All right, it might be a little misleading, but at this time of year, a championship is a championship. That's right, the Batavia Muckdogs won the New York-Penn League title. The Muckdogs are a Class A Cardinals affiliate. It's always a good sign when your farm teams are winning titles. Perhaps one or two of the Muckdogs will make a difference in St. Louis in the coming years. I'd like to thank a correspondent for giving me the Muckdogs tip.

Speaking of the postseason, it's got to be a frustrating time to be a Cardinals fan. The Cardinals have fizzled over the last couple of weeks, which is too bad because the wild card was there for the taking. The Brewers are trying as hard as possible to cough up the lead, and the Phillies finally caught them. If the Cardinals could have figured out a way to squeeze out a few more wins over the last week or so, they'd be right there in the mix.

The Cardinals gave a valiant effort this season, but the run is over. They stayed in the race for a lot longer than most expected, but they ran out of gas. Now there's the Rams, who stink (we'll get to that in a minute) or, thankfully, Missouri football.

Reserved Parking

The top spot is jumping ahead of the Throne today because of Carlos Zambrano. The Cubs ace returned from some shoulder discomfort to throw a no-hitter. He looked good, really good. Big Z gets to pull into the top spot after throwing the Cubs' first no-hitter since Milt Pappas in 1972. Congrats, Big Z.

Throne of Honor

Congrats to rumdoodles, a regular atop the Throne, on finding the correct answer to the previous trivia question. There have been three games at zero or colder at Lambeau Field. You know your Packers trivia, rumster.

Here's our next question: Which quarterback has thrown the most TD passes in Rams history?

The Stinking Bums

I thought it was ugly last week when the Rams lost 38-3. It didn't get any better this week as the Giants scored 41 points. Nothing went right for the Rams. Josh Brown was about the only Ram who looked like he belonged on the field. I hate to be so negative, but sometimes a team's play calls for it. This was one of those cases.

I don't know how Jim Haslett can keep his job. His defense can't stop anyone. It's not getting any better. I was surprised when he held onto his job after last season, and this season is looking worse. I'm not sure what Scott Linehan can do to turn this ship around. Any ideas?

Tonight's Can't Miss

It's a pretty good Monday Night Football game, as the Cowboys and Eagles tussle, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN, channel 42 in Cape.