Some Things Don't Change

Late post. I left my laptop at my office last night.

Our iconic statue, The Runner, is back. I think it came from the 1904 World's Fair. (To paraphrase Marlon Brando, we used to be somebody.) The circular pool is now much smaller, giving the sculpture more of a direct impact.  In the old installation, persons unknown used to dump red or blue dye into the water if something special was going on with the baseball or hockey teams. Now it has infinitely variable LED lighting.

And, of course, Fredbird, the Cardinals' idiotic mascot, often hangs around. Here, he is challenged by a fan of the San Fransisco Giants who were in town.

There is a good photo how the eastern half of the plaza used to look here.  Pretty bland and often unkempt. Also, there is an overview shot of the new plaza here. Hard to tell from the picture but that big lozenge of grass is hump-backed. The developers claim that if will provide seating for 2,000 people for concerts. I'm sceptical but we will see. Otherwise, it doesn't look very useful to me. Only a bit of shade around the edges and our summers are hot. 

Condiments

This thing just gets weirder every year at this event. Wiener dogs are a running joke but I have not seen them so fully garnished before.

Below, the Cardinals ubiquitous idiot mascot, Fredbird. If you live in St. Louis you can't escape him. He's like death and taxes.

The Grand Parade is today. I expect to be there with shutters popping. 

                 

Messages

Sports stadiums around the world are awash in advertising. It's annoying but unavoidable. This photo was taken during the playing of the national anthem. Looks like commerce is soundly defeating patriotism. At least Fredbird, the Cardinals idiot mascot, stands alone at attention.

The flag in the corner of the top picture is that of the City of St. Louis.                       

True Believers

If Stan Musial is St. Louis' civic saint then the Cardinals are the state religion. Sure, there are professional football and hockey teams that have their followers but nothing compares to the venerated Redbirds. They have won the second-greatest number of baseball championships after the New York Yankees, who, after all, are rich as Croesus. 

No one is too proud or too cool to wear red, whether it's scarlet hair or just a tee shirt. On the other hand, we do have to put up with Fredbird (bottom picture), who is sort of the village idiot of team mascots. (Well, okay, the Phillie Phanatic is worse). The kids like the bird, though.        

Fredbird In Mourning

A zoom on the video display of the Busch Stadium scoreboard, looking like a cheap analog television. The stadium announcer declared a moment of silence in memory of a long-time Cardinals executive who died during during the off-season. Fredbird, the Cardinals' mascot, stands in shallow center field in a mocking imitation of mourning.

Fredbird is an idiot. All American colleges and high schools, as well as most professional sports teams, have some kind of mascot. Inevitably, there is a large, cartoonish suit for someone to play the role. My alma mater, St. Louis University, has one of the most bizarre of all. (See my post about the Billiken last year.) Fredbird is really annoying. The idea may have been cute for the first couple of years but, season after season, the character keeps running abound the stadium with his (its?) posse of young ladies, getting in your field of view, beaking people on the head and generally acting like a has-been slapstick comedian in a seven foot body. And now, back to the game.

I noticed that Curly of South Shields, England, DBP has been doing something new. Never having been shy about adopting someone else's good idea, I will start providing an aerial view of the location of the photo when possible.


TOMORROW: More cheerful