LEFTOVERS: Delay of jet: Cardinals tweet details

We’ve all been stuck on airplanes that have been delayed. So it was a bit amusing to see how the St. Louis Cardinals handled their six-hour delay Tuesday when their chartered flight to Boston for Game 6 of the World Series had mechanical issues.

Thanks to Twitter, several players kept the world informed of their plight. David Freese had pizza delivered. Joe Kelly was looking for toasted ravioli, a St. Louis staple. But it may have been Matt Carpenter who had the best tweet.

“On the bright side really getting to know some of my teammates children #bonding #cardsplaneproblems,” Carpenter tweeted.

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said everyone took the delay in stride.

“The mood was amazingly positive,” he said. “The young children on this flight were awesome. Everybody involved decided to take the patient trail and deal with it.

“In the end, it was unfortunate, but we were there for a reason and we’re happy to be there.”

■ FARMING OVER FOOTBALL — At South Holt High School, there are more important things in life than football.

Like farming.

The school, in Oregon, Mo., which has an enrollment of 78 students and plays eight-man football, will forfeit Friday’s game to Stewartsville because the South Holt players felt it was more important to attend a Future Farmers of America convention in Louisville, Ky.

South Holt has had a winless season and a rash of injuries along with players quitting. As a result, there weren’t enough players to field a team, and school officials decided to forfeit Friday’s finale. Prior to throwing in the towel, the Knights were 0-9 and had been outscored 515-62.

But here’s the really strange thing. This South Holt-Stewartsville game was supposed to be a district playoff game. How does an 0-9 team make the playoffs?

■ HOCKEY DIPLOMACY — One thing you’ve got to love about declassified information: You never know what’s going to see the light of day.

Take for instance a call President John F. Kennedy made in March 1963 after the U.S. hockey team got drilled 17-2 by Sweden at the World Championships.

In a call to aide David Hackett, Kennedy wanted to know how that was possible.

“Christ, who are we sending over there? Girls?” Kennedy asked. He followed up by saying, “God, we’ve got some pretty good hockey players, haven’t we?

“I think it’s a disgrace to have a team (lose) 17-2. That’s about as bad as I’ve ever heard. ... We shouldn’t send a team unless we send a good one. Will you find out about it and let me know?”

The U.S. went 1-5-1 in the tournament contested at the height of the Cold War. The Americans’ lone win came against West Germany, which had to use one of its defensemen as a goalie after the two regulars were injured, and East Germany blocked the attempt to add a third goalie to the roster. Included in the losses was a nine-goal defeat at the hands of the Soviet Union.

No wonder JFK was ticked off. Worse, he didn’t live to see the Miracle on Ice at Lake Placid, N.Y., in 1980.

COMPILED BY STEVE CARP LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL