triumphantly from their Super Bowl win. Few thought it would happen, but Rams quarterback Kurt Warner, who should have been voted Football Player With The Most Interesting Cinderella Story, led his team to victory.

Thousands lined downtown streets to welcome back the Super Bowl champions. Rams coach Dick Vermeil led the parade down Market Street in a wagon pulled by the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales. The players followed in pickup trucks, a choice of vehicle that likely made their down-to-earth, Midwestern fans love them even more.

"Thank you very much, world champions," Vermeil told the crowd. "I'd like to thank you for your support. I'd like you to know that the Rams aren't world champions. St. Louis is world champions."

Hey, don't forget Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Scott City, Perryville and the rest of Southeast Missouri, solidly Rams Country after last season's amazing performance.

And now the Cardinals are in the National League Championship Series, a status they haven't enjoyed since losing to the Braves in 1996. They also haven't had a World Series win since 1982, although they've come heartbreakingly close.

It's looking a little grim for the Cardinals. They're down the first two games in a seven-game series against the Mets. The good news is that they did incredibly well Thursday night despite wild pitching by Rick Ankiel. With most pitchers, you can assume which general direction the ball is going to take.

But Cards fans never say die.

Even a sports columnist with the New York Daily News showed a little snobbish admiration for Cardinals fans. He mocked the simple design of Busch Stadium and the seemingly premature naming of a St. Louis highway for Mark McGwire, but he complimented the team for drawing the most fans of any in the National League.

If the Cardinals don't go all the way to a World Series win this year, we'll love them anyway, of course.

And there's always the Rams. They're 5-0, by the way.