Week three's confidence polls have just opened, but I got in touch with Brad Lee of St. Louis Game Time and Ryan Van Bibber of Turf Show Times to discuss what these numbers meant to their respective fanbases.
↵The Blues took the number one spot in the St. Louis Confidence rankings for the second week in a row, moving from 65/100 to 66. I asked Brad for an explanation about his fanbase's strong confidence—
↵↵↵The voting for this confidence poll ended on June 30, the day before free agency started. Since, the Blues have only signed their own free agents and publicly said that the best forward available in free agency, Ilya Kovalchuk is the wrong player at the wrong time for the Blues. In other words, this vote is still the team coasting from the Jaroslav Halak trade earlier in June and the Blues being aggressive during the draft trading a prospect for a second first-round pick that they used on Vladimir Tarasenko, possibly the most talented European player available in the draft.
↵If the Blues don't do anything in free agency, the number may come down when the polls close the next time.
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Meanwhile, the Rams moved from 42/100 to 52, pushing them close to fans of the second-place Cardinals. Ryan Van Bibber had this explanation:
↵↵↵Fans of the St. Louis Rams got good news over the weekend that the team had signed eight of eleven draft picks. First overall pick Sam Bradford, second round pick offensive tackle Rodger Saffold and, strangely, sixth round TE Fendi Onobun remain unsigned. The front office assured fans that Onobun would be signed shortly and all of the Rams draft picks would be in camp ready to play. Avoiding a holdout is particularly important for Bradford and Saffold since they're both being counted on as starters this season. Fans expressed a measure of confidence in the front office, after re-signing OJ Atogwe the week before, moving the ticker up ten points to a 52.
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As for Cardinals fans, a continued offensive and defensive malaise and increased distrust of Tony La Russa's lineup making, combined with a still-strong Reds club and Ryan Ludwick's late trip to the DL, kept Cardinals Fan Confidence at 56, up four points from its week one score but still well below the average team in the thick of a pennant race. More outings like Adam Wainwright's Fourth of July gem and fewer like Chris Carpenter's disastrous July third performance will push it up, but for now Cardinals fans remain cautious.
↵Voting is now open for week three at all St. Louis sports blogs. How do you feel? Go to St. Louis Game Time, Viva El Birdos, or Turf Show Times and let the Fan Confidence Poll know.