Albert Samaha

Dannie Williams, here with his WBC Continental Americas lightweight title, hopes to add another mid-level belt to his resume on March 30.

​Dannie Williams got the fight he wants. On March 30, he'll challenge Hank Lundy for his North American Boxing Federation lightweight championship. The bout will be broadcasted on ESPN's Friday Night Fights.

While the fight was not finalized until this week, it's been generating a decent amount of anticipatory hype the past couple of months thanks to a stream of trash talk between the fighters' respective camps. In December, for instance, Lundy's trainer Jimmy Burchfield told Boxing Scene, "Right now Hank is the most targeted fighter in the lightweight division. He's the fighter television networks want. There are several options for a title defense, and you're at the bottom of the totem pole."

Apparently he's not at the bottom of the totem pole.

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Harry Keough

​Harry Keough, the soccer great who was a defender on the legendary 1950 U.S. World Cup team and who went on to become the longtime coach at Saint Louis University, died yesterday morning at home in St. Louis. He was 84.

Keough was one of five St. Louisans on the U.S. national team that beat 500-1 odds to defeat Britain in the World Cup tournament in 1950, generally considered the greatest upset in the history of soccer.

"We didn't feel we needed to beat them, but we felt if we could just play pretty good, it would be enough," Keough told The Associated Press in a 2002 interview. "In our minds, if we lost 2-0, we'd feel pretty good about ourselves."

Instead, the Americans went on to win 1-0. Keough started in all three of the Americans' appearances; sadly, after defeating the British, they lost to Chile in the next round of the tournament.

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​The presumptive Anaheim Angels first baseman told ESPNDeportes.com that he intends to report to spring training a week earlier than position players are scheduled, because "For the last 12 years I've lived in the city of St. Louis, where it's cold ... I'm going to try to get there (Tempe, Arizona) a week early to get used to the weather."

All right, I'll let that "I lived in the city of St. Louis" comment slide, even though he lived in Creve Couer, because we've already been through enough grief with Pujols' address. No, my gripe is with this whole weather acclimation thing.
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Stan Kroenke looks toward London, presumably.

​Perhaps you missed it in the run-up to last night's rather big game, but Jim Thomas over at the Post-Dispatch reported late yesterday that the Rams and the Convention and Visitors Commission are very close to an agreement concerning that troubling proviso in the lease. As you may recall, the Rams want to play three home games in London over the next three years, but the lease stipulates that all home games must be played in the Edward Jones Dome.

Quoting Kevin Demoff, the Rams executive vice president of football operations, Thomas reports that, "The agreement must be formally approved by the CVC and the RSA (Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority), but we are optimistic there will be resolution."

CVC tells Daily RFT that it's not commenting on the lease negotiations with the Rams or the team's desire to play in London. This morning the agency released a statement saying: 
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​NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was on Costas Tonight: Live From the Superbowl last night discussing the possibility of a team relocating to Los Angeles, and the Ginger Hammer now seems much more partial to adding new teams to the mix rather than relocating teams. Sayeth the Rog to Costas:

"Really, we want to keep our teams where they are, and that's the dilemma because not only do we have to get the stadium in L.A., then we have to get the team."

Does this give St. Louis the upper hand in the ongoing negotiations concerning Edward Jones Dome upgrades?

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(c) Topps Inc 2012

Rally Squirrel, with Skip Schumaker (left)

​The previously mocked Skip Schumaker Rally Squirrel baseball card from Topps is successfully being sold for $255 on eBay. The actual Skip Schumaker card from the same series is going for $1, with a $2 charge for shipping and handling. Also, it seems you can return the real Skip card if you don't like it, but most Rally Squirrel card sellers seem to have a strict "no takebacks" policy.

And as for Mr. Pujols' new-look Angels card, you can pick that up for $127.50 if you act quickly. Point, Rally Squirrel.

(c) Topps Inc.

​Topps is just screwing with Cardinals fans now. According to Rick Chandler at Off The Bench, Skip Schumaker's baseball card in the forthcoming Topps' Series 1 features Schumaker's right ankle only, with most of the card given over to the Rally Squirrel.

A spokesman for Topps said the company thought it would be a "fun way to pay tribute to the Cardinals World Series run." Further investigation reveals that this is a variant card, which means that there's a legitimate Schumaker card in the series also -- but people would rather talk about the squirrel than Schumaker. Somewhere, Aaron Schafer nods approvingly.
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Kholood Eid

​The Scottrade Center lobby was packed torso to torso with people, most of whom held plastic championship belts or poster board signs and wore CM Punk or John Cena t-shirts. The WWE Royal Rumble, one of the most anticipated of the company's monthly pay-per-view cards, came to town last night, bringing with it all the deafening pyrotechnics and scripted drama of any world class spectacle.

St. Louis, of course, was once the capital of professional wrestling, so it was fitting that the night's main event, the 30-man elimination Royal Rumble, featured a nostalgic handful of throwback wrestlers. There was Mick Foley (as well as a Mr. Sock cameo) and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan (U-S-A! U-S-A! U.S.A!) and "Road Dogg" Jessie James ("Oh you didn't Know? You better caaalllll somebodaayyyyyy!"). Sheamus, a muscular, pale-skinned and red-headed, up-and-coming star, won the contest, eliminating Chris Jericho for the climax.

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(c) 2012 Topps Co

​CNBS sports reporter Darren Rovell posted this dagger in the hearts of Cardinal fans. Close examination of the bottom right corner of the base reveals a Kansas City Royals logo, which means this photo was most likely taken during either the May 21 or May 22 game at Kauffman Stadium, so everything about this card is a fraud.

The card is part of the Topps series that will be available next Wednesday. Consider yourself warned if you're a card collector.

Presumably, Albert's gigantic sack of money will get its own card in the next series.

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Ted DiBiase and Harley Race battle it out at the Chase Park Plaza, circa the late 1970s.

​This Sunday St. Louis hosts the WWE's Royal Rumble. Some of the men who'll wrestle that night -- such as CM Punk and Ted DiBiase Jr. -- passed through Harley Race's Wrestling Academy in Eldon, Missouri, on their way to the big league (for more on Race, see last week's feature story Harley Race's Academy of Hard Knocks).

There a good chance Race himself will be in the crowd at Scottrade. His ties to St. Louis go back decades, back to when the professional wrestling industry looked almost nothing like it does today.

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