Trash Talk

In American parlance, trash talk refers to a member or supporter of a sports team bragging about their prowess and insulting the opponent. The Number 1 gesture above is a mild example. It's everywhere, it's accepted, even if it is a bit juvenile. Oh, and although it's not exactly about sports, Donald Trump is another example.

Ballpark Village is a restaurant-bar-entertainment venue across the street from the stadium. Nice for fans, although it drove some of  the older restaurants in the neighborhood out of business. I don't like this Cardinals Nation meme, though. You see it in a number of contexts but especially sports. I think the term originated with modern references to Native American societies. Navajo Nation. Cherokee Nation. Those are nations. Cardinals Nation is a marketing fiction.

And as I said yesterday, we welcome supporters of opposing teams, even the biggest Cubs fans.

The Playoffs

Our beloved St. Louis Cardinals start their first round of the playoffs tonight against our chief enemy, the Chicago  Cubs.  The Cards finished the season with the best record in Major League Baseball. The Cubbies have suffered many years of pathos, last winning the championship 107 years ago. But they have been transformed and had a terrific season, finishing just behind the Cardinals. It's going to be a fierce series.

I wish I could be at the stadium tonight, if only to photograph the crazy pre-game rally. However, Mrs. C and I are traveling to Chicago to meet our new granddaughter, Audrey. Should I bring a red hat?                        

Cubbies

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Part of the theme of yesterday's post was futility. Today's theme is the Chicago Cubs baseball team. The Cubs have not won the baseball World Series in 102 years (the team is 140 years old), a longer championship drought than any other major North American professional sports team. Our team has won the championship 10 times in that span, second in baseball only to the New York Yankees. The Crowe family attended the Cardinals - Cubs game yesterday.

According to Wikipedia:

The Cubs enjoyed one more [National League] pennant at the close of World War II, finishing 98–56. Due to the wartime travel restrictions, the first three games of the 1945 World Series were played in Detroit, where the Cubs won two games, including a one-hitter by Claude Passeau, and the final four were played at Wrigley. In Game 4 of the Series, the Curse of the Billy Goat was allegedly laid upon the Cubs when P.K. Wrigley ejected Billy Sianis, who had come to Game 4 with two box seat tickets, one for him and one for his goat. They paraded around for a few innings, but Wrigley demanded the goat leave the park due to its unpleasant odor. Upon his ejection, Mr. Sianis uttered, "The Cubs, they ain't gonna win no more." The Cubs lost Game 4, lost the Series, and have not been back since. It has also been said by many that Sianis put a "curse" on the Cubs, apparently preventing the team from playing in the World Series.

Feelings run high between fans of the Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals. In the top photo, one of the heirs of the St. Louis Daily Photo fortune expresses her opinion about her husband's preferred team. Below, we see that the Cardinals admit almost anyone with a paid ticket and that the Cubs' talented but hotheaded pitcher Carlos Zambrano thanks Heaven that he can escape the field alive. The problem was that, um, the Cubs won the game and red-clad Cardinals fans skulked out of the stadium.

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