As we enter this holiday weekend, the Twins currently trail the Tigers by 6 games in the Central. I was out the other night with a friend and we got on the topic of post season baseball and what not.

After talking about my beloved Cardinals, we got on the topic of the Twins and their chances of getting in the playoffs. With 27 games to go, the Twins currently are six games back. Do I think they will get in? My answer is no. Here's why.

The Twins will have to win 20 of their final 27 just to go one game up on the Tigers. All Detroit has to do is play .500 baseball down the stretch and they are in.

The Twins have been an up and down team all year. Win 5, lose 4, win three, etc. Minnesota just hasn't shown us they can put together a streak of red-hot baseball say like St. Louis has. The Cardinals haven't lost a series in over a month and haven't lost a game in the standings in 32 days.

My friend said I was just being biased. I said I wold love to see the Twins in the post season, but it boils down to pitching and the Twins just don't have that one starter (other than Scott Baker) who can night in and night out get you a "W".

This time of the year, and especially in the post-season, pitching wins. And as we've seen this year, the Twins staff has been as up and down as our weather. The Twins have tried the bullpen, but that hasn't worked either.

Hopefully, the Twins pitchers will get healthy and can have everyone excited for 2010 and maybe open the new park with a run at a World Championship.

There's a definite excitement in the air right now...you can feel the buzz....football season is here.

But for me, it's an extra special time of the year. Me being an avid baseball fan, this is one of the best times of the year for me. (it helps that the STL Cardinals are on fire right now and atop the NL Central standings). There's so much going on from the stretch run for MLB to the start of the football season.

My Friday nights just got a whole lot more exciting now. While I drive around the country side this fall, I'll be shooting high school football and following my beloved Cardinals. For a sports fan like me, it doesn't get any better than this.

Don't forget, I'll be blogging on KSFYPigskinPreview.com as well this fall every week beginning this Sunday with a look back on the week that was. So check that out as well later this fall.

It's no secret that people in the TV biz wear makeup. I"m one of those guys. It's not the hi-light of my job, but it's just something you have to do.

But that's not my rant. I can't tell you how many times I've walked into the grocery store only to get stared at in line by other people. I don't take my makeup off in-between shows. Normally I don't have time as I race out the door to the next event...but even if I do, I still don't take it off.

When I'm out and about, I can hear people asking each other, "Is that dude wearing makeup?" And then they giggle. I ignore them but I just want to turn around and tell them, look it's for my job. I don't feel less of a man at all by wearing makeup, it's just one of the great perks of my job.

When I go home, all of my friends ask me if someone puts my make up on. After telling them yes and making up some wild story about it, I inform them I put my own makeup on. And then most of their mouths just drop...."You put your own make up on!!" Yes, I've watched my wife do it and I've gotten quite good at it (if I don't say so myself).

I'll never forget the time my wife embarrassed the heck out of me when we were out getting me my make-up (I don't buy anything special--just a simple compact---that's powder for all you non-guy-makeup wearing folks). She yelled for everyone to hear, "Honey, what color makeup is it that you wear?"

It was at that point that I just accepted it and quit worrying about that. So if you see me out and about and notice something odd on my face, yes it's makeup. It's one of the perks of the job I tell students when I go and speak to classes.

Well the dog and pony show otherwise known as will Brett Favre return to play in 2009 is over. And his decision to NOT play was a rather surprising one for me.

I thought for sure Favre would be in camp Friday morning...which would make an already circus type environment into a three ring circus. You see, covering Vikings camp is no easy chore. The last thing players want to do following a 2.5 hour practice is talk to the media. So grabbing players (in what I refer to it as a cattle call) is no easy chore.

So that brings me to Favre...While I was looking forward to saying I interviewed Favre, I wasn't looking forward to the massive throng of national media being at camp. It would have made an already hectic day even more crazy. But on the other hand it would have been cool to say I interviewed Favre.

I usually don't get caught up in that, but it would have been pretty cool. Either way, we'll have you covered with plenty of action from Vikings camp.

Vacation was nice and it's been hard getting back into the groove.

So some fellow colleagues of mine from the local media (Paul Heinert, Jason Anschutz and Adam Huntimer) get together to golf every once in a while and last month, to intice things a little bit, we decided to begin the "Sioux Falls Open.," a four course, stroke play tournament.

Yeah, I know some of you are like that's stupid. But it's actually been a blast. We talk in depth about the tourney out on stories thru-out the week and reminisce about shots and our awful putting. But again, it's been a blast.

About the tourney----We decided to each name ourselves after a not-so-well-known golfer on the PGA Tour.. I've chosen to be Shigeki Maruyama, Jason is Jeff Overton, Paul is Charles Howell III and Adam is Tim Herron. We've even named the four courses after real courses (Prairie Green-Torrey Pines, Elmwood Shinnecock Hills, Bakker Crossing, Tornberry, and Willow Run hasn't been named yet.) We've even bought a cheap trophy for the winner (on top of the side bet the losers get the winner).

I have to admit, all four of us were a little nervous when we tee'd off back in the first round. Since then, it's been a lot of laughs and lot of fun. Since our fantasy-land tournament has been so much fun, we've decided the next "tournament" (and I use that word loosely) will be a match play format.

As we enter the final round, it's kinda sad. This tournament has been something all four of us have really looked forward to and we don't want to see it come to an end. It's been a lame excuse for us four to get together without a worry in the world, and have a good time.

Oh and in case you were wondering, Shigeki has an 11 stroke lead heading into next week's final round.

One of the most prominent football coaches in the state of Iowa was shot and killed Wednesday. Ed Thomas, the longtime coach at Applington Parkersburg was shot and killed early this morning in the school's weight room. A former player has been arrested. The complete story is on our website if you want to read further.

I never met Coach Thomas, but I covered a game of his back when I worked in Southern Iowa. I didn't need to meet him to understand what kind of man he was. He was a leader, a person many in the small town looked to for guidance and leadership.

Last year, Thomas almost single handily rebuilt the town of Parkersburg after a EF 5 tornado wiped out the town. People looked up to this man and now he is gone. Tthat's the kind of world we live in now. You just never know what's going to happen.

This ordeal hit close to me as my wife is a coach. I thought wow this could happen to her and that's scary. Who knows what the suspects motive was and we may never know. If it can happen in a town of 1,900, it can happen anywhere and that's what scares me the most.

Here's a coach that (from what I've read) would do anything for a player or citizen (much like my wife) and then the next minute, your're gone.

It's unfortunate situation that hit a litte closer to home this reporter.

For the first time since I was in college, I've begun umpiring again and I'm really enjoying it---for the most part. I grew up in St. Louis (which many of you know) and loving baseball is just in your blood. I played high school baseball and legion ball in the summer. Heck, I watch games TV and strategize with the coaches. But since I've begun umping around the Sioux Empire this summer, I'm beginning to wonder what's happened to our national pastime. Every park has it's own set of rules. And no I'm not talking about ground rules of what's in play and what's out of play. I'm referring to this park has exceptions to the rules, this park does it this and this park does it that way. Each division has it's own set of rules, which makes sense to the development of the players. The older you get, the closer you should be playing to the rules of baseball. Some leagues have the EH (extra hitter) slash flex player (a way to get one more kid a chance to bat) while some allow a warning on a balk before extra bases are allowed. I have no problem with teaching kids the rules of the game, but when they hit 14-15 years old, they should know the rules. By allowing exceptions, what are we teaching them? When I played, nine guys hit, nine guys played. We didn't add extra rules to get everyone into the game. Plus, by allowing all these exceptions, what happened to the strategy of the game? It's taken right out the door. As an umpire, with all these exceptions, I've found myself not being 100% confident anymore. Now as I take calls to ump places, I ask what age group I'm umping and what not. Again, I'm all about teaching kids the game I love so much, but making rules/exceptions isn't really teaching them anything. © 2009 KSFY Action News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

I went home to St. Louis this past weekend and caught two wonderful Cardinals games with my mom and dad. It was great to be back at the stadium to catch my beloved team (in prime seats I might add as well).

Friday night, I spent the evening with my college roommate and his family and we grilled out. My best friend from high school also came over with his family (along with a slew of other friends from college) and we started chatting about the Cards and we got way off track talking about the pitcher and how they never catch a pop fly.

Why is that? As soon as it's a popped up, the pitcher just points, even if the ball is coming right to him. The other four infielders race to the mound to catch the ball when the pitcher just could have saved everyone the trouble and caught it himself.

For the life of us, we couldn't come up with a logical answer....Is there some rule? Are managers afraid they won't catch the ball.....but they trust said pitcher to make pin-point pitches to get batters out....

I played baseball up until college (played soccer in college) and a pitcher just never caught the ball....It was like a big no-no....I just don't get it, so if there's someone out there who knows the un-written rule to why a pitcher can't catch a pop-up, let me know...until then, it might be one of the mysteries of the universe.

So weekend meteorologist Derick Fabert and I were checking out a show one night, "Dirtiest Jobs," and I told him I liked the show. Derick then said you should watch Deadliest Catch.

I usually don't get too caught up in a lot of shows but I told Fabert I'd watch it and now I can get enough of it.

The show is about a group of crab fisherman off the Alaskan coast. They fish in dangerous conditions, but the payout is amazing and rewarding. The men spend about 4-6 months fishing and make ridiculous money.

We're early in the season and I'm hooked (no pun intended). It's not like your typical reality type show....this show is filled with drama...it's real and it's great TV.

If you haven't seen this show, check it out....It's on Tuesday night at 8:00 on the Discovery channel.....and oh by the way, if you have HD, it's even better.