THE OBVERSE

The same diner from the other side. I've never eaten there so I don't need to be in rehab.

The sign on building in back puzzled me. Was it in St. Louis or this very building? This town is a chess hotbed (https://saintlouischessclub.org/) . Turns out the first official world chess championship was held in 1886 but the games were spread among New York, St. Louis and New Orleans. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Chess_Championship_1886 We got a piece of the action.            

YAY FOR US

The crowd, as they say, went wild. I can't imagine, though, that this was really about a couple of dozen mercenary athletes paid to represent our city. I like to watch well-played sports (with the exception of football, the sanitized modern version of the Roman arena) for its beauty, skill, daring and competition. This vast street party, however, was about us, the people of the St. Louis area.

We are mid-sized and Midwestern, sometimes sneered at by the coasts and much bigger cities. There is a self-esteem problem. But look at us - our team went from worst to first, kicking the pants off every other team in the US and Canada. Yeah, St. Louis was the best of them all.

The memory will fade, but for this one brief shining moment we towered over all. And, as I have pointed out several times, The Lou loves an excuse to drink in public during the day.   

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

As most of the US and Canada know, the St. Louis Blues improbably won the Stanley Cup, professional hockey's championship trophy. They had the worst record in the league on January 3, got a new coach and performed an amazing recovery. There was a huge victory parade and party yesterday, with the sound of Freddy Mercury's voice ocasionally hanging in the air. 

The authorities estimated that a half-million people turned out and I believe it. I couldn't get near the parade route itself but there was plenty of good people watching. The most common musical theme was a peppy 80's pop song, Gloria, that became the team's anthem. The Blues have been around for 52 years and never before won the championship. The city was bursting with joy.          

Who Knew?

I certainly didn't. This a new banner. I don't know if it refers to this particular building or the city. Lots of old commercial structures around downtown have been converted to loft apartments but not this one. It's mostly vacant.

Still, The Lou is a hotbed of chess. The recent challenger for the world championship is from here. The St. Louis Chess Club, located in a pretty tony neighborhood, houses the world chess hall of fame.

Late post today. I've had a really bad cold. Good excuse to sneak out early.