Arch Awards: What was the Best Team in St. Louis During 2015?
Sep 1, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Brandon Moss (21) is mobbed by teammates after hitting a walk-off three run home run off of Washington Nationals relief pitcher Casey Janssen (not pictured) during the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Nationals 8-5. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
What was St. Louis’s best sports franchise during this calendar year?
2015 wasn’t a great year for sports fans in St. Louis. The constantly struggling St. Louis Rams were exceptionally frustrating, as they got off to a 4-3 start and looked to be an early contender for a postseason spot before losing five straight games and turning the season into another lost campaign, all while playing under the cloud of a threat to relocate to Los Angeles from owner Stan Kroenke.
The Missouri Tigers football team dealt with a suspension of their quarterback, a team-wide walk-out during the middle of the season due to racial tension on campus, and a late-season retirement announcement from longtime head coach Gary Pinkel, all of which culminated in a 5-7 record, the Tigers’ failure to make the SEC Championship Game or a postseason bowl game for the first time since 2012, and the gutting of the coaching staff by Barry Odom, who was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach following the season.
The Missouri Tigers and Saint Louis Billikens basketball teams, both of which had been NCAA tournament teams in recent years, both went through painful rebuilding seasons in 2014-15 and were afterthoughts when it came time to pick teams for the tournament, as both the Tigers and Bills finished with records well below .500.
Even the two teams who are expected to be perennially competitive, the St. Louis Blues and the St. Louis Cardinals, enjoyed exceptional regular season success, but were disappointingly bounced from the postseason by division rivals in the first round.
In a rather lowly year for St. Louis sports, we’ll still celebrate the two teams that won their respective divisions and were the talk of their respective leagues during 2015 by giving out the Arch Award for Best St. Louis Team. This award goes to the team in the St. Louis area that was the best cohesive unit and delivered the most exciting results.
You can learn more about the nominees over the next few slides and vote for the most deserving nominee at the end of the slideshow.
Here are our nominees for St. Louis’s best team during 2015:
Next: 2015 St. Louis Cardinals