Good Game, No Rain

Nobody Flashes: Well, there you go. I went on and on, and was convinced that the All-Star Game was going to be rained out because, well, I trusted ALL the local weather men.

“It’s almost for certain that we will get at least a quick thunderstorm before the game is over.” said Dave Murry, as he showed us a nasty storm moving our way on the map. Dave Murry is St. Louis’s master guru of the weather here. He’s been here since the Civil War, which is longer than even me.

And because we have had more rain this summer than I can ever remember in my life here, who was I to doubt him?

But I should have---because once upon a time, I was a die-hard baseball fan. I went to every game, and in the middle of July, it almost NEVER rains here. It’s one of the reasons I got so hooked on baseball. Close your eyes, and feel the warmth of a St. Louis summer night…and you can imagine yourself on Ft. Myers beach in Florida, without the sand.

Walking beneath the stars to the stadium…the smell of "yeast" from the brewery, floating over the city...relaxing to the slow moment of the pitch, the catch…the occasional home run, the beauty of a no-hitter…watching a game where you know feminists cannot EVER compete…its tradition. It’s right. It’s where heroes are made.

And politics should stay out of it, but of course, it didn’t tonight.

So…once again, you can’t trust anything you hear or read, even your local weatherman. They probably were told to say that it would rain in so that they didn’t get lots of people coming downtown to try to score tickets…tickets that had been sold out a year ago to mostly out-of-towners.

Nothing like putting a little “fear” into the masses---in fact…they are using this “fear” tactic so much, that some day, when we should be afraid, we won’t believe they are telling us the truth.

Obama will become the President who cried “wolf” just a little too often.

I also didn’t trust my soundtracks of “applause” when Obama came out to throw the pitch. Almost everyone here has lost their job this year…don’t let the crowd fool you. Those tickets were sold long before the lay-offs.

The announcers got off his throwing the ball really quick, so that right there tells you, it might not have been the reception he was hoping for.

Sometimes silence says it all. And the announcers were…silent. The reports will be that everyone loved him. But...remember, not long ago President George W. Busch got booed, at a game..and they talked about it loudly in fact.

So, I do wonder.

Fox made St. Louis look fabulous onscreen…but the truth is, downtown is dead. Completely dead.

The only thing left downtown is the stadium. All the malls, offices, businesses are gone; there are a few restaurants left, but not many. They made sure not to show the empty muddy parking lot next to the stadium that was going to be redeveloped by this year, but the money fell through. All sorts of shops, restaurants, and apartments, were going to be built right next door to the stadium.

They sure made it look like a rich town on TV….not that I minded. That’s the way America SHOULD look.

The game was fairly decent. Not really exciting in any sense, but interesting enough. St. Louis really does have a great fan base. In fact, we enjoy the game, for the game itself. We take great pride in our decency and sportsmanship here.

In fact, I was thinking tonight that a job in sports might be the only job left where the “best” of the “best” are hired. (Okay, computers, prostitution…) You will see no affirmative action hires in sports, because frankly, they would make no money. That’s the way it should be in all jobs, but that’s all been changed I fear…forever.

The game was short and sweet, but we certainly could have done without the CEO’s of corporate fascist America (Obama, Bush, Daddy Bush, Clinton, and Carter) make a “gun-ho” speech to get all us employees all psyched up to go out and give all our time and money to “help” the world. “Go BEYOND” was the message on the field.

All five Presidents, begging…all five Presidents, joined together in the common cause of “you all have to share, because there is going to be a LOT of suffering coming your way soon.” I swear John Williams wrote the background music for the corporate pitch.

Politics should stay out of our baseball, but of course, it didn’t tonight.

Nevertheless…it was a beautiful night for baseball. We sure needed it.

Now, who WAS that pitcher that kept the National league from winning?

Can you say…”Dominican Republic ben vedy good to me?”

Or was he from Panama? Who cares? He was good.

And here's the real question....where was Michelle? Yeah...You tell me.