Greetings from a Cardinals Fan.

I'm not here to troll, insult or make fun of the Reds. I'm not here to say the Cards were of no fault in the fight. I would like to share my view of the fight in a respectful manner. i wasn't surprised by what happened. It always seems to happen between LaRussa and whomever Dusty Baker is managing at the time. The two managers know how to press each others buttons.

1. I'll start with Brandon Phillips. Always thought he was a talented player and liked him. Now i think he's a talented, dumb player. Not because he said what he said, but because he called a whole team a bunch of "b*tchs" then tried tapping the catchers shin guard twice as if nothing happened. I won't call him a thug, or anything else. Just dumb. As Molina said "Don't talk bad about me and my team and expect me to be in a good mood."

2. Chris Carpenter. No clue what he said to Baker to get everything going again, but it was wrong. I agree with the Reds fans in that Carp should have gotten a suspension. Everything calmed down, and Carp said something to set off Dusty. I do think the huge brawl was largely misunderstood by the rest of the players as it looked like Rolen was trying to get to Carp to remove him from the situation. That's when the whole thing blew up.

3. Johnny Cueto. Here's where i disagree with most of you. Yes, he was getting pushed up against the fence but if you go back to watch the video again, he put himself on that side of the mob as he was going after Carpenter. Cueto and Carpenter were on opposite sides of the mob, Cueto being on the outermost part. When Carpenter opened his mouth(dumb), Cueto went around the mob to get at Carpenter. Rolen, Gomes and Hernandez (probably some others) were the players to inadvertently moved Cueto away from Carpenter and into the netting. At that point Cueto should have moved away. Actually, it looks like there were no Cardinal players around until Cueto started kicking. Now, at first it just looks like Cueto is trying to push the pile off of him. But, on the Fox Sports Midwest feed, he clearly maneuvers himself to kick Carpenter. Once he kicked Carpenter, LaRue went after him. One kick, i can accept the "he was getting the mob off him" excuse but he kicked one guy(LaRue) in the face repeatedly whom had to get stitches and has a concussion and kicked Carpenter repeatedly. One kick, ok. But he kicked many times, with spikes on. I don't care how you try to spin it, kicking a guy in the face with metal spikes is wrong and he was not defending himself.

In closing, I respect an honest discussion so you won't find a bunch of name calling from this guy. If you respect my opinion, i'll respect yours.

They you'll do just fine here, and welcome to the board! The board as a whole has no problems with Cards fans, just the trolls.

320

Thanks for the reply. I read through the "And the verdict is in" thread under "the old red guard" and since i can't post there, i'll reply here.

I agree with all punishments. Though i don't know if Cueto's was severe enough. Boil it down and facts are facts. He put himself in the middle of a scrum, spiked one guy in the face and another guy multiple times in the back.

Many in that thread said that Cueto was thrown into the fence, was scared of being trampled and started to defend himself.

Please rewatch the video, then tell me who he was defending himself from? I saw only two Cardinal players around him. Carpenter, then LaRue. Rolen, Hernandez and Gomes were the ones who forced Cueto into the fence. The mob around Cueto was all Reds players plus Carpenter and LaRue.

So if he was defending himself, why not kick away his own teammates? Why kick someone in face, then continue to kick at LaRue and Carpenter? My problem with the defending himself argument is that he kept kicking when it was clear that Rolen had a hold of Carpenter and LaRue was ducking away.

For those who say Cueto was defending himself, I disagree.

In case you're wondering why you cant post in tORG forum, read the "About Us" found here

On almost any piece of news, especially one as substantial as the suspension, that there's a thread in tORG on, there will also be one in tSD. If not, once you have I think 25 or 50 posts, you can start one there.

320

Also, there's this, about gaining ORG access.

320

New poster....this topic has been beat to death. There is nothing you can say that has not been said 100 times. (see Rijo)

Thanks 320. I read the rules prior to signing up. Always do before i join a forum.

I will agree that the topic has been beat to death...but each time i come back here i read a new thread at tORG and it makes me want to respond.

heck of a series .. we ain't done w/ the redbirds