That time again?

Yep, one more class and my weekend starts and that can only mean one thing: I'll be watching, yes, even more of the Olympics!

You're asking your self, whatever happened to St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Rick Ankiel, right? Well, ask no longer because the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has an article on it today. Ankiel was a star pitcher and one of the top prospects until he lost his strike zone in the playoffs against the Atlanta Braves.

As the Cardinals' pitchers and catchers report officially to Roger Dean Stadium today to begin spring training workouts Friday, Ankiel is around, watching his former peers limber their arms and loose their fastballs. A year ago he was with them, a favorite to win a bullpen role and spot starts. Now, technically, he's at camp early, having retired his curve and remade himself as an outfielder.

"It might have been hard to walk away if I was throwing no-hitters every day," Ankiel said Wednesday of his March 2005 surprise announcement that he would halt his pitching career and attempt to make the majors as a hitter. "But that wasn't the case. . . . Pitching wasn't fun for me. It wasn't fun. This offseason it was more exciting lifting to become a stronger hitter than it was thinking about pitching.

"That's a thing from the past."

How much of a future Ankiel has as an everyday outfielder could crystallize in the coming weeks. At two levels last summer, he hit 21 home runs with 75 RBIs in 85 games. He caught eyes. He evolved from experiment to curiosity to, although 26, prospect. When a club official was asked to ascertain what Ankiel's status would be if he saw the numbers produced, his age, his position, but not the name, he said: "Prospect. Definitely a prospect."

Hampered by back troubles and a knee injury last summer, Ankiel pegged some of the ailments on an offseason spent prepping to pitch, not play every day. He's altered his regimen this winter to reshape his body as an outfielder - more sprints, more muscle in the arms, chest and back. Time spent tracking fly balls at all three outfield positions.

The most over-played song during the Ice Hockey games at the Olympics is that Madonna song that was sung during the Grammy's.

TimSaler.com has republished the interview from this December that was originally printed over at Victory06.org.

That's all for now. Olympic updates will continue around 11:30ish except for Hockey games and whatever is aired live.