Sports & Recreation >>

• Best Cardinals Player
  Abraham Nuñez
  On the balmy night of May 10, the collective world of Cardinal Nation stood still. Indeed, it seemed the sky had fallen when Scott Rolen sprinted out of the batter's box and plowed into Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Hee Seop Choi. A seriously injured shoulder put an end to Rolen's 2005... More >>
• Best Rams Player
  Marshall Faulk
  The graceless aging of an NFL superstar is a sad, sad sight to behold: Emmitt Smith nickel-and-diming his way to the all-time rushing title; Jerry Rice vowing to play another season after two releases in a calendar year. Marshall Faulk is a few years away from risking such ignominy (he turned 32... More >>
• Best Blues Player
  Jamal Mayers
  How'd a hockey player slip into this Best of St. Louis business? No Blues team took the ice in the 2004-05 season. And judging by the fire sale going on over at the soon-to-be-named-something-else-Savvis Center, there's a good chance there won't be much of a team on the ice for 2005-06 either.... More >>
• Best Steamers Player
  Daryl Doran
  There was a time when St. Louis' indoor soccer Steamers drew like the Blues. Thanks to terminally inept league (and sometimes team) management, those days are long gone. But the team's Philadelphia-based ownership has tried its ass off to heat things up again, moving the Steamers to the Savvis... More >>
• Best Local Boxer
  Devon Alexander
  While sparring partner Cory Spinks went down feebly in his marquee rematch with Zab Judah back in February, further down the card fellow Kevin Cunningham trainee Devon Alexander "The Great" triumphed over Donovan Castaneda in a unanimous decision. In June Alexander single-handedly electrified... More >>
• Best Thoroughbred
  Lady Riss
  This year four-year-old Lady Riss became the first horse in Fairmount Park's 80-year history to exceed $100,000 in earnings in a single season, garnering $105,540 in winning six of seven starts at the metro east's little track that could. Given that Lady Riss is, well, a lady (filly, in... More >>
• Best Sports Broadcast Personality (2 Comments)
  Al Hrabosky
  Any sports-bar blowhard with a decent timbre to his voice and a varsity letter jacket moldering in his closet believes that he too could be a color commentator. And who can blame him? After all, the paragon of the profession is John Madden, whose "analysis" consists of the well-placed "Boom!"... More >>
• Best Coach
  Jack Clark
  Where were you when the Ripper went yard on Niedenfuer in Game 6 of the 1985 NLCS? It's a question that, to this day, grips Cardinal faithful like the Kennedy assassination. "When Jack hit it, he flipped his bat and started running down the first-base line," recalls former Cardinal ace Danny... More >>
• Best Sports Bar
  Flannery's Pub
  Hard to believe that in the decade since Washington Avenue's rebirth, the street has gone without a sports bar until just this past year. That said, Flannery's could win accolades simply for going against the grain and offering anything other than the haute cuisine and/or mind-numbing techno... More >>
• Best Tennis Courts
  Dwight Davis Tennis Center
  Where in St. Louis can you play tennis on courts graced by champions the likes of Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, Patrick Rafter and Martina Hingis? The answer: Dwight Davis Tennis Center in Forest Park. On days the Aces aren't playing, you too can grace Dwight Davis' stadium court and pretend... More >>
• Best Bowling Lanes
  Tropicana Lanes
  To borrow from Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski, Tropicana abides. It's hard for other bowling alleys to compete with this 52-lane powerhouse in Richmond Heights. Not only does Tropicana Lanes strike bowlers' hearts with great deals like the "Tuesday Night Special" -- two hours of bowling, two... More >>
• Best Basketball Court
  Cardinal Ritter Gymnasium
  Pickup hoops isn't for everyone, mainly because for every guy who's just out there for some good-natured run, there are five other guys whose life seems to depend upon whether their team comes out on the sunny side of a game of full-court four-on-four. This makes a run at, say, the Downtown Y or... More >>
• Best Hole on a Public Golf Course
  No. 18
  You got game? At Normandie Golf Course, if you land on the green at No. 18, a nail-biter of a par-3, you've got game. This 250-yard mettle-tester ain't much to look at, but it provides a kick-your-keister finish to a round at what is said to be the oldest public golf course west of the... More >>
• Best Weekend Getaway
  Grafton, Illinois
  As far as the Best of St. Louis Official Rules Committee is concerned, it's not a Weekend Getaway if it involves boarding a plane. No, the epitome of a Weekend Getaway requires a Friday afternoon at work, when it's 98 degrees outside with impending thunderstorms and the Cardinals on an extended... More >>
• Best Picnic Spot
  The Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House
  There are tables and benches in every direction you spin in Faust Park, plus a shelter, playground, footbridge and fountain spraying forth from within a pond. There's even a giant concrete butterfly and counterpart giant caterpillar munching on his own giant-concrete-leaf lunch nearby. So plop... More >>
• Best Place to Bird-Watch
  Wild Bird Garden in Tower Grove Park
  If you think good bird-watching requires long hikes into mosquito-infested forests, you've never been to the Robert and Martha Gaddy Wild Bird Garden in Tower Grove Park. "St. Louis is a great place for birding because of the Mississippi River -- a natural flyway for migratory birds," confirms... More >>
• Best Stroll
  A round trip from the northeast corner of South Grand Boulevard and Magnolia Avenue
  Let the joggers puff and pant and blow their knees out; we'll take the snail's pace any day. Finding a good place to stroll in St. Louis is easy, but here's one wonderful route: Start at the northeast corner of Tower Grove Park (South Grand Boulevard and Magnolia Avenue) and head west on... More >>
• Best Place to Hike
  Pere Marquette State Park
  Do you know what one of the very best things about St. Louis is? It's really easy to get out of, into the surrounding green. You try that in New York or LA, Mr. and Ms. The-Coasts-Are-the-Most. Sprawl and all, we're still graced with a pastoral plenitude. Ergo, great hiking. Witness the paths at... More >>
• Best Place to Mountain Bike
  Chubb Trail
  Walk into any area bike shop and ask an employee to name his or her favorite local MTB trail. Nine times out of ten, they'll fire back with Chubb, a seven-mile, out-and-back stretch packed with nigh-impossible climbs, breathtakingly fast and long downhills and equally breathtaking views. Running... More >>
• Best Urban Bike Ride
  Gravois Avenue
  Gravois Avenue cuts a mighty diagonal through south St. Louis' 90-degree grid, and thus provides unparalleled variety for urban biking. Plus, there's plenty of room for cyclists, even during rush hour. If you start at the county line (near the River Des Peres) and head toward I-55 (where Gravois... More >>
• Best Place to Rollerblade
  Creve Coeur County Park
  At the turn of the last century, Creve Coeur Park was a resort area for St. Louis' well-to-do. More than a hundred years later, it still is: This jewel of the county parks system boasts a 320-acre lake for sailing, the renowned and bucolic Dripping Springs waterfall, numerous wildlife areas --... More >>
• Best Fishing Hole
  Queeny Park
  Did you know St. Louis was one of six cities included in the U.S. Department of the Interior's first Urban Fishing Programs in 1969? Well Opie, sling your fishin' pole 'cross your overall strap and whistle your way down the mulch trail that leads from the parking lot to the interior of Queeny... More >>
• Best Public Pool
  Wapelhorst Aquatic Center
  What ever happened to good old diving boards? Just wondering. The water slide at Wapelhorst Aquatic Center in St. Charles looks like someone uprooted a Six Flags ride and dropped it into an unsuspecting neighborhood. It takes six frickin' flights of stairs to reach the top of this behemoth. And... More >>
• Best Public Park
  Francis Park
  The most low-key and crime-free of the city neighborhoods is St. Louis Hills, and Francis Park is its 60-acre emerald. While very much the neighborhood's social spot (Christmas tree lighting, bulb plantings and Easter egg hunts are yearly traditions), Francis graciously welcomes visitors with... More >>
• Best Dog Park
  University City Off-Leash Dog Play Area
  When it comes to dog parks, St. Louis is slowly catching up with the civilized world. At last count, the metro area offered five dog parks, with some five more slated to open in the next year or two. But what we lack in quantity we make up for in quality, thanks to the University City Off-Leash... More >>
• Best Miniature Golf
  Swing-A-Round Fun Town
  In the shadow of St. Basil's pastel onion domes, everyone's silent as she approaches the green. She inspects the lay of the land: a hazard here, a slope there. And then with an expert putt she delivers the goods -- right across the bridge! Ah, the pleasures are many at Swing-A-Round Fun Town's... More >>
• Best Batting Cage
  Infield Fun Center
  You've got one dollar and eighteen things to bitch about. The Infield Fun Center's batting cages are just the ticket. Pitches one through three are for your griping family. Four through seven are for work: a missed deadline, health insurance that's too expensive, a vending machine that doesn't... More >>
• Best High School Athlete
  Paul Chaney
  As the starting quarterback for Saint Louis University High, Paul Chaney deserves praise solely for his gridiron prowess. But for the SLUH senior, football and basketball (he's earned varsity letters in both) serve as mere placeholders for his true passion: track and field. Last year, at the... More >>
• Best College Athlete
  Emil Williams Jr.
  Are bowlers athletes? Are jockeys just along for the ride? How about race-car drivers? State champion truckers? Pro wrestlers? Long-drive champions? Poker sharks? Billiards wizards? Or that guy who just won his seventh straight Tour de France? Dumb debates don't deserve the dignity of a... More >>
• Best Boxing Gym
  Marquette Recreation Center
  The boxing gym upstairs at Marquette Recreation Center is not a fancy place. The thermostat malfunctions, the windows don't open wide enough to let in the breeze, and the punching bags are "borrowed" by pugilist wannabes who should know better. But dozens of fighters call the gym and its... More >>
• Best Yoga Studio
  YogaSource
  These days it seems like yoga is as trendy as the fall window displays at Neiman Marcus. Would you like to try Hot, Happy, Baby or Boga? Everyone's doing it -- or at least trying to market it. Yoga's image in Western minds has morphed from "some weird cult" to "the latest thing." Hip hotels and... More >>
• Best Workout
  Balanced Body Conditiong
  When Dawn Ruppert shouts, "Friends don't bring friends to this class!" at the opening of her Balanced Body Conditioning exercise class, even seasoned athletes among the newcomers are inclined to sneer, "Sure, whatever." But when the workout ends 75 minutes later (sometimes more, if Ruppert's in... More >>
• Best Place to Jog
  Hanley to Kingshighway (and back), via Wydown and Lindell
  Why running in a park sucks: There are lots of other runners sharing that teensy trail, and most of them are fitter and faster than you. Trees and squirrels don't provide much visual stimulation. (When was the last time your mind carried on a conversation with itself about acorns?) And running... More >>
• Best Move
  The Cardinals' middle infield
  The off-season news that the St. Louis Cardinals would be replacing shortstop Edgar Renteria and second baseman Tony Womack with David Eckstein and Mark Grudzielanek (respectively) was greeted with skopticism -- which is to say, a mix of skepticism and optimism, and more of the former than the... More >>